Fortaleza by Don Arturo held its grand opening on Oct. 3 at 1316 N. Interstate Dr., giving northwest Norman a Mexican menu that leans on seafood, from a chef whose career began with a taco truck in Tijuana. On the menu, octopus tacos sit next to a ribeye aguachile and a tuna tartare. The restaurant sits on the frontage road along I-35, a stretch Brookhaven drivers already know from errands and the drive home along Robinson.
The building is the one that used to house Los Compadres Cafe, a traditional Tex-Mex spot, according to Hoodline. The new menu is built on a different tradition, and that tradition starts with the chef's background.
A Tijuana food truck, by way of Guadalajara
Fortaleza is a partnership between restaurateur Oscar Correa and chef Don Arturo Garcia. The Oklahoman reported in September that the restaurant hopes to "bring Mexico to Oklahoma."
The chef's bio on the restaurant's website explains what that phrase means in practice. Arturo Garcia Acevedo was born in Guadalajara and raised in Aguascalientes. He started at 15 in a butcher shop, was a sous chef by 17, and soon after was an executive chef with Fiesta Americana across Mexico.
At 19, he launched Tacos Jr. in Tijuana and grew it from one food truck into a multi-city restaurant group. His career later took him to San Diego and then to Oklahoma. The restaurant says he has more than 30 years of experience and now leads its operations and catering.
The menu carries both halves of that résumé, with ribeye in a taco and in an aguachile alongside a taco list built mostly on seafood.
The taco list runs mostly to the sea
The core of the menu is a section called Los Tacos De La Casa, and seafood fills most of it. Here's the list as posted on the restaurant's site, with prices and the tortilla noted where the menu gives one.
| Taco | Price | Tortilla, as listed |
|---|---|---|
| Taco De Camarón | $7 | Corn |
| Taco De Pescado | $7 | Not listed |
| Taco Gobernador | $9 | Not listed |
| Taco De Marlin | $12 | Corn |
| Taco Rib-Eye | $12 | Not listed |
| Taco Fortaleza | $14 | Flour |
| Taco Arrachera C/ Camarón | $15 | Not listed |
| Taco Enchilado De Camarón | $15 | Not listed |
| Taco Enchilado De Pulpo | $15 | Not listed |
| Tacos Dorados de Papa con Camarón | $17 | Corn |
Seven of the ten tacos include shrimp, fish, marlin or octopus. The arrachera taco puts steak and shrimp in one tortilla. The house namesake, Taco Fortaleza, is the only one the menu lists on a flour tortilla. Fish and shrimp share the low end at $7, and the potato-and-shrimp tacos dorados top the list at $17.
So a weeknight dinner can cost very different amounts depending on the order. Two shrimp tacos and two fish tacos come to $28 before drinks. A Taco Fortaleza and a Taco Enchilado De Pulpo come to $29 for two tacos.
The shared plates are where the bill climbs
The section called Para Compartir E Iniciar, meaning to share and to start, runs well above the taco prices.
- Tartar De Atún, $12
- Ceviche de Camarón, $15
- Camarones Roca, $29
- Wonton de Camarón, $29
- Ribeye Aguachile, $35
- Degustación Fortaleza, $45, listed as serving two
At $35, the ribeye aguachile costs more than everything in this section except the tasting platter.
For a table of four, the $45 Degustación works as a centerpiece. Add a $15 shrimp ceviche and a round of $7 tacos and you have a dinner built around sharing.
The Sopa De Mar, a seafood soup, is $29.
What the menu offers beyond the seafood
The frontage road gets families on the way home from practice as well as date nights, and the menu has both covered. There's a short kids' section with chicken strips at $12 and a mini burger at $8. Sides include rice, beans and fries at $6 each, guacamole at $8, avocado at $2 and mash at $3.
Desserts mix Mexican classics with cakes. There's a Flan Mexicano at $10, a trio of Paletas Mexicanas Artesanales at $13, a chocolate cake, a lime cake with cream and red berries, and a cheesecake crème brûlée, each $10 except the paletas.
The restaurant's site describes the food as upscale Mexican and takes online orders for pickup or delivery. That makes it more than a sit-down option. A marlin taco order can be ready to pick up on the way home.
When the doors are open
The posted hours give Fortaleza a later close than many weeknight spots and an earlier Sunday start:
- Sunday: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Monday through Thursday: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Friday and Saturday: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The 10 a.m. Sunday opening is the one that stands out. It's an hour earlier than any other day, so a late-morning Sunday meal works. On Fridays and Saturdays the kitchen keeps going until 11 p.m., which leaves room for a late dinner after an evening event.
The listed address is 1316 N. Interstate Dr., Norman, OK 73072, and the restaurant also posts on its Facebook page.
How it fits the strip it joined
Interstate Drive already had a well-known Mexican anchor. Hoodline noted that Ted's Café Escondido, a major regional Tex-Mex operator, sits at 700 N. Interstate Dr. on the same frontage road. Hoodline also pointed out that the I-35 location gives a new restaurant visibility to steady traffic, which helps when it's trying to build a following quickly.
With both restaurants on the frontage road, the strip now offers two different styles of Mexican cooking. Ted's covers the Tex-Mex side. Fortaleza covers marlin, octopus, aguachile and ceviche, from a chef who started on a Tijuana food truck.
The Oklahoman's Oct. 7 roundup of metro openings listed Fortaleza among the restaurants that opened across the region this fall, describing it as bringing upscale Mexican food to Norman.
One more October opening on Brookhaven's side of town
Fortaleza wasn't the only new spot near Brookhaven this month. A USA Today list of the chain's October openings put 7 Brew Coffee at 1811 24th Ave. NW with an Oct. 12 opening date. The location's own page shows customer reviews dated Oct. 12.
So within ten days in October, northwest Norman gained a coffee stop on 24th Avenue NW and a seafood-and-taco kitchen on Interstate Drive.
If you live in Brookhaven and want to know how this fall's activity around 24th Avenue NW and Interstate Drive could affect your own property, reach out to Alaina Legendre and Get Your Free Home Valuation.
