Until about a year ago in Dallas, a local distillery, brewery or brewpub taproom was a great place to while away an afternoon. Most were family-friendly during the day, several had nice patios and many hosted pop-ups or food trucks for special events. Then came the pandemic and a roller…
When the pandemic hit, Alex Nguyen and Vivian Luu not only missed boba tea, but more particularly the social aspects that surround it. “For Americans, it’s coffee,” Luu says. “But for Asians, it’s getting boba. We missed time with our family and friends and getting boba. So, we started having…
Brothers Dane and Travis Boersma, founders of Dutch Bros. Coffee, were third-generation dairy farmers before dabbling in the coffee drive-thru business. According to their website, in 1992 they “bought a double-head espresso machine, cranked up the stereo, threw open the barn doors and started experimenting with 100 pounds of beans.”…
Easter is almost here, and if you don’t want to spend the day in the kitchen, we made a list of great restaurants with dine-in and takeout options for you. But even if you’ve decided to astonish family with your culinary skills, your meal won’t be complete without treats and…
Nachos and laughter spilled over picnic tables and patios in the Bishop Arts District this weekend. Near-perfect weather, spring break vibes and maybe a few stimulus checks hitting bank accounts had people out not in droves, but in a mild-mannered been-cooped-up-too-long way. Other factors, like low COVID-19 hospitalization rates and…
The pressure’s on at Encina. This new restaurant a few blocks west of the Bishop Arts District opened in October, seven months into the pandemic, with high expectations. It replaces Bolsa, a beloved neighborhood hangout that drew crowds into the same space for almost 12 years. Now Bolsa is gone,…
On Saturday driving along Interstate 30, west toward Fort Worth, there was a line of cars stretching half a mile along the feeder road, reminiscent of food pantry lines from last year. Puffs of smoke billowed into the sky near a red tent in a parking lot. Turkey Leg Hut…
Hawaiian food is having a moment in the local culinary scene. The tiki bar Swizzle on Lowest Greenville serves traditional Hawaiian plates alongside rum-laden drinks adorned with purple flowers. There are Hawaiian doughnuts, malasadas, (the doughnut for people who don’t like doughnuts) at the Dallas Farmers Market. And it was…
If brunch is the way you celebrate any ordinary Sunday, then your Easter brunch should be extraordinary. That’s certainly not difficult to accomplish in Dallas, and with restaurants open at 100% capacity, you’ll have plenty of choices when deciding where to celebrate. We’ve curated a dozen outstanding options with a…
Tucked under the burgeoning pile of craft barbecue spots in Texas are a fair number of old-school barbecue joints that still do a bustling business in their own neighborhoods. Many of these establishments have been around for ages, and have a devout following that doesn’t rely on a shiny Instagram…
Normally during the springtime Dallasites are thigh-deep in galas raising money for nonprofits. It’s a local pastime of sorts. But as we’ve written so many times in the past 12 months, things have turned. Alas, there are still essential nonprofits that rely largely on fundraising and are crucial to the…
Running a restaurant or any food industry business isn’t for the easily fatigued. The competitive nature requires an exhausting amount of diligence. Social media can be a cruel monster. Business can turn on a dime. It can also be a beautiful way to connect with people, share a passion, be…
Even if it never occurred to you to wrap a spicy boudin sausage in sweet, fluffy bread and eat it for breakfast, you may find yourself nodding vigorously at the idea. It’s quite a good idea, and you can make it a reality at Cajun Donuts II in Garland. While…
If you can’t pin down how long you’ve been longing for a vacation, you’re not alone. But if you’re imaginative, a trip to Costa Rica could be as close as your next coffee break. Born and raised in Costa Rica in a family that’s been in the coffee business for…
FireHouse Gastro Park opened along Main Street in Grand Prairie almost two years ago and seems to have flown under the radar, maybe because of COVID. As the name implies, the multifunction space is built in an old fire station and includes a coffee shop, restaurant, two outdoor areas (one…
After the Valentine’s freeze, it’s hard to imagine that a farmers market could endure right now. “Mother nature just keeps punching us in the gut,” says Bobby Bever of Highway 19 Produce in Athens. Just this year he’d slid all his chips to the center of the table to become…
A new food truck park has opened at 1716 N. Hall St. in Old East Dallas. Chuckwagon Park will host a revolving lineup of food trucks, and to kick things off this weekend they’ll be giving out free beer from Celestial Brewing with any $10 purchase. And that, my friends,…
This past Sunday, Picadera, a local Dominican street food pop-up set up shop in the courtyard of Deep Ellum Distillery. A DJ played Latin-inspired hip-hop as customers, most wearing at least one piece of clothing with the Dominican flag, worked through paper boats of ginormous chicken sandwiches. They were celebrating Dominican…
As we found out last year, not having a huge all-day celebration of booze and green food coloring can cause an existential crisis for some of us. But instead of throwing a superspreader parade and parties this year, local businesses are spreading St. Patrick’s Day festivities over a few weeks…
Remember last December when we all looked back over 2020 and told ourselves that surely 2021 couldn’t be any worse? Try not to mention that if you stop off for smoky brisket at Heim Barbecue, where February’s winter storm damage was followed up this week by a visit from a…
On March 8, 2020, a crowd converged on Four Corners Brewing Co. for a festival dedicated to Filipino food. Popular, rising-star pop-up businesses run by Filipino-American chefs with day jobs served more than a thousand customers that day. At 2 p.m., the wait for a bowl of noodles was 50…
OK, fine: Downtown Dallas has a new steakhouse, Nusr-Et, which charges up to $1,000 to grill you a steak and then theatrically bounce too much salt off somebody’s body and onto your meal. Are you happy? Nusr-Et is a global chain of 18 ultra-expensive steakhouses in cities like New York,…
