I sat at the bar at DISH, trying to explain to my bartender what the last restaurant in DISH’s new space was like. Customers and servers swarmed around us like angry insects. A martini sloshed, and amber liquid swirled in a mixing glass. “It was called Soleo,” I told her…
This time of year, there is nothing better than diving face first into a stiff cocktail. The heat makes us cranky and tired, and generally the only salve for that is something made with vodka or gin. If the cocktail is truly refreshing, it will likely include a lot of…
In this week’s Dallas Observer we profile 20 of the metro area’s most interesting characters, with new portraits of each from local photographer Can Turkyilmaz. Look to the suburbs if you want to find good ethnic food. The rule holds true in most cities, and especially in Dallas, where if…
From the first taste of her grandmother’s boudin, Misti Norris knew she wanted to cook. “It blew my mind,” she says of the traditional Cajun sausage. “That’s one of the first things she taught me how to make.” She started learning everything she could about cooking and took her first…
I was all excited to tell you about my recent run-in with Darryl Strawberry, but the story is moot. I ordered the sundae pictured above recently at Remedy — it borrowed the famous baseball player’s name. I was going to use the sundae to tell you a story about my…
Grapevine’s HipPop wants you to pop it and lock it (without dropping it, preferably), even if the full onset of summer weather is a bit late this year. The store on Main St. is in its third year of business, but the Rapper’s Delights have been out in these streets…
As your thoughts shift to swimming pools, frozen cocktails and other ways to stay cool this summer, don’t forget the cold noodle dishes served at Asian restaurants like Tei An, La Han Bat and more around Dallas. Cold noodles are a great way to fill up without heating up, and…
Liza Garza and her partner Patton Roberts are opening a new restaurant downtown called Shelby Hall. Garza’s announcement contains no menu, no design info and no opening date, but it did contain this photo of Lisa Garza. Actually, there were a number of photos, but I liked this one the…
Dallasites love the outdoors. We mountain bike where no mountains are to be found, we awkwardly paddle board at White Rock lake, we even make attempts to salvage the Trinity River by pretending the water is clean enough for kayaking. Basically, we make the best of what’s around. What our…
I got a tip about a duck recently, and based on the source and the fact that I haven’t had great duck in ages, I heeded the man’s advice within days. If you’ve had great Peking duck, you know that it is a revelation and one of the world’s very…
Meet Monarch, the classic American wheat beer by Grapevine Brewing. The brewery’s attractive packaging has drawn me in again, this time with a stylized butterfly on a patriotic background of red and white stripes. The last time I took a look at one of their beers, it was the Lakefire…
Sidle up next to the well-heeled crowd at FT33’s long, marble bar, and you’ll quickly discover an array of exciting creations incubating in the bartenders’ laboratory. Whiskey ages in barrels by the window, mascerated lemon peels await Old Fashioneds and wisps of fog from liquid nitrogen-chilled cocktails float in the…
After a week filled with reschedules and delays, Nick Badovinus opened the doors of the new Off-Site Kitchen for the first time last Friday. Customers immediately spilled like running water through the front door and down a ramp to filled the dining room. The relocated Design District restaurant was supposed…
Growler use is becoming more widespread as the popularity of craft beer grows. As a result, no longer are breweries the only ones filling growlers as more and more growler-centric bars are turning on the taps in Dallas. Even Central Market and Whole Foods are getting into the game by…
The ubiquitous taco force surrounds DFW always, like a layer of cheese and a coating of salsa. The taco has become an overpriced art form at some boutique joints, which is well and good in its time and space, but for strict taco constitutionalists, taquerias are shrines to the simple…
Almost everything about little Texas Tapas is modest. Eleven bottles of liquor sit on a floating shelf behind the bar. Historic Dallas photos hang above. There’s one long granite bar, no beers on tap (a tall fridge has Deep Ellum cans and other bottles), and one big handful of tables…
Only an idiot would show up at The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek’s valet stand in a totally trashed Toyota Yaris, but there I was. Even those of us who don’t have trust funds or hedge funds or any kind of funds deserve the occasional dose of opulence, especially on…
Today, Pizza Hut will release an edible abomination into our midst. An unnatural beast created by a team of irresponsible do-badders. The Pizza Hut pizza will have a hot-dog-stuffed crust and will cost $12. As Jurassic Park’s Jeff Goldblum would say (imagine his giant Jeff Goldblum ears waving in the…
If you haven’t made the drive up to McKinney in a while, now may be the time to gas up your car. The quaint little town to our north is becoming almost as well known for its travel-worthy restaurants as it is for police assaults. The latest restaurant to open, which…
It’s hard opening a Mexican restaurant in a Tex-Mex town. Customers smell a whiff of cumin in the air and immediately expect frozen margaritas and free chips and salsa. Dallas has been serving up enchilada plates with refried beans for so long it’s taken over an entire culinary identity, which…
If you’ve loved chef Andrew Bell’s cuisine at a restaurant, he’s probably not there anymore. In the past few years, Bell has jumped from Bishop Arts’ farm-to-table mecca Bolsa to Highland Park’s haven for ladies who lunch, Bistro 31, leaving many to wonder what this talented, under-the-radar chef would do…
Fuel City, the gasoline-selling, taco-slinging, car-washing super station, will open a fourth location in Fort Worth. DFW.com reports owner John Benda says he hopes the location will be ready for next year’s summer driving season. In the meantime another Fuel City is expected to open in McKinney this fall. The…
