Michelle learned to love ramen as a teenager, growing up in Singapore and traveling around Asia with her family. Brian is newer to the scene: He didn’t even try instant ramen in college. Together, they’re hunting for DFW’s best ramen. The Shop: Maki Boy in Irving The Atmosphere: A Christmas…
When watching soccer, it’s typically a fine idea to have a pint or two in hand, and it’s best to do it at one of DFW’s many European-style pubs. For the most part, these pubs are open early on Saturday and Sunday mornings, sometimes as early as 7, to accommodate…
I didn’t leave for Marfa with the highest expectations when it came to dining. Recommendations for art exhibits and hot springs and other attractions fell out of every face I told I was headed to the tiny West Texas town for vacation. When I asked where to eat, they mostly…
Time has been unkind to purveyors and fans of freshly mixed sodas and malts. Most soda shops have closed, beaten to death by decades of increased rents and changing tastes. What’s left always seems to come up flat — a collection of short cuts and cheap ingredients dumped together into…
The Buzzbrews planned for the old Mecca space on the corner of Skillman Street and Live Oak is expected to open around the end of March. If The Mecca’s performance was any indication, the folks at Buzzbrews will have their work cut out for them. The Mecca came to East…
There is culinary innovation happening on all levels, especially in the world of fast-casual concepts that seek to serve a healthier product to a discerning clientele. That’s why we’ve seen spots like LYFE Kitchen, SNAP Kitchen, and others offer chef-driven food without all the butter and cream of the fine-dining…
Before he died this week, local veggie whisperer Tom Spicer was working on a new space next to Garden Café, where he planned to host a BYOB dinner every Thursday this month. The March 5 menu included choucroutes, quiche Loraine, Plat au fromages, fried okra over salad greens and Peach…
Whether it’s a 50-year tradition that leaves no choice in the matter, regional availability or a staunch preference for the specific taste derived from one wood or another, Dallas pitmasters have smoking-hot takes on which wood brings the wood in the great creosote debate. A true post-oak disciple, Lockhart Smokehouse…
We’ve maybe been guilty of overhyping the opening of Brian Luscher’s meat heaven in Deep Ellum, but only because we’re really excited about this sausage. Finally, after over a year of waiting, Luscher’s has opened its doors. We were there on Opening Day to report back. The exterior of the…
While it is true that Dallas doesn’t have the bustling Asian cuisine community that exists in cities like New York and San Francisco, too many people are quick to say that Dallas just doesn’t have any good Chinese (or Thai, or Japanese) restaurants. You may have to look outside of…
“I just want basic security doing what I love and want to share. Peace-out — Spice” That was the last line of the final message I’ll ever receive from Tom Spicer. Looking at it now, it seems as fitting as it does eerie…
If there is anyone to credit for Dallas’ appetite for locally grown produce, it’s Tom Spicer. His impossibly peppery arugula, foraged mushrooms and other garden delights have been staples on fine dining menus for the past several years, and Spicer established himself as one of the city’s fiercest advocates for…
Despite plenty of skepticism, the trend of local, organic, sustainable food seems to be one that’s sticking around. We’re all happy to plunk down the extra few bucks at a grocery store or restaurant for organic ingredients, which is probably good considering how much other garbage we eat and drink…
It was Day 2 of Dallas’ #SLEETSHOW2015. I wore a hoodie; he wore athletic gear. We met in a storefront restaurant in Richardson, and we were, I think, the only people there without Asian heritage. Together, we slurped our way through fine Taiwanese fare while I pondered what the Year…
If you’ve been to the new and improved Dallas Farmers Market in recent months, you’ve probably noticed that Shed 2, former home to Pecan Lodge and Ain’t No Mo Butter Cakes (I miss you dearly, mini butter cakes), has been undergoing renovations since the market officially relaunched in the middle…
As someone who grew up going to steakhouses with floors littered with peanut shells and decorated with old license plates, I appreciate the simplicity and straightforwardness of a place like Dunston’s Steakhouse. The steaks are prime, the walls are unfinished, and the atmosphere is like a fancier Golden Corral, complete…
Brian Luscher is a guy who knows how to build hype, even if he always somehow manages to fly under the radar. His much-anticipated hot dog joint Luscher’s has been in the works for nearly two years now — probably longer in that culinary genius brain of his — and…
The creators of Company Cafe and Dallas’ beloved gluten-free chicken-fried steak have decided to take on smoked meats. They opened Back Home Barbecue on Ross Avenue earlier this month in the old Yin’s Wok space, and I checked it out this week. The building has been spruced up but spared…
The list of food things that could potentially be harmed by increased carbon emissions is growing, and the latest addition really hits where it hurts. A new report in Nature Climate Change suggests oysters, mussels and other delicious bivalves could be threatened by the carbon we keep pumping into the…
I haven’t seen this face in a while. I tell my waitress I want the “loud puppies,” an almost-funny take on hush puppies that uses jalapeño to turn up the volume. She grimaces, subtly. Without saying a word her message is obvious: Don’t order the loud puppies. I get the…
Careful thought is put into even Dallas’ seemingly simple cheeseburgers. Take the one at Boulevardier, where sherry vinaigrette dresses the tomatoes and lettuce to make them less boring. Off-Site Kitchen’s burgers are smashed onto the grill for that impactful sear. On Knife’s hot grills, a flurry of salt and pepper…
Pop Diner opened to significant fanfare a little more than two years ago. The space was filled with Lichtenstein-esque prints and head shots of pop stars. The walls were bright red, the music was loud and the place was open 24 hours. It was just the sort of diner Uptown…
