In Sundance Square, a restaurant with 18 years of success adds new breakfast hours

Paco’s Mexican Cuisine has survived a pandemic, downtown changes and Near Southside competition.

Now, after 18 years on the Southside and two in the middle of Sundance Square, Francisco “Paco” Islas is convinced that business might be getting better.

Paco’s recently added breakfast at 9 a.m. weekdays and Saturdays at its downtown location, 156 W. Fourth St.

Paco’s Southside location, 1508 W. Magnolia Ave. near Baylor All Saints hospital, has always opened at 9 a.m. Hospital workers and visitors want breakfast burritos, huevos “divorciados” (red and green) and chilaquiles, Islas said.

In a quieter downtown after COVID, Paco’s had to wait for workers to come back to the office before expanding hours, Islas said on a recent Eats Beat Live streaming show.

“We see a lot more movement early,” he said. “That’s why we decided, ‘You know what? Let’s open a little earlier.’ ”

Paco’s is one of two restaurants downtown to expand daytime hours recently. Waters Seafood recently restored weekday lunch.

Paco’s began as a breakfast and lunch cafe, Paco and John’s, in the Eighth Avenue space that is now Hurtado Barbecue. Islas’ father, Francisco, opened it along with French restaurateur Bernard Tronche of Saint-Emilion.

That location closed in 2014, but made Texas Monthly’s list of the state’s best Mexican restaurants.

Soon, the younger Islas leased a little 12-table restaurant nearby on Magnolia. He has added a bar and expanded it to 50 seats.

The food is influenced by the older Islas’ upbringing in Pachuco, about 55 miles north of Mexico City.

The flavor shows through in the tlacoyos, filled black-bean masa that Islas compared to dumplings.

The beef or goat birria tacos are currently the hot ticket, and Paco’s served some of the first in Fort Worth.

The enchiladas, fajitas and other dishes are milder and more varied than Tex-Mex, and they’re served with more of an eye for color and presentation.

Islas described it as “street-style food,” served the way it would be in Mexico.

Patrons like the queso fundido, made with chorizo and cactus strips or mushrooms, the seafood Veracruz and the molcajete loaded with steak, chicken, chorizo, shrimp and more.

Both locations are open from breakfast through dinner Mondays through Wednesdays.

The Southside location is open from breakfast through dinner Thursdays through Saturdays, and the bar stays open until 2 a.m.; 817-759-9110 , facebook.com/pacoscuisine .

The Sundance Square location is open from breakfast through dinner Fridays, lunch and dinner Saturdays and lunch Sundays; 817-386-2402 .