Who knew this writing-about-barbecue thing would lead to shoulder-rubbing with the upper-most layer of Dallas’ upper-crust elite this quickly? I was invited into the secret cabal of about 30 judges for Friday’s Big D BBQ Battle, which regrettably had to be cut short due to rain at about 7 p.m…
See if you can count the red flags in this sentence: A Detroit native wanted to clue Texans in on authentic Mexican tacos, so eight months ago he opened a joint in Southlake called Frezko, where 80s rock and pop greets the lunch crowd alongside an Aztec Sun Stone mural…
Zero Hour was for typing. It was middle school in the ’90s, and a couple of days a week I was in “zero hour” class, which meant it was before-the-sun early, and involved typing meaningless phrases to bolster my words-per-minute score. A sheet of paper rested over the tops of…
Strip mall restaurants rarely make great first impressions, but the recently resurrected Mr. Max in Irving seems to go out of its way to ward off all but the most determined diners. The tiny restaurant is tucked behind a doughnut shop and a computer repair store in an under-lit and…
Gavin Cleaver is the former web editor and clueless barbecue correspondent of the Dallas Observer. He lives in England Great Britain the UK somewhere over there ——> Hello from overseas. I hear you’ve been having some weather. Well, I’m here to inform all of you that you are now considered…
When we first announced that Omar Flores was going to take on Matt McCallister at this year’s Dallas Observer Iron Fork event, the event was already shaping up to be a great one. El Come Taco had signed on as a participant for the first time, and some of my…
A specific hook carried me into Longoria’s on my last trip to the corrugated-metal meat mansion in Everman. Owner David Longoria added pulled pork to his eclectic menu a little over a month ago, and by this time had mastered the new offering, making it time, once again, to check…
Dallas: The land of real barbecue and fuck-yeah tacos. A place where figuring out where you want to go to lunch takes at least 10 minutes every day because you and your coworker get into a face-punch fight over which burger is the best burger in Dallas. But, when you’re…
Welcome to Dallas, Yucatan Taco Stand (2023 Greenville Ave), though you’re not really a stand at all. You’re a full blown restaurant complete with a copper-clad bar, a spacious patio and enough tequila to erase any memory that you or any other taco stand ever existed, ever. See also: BBBop…
Yet another Trinity Groves restaurant opened this week. The culinary hatchery filled out the final space on the front of the main building, just past Resto Gastro Bistro, with a new taqueria called Sugar Skull Cafe. It’s the first restaurant in Trinity Groves to specialize in breakfast food alongside lunch…
Have you ever been to a community or town festival, smelled wood, smoke and meat, gotten hyped, then suffered the ultimate disappointment when told you couldn’t have any of what was cookin’? Sadly, this is the experience of many attendees of barbecue cook-offs around the great state of Texas. When…
Think about the last time you stopped in a convenience store. Maybe you needed a pack of cigarettes (those things will kill you, you know), or bought a few Powerball tickets (those things never win, you know). Maybe you were hungry, and grabbed a questionable looking hot dog (those things…
To the untrained eye, it might look like some sort of culinary concession. The Styrofoam container holds two tamales swimming in meat sauce that suspiciously resembles the chili ladled over enchiladas throughout Texas by the ton. There’s even cheese melted on the surface, and the whole thing would look right…
We are generally skeptical of menu items labeled “poppers.” I mean, we’re not doing any first looks at Chili’s anytime soon. But the chicken poppers at AJ’s on Main in Grapevine have a way of making skeptical heads turn. Crunchy bacon encapsulates a longways jalapeno slice and a chunk of…
On Saturday, Kansas City-based Spin! Pizza began pizza-bombing the Lone Star State with its grand opening in Richardson. This is the first of four locations slated to launch in Texas (with Southlake, Irving, and SMU to follow), offering Neapolitan-style pizza in a fast-casual environment. The menu is loaded with options…
There are a lot of things to love about Spork. There’s the mystifying theme of alien abduction: The bathroom doors show “men” and “women” icons beaming up to an alien saucer. A tiny Spork logo on the menu reads “A Message from Space” in Forbidden Planet font. The beer list…
As you drive south on White Chapel Boulevard in Southlake, past the Methodist church that gives the road its name, you’ll pass by exquisite looking houses situated on impossibly large expanses of lush green lawns. The home of some of the area’s most expensive residential real estate seems like an…
You know you’ve taken gluttony to a new level when your waitress calls you a fatty. She said it in the kindest, most familial way possible but at its core her comment stung with the icy saber of truth. And yet, I feel my order-logic was sound: If a waffle…
Follow the Cheap Bastard as she scours the city, looking for a good — or at least non-lethal — lunch for less than 10 bucks. I (Heart Shape) Pho is in the same shopping center as the Used To Be Kinko’s at Forest Lane and Central Expressway (7927 Forest Lane)…
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: ShiawaseThe Atmosphere: The spirit of Las Vegas is alive…
It seems you can’t swing a hipster in Denton these days without hitting a trendy new bar, but is that really something to complain about? Service Industry, tucked away just off the town square behind a boorish sports bar that shall not be named, is the latest effort to saturate…
In the world of chefs, those who work in the fine-dining (read: expensive) establishments get all the credit. Restaurant snobs assume that any chef who isn’t working in a fancy restaurant is someone who didn’t quite realize his culinary potential. If anyone is proving these elitists wrong, Goodfriend Burger Bar’s…
