The huarache at Tacos La Gloria.
Photograph by José R. Ralat
If you’ve heard of huaraches, you’re probably more familiar with the footwear than the food. Huaraches are a deceptively simple, comfortable type of woven-top leather sandal from Mexico. (The word directly translates to “sandal” from the indigenous Purépecha language of Michoacán.) Huaraches are also one of the myriad dishes prepared from corn masa, alongside tacos, machetes, gorditas, sopes, tlacoyos, and more. The food gets its name from its oblong, sandal-like shape; like the shoe, the dish is more complex than it may seem at first.
From the streets of Mexico City, through a home kitchen in Dallas and then a food truck, Tacos La Gloria has landed a permanent home in Oak Cliff’s Tyler Station after getting off to a chilly start.
The owners of the former food truck opened the location Feb. 6 only to be shut down a week later when Winter Storm Uri coated North Texas in ice, snow and darkness. Now it’s going full-steam serving taco lovers dishes crafted by Maria Gloria Serrato, the business’ namesake and head of the family behind it.
Serrato started selling food in the streets of Mexico City in the 1980s to provide for her family. When she came to the U.S. in 1986, she worked various jobs in restaurants and the food industry, preparing items for food trucks and catering events on weekends. Tacos La Gloria started when the family began selling dishes made by Serrata in her kitchen. The business soon outgrew her home, and the family moved operations to a truck.
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