Vaqueros Texas Bar-B-Q, Mi Cocina join forces to put Tex-Mex creations into ‘more plates’

Owners of Mi Cocina, a Dallas-based chain of neighborhood restaurants, is launching a partnership with Vaqueros Texas Bar-B-Q, a nationally-recognized barbecue food truck in Grapevine, to open a new restaurant in Allen in 2024.

M Crowd Restaurant Group jumped on the opportunity to expand the Vaqueros barbecue concept with a stand-alone location at Watters Creek Village shopping center.

“Trey’s take on barbecue Tex-Mex is unique, one-of-a-kind, and, above all, authentic,” said M Crowd Restaurant Group President and CEO Edgar Guevara in a press release. “I am excited to partner with Trey to allow his creations to soon land on even more plates across North Texas.”

Vaqueros was included in the New York Times’ story heralding a new generation of pitmasters in Texas in July with the website writing: “Vaqueros serves Texas barbecue with Mexican influences, but it’s not quite Tex-Mex. There’s no queso or chili con carne. Instead, there is cochinita pibil that begins in a smoker, rubbed simply with salt, pepper and garlic, before it is wrapped in banana leaves, bathed in a citrusy marinade and served in handmade corn tortillas.”

Vaqueros Texas Bar-B-Q currently sets up Thursday-Sunday at Hop & Sting Brewery in Grapevine.

Arnulfo “Trey” Sanchez has old-school pitmaster chops from working with his father who ran Arnold’s Texas Bar-B-Q.

“I have had a hand in sharing my family’s Texas style and classic barbecue with the people of Dallas-Fort Worth since 1979,” Sanchez said. “I am thrilled to join forces with Edgar and believe that this partnership will allow me to take my establishment to the next level and focus on the part of the business that I love most.”