“Lake Highlands was a food desert at the time,” Andrew said. “My wife looked at me and said, ‘Why don’t you open one?’ And I said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
On Oct. 8, 2015, the couple opened Resident Taqueria in the Lake Highlands Plaza Shopping Center.
After graduating from Baltimore International College in 1997 with an associate degree in culinary arts, Andrew embarked on a 25-year restaurant career. He worked as a chef in numerous five-star restaurants nationwide then taught culinary arts at the Art Institute of Dallas.
Andrew said he blended knowledge gleaned from work experiences and formal education to create a business plan for a breakfast taco place.
“I did a lot of research and found breakfast wasn’t going to cut it alone,” he said. “I switched my plan and [included] lunch and dinner.”
Andrew said eventually, due to labor shortages, he had to replace breakfast tacos with breakfast sandwiches and avocado toast, both of which cost $5.
Andrew also used his background to help create the menu.
“I wanted to take what I learned about finesse, flavors and textures and put it into a tortilla,” he said. “A tortilla resembles what I feel is a plate; that’s all it is, a vehicle for eating flavors.”
He points to the $4 cauliflower taco as an example of its nontraditional taqueria fare.
“I’m using Latin cuisine as a whole and improvising all regional and global flavors to be put into a tortilla,” Andrew said.
When Andrew and Amy were coming up with a business name, they wanted a name with neighborhood ties.
“We’re doing it for the residents of Lake Highlands,” he said.
Resident Taqueria
9661 Audelia Road, Ste. 112, Dallas
www.residenttaqueria.com
972-685-5280
Hours: Tue.-Sat. 8:30 a.m.-9 p.m., closed Sun.-Mon.
