One day, fans hope that Resident Taqueria chef and co-owner Andrew Savoie will move his San Antonio-style puffy taco from its off-menu status to a permanent spot on the chalkboard menu (or even at least to the specials list). Until then, know that puffy tacos are available upon request with any available taco filling, perhaps picadillo or chorizo?

Alongside chef Anastacia Quinones’ modern Mexican dishes at upscale restaurant José, the thing to get is the flautitas appetizer. The segments of cut, rolled, and fried tacos are filled with a mixture of chicken and refried black beans and hidden beneath a mess of lettuce and cheese, and are best spiked with a little salsa verde.

What other taquerias and Mexican restaurants do with corn tortillas, Desperados on upper Greenville Avenue does with flour tortillas to create their namesake Desperados tacos. Flour tortillas are flash fried until they begin to inflate ever so slightly and turn tan in color. Although customers can choose beef or chicken, beef is the smart order— it doesn’t lost in the melted bed of white cheese. Garnishes of avocado and pico de gallo add an edge to the tacos.

Old-fashioned Tex-Mex restaurants established by Mexican immigrants often adjusted traditional dishes in an effort to create broader appeal, but for every chile con carne-cemented combo plate, there is a traditional Mexican dish hiding in plain sight. Avila’s classic toothpick-pinned tacos dorados, called taquitos Don Vago here, are filled with chicken or beef inside, are pure crunchy comfort food.

Light frilly-edge beef tacos are the reward for waiting in line at Fort Worth’s vaunted cash-only Tex-Mex hacienda that continues to draw lines more than 80 years after it opened. The simplicity and restraint of the hard-shell tacos — there’s not much to them aside from the fried tortilla and beef — are what make them shine brighter than the fajitas, enchiladas, and other heavy Tex-Mex standards at Joe T. Garcia.

The Sloppy Taco at Off-Site Kitchen takes customers back to1980s Midwestern suburbia but with fried shells as long as a forearm. Ladles of traditional Sloppy Joe meat are concealed with lettuce, grated cheddar and Jack cheese, pico de gallo, and a mild ranch dressing. It’s a joyful taco, as are its available-on-request brethren — the best of which are one filled with brisket and caramelized onions and another with a charred and chopped burger patty.

Taco y Vino has made a name for itself as a restaurant where the unexpected is to be expected. It’s where a California Pinot Noir pairs well with a carnitas taco and the wine wall background. Meanwhile, the crispy taco at this Bishop Arts shop — clean and snappy and given prime space served in the same taco holders as the other tortilla-based selections — gets a fun match with a fresh and spicy Grenache from Spain’s Piorat wine-growing region.

Oak Cliff does not lack in Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants, especially along Jefferson Boulevard, where Gonzalez Restaurant resides. The flour tortillas are squishy and weigh in at a substantial four ounces each (hefty compared to most Dallas versions) and the crispy tacos are small and delicate but not fragile. They will not crack into sad pile of shards, nor will the crispy tacos — filled with mild seasoned ground beef and capped with lettuce, tomato, and shredded Monterrey Jack cheese — coat your fingers in grease. They will, however, require waiting in line during a service rush, be it lunch, dinner, or after church.

This lucha libre-themed Mexican restaurant is Dallas’ primo fried taco destination. The taco to get is the taco de camarón, a specialty of the city of San Juan de los Lagos in Jalisco, the Mexican home state of the owners. Filled with ground shrimp and served topped with salsa roja — but not drowning in it — this crispy taco is joined by fellow fried tacos, flautas and tacos dorados, both piled high with garnishes.