This past weekend I was on my way home from a relaxed evening in the Bishop Arts District. It was late and I was tired, but not so tired I couldn’t have been talked into staying out a little longer. As I rounded the corner of Beckley Avenue and stepped…
In her relative short time as executive chef of the former Hotel Palomar’s now-defunct restaurant Central 214, Blythe Beck quickly made a name for herself. Known as “The Naughty Chef” from both her Oxygen reality show and the combination of “booze, butter and bacon” that made her famous, Beck is…
If you’ve read anything about the Banh Shop, Yum! Brands’ test site for the development of a fast-casual, Vietnamese-inspired restaurant, you’ve probably read about the controversy surrounding their logo. The big red star perched above the garage doors at the front of the restaurant reminded Vietnamese expats of the communist…
If you haven’t paid a visit to Trinity Groves in a while, and you’re into such things, you might want to head back. A number of restaurants have opened recently as the back side of the main building continues to fill with incubating restaurant concepts. The latest is Cake Bar,…
To prepare for this fall’s Best of Dallas® 2014 issue, we’re counting down (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes. If there’s a dish you think we need to try, leave it in the comments, or email me. It’s the quintessential ending to just about anything: Something sweet that…
In “Shigging,” we ask barbecue experts to give us some specifics about how they smoke their meats. In the spirit of barbecue secretiveness and competitiveness, they’re allowed to lie once. This week, for Shigging, I’m doing something a little different, and speaking with a competitive barbecue champion. I’ve heard that…
This week The Washington Post published an article noting a trend towards smaller menus in large, corporate restaurants. The Olive Gardens and TGI Fridays, among others, have found increasing utility in streamlined menus, compared to their previous offerings, which literally read like a book covered with sticky honey mustard sauce…
Want to buy a variety of brand-name wine, beer, and liquor practically at cost? Or shop an almost unprecedented number of Texas-made whiskeys, craft beers, and wines? Or choose from thousands and thousands of alcoholic beverages, a selection that dwarfs almost every other retailer in the area? Then thank the…
To prepare for this fall’s Best of Dallas® 2014 issue, we’re counting down (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes. If there’s a dish you think we need to try, leave it in the comments, or email me. This is not your every day breakfast taco. Before Tamale House…
Saddled up to the bar at Dalat, I experienced a number of burger firsts. Hot bowls of noodles shuttled out of the kitchen under a big dragon that’s tattooed on the wall, and a guy at the bar sang along to A-ha’s “Take on Me.” I ordered the T&A Vietnamese…
To prepare for this fall’s Best of Dallas® 2014 issue, we’re counting down (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes. If there’s a dish you think we need to try, leave it in the comments, or email me. The best thing about Babe’s, no matter what location you visit,…
Follow the Cheap Bastard as she scours the city, looking for a good — or at least non-lethal — lunch for less than 10 bucks. Eight old dudes, sitting at a table near the back, had buckets of empty wine and were clearly mid-serious-slurred-conversation when I walked in. Cedars Mediterranean…
A week or two ago I was sitting at the bar at So&So’s and the Rangers game was on the television, high above my head. The Rangers were losing, something they’ve become increasingly known for this season, and I wondered what it would be like to take pitches as a…
Deep Ellum Wine Walk Participating Deep Ellum venues will open their doors tonight for the first-ever Wine Walk. This event is perfect for the art-lover whose resveratrol levels could use a little pick-me-up. For $5 you get a specially designed wine glass which will be topped off as you meander…
If The State Fair of Texas is Fried Christmas, Abel Gonzales Jr. is its Fried Jesus. The first year of the Big Tex Choice Awards, he won with Fried Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich. The second year, he won with Fried Coke. Third year: Fried Cookie Dough was his winner…
To prepare for this fall’s Best of Dallas® 2014 issue, we’re counting down (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes. If there’s a dish you think we need to try, leave it in the comments, or email me. Comfort food means different things to different people. Most of the…
Sometimes when a restaurant is struggling, all it needs is a new face to turn the whole thing around. In the short tenure of Chef Richard Gras, Oak went from earning four stars when Jason Maddy was chef to scoring only three from Dallas Morning News food critic Leslie Brenner…
Last night, as the Philadelphia Eagles stormed back against the Indianapolis Colts, and the ESPN hype machine kicked into high gear in support of the NFL, Jack MacDonald, the owner of Plano’s craft beer haven Jack Mac’s Swill and Grill, took to the restaurant’s facebook to proclaim his distaste for…
After the City of Dallas sold the Dallas Farmers Market off to a private entity, market goers were promised big changes. When the market reopened on September 1, it was a little difficult to tell what exactly had changed. Shed 2, the former home of Pecan Lodge, is completely closed…
The dessert sales at Trinity Groves restaurants could take a major hit this Thursday when Cake Bar opens. The dessert bar and retail shop will sell traditional, southern-style cakes and confections for customers to eat on-site or take with them to go. In an effort to be a well-rounded fatness…
To prepare for this fall’s Best of Dallas® 2014 issue, we’re counting down (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes. If there’s a dish you think we need to try, leave it in the comments, or email me. Truth be told a good biscuit is best with just a…
TJ’s Seafood isn’t exactly new to Dallas. It started in 1989 at Preston and Forest, serving up seafood out of a fish case. A few years ago, they expanded to the Oak Lawn area and added a dine-in restaurant component to their business. Now, they’ve shuttered the original TJ’s Seafood…
