Okay, so you don't live in Oak Cliff; you're not an artist; you're not even Salvadoran. There are Gloria's all over Dallas but somehow I have never had the meal, nor the ambience in any one of them except West Davis. It wasn't always ""funky""; I have had to drag folks there until recently. So why here? I could tell you the juicy rumor I ""heard"" from a former Mayor talking about workers; DMN writers about the Mayor; or my own hookey-playing employees. Annnyway: the food --it's not TexMex even if the chain made some acquiescence to Our Home. I get pork: tenderloin fajitas or spicy asado. Or ""I'll just have a salad"", a HUGE bowl with spicy grilled shrimp. I even like their steamed tamales. Everything here, though, is about scale: the converted gas station feel generates necessary dining neighbors, smiles over shared aromas and flavors. And the soups! A long quart each of chicken or seafood (I once watched amazed as a South Arkansas friend dished out her crab claw as if it came from Mars, and cracked it). Of course, the assorted menu focuses on a broad and sometimes familiar palette; ignore that, order Gloria's Special, order asado de puerco; hell, order fajitas. None of this will come out looking that familiar, thanks to the kitchen standards --this is food cooked for Salvadorenos (""C.A"" it says on a market across the street and they know that means Central America, not Mexico). We've come in dressed as flea-marketeers, as retired bankers, and of course we bring all of our guests here (no wonder they have such an opinion of Oak Cliff); we've never been turned away, nor treated as well elsewhere. I don't even mind when, once we've finished training them, they send our favorite waitstaff away to provide such friendship elsewhere; so as they don't take the bar and the cook, we're still coming to Oak Cliff. Price? We have fed a table of guests for $150 and ourselves altogether too well regularly with a couple of well-made drinks and coffee for around $50 or less.
Pros: You won't find its twin, even inside its own chain, especially for attention
Cons: I can't get there often enough, lunch or dinner
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