If you want a table at Oak Cliff’s only five-star restaurant, Lucia, you need to make a reservation a month or two in advance. On the other end of the spectrum, if you want a taco from Oak Cliff’s most popular taquería, El Si Hay, you have to wait in line. That’s just the way it is.
Does the tiny taco stand on West Davis at Llewellyn have the best tacos in Oak Cliff? That is an extremely large pool of great tacos, but a majority of Advocate readers think so.
Taquería El Si Hay is prominent on West Davis, across the street from Oak Cliff dining beacon Bolsa. It is one of the most Instagrammed places in the neighborhood. Its ambiance is so down home, and its tacos are so good that it has received mentions in Texas Monthly and the New York Times, among other publications.
Because there are no tables, neighbors know the proper way to eat an El Si Hay taco is immediately, leaning on the hood of your car or bicycle top tube (or, if you live close enough to walk, sitting on the curb).
El Si Hay is not just about eating tacos in a parking lot, though. It’s also about eating elotes en vaso, or corn in a cup, in a parking lot. The taco stand’s owner, Jose Gaytan, works the elotes station himself, cutting corn off the cob and adding all the fixin’s for the five people ahead of you in line while you salivate and try to think about something else until it’s your turn.
Who has the best tacos in Oak Cliff? It is very hard to say. But all those people are willing to stand in line to eat tacos in a parking lot. That’s how good El Si Hay is.
Runner-up: Los Torres Taquería
Third place: El Tizoncito
Vote in our next Advocate Best Of poll: Best bar.
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