Tea for Texas

Nothing completes a good Southern meal like a tall, sweaty glass of sweet tea, and thankfully, more and more local restaurants are serving it up these days, spreading Southern tradition westward and mercifully allowing us all to limit our use of pink, yellow and blue cancer packets (We swear we can feel the tumors growing with every serving of Equal). We were raised on sweet tea ourselves, weaned off of breast milk with the promise of eight heaping tablespoons of sugar in every pitcher, so naturally we're excited about June being National Iced Tea Month and all. We might even truck it up to the Plaza at Preston Center—home of Sprinkles, Taco Diner and the frighteningly named maternity store Pickles & Ice Cream—for Sunday's Best Iced Tea Contest, provided they have the sweet stuff, of course. Local restaurants from all over the Metroplex will brew up entries before a panel of "celebrity" judges; if you ask us, the Alligator Café on Live Oak has this one all locked up—if the Cajuns can stomach driving all the way to the southeast corner of Preston Road and Northwest Highway on a belly full of crawfish. And don't fret if you're not a B, C or D-List Dallas Celebrity—the competition offers a People's Choice Award as well. Tasting ballots are on sale now in participating Plaza stores; all proceeds benefit the Entrepreneurs Foundation of North Texas. Visit efnt.org or plazaatprestoncenter.com.
Sun., June 24, 1-4 p.m.