When Michael Martensen and the rest of his crew at the restaurant group Misery Loves Co. announced they would be opening Madrina, a new high-end restaurant in Highland Park, they were at the top of their game. Their previous effort Proof + Pantry enjoyed a packed dining room, invigorated by…
There’s a phrase I’d like to reserve for the future, before it’s claimed: burger vacation. It should refer to the wildly enjoyable time a person takes off, removed from the company of smart electronics (and possibly other people), to bond emotionally with a double cheeseburger. While good burgers are common…
The Falafel Invasion has begun. Vertskebap, at the intersection of Walnut Hill Lane and Central Expressway (plus three locations in the suburbs) is the first of a series of fast-food falafel joints opening in Dallas. And the food at Vertskebap sets a high bar for its followers, while still pointing…
When Armoury D.E. first opened earlier this year, the few Hungarian dishes added to the menu felt like an experiment. Owner Peter Novotny noticed that Hungarian restaurants were popular in Chicago and other towns to the north but nonexistent in Dallas. He thought there was no reason similar plates shouldn’t…
We all have a list of things we say we’re going to learn how to do, from making souffles to building an icy emotional wall between ourselves and our loved ones. For those of you who have learning how to home-brew on your list, here’s the perfect event for you:…
Dallas’ first flirtation with Melt Ice Creams was brief. Kari Crowe opened a second location of her popular Fort Worth-based ice cream shop in the Urban Acres space in Oak Cliff, only to watch the grocery close down a few weeks later. The local food business can be difficult here…
It should be well known that one of the best things you can do for yourself is put your face over a steaming bowl of pho. Pho is clearly the spa of the gods: Rich broth (that fatty pork flavor that deepens with the bowl); chiles that crackle and burn…
If there is one thing Dallas doesn’t have, well, any of, it’s British cuisine. We have pubs, but no legit places to find bangers n’ mash. Now, though, you can find the best of Britain’s contributions to the baking world at the Dallas Farmers Market. There may not be a…
Since opening in the Shops of Highland Park this September, Madrina has confidently elbowed its way onto most every “hot new” restaurant list. Why? Part of the draw has to be chef Julio Peraza’s French-inspired Mexican cuisine, which has been pared down to the catchy term “French-Mex.” It’s an intriguing…
Let me paint a picture for you. It’s raining, but you don’t care because you’re tucked in at the bar at CiboDivino with a glass of jammy red wine in your hand. The weather’s not quite cold, but it’s cool enough that your favorite flannel shirt — the one that’s…
Fall is officially here. We’ve had rain, full weeks below 80 degrees and an influx of gourds and pomegranates in our grocery stores. Restaurants all over Dallas are embracing autumn by whipping up seasonal dishes, with winter squash starring in many special menu items. If you love all things pumpkin…
Downtown McKinney hasn’t been known as a place for culinary excellence, but that’s about to change. With the arrival of restaurants such as Sugarbacon and the Dallas dining scene’s ever present moves north, soon we will all start hauling up Central Expressway for an interesting dinner. But why wait? Patina…
Downtown Denton is now home to a 24-hour diner. Detroit based Dix Coney Island moved in to the Scripture building and offers a variety of traditional American diner foods. Want chili-cheese fries at 4 a.m.? No problem. (Well, maybe a problem when you wake up.) Blueberry pancakes at midnight? They’ve got you. Pastrami…
“Brisket-stuffed onion rings.” They sound like the State Fair’s idea of an unholy miracle. Or like a mad scientist decided to start randomly mashing together all your favorite unhealthy foods. “Cookie dough pie! Bacon grilled cheese tacos! Sriracha guacamole lasagna!” But brisket-stuffed onion rings are a real thing. They’re a…
Uber Eats hit the streets of Dallas for the first time yesterday, giving office workers in a limited coverage area surrounding downtown access to new lunch options. The service fills cars equipped with hotboxes with meals from a rotating cast of local restaurants and stations them around the city. The…
What better way to celebrate International Stout Day than with a flight of stouts? We could think of a few things, included but not limited to: replacing all of the water in Niagra Falls with stout beer, watching a synchronized swimming team execute their moves in a pool of stout…
OK, we admit it. Shed 2 isn’t looking all that hot this second. But if you can suspend disbelief and find a little inspiration in the smells of fresh sawdust, you can start to glean what the new anchor for the Dallas Farmers Market will look like. Rex’s says they…
Rex’s Seafood and Chop House, the much-anticipated expansion of the original Rex’s, opened in Lakewood last week. If you’ve been to the Lovers/Inwood location, you pretty much know what to expect. The new location features similar chalkboard specials, the same Fridays-only lobster rolls, a small market where you can purchase…
Thanksgiving is just weeks away, and restaurants are releasing their annual take home Thanksgiving meal menus. Before we get too far, I feel I should admit I am against this sort of thing. The best way to celebrate the best food holiday of the year is to cook something and…
Surrounding double cheeseburgers, there’s always the jokes about arteries and marathons. Double cheesburgers are “heart-stopping” or “artery clogging” or “demon summoning.” I’m may be wrong about the last one. A double cheeseburger, by some miracle of mathematics, feels 4,000 percent worse on the nutritional shame scale than a single cheeseburger…
The last time I ate a fancied-up chicken-fried steak, I was at Tillman’s Roadhouse, where someone thought battered and fried filet mignon was a good way to command a higher price for a humble plate. The breading came loose the second my knife descended, revealing soft, medium-cooked meat. Red juices…
Ah, the chain restaurant. For decades a modern food movement has been pushing back against corporate processed food purveyors by embracing cuisine that requires fresh ingredients and care. Slow food is good for the environment, good for farmers and good for us, too, but all of this farm-to-table cookery neglects…
