As you walk up to the window to order your taco you’re just as likely to step behind a lawyer in a three piece suit as you are a construction worker wearing a helmet and boots. That’s part of the charm of Fuel City on Riverfront in Dallas.
It opened in 1998, but quickly became a North Texas icon. It's a gas station that maybe best known for its tacos; tacos you can eat while sidled up alongside a Longhorn.
Author and Dallas native Kathleen Kent decided to make Fuel City an integral part of her novel, "The Dime". She said the first time she walked up to Fuel City, she knew it had to be a big part of her first crime fiction novel.
“When I came here I decided that this was the place that encapsulated all of what Texas is, so I decided to start the book set in this place,” Kent said.
“Dallas is really a city in transition," Kent said. "It's very pretty, it's very affluent, but we also have a lot of dark corners here, so what drew me to Fuel City was it mirrored sort of the sublime to the ridiculous.”
Fuel City’s owner, John Benda, told us he grew up on a ranch and wanted people who came to the city to always be able to see what Texas was all about.
It’s all there. Nothing says Texas like cars, so not only is there a gas station, but also a car wash. And alongside the car wash is a field filled with longhorn steer. There’s also an oil derrick and a dance floor.
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It may not have enough to warrant a “staycation”, but it has more than enough to warrant a stop for lunch or just a snack of a couple of tacos.
