Mauricio Gallegos isn’t reinventing Mexican food, but he is “trying to give people my view of Mexico,” he says. The Dallas restaurateur and native of Toluca, southwest of Mexico City, has certainly done that with three successful Mexican restaurants fulfilling his personal mission.

Modern, dark, wood-appointed Xamán Café serves a mean chilaquiles plate and revivifying cups of Mexican coffee along Jefferson Boulevard in Oak Cliff. Ayahuasca Cantina, accessible via a rear door in Xamán, is a dimly lit contemporary Mexican restaurant focused on nixtamalized corn . Señor Oink Taqueria Tropical , Gallegos’s newest concept, at less than two months old, skews even more focused and traditional by specializing in juicy, beautifully seasoned carnitas and beachy drinks in the suburb of Farmers B

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