On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.”Arnold Layne had a strange hobby/Collecting clothes/Moonshine, washing line/They suit him fine” OK, so what in the name of Pink Floyd does a song about a dirty old Brit have to do with a Canary…
If Vimeo isn’t cooperating, or if you prefer, you can check out the video here on YouTube.In keeping with this year’s “We Can Do It!” theme, focused on people doing great things in Dallas in the middle of a rough year for the country, Dave’s story in the Best of…
Each week the Dude Food guys assess the ‘masculinity’ of Dallas area dives. The more fried meat and junk on the walls, the better the rating…The Grill At Reno’s212 N. Crowdus St.214-295-5869Dude Factor: 10, or Dr. Emmett Brown, on a scale of 1 (George McFly) to 10I’m not a cocktail…
If Memory Serves chronicles moments from my dining past.Eating in the Baltics is a series of gut-wrenching, ‘please let dinner end’ experiences punctuated by a few surprising moments when you think nothing could be better.For example, I barely survived a dish they call ‘zeppelins’–in this particular case a heavy mound…
For vegans, the State Fair of Texas can be a hellish experience. All those not-even-close-to-vegan fried concoctions, waddling crowds and poor, enslaved farm animals make us want to punch people in the tundra they carry ’round their waistbands…and we’re not typically violent sorts. Despite all those sad pigs in bins,…
John and Carol Ryan have always wanted to open up their own wine place. Their dreams have come true in Denton. Well, almost.The place isn’t quite open. And another possible setback comes to mind right away. Although its outward appearance is alluring (maybe Vigne should be called Little Italy with…
Some have noticed that we use “corn dog” instead of “corny dog.”There are a few good (and at least one rather pointless) reasons for this. As far as we understand things, corny dog is part of the Fletcher’s brand and corn dog refers to the object in general. Before either…
OK, so you gotta have a corn dog. And you’d kick yourself if you didn’t try one of this year’s fried novelties.But the big event offers more than a line up of stick foods and wild creations. In amongst monotonous stalls selling Fletcher’s dogs, bagged cotton candy and grease-crusted Snickers…
Mardi Gras2720 N. Stemmons Fwy214-634-9669Three things that are difficult to figure, at first glance. Is it called Gators Mardi Gras or just plain old Mardi Gras? Their Website suggests the former, but everything else points to the truncated name. And just where the hell is this place? Until you pull…
There’s really nothing all that special about corn dogs. They are just pale, cheap sausages propped on sticks and wrapped in cornmeal. Yet Texans by the thousands–or more like tens of thousands–will shell out the equivalent of $4 for a sample of one at the state fair.Of course, it could…
This time around we hit the likes of Wang’s, New Big Wong and Piggie Pies. Under the circumstances, I think we showed remarkable restraint. It could have been the quarter we reverted to sophomoric dick jokes. As it turned out, a couple of these inched their way into our big…
Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen is known for its comfort food items like pot roast, meatloaf and biscuits and gravy. The menu also gives a nod to the locavore trend. Well, at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, the restaurant will be the site of a dinner built around the ultimate comfort food–beer–from a…
This probably won’t shock anyone: I didn’t see Central 214 chef Blythe Beck’s television debut in The Naughty Kitchen.I did hand the preview copy over to one of our writers, who made it part way through the opening episode before, as this writer put it, “her [Beck’s] annoying voice forced…
Something came to the office this week that would make a fantastic prize–if only I could remember what it was and where I put it. If I find whatever it was in Wilonsky’s office (where my bag of Oak Cliff Coffee ended up somehow), I’ll be pissed.So, once again, we…
This bitter liqueur has been produced in five countries, been purchased by a French enterprise and fought it out in court against its original owners–without the distillery ever leaving the town of Karlovy Vary.Which means Becherovka is like a cork tossed around by modern European history. A brief history before…
Oak Cliff native Andrew Bell has worked for the past two decades exclusively in fine dining, but two weeks ago he opened a casual barbecue joint in downtown, Dr. Bell’s BBQ. “I was looking anywhere there was cheap rent because I was looking to serve inexpensive food,” said Bell, sitting…
You may not be in Dublin, New York City, Kuala Lumpur or any of the other cities holding official Arthur’s Day celebrations today. But that doesn’t mean you have to feel left out of the party.Not to be confused with the annual Great Guinness Toast every February 13, which is…
So this week our Best of Dallas issue hits the stand. Last night the staff of your Dallas Observer got together at Trees for a little celebratory shindig, wherein we imbibed, ate, listened to live music and watched tasseled titties. What? Yeah. There were burlesque dancers. Seeing as how this…
This week Dave takes a bite out of Si Tapas and Spanish Cuisine’s bite-size fare, in the Dish review you’ll find here.For another colorful look around the joint, check out Sara Kerens’ slideshow of the food and the atmosphere at Si Tapas…
Is there really a difference? When commercials can only boast of “drinkability” and just how tongue-numbingly cold the beer should be served, one assumes that the actual taste of the beer is beside the point. I decided (after some urging from Dave–those “marketing goons” with their Amstel Light were kind…
Terranova Cafe(Doubletree Hotel)2015 Market Center Blvd.214-741-7481With the exception of, say, The Mansion or Nana, most hotel restaurants are a difficult sell. They are the purview of unimaginative old folks, frumpy business travelers and the occasional troubled loner. Maybe that’s why someone–I think on Doubletree’s end–called me to talk up their…
A lot of people give vegans shit about eating fake meats. But should trannies at the Grapevine really talk? Probably not. My friend Sara and I hit the Grapevine Bar last night to celebrate her last two days in Dallas. That meant gettin’ crazy on the court, downing too many…
