Restaurant Wars DFW - The Quest for Tex-Mex

As you may have read in my last post, I have been looking for good, non-chain Tex-Mex in the DFW area. I had tried a number of places (see "The Search for Tex-Mex") and none of them were really exciting. I left off one, Primo, and it was again, okay. Not bad but nothing stellar. However, today, I found a wonderful place - Mariano's. I had passed by it, can see it from the highway, since I've been up here but it was in a slightly sketchy area. After the past failures, I decided sketchy or not, I've got to try it. The first clue this place had potential was the number of cars in the parking lot. At least double the cars any other place has had. I went in and sat in the bar area (easier when you're by yourself - at least they generally have a TV with sports on). On the way in, there is a big plaque sign noting that this was the home of the 1st frozen margarita. Ok...I'll play. I basically am not a tequila fan and therefore not a margarita fan but I figured "when in Rome". The "Wanda" margarita was the special of the day and it was half-price. I got one and it was really good. The kicker of knowing I was in a good Tex-Mex place was the salsa. They had 2 of them, one regular and one roasted. OMG!! They were both delicious but that roasted one was awesome! I had mixed fajitas for my meal and they were very good, very flavorful. Flavor is what I was missing from the other places and I'm so glad to have found it. Now, there was one drawback to this place - it is a bit pricey. Not horrible but not something to go to daily. I believe, now that I have found this place, that I can find a good hole-in-the-wall place that is a bit more reasonably priced but I'm so happy to know that I have a place to go now.