2 taco shops in Dallas and Frisco get new names, new look

Chído Taco Lounge’s restaurants in Frisco and Dallas have new names and menus.

The Frisco restaurant made the switch to Casa Alma Restaurante Mexicano on March 7, 2025.

The Dallas restaurant — which has been open less than a year at Walnut Hill Lane and North Central Expressway — will reopen under the name Ella on June 17, 2025.

“We felt like it was time for a change,” founder Blaine McGowan said of both restaurants.

In Frisco, the restaurant on Lebanon Road has already been redesigned by Coeval Studio. While the restaurant remains a taco shop, the new menu calls for more snacks like ceviche and more entrees like glazed salmon and a pork chop. There’s also a smashburger with bacon-chile jam.

Francisco Guerrero, formerly of Ida Claire, is the chef.

Ella in Dallas is described as a “intimate, American bistro” in press materials. Rather than tacos, it’s now an upscale comfort food restaurant. Gone are the framed sugar skull art on the walls. Ella has been refreshed completely, with Granny Smith apple green walls and taupe drapes.

Kyle Farr, previously from Boulevardier and Sachet in Dallas, created the menu. An early look includes steak tartare, short rib with smoked sweet potato and broccolini, and salmon with roasted beet purée, chickpeas, parsnips and carrots.

McGowan hired Julian Shaffer as beverage director and general manager for the Dallas restaurant. Shaffer scored a rare award at Texas’ recent Michelin ceremony for his Exceptional Cocktails at East Dallas restaurant Rye.

Cocktail enthusiasts might want to keep an eye on whatever Shaffer is mixing up.

Notably, the tiny tequila bar on the second floor of Chído in Dallas, called Customs, will remain untouched. When it launched in 2024, McGowan called it his “baby” — a hub for agave dinners and pricey pours of the good stuff. Jairo Castillo is the bartender.

Casa Alma Restaurante Mexicano, formerly Chído Taco Lounge, is at 6959 Lebanon Road, Frisco.

The Dallas Chído Taco Lounge, at 7949 Walnut Hill Lane, will reopen as Ella on June 17, 2025. Customs, a cocktail bar, remains on the second floor. Both concepts are open evenings only. Closed Sundays and Mondays.