Vaqueros Texas Bar-B-Q, the acclaimed barbecue restaurant known for blending smoked Texas meats with regional Mexican dishes, has an Allen location at Watters Creek.
From a Grapevine Food Truck to a Standout Standalone Restaurant
Vaqueros began as a food truck in Grapevine, where Sánchez built a cult following before the brand ever had a permanent address. According to D Magazine, the trailer operated out of Hop & Sting Brewery in Grapevine before Sánchez partnered with M Crowd. Texas Monthly reported that Sánchez opened the food truck in 2018, while Community Impact reported he said he first opened it in early 2019 — accounts that differ on the exact year. The food truck's menu included brisket, ribs, rotating-flavor tacos, brisket nachos and smoked cochinita pibil, and its birria drew outsized national attention, appearing in Texas Monthly's Top 20 Bites of 2020 and landing at number 14 on Cooking Channel's Man's Greatest Food list for cheesy dishes, after also being featured on the network's Man Fire Food.
Sánchez's barbecue pedigree ran deeper than the food truck. He had previously run Arnold's Texas Bar-B-Q in Dallas with his father and their late friend Don Glasco from 1989 to 1999, and he was named a semifinalist for Best Chef in the 2024 James Beard Awards, according to the Dallas Observer. The move into a brick-and-mortar space was meant to give Sánchez more room to work: the Observer reported the shift meant more tables for guests and more room for smokers, while Community Impact noted the partnership with M Crowd was intended to let him serve barbecue seven days a week for the first time.
A Partnership Built Around Mi Cocina's Parent Company
M Crowd Restaurant Group, founded by Mico Rodriguez — described as the late godfather of Dallas Tex-Mex — is known for neighborhood restaurants including Mi Cocina, which has its own location at Watters Creek. M Crowd announced its partnership with Vaqueros in 2023, co-owning the standalone restaurant with Sánchez, who remained a partner and pitmaster even after the corporate backing arrived. D Magazine reported at the time that M Crowd was expected to supply finance teams, accounting, human resources and other operational support that a small food-truck operation would otherwise lack.
D Magazine had reported the brick-and-mortar restaurant was expected to open in spring 2024, but the standalone Allen restaurant opened in April 2025. Community Impact listed the restaurant at 965 Garden Park Drive in its 2025 coverage. Sánchez told D Magazine the partnership would let him “take his establishment to the next level and focus on the part of the business he loved most,” and Guevara said in 2023 that “Trey's take on Texas barbecue is unique, one-of-a-kind, and above all authentic.”
Acclaim Kept Coming Even As the End Neared
The restaurant's menu leaned into its Texas-meets-Mexico identity, serving dishes including brisket, sides, birria tacos, pork carnitas, sausage, apple-gorgonzola slaw and a three-cheese mac and cheese, alongside its barbecue-influenced cochinita pibil and birria tacos. Texas Monthly described the kitchen's Texas-to-regional-Mexican approach and reported that it cooks with hickory.
Recent Acclaim and North Texas Restaurant Closures Vaqueros had just picked up a nomination for Best New Restaurant in the 2026 CultureMap Dallas Tastemaker Awards, with the nomination describing it as a barbecue restaurant worth driving to in Watters Creek, Allen. Texas dining more broadly has faced a rough stretch — the Dallas Morning News reported this year that Texas was leading the country in restaurant closures, and other notable North Texas spots have shut down recently too, including Dallas restaurant Punk Noir after a four-month run and Fort Worth-area institution Longoria's BBQ after 28 years in Everman.
