African and Middle Eastern Food and Cooking

Five Of Dallas' Best BYOB Restaurants

If you plan ahead, BYOB restaurants can be a lot of fun. Not only can they save you a lot of green, but they also put an endless variety of booze at your disposal and the potential pairings are limitless. Come with growlers full of beer, bottles full of wine -- it's your dinner. You're only limited ... More >>

Parsley: The Greastest Herb in History

I'm obsessed with parsley. Not that curly-leafed bullshit sitting next to your petite filet, I'm talking about the flat-leaf variety that's known for its tender texture and sweeter flavor. If you get some fresh from the farmers market you'll notice a much more robust flavor than the grocery store va ... More >>

Desta Rises Above Sadness

Family members bind together to reopen Ethiopian Restaurant

My Own Personal Story About Yenni Desta and Why You Should Check Out Her Restaurant Now

This week I took a break from judging the finer points of food construction to talk with Tizeta Getachew. We sat in her restaurant last week as she told me about the events that led up to her quitting a promising career at a domestic violence shelter so she could run a restaurant that she hopes will ... More >>

Our Favorite Dallas Dishes of 2012

So much food, so little time

Seven Of Dallas' Best Lunches That Are More Than Worth Your Hard-Earned Dough

Inexpensive and cheap are two completely different things. Not everyone has a ton of coin to blow on a lunch now and then, but financial restrictions don't necessarily have to relegate you to the likes of Chipotle and Jersey Mike's. Here are some great lunches that will cost you more than a Subway c ... More >>

Mughlai's Gem

A North Dallas Indian restaurant captures the spirit of home.

GRIP Mediterranean Grill in Preston Center is Now Open for You To Make the Ultimate Gyro

GRIP Mediterranean Grill has opened in the Preston Center at 6030 Luther Lane (a few doors down from Hopdoddy) as a fast-casual pita wrap in the same vein of Chipotle. Like, exactly the same vein. If you tested the DNA, it'd be the same, just taste and smell different. The dining room is sleek and ... More >>

Nora's Mix And Match

A Familiar Tapestry of Dishes Seduce an East Dallas Crowd.

100 Favorite Dishes, No. 28: Hummus and Super Bread at Pepper Smash

To prepare for this fall's Best of Dallas® 2012 issue, we're counting down (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes. If there's a dish you think we need to try, leave it in the comments, or email me. Before dining at Pepper Smash, the comic-book-themed-cocktail-den-restaurant-monster w ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes, No. 59: Falafel At Fadia Bakery

To prepare for this fall's Best of Dallas® 2012 issue, we're counting down (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes. If there's a dish you think we need to try, leave it in the comments, or email me. Charbel Hamad wants you to focus on his wife Fadia's sweets when you visit his deli an ... More >>

Now Open: Nora on Greenville (Photos)

Lower Greenville Avenue is looking damn good these days. The newly widened streets with inset parking makes it feel like the quiet downtown of a suburb, like Plano or perhaps Coppell. Even after dark, there's noticibly less fear of being run over by a passing truck. It's a good thing. Located at th ... More >>

Restore Your Meat-Pummeled Body with Ali Baba's Tabouleh

It's a bit tiresome to hear a critic gripe about all the food they're forced to eat. (There are worse ways to make a living.) After reviewing near back-to-back southern comfort restaurants, though, I felt pretty pummeled with fat and meat. I needed a break. While interviewing an Italian chef back i ... More >>

At the Dallas Bicycle Cafe, the Cheap Bastard is a Sweaty Bastard, and a Happy One, Too

Sweaty camel-toe count: 32 People post-workout high-fiving count: 5 On Northwest Highway, right next to Bicycle Works, a bicycle café called Bicycle Café (7510 East Northwest Highway) recently opened. When you walk inside and see all the bicyclephernalia on the walls and all the people still wear ... More >>

At Judi Restaurant and Bakery, Falafel and Samoon Make Meatless Monday a Cinch

It's Monday again, and after a few treacherous Tex-Mex experiences, I'm ready to celebrate with a meatless meal I actually enjoy. One place on the table is Judi Restaurant and Bakery, which quietly opened last summer at 850 South Greenville in Richardson. I'm surprised there hasn't been more fanfa ... More >>

Oak in the Design District is Open for Lunch

Chef Jason Maddy at Oak​The new Oak at 1628 Oak Lawn in the Design District, which was previously only open for dinner, announced today that they are now open for lunch. For starters the lunch menu includes hummus, foie gras and celery root and apple soup. For sandwiches they have a lamb bac ... More >>

A Lunch Buffet That Doesn't Blow: Ali Baba

Recently I had lunch at Ali Baba Grill in Irving. I'm usually anti buffets, but the lunch all-you-can-eat spread here is actually executed quite well. They're good at rotating in new stuff so, for the most part, the food stays fresh and warm. And if you want flavor without the nap-inducing carb over ... More >>

3 Men and a Taco: The Midnight Taco Train Straight Outta South Africa

3MenandaTaco.comA truck with lots of crazy tacos.​What has six thumbs and doles out little folds of joy? Hint: two of the thumbs are from Cleveland, two are South African and two are from England. Aside from their silly Facebook updates about thumbs and such, the 3 Men and a Taco food truck ... More >>

Go Moroccan at Medina Oven & Bar's Happy Hour

Kristy Yang​Every week we highlight a different restaurant happy hour food menu. This week: The Moroccan happy-hour fare at Medina Oven and Bar. Where: Medina Oven and Bar, 2304 Victory Park Lane, Dallas, TX 75219 When: Monday through Friday, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Scene: HH is available throu ... More >>

Please Help the Learning Process

As Dan Aykroyd knows, small-mouth bass plus food processor or blender equals a delicious smoothie.​My apartment has less counter space than Barbie's Dream House. It's not uncommon for me to balance a cutting board on a hot burner, or on my lap as I sit cross-legged on the floor, or even to fin ... More >>

Cosmic Cafe: Willing to Mix and Match to Please You

​When Wes Anderson and the Wilson brothers used to frequent the Cosmic Café (then called the Cosmic Cup), they could be found taking in the restaurants eclectic, Zen-inducing ambience, and maybe even conjuring up a plot or two. Former owner of the café Kumar Pallana can be seen in several of ... More >>

North Texas Emigres Celebrating Egypt's Revolution Better Rely on Home Cooking

kosharirecipe.blogspot.comKoshary, a favorite Egyptian dish​Valentine's Day calls for chocolates and Champagne, but what's the proper meal for marking a peaceful democratic revolution? Dallasites looking to express solidarity with protesters in Cairo have discovered traditional Egyptian food ... More >>

At Stratos Global Greek Taverna, You Gotta Dance. Only Not During Lunch.

Gyro not going to like this if you don't like Gyro.​Know what beats going on a lunch date to a restaurant that has a dance floor? Two lunch dates. In all honesty, if you went at night during dancing hours, you might have more fun, well, dancing. Lunch will only tempt you. Last week I met tw ... More >>

Chef Tell: Tiffany, Official Food Ambassador

​Right away, we knew this would be a big week for our Tiffany Derry. They started off the show with her smoothing toner all over her face and neck (so that's how she gets that awesome skin!) and talking about how she was planning her wedding before hopping on the Top Chef train. But it was also wo ... More >>

My Pet Goat Carcass, or: Yet Again, the State Goes After Local Grocer's Baaaaad Meat

​Seems the State of Texas isn't terribly impressed with the way Halal Import Food Market handles its meat -- and hasn't been since, oh, 2001, when the Arlington grocer-warehouse first opened its doors. Which is why Attorney General Greg Abbott's latest lawsuit against the East Pioneer Parkway-base ... More >>

Galilee Grill Delivers Buffet-Line Salvation

Appetite For Instruction: Hummus

Demonstrated by Praveen Sachdev of Cosmic Café Henry Rollins once called it "sex in a bowl." A deceptively simple paste of chickpeas and seasonings, hummus seduces the palate with layers of rich, complex flavors. Simply put, this Mediterranean staple has the power to comfort the soul and quicken ... More >>

Review: Moroccan Lounge Medina Oven & Wine Bar

Review: Afghan Grill

At Afghan Grill, the fortunes of war pay delicious dividends

Dolma Days

Mediterranean Festival has more than hummus and grape leaves

Best Gyro

Z Cafe

Best Postshow Hangout

Velvet Hookah

Best Sole Food

Organicity and Nikolini

Best Gyro Sandwich

Z Café

Best Dish Name

Square Meal at Dream Café

Best Last-Minute Party Groceries

Whole Foods Market

Chick Pea Smirk

Café Izmir founder dares to ask the question, "got hummus?"

Best Authentic Lebanese Food

Ali Baba Café

Best falafel

Café Med

Eurotrash pickup

Avanti Euro Bistro proves that a little smarminess isn't all bad

Uneven tread wear

Bibendum doesn't roll with the Samuel standard

A wreck of a rec room

Cozy's shows there isn't much in a name, after all

Noshing around the world

Barcelona Tapas Bar offers eclectic, if mediocre, grazing

Keeping the pita puffed

Hedary's Lebanese Oven & Grill offers reverent interpretations of ancient dishes

Going for the jugular

The battle over a North Texas sanctuary for wild felines grows cattier by the day

Cat Fight

When a couple of wealthy benefactors took on the founder of the Texas Exotic Feline Foundation, they found themselves in a cat fight

Play it again

When Marrakesh's novelty wears off, its Moroccan flavors will endure

Take your time

Cafe Izmir has plenty of Middle Eastern delicacies on tapas

Making the rule

Cosmic Cup is one giant exception to everything Dallas

Belly good

Sinbad's Palace offers superb Middle Eastern cuisine and fabulously hokey ambience