Editor's Note: This story originally published Nov. 17, 2016. We are bringing it back in honor of National Food Day.

“Solo tenemos comida vegana (We only have vegan dishes)," Aaron Arias discloses to customers at the register.

“Que? (What?)" is a typical response by many surprised Latino customers walking into the bakery and restaurant in Pleasant Grove.

Just two months ago, diners could choose between regular dishes and vegan plates. Now, the Arias family has transformed its nearly year-old Mexican restaurant to serve only dishes that exclude animal products.

Enchiladas, flautas, tortas and tamales without meat or cheese can be a hard one to swallow for people who grew up eating traditional Mexican food. The cuisine is known for its use of meat and dairy products — two categories that vegans avoid.

A health crisis motivated Lily Arias and her husband, Aurelio Arias, from Nuevo Leon, Mexico, to create hundreds of recipes using substitutes like soy for a meat-like texture and then make it the centerpiece of their restaurant.

The dishes at El Palote are so meat-like that people often ask: Are you sure this is vegan?

The scare, the new choice

Nine years ago, Aurelio almost died of a heart attack. His high cholesterol levels and blood pressure nearly killed him, the doctors said.

And the medications made Aurelio feel worse. Doctors had to remind him to take them, and he was inconsistent in following up.

"I kept thinking that I wouldn't wake up the next day. I thought about my wife and sons. I didn't want to die," Aurelio said in Spanish.

He found an old book his wife had bought from kids who were selling them for a fundraiser. The book's first chapter talked about the harmful effects of an animal-product-based diet.

"Immediately — from there — I made the decision to not eat animal products," Aurelio said.

Within a few days he was already feeling better, he said.

Before opening El Palote, Aurelio worked construction jobs, and Lily baked pan dulce in their home and cooked meals that some families ordered. Sometimes they'd sell their pan dulce on the streets in Pleasant Grove. They've been married 31 years and have three sons. As Aurelio changed his eating habits, so did the family.

"I became vegan out of love for him," Lily said in Spanish.

Lily then started selling some vegan dishes from their home, too. People were amazed at how she could pull off tasty flavor without the use of animal products. Aurelio also recreated pan dulce, or sweet bread, in vegan form. And more people started visiting their home.

That's when her oldest son, Aurelio Jr., suggested the family open up a panaderia and restaurant. They would name it El Palote, Spanish for a type of rolling pin, because they were going to make everything by hand.

El Palote looks like a regular Mexican restaurant, and there's even episodes of Mexican comedy El Chavo del Ocho that play on the television. They had nonvegan dishes with some vegan options during the week, and initially all vegan just on Thursdays.

Despite the health advice, some customers don’t understand why the couple would alter their recipes.

"'We love you as clients, but we want to take care of you,' I tell them. 'And that [non-vegan] food is not good for your health,'" Lily said in Spanish.

Friends Evan Gordon (center, right) and Zoe Pesce of Dallas pick out pastries. (Tom Fox / The Dallas Morning News)

Kat Mendenhall, a member of Dallas Vegans, said she's seeing more vegan restaurants pop up in the last two years. Mendenhall said typically Indian and Thai restaurants have vegan-friendly options, but it's hard to make Mexican food vegan.

“You would think with all our Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants in our metroplex that vegans would have a lot of places to go to, but the problem is that a lot of restaurants use lard in beans, and chicken stock in food like rice. If you go eat, you are basically left with veggie fajitas,” Mendenhall said.

Garry Brents, a 29-year-old from Arlington, would make a weekly trip to the restaurant just to get a plate of vegan Mexican food. He’s been vegan for about four years, and before changing his diet Mexican food had been his favorite.

Now that El Palote offers vegan food all week, he visits the restaurant even more, despite the drive.

“It’s a new frontier with El Palote. They’ve quickly revolutionized it for vegans and even non-vegans. My friend is Hispanic and nonvegan and his mind was blown,” Brents said. “This is pretty much indistinguishable. It tastes just as good.”

Some aren't sold on the idea, but Aaron said customers ought to give the food a chance.

“Some people are actually offended by the change because they say Mexican food shouldn’t be vegan,” Aaron said. “But the way I see it, every person who walks in can change their lifestyle for the better.”

More information on El Palote

Where: 2537 S. Buckner Blvd., Dallas, TX 75227

Hours: 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. Thursday through Monday. Closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Phone: (214) 723-1085