So, we lied. Standard isn't a new restaurant. Until recently, it was in the league of the undead. Standard has roots that stretch across time and Dallas neighborhoods. In 2003 it opened in Deep Ellum when former Tom Tom Noodle House chef Tim Byres decided to try his hand at restaurateuring. But diners' fear of crime plagued the Deep Ellum location, and a year later he put Standard in suspended animation, scouring the city for a plot that would sit well with his targeted audience. He found that plot in the former Stolik location on Cedar Springs Road and proceeded to fertilize it before he transplanted and slightly upgraded his menu. The food was good before the relocation: seductive short ribs, delicately aromatic halibut, rich lamb racks, even a stunning garden salad. This is set in such a stunningly unpretentious atmosphere. This is because Standard isn't trying to be anything: not hip, not European, not New York, not some edgy grub mosaic from the West Coast. It is simply a reflection of the personalities and the space that comprise it, an honest bloom from a specific stretch of Dallas asphalt.


Readers' Pick
Nobu 400 Crescent Court 214-252-7000

First off, it seems wrong for the region's best barbecue to be in hoity-toity University Park. Just wrong. Second off, the whole '50s theme at this place is sort of a Texas rip on Peggy Sue's Diner in San Jose, California. But so what? When it's barbecue we're talking about, we have to come back to the basic eats, don't we? And the plain fact is Peggy Sue's still has 'em all beat, from the succulent ribs to the tasty pulled pork sandwich, the fresh-cut fried onion rings, even the little thimbles of cole slaw they give you: It's all just right at Peggy Sue BBQ.


Readers' Pick
Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse Multiple locations

Flying in the face of the Starbucks-ification of America, Bob and Nancy Baker built a cool new building and opened this neighborhood coffee shop in Lake Highlands to offer custom blends of coffee roasted on the premises. Yeah, you can order almond mocha latte or the "White Rocker" (latte with caramel and white chocolate), but a plain cup of Baker's roast of the day is guaranteed to be a rich, robust blend of arabica beans--all from certified "fair trade" growers, so a portion goes directly to the coffee growers, if that helps you feel good about your caffeine habit. Add a scone or zucchini bread and jumpstart your day. Baker has added amenities such as wi-fi, but in the end, it's all about the beans.


Readers' Pick
Starbucks Multiple locations

Mexican food is a lot like sex. It comes in infinite varieties, but there are a few basic elements that you just can't do without. And of course, even bad Mexican food is usually pretty good. One way the two differ would be that sex delivers ample visual and aural stimulation, senses that a plate of enchiladas would seem to neglect. Perhaps with that in mind, El Ranchito picks up the enchilada's slack. The riotously kitschy décor and the strolling mariachis provide a suitably lively backdrop for the fantastic food. Not only can you stuff yourself with delicious Tex-Mex standards for around $7, but you can venture farther afield with authentic norteño cuisine like grilled baby goat. In all, it's a great place to bring a date, which brings us back to our point above.


Readers' Pick
Mi Cocina Multiple locations

This stuff is unique: Made from a base of "lots of cilantro," as our waiter described it, it's dark green with little flecks of red tomato. Dense and deep-flavored, it isn't at all sweet, like many tomato-based salsas. We've had nothing else quite like it in the area. Also prominent in the recipe are jalapeño peppers. If you don't like cilantro, well, you're not going to enjoy it, but it's still worth a visit to this lovely, inventive Mexican eatery.


Readers' Pick
Luna de Noche

Some lunch hours you just want something cheap and filling to quiet the beast in your belly so you can get back to work. Sometimes, on the other hand, you want to splurge, to eat something you're not going to forget about before you pay the check. With its blue plate special, the Original Market Diner gives you both. For $5.25 you get the kind of flavor that only labor-intensive home cooking provides: a slab of meatloaf and mashed potatoes with cornbread, say, or a giant bowl of chicken and dumplings. If the food doesn't do it, the cowboy hats on the counter patrons and the trains rumbling by across the way will have you humming John Mellencamp on your way back to the corporate cubicle.


Readers' Pick
Potbelly Sandwich Works Multiple locations

Remember the feeling of going to your grandma's house when she's made so many appetizing dishes that you can't choose one, so you end up eating more than you thought humanly possible, and Nana (or Granny or MawMaw) still lays the guilt trip, "You barely touched your food. Don't you like my cooking?" Avoid this whole debacle by taking your grandmother to gorge at Cindi's, where she can enjoy deli favorites like latkes, stuffed cabbage and matzo ball soup. Cindi's menu also offers page after page of more traditional American breakfast and lunch items (we'll just say the waffle is delightful). If you're feeling a wee bit peckish after all that, top it off with an old-fashioned egg cream or phosphate. We had to loosen our belt just thinking about it.

Hey, where but in East Dallas are you going to find a Mexican dish named after the Duke? And it's meant as a compliment. To Mexico. The John Wayne is two eggs over on a flour tortilla, hash browns, melted cheese, choice of sausage or ham and lots of hot sauce. It's a breakfast dish, but you can get it anytime at this venerable clinic for hung-over hipsters. Tell you what, Pilgrim: You polish off a John Wayne, you're gonna be ready for your siesta.

Just up the hill from the intersection of Gaston and Garland roads, near the White Rock Lake spillway, La Parillada might be in a part of town you don't consider picturesque. But you could be wrong. Some nice evening, go get yourself a plateful of La Parillada's delicious fajita tacos, served from a little mail slot in the front of the building at a buck a piece. Step down to the beer store nearby for beverages. Come back and take a seat at one of the tables in front of La Parillada. The circus parade of life is before you on Gaston Avenue, my friend. And you've got good tacos to eat. What more can you ask?

In business 20 years at its location near Abrams Road and Lakewood Boulevard, Dallas Affaires has earned a regional reputation for wonderful wedding cakes, but a good half of the store's business is in its other great product--the custom birthday cake. There is no birthday boy or girl who won't love the white chocolate cake with Chambord (French liqueur) and raspberry filling. Call ahead: They make these things by hand. And if you do happen to have a birthday person who doesn't like Chambord and raspberry filling, it's the perfect opportunity to tell him or her to grow up.