Best Kids Bookstore 2004 | Borders Books & Music | Best of Dallas® 2020 | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Dallas | Dallas Observer
Navigation
Support Us
Search

Best Kids Bookstore

Borders Books & Music

We could lament the passing of independent children's bookstore Enchanted Forest, as we did in 2002, but the homogenization of American booksellers is a tired story by now. You're gonna end up going to one of a handful of chains in Dallas, and Borders is the best pick. One thing that's extremely helpful is that they organize books by reading levels--from baby on up--instead of slamming the books on the shelf by author's name (which you hardly ever know, since most children's-book buyers are browsing). There is a good selection of foreign-language picture books; LeapPad books and cartridges (buy the LeapPad itself at Wal-Mart or Target; Borders' is too expensive); sticker books; Usborne titles (high-quality educational books favored by homeschoolers); and generally helpful staff. Also, Borders has a rewards program for kid-book buyers: Buy 10 kid items, get $5 off your next children's purchase.

Readers' Pick

Half Price Books

Various locations

Best Haircut for Curly-Haired Men

Style Labb

If your hair is curly, what works better than cutting it is "taking the weight out of it," as our man Cruz says at Style Labb. Cruz grabs some sheers when he sees our heft approaching and goes about his work. His work is thinning the hair--keeping the length more or less as is but taking mighty swipes at the thick, gnarled curls that fester about. At one point, Cruz takes the salon equivalent of a steak knife and starts cutting away, from bald spot to bangs. At another, he grabs a fistful of curls near the back of the head, twirls them into one strand, then, like a lumberjack with a saw, slices at an upward angle into the hair. Finally, he takes the scissors, hair between his first and second fingers, and cuts down, not across. It's an interesting and artistic haircut, and when it's done, it's "pimped out," as Cruz likes to say. At Style Labb, it doesn't look like you just got a haircut. It looks like you got a great haircut a week ago.

Best Place From Which to Rent Any Movie Ever Made. Anywhere.

Premiere Video

Not once have we called Premiere looking for some movie, be it brand-new or way-old or foreign or domestic or fiction or documentary, and been told, "Nope, sorry, don't carry it." Now, they may not have it, but that's only because someone else has rented it; wait a couple of days, and it's all yours. Let it be said once and never again: This place has everything. From every place. In the history of ever. Need some BBC series that hasn't even aired in the States yet? Got it. Need a copy of the banned-in-the-U.S. Larry Clark movie Ken Park? Got it. Need some old Betty Page erotica from the 1950s? Got it. Need some HK stuff that will never open anywhere outside of China? Got it. Need, oh, The Big Chill? Got it. Get it? Even better, the owners know more about the movies than we do, which is saying a lot considering we haven't seen daylight since 1989. And if you don't have one of those nifty all-region DVD players that let you watch imported movies months before they've even opened at the Magnolia or Angelika, they'll rent you one at Premiere. They get it, so you can have it.

Best Supplies for a Shrine

Fiesta Mart

We love candles. All shapes, colors and sizes. The one factor we're not so good with is scent. Rosemary and vanilla--those are fine, but give us any candle with a strong botanical (read: flowery) scent and our nose goes on a rampage of sneeze. It was purely by accident that we discovered a candle heaven when wandering the aisles of Fiesta looking for a paddleball. Almost an entire aisle held all possible options of votives, perfect for creating an exhibit of Catholic idolatry right in our own home. Tall red, Lotería themed, St. Luke, La Virgen de Guadalupe, short white, rainbow striped, they have them all. Most of them are a dollar or less...and many are scent-free. We turned our dining room into a flickering altar of flaming saints for less than 10 bucks. And the best part is, since they come in glass containers, there's no need for candle dishes and no messy trails of wax. Amen!

Best War Memories

Recon Vintage Militaria

After visiting this establishment, the smell of chicken wings and dust will conjure memories of digging through piles of military decorations, some with mysterious Cyrillic letters, making us wonder if we'd just awarded ourselves the Russian equivalent of the Medal of Honor. This shoebox of a shop is crammed with souvenirs of wars from all over the world, including lots of World War II memorabilia. The selection of uniform pieces (helmets, jackets, patches) is extensive and even includes some non-military outfits, such as vintage Boy Scout shirts.

Best Kids Clothing Store

Janie and Jack

Actually, this oughta be called "Best Kids Clothing Store That Sells Clothes Adults Would Wear If They Made These Clothes In Our Size." Or something. We'd never been in this place, in its Stonebriar location, till a few weeks ago, but what we saw delighted and amazed us--clothes for a 1-year-old boy that didn't have trucks or teddy bears or footballs or Rangers logos on them, anywhere. No, what lined the racks was this wondrous selection of canvas utility pants and button-down twill shirts and cable-knit sweaters--and nothing more than $26, with most of the stuff even on sale. What really amazed us, and warmed our Gen-X hearts that still beat to a new-wave soundtrack, were the retro ringer tees with robots and rocket ships emblazoned upon the chests and the long-sleeve cotton shirts displaying merit badges like something sold in the back of an old copy of Boys' Life. The clothes go from 0 to 4, for boys and girls, and if there's not a location near you, try the Web site (www.janieandjack.com). How's this for an ad slogan? Clothes worth having a kid for. Really, they can have it. Least we could do.

Readers' Pick

GapKids

Various locations

Best Window Dressing

Silk Trading Co.

Someday, when those Lotto numbers finally hit, we'll do more than buy a throw pillow or just ogle the shimmering fabrics in this NorthPark shop. Maybe by then we'll have developed enough good taste to do justice to Silk Trading Co.'s vast collection of materials--they offer a selection of 2,400, from embroidered silks to cotton and linen, as well as paint and other goodies to fix up your mansion. More than simply a drapery store, they also do custom bedding and furniture; you pick the cloth, they cut and stitch it or use it to upholster couches and chairs sold at the shop. (Prices vary depending on the fabric. The cost of one style couch, for example, can range between $1,600 and $5,000.) Just the thing to dress up the trailer when that lottery ship comes sailing in, which we don't doubt will be any day now.

Best Real Estate Agent

Kevin Sayre, Coldwell Banker's "Team Whiteside"

We're not giving this award because Sayre got us some sweet deal on a high-value property. In fact, he didn't even sell our house (we ended up renting it out), and our first two deals on the homes we wanted to buy fell through. We're giving this to him because he's everything you'd want in a real estate agent: fair, considerate, tough when he needs to be, honest and knowledgeable. We were the lowest-priced property in his portfolio (hey, we're in journalism), yet he never let us feel second-rate. He attended to every detail, he was always positive and he never got angry, even when we pulled out of two deals at the last possible minute over details some agents would consider minor. He never pressured us. "You do what you feel is necessary," he said an hour before an option deadline. "It's your house, not mine, and you need to know you're doing the right thing." Because of his decency, the home we finally bought was the right one. What else could you want in your real estate agent?

Best Video/DVD Store

Movie Trading Co.

This is another one of those gimme categories, unless you like paying retail at Tower Records or still think renting at Blockbuster is the way to go, in which case we can't help ya. This place is a nirvana for the videophile who still has a laser-disc player or hasn't yet tossed out the VCR; the racks are loaded with cheap tapes and even cheaper discs, all of which sell for considerably higher among eBay collectors without access to a wonderland like this. And the DVD selection is amazing, from the boxed sets to the Criterion titles to the used stuff that sells for about 25 percent off the list price, or thereabouts. But be warned: It's like Half Price Books, meaning you won't always find what you need but will usually leave with a bag of stuff you merely want, even if you didn't know what you wanted when you walked in.

Readers' Pick

Movie Trading Co.

Various locations

Best Men's Shoe Store

Whole Earth Provision Co.

OK, you can't get shoes here for job interviews at law firms. But this is where to go for the best collection of shoes for active stuff, from walking to trekking, cross-training to motocross. You'll find a full array of brands--Vasque, Salomon, Montrail, Tecnica, Merrell, Clarks, Born, Dansko, Ecco, Blundstone and more. Great sales help. And the most important thing: the world's biggest collection of flip-flops. The flip-flops here range from slaps you could wear in the shower to finely crafted leather models you actually might be able to wear to that law firm interview, provided your mom owns the firm.

Readers' Pick

DSW Shoe Warehouse

8335 Westchester Drive

214-696-2305

Best Of Dallas®

Best Of

Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our terms of use, our cookies policy, and our privacy policy The Dallas Observer may earn a portion of sales from products & services purchased through links on our site from our affiliate partners. ©2024 Dallas Observer, LP. All rights reserved.
Do Not Sell or Share My Information
Powered By Foundation