Each week, the Cheap Bastard goes looking for a new place to eat lunch for less than nine million dollars. This week: Urbano Cafe. Number of available parking spots in front of the restaurant: -∞ Hungry people sitting at tables waiting for their food and giving me the stink-eye as…
If you’re going to the State Fair of Texas, it’s a given that you have to try the fried bubble gum and fried salsa and definitely obviously the fried buffalo chicken in a flapjack on a stick, plus all the other fried foods that were Big Tex Choice Awards finalists…
Behind the counter of every Taco Bell, there’s a slew of people who fancy themselves champions of food, but once a year in Lewisville, the real champions arrive, ready to relieve suburban Dallas of its tamale population. Last Saturday was yet another such occasion, with a healthy roster of new…
I know better, more flavorful beers exist. When I go to the Meddlesome Moth I always ask for something tart and rustic. Not the sour lambics loaded with fruit, but the naturally fermented old world beers with a lot of funk. I love sour beers with musty and barnyard flavors…
Yesterday Chef Nico Sanchez of Meso Maya told City of Ate a bit about his background. In part two of our interview, we learn his thoughts on the Dallas food scene, particularly Tex-Mex, and the simple art of actually Mexican Mexican food. What are your three favorite restaurants in Dallas?…
This Sunday, October 2, chef Kent Rathbun of Abacus, Jasper’s and Blue Plate Kitchen, and his wife, Tracy, will host their eighth annual Art Party benefiting the Dallas Division of March of Dimes. The event will feature works by local artists along with gourmet food and drinks. “Together with these…
Chandeliers run down the dining room hall, casting a warm light on walls lined with barn boards floor to ceiling, wooden deer trophies and end-grain tables. The space would seem mundane if not for the occasional well-chosen splashes of color. Lush red velvet pads the seat backs of a bench…
Bitches don’t like to hunt for parking spaces when they’re hungry. And by “bitches,” I mean “me.” It pisses me off when restaurants build themselves and don’t build parking spots. “Hey, let’s open a restaurant that serves up super delicious food in Dallas! How many parking spots? I dunno, let’s…
You can’t put lipstick on a pig. Well I suppose you could, but then we’d have another set of issues to discuss. At any rate, this is the phrase that jumped into my head when I tore into the chicken-fried steak at Tillman’s Roadhouse a few weeks ago. The kitchen…
To celebrate its 40th year nuking our insides with caffeine, Starbucks has worked with designer Alexander Wang on an $85 T-shirt that looks like you spilled coffee all over it. NBC DFW reported yesterday that the shirts are available at Nordstrom’s, or Starbucks obviously, where they’ll throw in a real…
It’s tough being a gulf oyster. The BP oil spill devastated Louisiana oyster beds, and then a historic Texas drought reduced river flows into Galveston Bay, seriously increasing the bay’s salinity. Predators and disease are thriving and threatening the already hobbled industry. Now the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality has…
Debbie Hays, from BW’s Famous Fried Ribs at the State Fair of Texas, tells me she’s been serving up fried ribs at the fair for 24 years. Twenty-four freaking years? How the dong have I never had these things? Hays says, “Seriously, how have you not tried them? They’re not…
Island Spot is a new vendor at the State Fair of Texas this year and along with this open-flame-grilled jerk chicken, jerk sausage (note: it’s on the menu as “jerk sausage,” not “the hand job” or “the hanje”) and jerk tofu (for all you vegetarians), they’re serving up — wait…
In preparation for Greek Fest I was warned: “Beware of bees with your loukomades.” The fried dough balls, dripping with honey, seemed the perfect attractor for a violet swarm. I pictured myself going all Chris Farley as I ran through the festival. Bees! There were no bees, though. I ate…
When Mike Kearns, owner of El Fenix, set about opening an authentic, regional Mexican food restaurant in Dallas, he tapped Nico Sanchez, who’d spent his youth working and traveling throughout Mexico and learning about regional foods. The resulting restaurant, Meso Maya, has been open for just over a month but…
“I’ll put my dumplings up against anybody’s.” — Cindy Gifford Gifford’s confidence in her dumplings at The Eatery in Haltom City, which she and her husband own, is borderline scandalous, yet enticing. They offer a menu full of traditional home-cooked meals, all made from scratch, but their dumplings are their…
Gorditas Doña Tota is a chain restaurant out of Mexico that serves, you guessed it, gorditas, and just yesterday they opened their northern-most restaurant on Jefferson Boulevard in Oak Cliff. It all began more than 50 years ago when Carlota Murillo started selling her homemade street sandwiches out of a…
The commercial breaks during Monday Night Football are an utter beat-down. That’s my game analysis. Now for the food. Following are five highlights from tailgating and inside Jerry’s world: 1. Hans Yoo of Plano made the above from-scratch paella on a sidewalk, with everything he needed in one brown grocery…
“Good Beer, Uncommonly Poor Food.” The headline did not leave a lot to be desired when Hanna Raskin penned a scathing review of the gastro pub last summer. Browning lettuce in salads and greasy stringy pork crowned a menu described as ranging from unpleasant to horrific. Owner Corey Pond undoubtedly…
The AP reported Monday that the creator of Doritos, Arch West, passed away in Dallas on Tuesday. West’s daughter told the Dallas Morning News that the family plans on “tossing Doritos chips in before they put dirt over the urn.” We’re so sad to hear about the passing of the…
Pho is everywhere. The piping hot, spice-laden broth filled with noodles, various meats and garnishes has become the darling of Asian soups and for good reason. When prepared right it’s transcendent. But don’t let its ubiquity pigeon-hole you into a Pho-only rut. Throw your palate a change-up and head to…
This past Friday I zipped over to Central Market and sat in on a beer tasting event with Greg Engert. The class was part of Brewtopia, a marketing event touting discounted beers and tastings that ends September 27. Engert’s class used various cheeses to demonstrate how to pair beer with…
