Dining
BY KAREN CHANEY
Molcajete ($46) is served in a lava rock dish.
Quesabirrias ($18) is birria-style cooked beef folded into corn tortillas with melted cheese.
PHOTOS BY KAREN CHANEY COMMUNITY IMPACT
Chepa’s Mexican Grill melds heritage with community Jorge Perez-Negron opened Chepa’s Mexican Grill in McKinney in 2023. He said his menu re ects his heritage and the local community. On the menu
Grill in McKinney, Perez-Negron’s answer includes childhood memories of oating in a gourd across a river in Mexico to attend school, leaving home when he was 11 years old to pursue a better educa- tion, becoming a family practitioner in Mexico in 1998 and moving to the United States in 1999. “Where we lived, we didn’t have hot water. The only thing I knew of the outside world was from my textbooks. That’s how I knew television existed, and di erent fruits and vegetables existed that we didn’t grow at home,” Perez-Negron said. “I want to give my mom, her nickname is Chepa, whatever she never had, and right now, I feel so grateful that I can provide for her.”
Jorge Perez-Negron opened the restaurant in 2023.
One of the top selling menu items is Quesabir- rias, a birria-style cooked beef folded into corn tortillas with melted cheese. Other popular items include salmon salad, enchiladas and Molcajete—a meal for two people served in a lava rock dish containing salsa verde and panela cheese, topped with beef, chicken fajita, grilled shrimp, sausage and roasted chile. The inspiration When asked why he opened Chepa’s Mexican
STACY RD.
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7500 Stacy Road, Ste. 150, McKinney www.chepasmexicangrill.com
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MCKINNEY EDITION
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