If you haven’t noticed, after a few days of doom and gloom the sun was shining outside. It’s a good day for some patio drinking, if you know what I’m saying. Don’t get out there too soon though. We’ve got a week to wrap up, first, and this has been…
The addition of Jerry’s Wood-Fired Dogs to the shopping center on Gaston Avenue, just north of Paulus Avenue, has me considering a petition the strip be officially called Junk Food Row. The hot dog restaurant joins Papa John’s and the Philly Connection, and while the Cock and Bull may have…
With Zest Fest on the horizon, my eyes are a little more attuned to chili-related news. A post on the Smithsonian Food and Think blog seems a perfect primer to the upcoming festivities. See Also: -Zest Fest Returns to Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas -I Ate the World’s Hottest…
How About We has been spreading VD one date at a time with the innovative idea that users propose a specific and simple activity for a first date. The idea is that simple activities make for good icebreakers and possibly prevent painful first date marathons. For instance, proposing “how about…
It’s almost that time of year again. Zest Fest is returning to Irving, and I have to say, I’ve been talking about a repeat visit to this capsaicin convention for at least six months now. My friends grew sick of my antics sometime back in October, but I can’t help…
Nearly every chicken-fried steak I’ve been served in Dallas has committed a single, fatal sin. Nothing is more upsetting than plunging your fork and knife into the crunchy exterior of a breaded and fried steak only to have the coating slough off in a sheet. See also: – This Week’s…
You had to think most people who choose running a kitchen as a professional aspiration must be at least a little unstable. Who would willingly sign up for low pay, long hours and the constant complaints of diners who know nothing about your creative passion, all in an environment with…
Ellen’s Southern Kitchen and I got off to a great start. Sitting at the bar, I had a nice conversation with what seemed like half the restaurant staff. I drank an ice-cold beer while waiting for my entrees and was alerted to the stuffed jalapeños the kitchen was working on…
Since we have been talking puffy tacos here on City of Ate, I had to point out this article I had sent to me from Tasting Table in Los Angeles about a new Tex-Mex restaurant that recently opened. See also: – Tracking Down the Origin of Dallas’ “Puffy” Tacos Bar…
I’ve been searching for this for quite some time. One of the greatest beverage combinations in the history of mankind (better than both chocolate added to milk, and beer added to hot sauce), is a nice pint of Guinness doctored with a freshly pulled shot of espresso. The flavor combination…
Gut bombs frighten me. I have enough of a food handicap because of my line of work, but professions aside, I’m not so good with self control when it comes to eating. I’ve been known on more than one occasion to follow the Louis C.K. school of consumption mechanics: I…
First, let’s slow down. Every time I write about the service industry, I catch the ire of bartenders and waitstaff who want me tarred and feathered for my thoughts on issues like bottle popping, steak cutting and valet parking. Let’s frame this blog post by saying this idea assumes that…
Yesterday on the Eats Blog, Leslie Brenner published a blog post about an yet-to-be named bar to be opened by Michael Martensen and Brian Williams, who own Cedars Social. The duo made news last October when they announced a new oyster bar, dubbed the Establishment, which was slated to open…
A recent article on Culture Map has caused a small ripple on the Internet. Teresa Gubbins’ story on Slow Bone BBQ, the upcoming restaurant from Jack Perkins, was filled with the confident, and perhaps cocky, language the burger-meister has become known for. “You can master this process fairly quickly,” said…
The Loon is a drinker’s bar. Walk in at noon and there will already be a handful of barflies perched on stools and muscling their way through their first stiff drinks — some may even be on their second. A guy to my right during a recent visit pulled a…
On my last trip to Austin, I was lucky enough to stumble into Tamale House before driving back home to Dallas. I’d read about the hole in the wall in The New York Times, but my friends who have spent time in Austin all tell me the taqueria is old…
It’s over. All those special occasion dishes, all the festive cocktails, they’re all gone. It’s that time of year when were forced to come back to our desks and actually work, even if our desk tops have been pushed a little further away from our faces by a growing holiday…
Every day is a food holiday. There are calendars that compile lists of foods to celebrate and not one day is left out. Some of the holidays are real and recognized by the government, and some are purely fictional, but they always give us an excuse to to consume, write…
While working on my review of Cook Hall, I kept wondering if the restaurant would draw the consistent crowd that eluded Craft. Craft closed earlier this year because of slow sales and a concept that didn’t really suit the neighborhood. Cook Hall swept in to counter these problems with a…
It’s hard to sit at the bar at Cook Hall and not feel at least a little disappointment. On its surface the new restaurant, which slipped into the W Hotel earlier this fall, solved many of the problems of its predecessor. Craft was a beautiful place with stunning food. Through…
Last February I saw a blog post announcing McDonald’s latest and greatest offering. Fish McBites were introduced at the start of Lent to give Catholics a way to torture themselves through Easter Sunday. I ordered a small cardboard container of the fish nuggets and ate two or three before I…
Not upscale, not pretentious, no cute food. Rodeo Goat’s tagline fits it quite well, even if it does nothing to describe what the restaurant actually is. The Fort Worth burger joint opened at the end of November at the hand of Sam Wynne, the man behind the Meddlesome Moth and…
