A torta ahogada, made with pork carnitas in birote bread and topped with onion, is served at Tortas Ahogadas Guadalajara on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, in Haltom City.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
Tortas Ahogadas Guadalajara opened its new location in Haltom City on Thursday, serving its signature dish and other Mexican dishes.
The restaurant started in Fort Worth, where it served customers at its location on East Lancaster Avenue, which was also the owners’ home.
The new restaurant is at 4616 Denton Highway in Haltom City, in the space formerly occupied by Haltom Chinese Restaurant. It is the family’s first brick-and-mortar restaurant.
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“Opening this location was the next step if we wanted to keep growing,” owner Rafael Romero said, “and our goal is to have more locations throughout the area.”
Customers dine at Tortas Ahogadas Guadalajara on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, in Haltom City.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
The restaurant’s namesake dish is the torta ahogada, a Mexican sandwich made using birotes, traditional sourdough bread rolls characteristic of the western Mexican state of Jalisco. The torta is filled with pork carnitas, covered in tomato sauce and topped with red onion.
The traditional recipe calls for the torta to be covered in spicy sauce, but this restaurant serves it on the side.
The restaurant serves other traditional Jalisco dishes, including tacos dorados filled with potatoes or beans and topped with carnitas, cabbage and onion; birria; pozole; menudo; ham tortas; and traditional desserts from the state, such as dulce de leche and jericalla, a traditional custard dessert.
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“When we’re far from our country, we’re always looking for flavors that remind us of our mom and our family,” Romero said. “Here, we try to make our dishes as well as we can so people leave happy and with that taste of home.”
Rafael Romero (back right) and his wife, Maria del Carmen Avila (center), pose with their son, Abraham Rafael Romero Avila (front), and daughters Jazmin Guadalupe Romero Avila (left) and Valentina Lizbeth Romero Avila at Tortas Ahogadas Guadalajara on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, in Haltom City.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
The story of Tortas Ahogadas Guadalajara began in 2015, when the family emigrated from Mexico and settled in Fort Worth. Romero worked in construction and often longed to eat bread like the kind sold in El Arenal, his hometown.
“We were craving it so much, so we started learning how to make it by watching videos online and through trial and error, until we got better at it,” he said.
He later began taking bread to work and selling it to his coworkers. The bread became popular in the community, and the family eventually began delivering birotes and tortas ahogadas to several locations around D-FW.
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In 2020, the family bought a food truck. After an unsuccessful search for places where they could operate it, they parked the truck at their home and served customers from there. Later, they converted part of their backyard into a dining area. They quickly gained customers and became popular in Fort Worth.
Customers dine at Tortas Ahogadas Guadalajara on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, in Haltom City.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
The family opened its restaurant in Haltom City on Nov. 12, and customers arrived in greater numbers than they had expected. Staff had to bake more bread in a hurry and stock up on additional supplies for the weekend.
“We never imagined we’d have so many people, and I thank God that those who come here leave happy with what they eat,” Romero said.
At Tortas Ahogadas Guadalajara, everything is made from scratch, including the bread, carnitas and sauces. The team starts cooking in the early morning hours so they can open at 9 a.m. and serve customers until 8 p.m.
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Tacos dorados, or crispy tacos filled with potatoes or beans, are topped with pork carnitas, cabbage and onion and served in tomato sauce at Tortas Ahogadas Guadalajara on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, in Haltom City.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
A framed U.S. flag is mounted on the wall in the center of the dining room. Romero said several people asked him if he planned to take it down. No, he said.
“We are very grateful to this country for all the opportunities it has given us,” he said, “and because we were able to build our business here, and our family continues to make progress.”
He and his wife, Maria del Carmen Avila, have been married for 22 years. Their children, Jazmin, Valentina and Abraham, are in college, high school and middle school, respectively, and help their parents with the business in their free time.
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“I want them to study and get ahead, but also to dream and learn how to run a business,” Romero said, “because we are in the land of opportunity and we have to make the most of every one of them.”
Tortas Ahogadas Guadalajara is at 4616 Denton Highway, Haltom City. tortasahogadasguadalajaradfw.com.
Dining and Cooking