Convincing devoted urbanites to venture to Garland can be a hard sell, no matter how hungry they are. The endless concrete pavement and strip malls, all heavily guarded by expansive parking lots, aren’t inviting for exploration, especially when polished ethnic eateries lurk inside the loop. But culinary adventurers willing to…
Hey beer nerds: this post’s for you. By now, after attending many beer-themed dinners, wherein a chef sets up a menu with beer pairings selected by a cicerone, you’ve realized the power of matching beer with food. The residual sugars present in all beer play nicely with sugar-containing components of…
The best German restaurant in America is just around the corner, according the the GermanDeli.com. This year the Bavarian Grill in Plano received the award. They won in 2009 too. The restaurant is celebrating this evening at its bi-monthly stein club meeting. Inga Bowyer started her online grocery in 2008…
Last week we reported that Deep Ellum’s It’s A Grind Coffee House would close immediately. A few Twitter users reacted, half disappointed and half not surprised. I called several times to talk to the owners but manager Carlos Guerrero said an official communication would be released in a few weeks…
Pizza is a provincial food. A New Yorker will tell you a slice should be thin and floppy, the sauce just like so. A New Havener would skulk if a crust was missing that requisite char and might prefer clams over peperoni. Chicagoans turn pizza into a literal pie, practically…
I distinctly remember my first encounter with deviled eggs. I was at a Penn State football game, probably eight years old. I was nearing double-digit eggs before I realized I’d gone too far. To me the snack will always be a tailgating food, but to bars and restaurants, deviled eggs…
Esquire has released its annual Best New Restaurants list. Sorry, Dallas, we weren’t included in the slideshow of winners. We did, however, get an honorable mention in the intro that described several growing trends in national dining. While describing gastro pubs, the continued rise of southern cooking, and the return…
While the rest of Deep Ellum bounced from music venue to serious slices on Friday night, I sat in a small makeshift restaurant in an unmarked building on Elm Street. The simple gray structure typically hosts My Private Chef, a Dallas-based food service that provides pre-cooked meals customers can eat…
Popular Deep Ellum coffee house It’s A Grind will close this evening at 6 o’clock. I was tipped off to the closure by Murray Street Coffee Shop’s Facebook page. They posted the following on their wall today. We understand today is the last day for It’s A Grind. A good…
The Stoneleigh P’s red neon sign serves as a beacon for those driving by. It also casts half the ambient light inside the bar, echoed in the burgundy painted walls. The televisions show the baseball game but not many are watching; the jukebox is filling the space with a mix…
The folks over at Bravo have been teasing out info about the new contestants while they battle in court about your tax dollars. A set of clips released last week compiled a montage of each contestant and some of their dishes, drawn from the videos they submitted to enter the…
Dallas is without a doubt a brunching town. Every Saturday and Sunday, early in the afternoon, those with matted hair, stale breath and perhaps questionable bed mates drag themselves from shades-pulled comfort and into the harsh, bright world, descending upon the city’s restaurants en masse. It seems as if every…
I talked to chef and restaurateur Nick Badovinus last night, after an intense phone-stalking session spurred by rumors of an amazing sub-$5 burger and great sandwiches. His new restaurant in the Design District, Off-Site Kitchen (2226 Irving Blvd.), has been in teaser mode for weeks, and I’m ready to see…
Back in July, there were a tense and strange couple days in the kitchen at RedFork, the then-brand-new gastropub in Knox-Henderson. An alleged gas leak had forced a short closure, and discord was swelling among the staff. So it probably wasn’t a surprise when cook Ryan Carbery, on his way…
Would you hang out in a terrible space if the food proves worthy of a sonnet? I do it all the time for good tacos and barbecue. Would you put up with an over-cooked steak because your server dotes on your table through the evening? These are the thoughts that…
Turns out who you sup with could effect your waistline as much as when and what you eat. The Huffington Post points us to a recently released study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. In doing the study, researchers hoped to gain understanding of how body image and…
I’m not the biggest dessert person. It’s mostly the sweetness that gets to me, but also the portions at many restaurants, which are often over the top. Who needs a five-inch tall slice of chocolate cake after starters and mains? Dessert should be small and diminutive — like a tiny…
Pollo Campero is celebrating National Taco Day by rolling out a new line of tortillas stuffed with Peruvian grilled chicken, crispy seasoned chicken, fresh cooked bacon, panela cheese and salsas. All three Dallas locations of the International chain will offer a free Campero Chicken taco to diners all day today…
Most food holidays start with “National.” National Tequila Day and National Rum Day have both been marked on City of Ate in recent months. Tomorrow is National Taco Day, and if you’re inclined you can refer to this calendar, which demonstrates nearly every day of the year is devoted to…
I grew up in a rural area, and the state fair was pretty far away. Most years the county or 4-H fair was where I got my fix for funnel cakes and sheep shit. The theme is about the same, but the scale much smaller and the food selection was…
I’d been thinking that keeping an eye on the total amount of calories I consume, regardless of when I eat was the key from not gaining weight. Eat a huge meal here, skip one there and things will all balance out, right? Turns out a simple calorie count may not…
I know better than to bitch about my job; there are worse ways to make a living than getting paid to eat and write about it. But there are times when I’m feeling a little weighed down. I’ve eaten so many burgers, Reubens, and Cuban sandwiches looking for Dallas’ finest…
