Back in December, we pointed out a podcast posted on NPR, which declared meatballs the next big trend. At that time meatballs were taking New York City by storm, and a standalone ball shop had taken root in D.C.'s Chinatown. Then in January, The New York Times reviewed a place called Parm. Pete Wells went on and on about a meatball hoagie and a deep-seated hoagie craving began to take shape.
Now eatocracy, CNN's food blog, has declared impending meatball mania. In addition to shops in Washington and Manhattan, they list Marabella Meatball Co. in Philadelphia, Moochie's Meatballs & More in Salt Lake City and Haulin Balls in Las Vegas as noteworthy meatball restaurants.
Yet there's still no news of ball shop coming to Dallas. I wonder if this is evidence of a city that consistently lags behind national trends, or if this is one trend Dallas just doesn't want to get behind. Meatball shops seem a little one-dimensional to me, even if many of these places put spin after spin on the orbs. Spicy pork and vegetable balls, lamb balls, crab balls, lentil balls, turkey balls. Obviously, the innuendo is irresistible; one shop even sells a blue ball special.
Does Dallas need a stand-alone meatball shop? I think no, but if burger restaurants can proliferate like rabbits, you never know. The biggest question to answer is what a town with the moniker "Big D" would call it. I'll leave that up to you guys.
