Jesse Hughey

Bold, Nog-Based Confessions

Waltz Around Our 100 Best Texas Songs

The 100 Best Texas Songs: The Complete List

100. Tripping Daisy, "Sonic Bloom" Before this album, the band had a grunge-pop affectation, but this song, from 1998's Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb, was more heartfelt than anything they'd done before. - Daniel Hopkins 99. Pleasant Grove, "The Plaque at 16ft" Bret Egner wrote "The Plaque at 16ft, ... More >>

Peticolas, Dallas' Newest Brewery, Debuted Last Night at the Moth, and Its Beer Was a Smash

Jesse Hughey​Yesterday at the Meddlesome Moth, you couldn't walk three feet without bumping into a brewer, beer blogger or beer-fest entrepreneur. The debut of Peticolas Brewing Company's first commercially available product brought out an impressively dense crowd, especially for a rainy Tuesday, ... More >>

Recession-Proof Drinking: Taste Testing Three Off-Brand Beers

​Never in the dozen-plus years that I've been of legal drinking age have I seen beer as cheap as the $2.99 six-pack of Big Flats 1901 I espied at Walgreen's the other day. Not even the Schlitz, Natty Light or Beast we drank in college was that cheap. There was no way it could be good, but for 50 ... More >>

At Jersey Mike's Last Night, Observer Eaters Were No Match for Mighty Challenger Ed Dravecky

Maybe you noticed Elizabeth's post about the Observer-sponsored eating contest at Jersey Mike's last night. As many of you noted in the comments, that topless photo of Jack Nicholson was pretty hard to miss. As promised, a few of us here at City of Ate -- this highfalutin' James Beard Award&nb ... More >>

Watch: Missile -- "Fighter"

​Dallas punk outfit Missile only kind of takes itself seriously -- something Jesse Hughey discovered upon reviewing the band's debut EP back in October, and something only re-affirmed by this mockumentary the band has posted that looks into its "storied" past.But that tongue-in-cheek attitude is c ... More >>

Cheap Margaritas Make It A Very Happy Hour At Tejano

Jesse Hughey​Each week City of Ate will give you the lowdown on a local happy hour in Quittin' Time, with the details and why you should or shouldn't take up the featured bar or restaurant on its drink specials.Where: Tejano Mexican Restaurant, 110 W. Davis St., 214-943-8610When: 11 a.m. to 6 p. ... More >>

Poster of the Week: Epic Ruins' Vinyl Release Show

​ A couple weeks ago, Jesse Hughey reviewed the debut release from Fort Worth's supergroup of sorts, Epic Ruins, quite positively, while salivating at the idea of the album getting the vinyl treatment. As the above poster implies, Hughey gets his wish on Saturday night at Lola's Saloon in Fort Wor ... More >>

Buzzing Over The Brews At Buzzbrews

Jesse Hughey​Each week City of Ate will give you the lowdown on a local happy hour in Quittin' Time, with the details and why you should or shouldn't take up the featured bar or restaurant on its drink specials. Where: Buzzbrews, 4334 Lemmon Ave., 214-521-4334 When: All day Monday, 3 to 7 p.m. ... More >>

Giveaway: Five Pairs of Tickets to Tomorrow Night's Trail of Dead Show at The Loft

Eight years removed from its breakout album, Austin's ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead is still riding high off the success of its 2002 release, Source Tags & Codes, the disc that thrust the band into indie rock superstardom, thanks to near-universal praise and acclaim. The band's th ... More >>

Ranking Dubuisson Scaldis Belgian Ale, And Two Upcoming Beer Dinners

Jesse Hughey​One of my purchases during Central Market's Brewtopia deal (when you could get 25 percent off beer purchases of $25 or more) was Dubuisson Scaldis Belgian Ale, ounce-for-ounce one of the most expensive beers I've ever bought. But I had a feeling it would be good, considering how gre ... More >>

Photo: Vote Against No,
And Have Some Beer And Wine

Jesse Hughey​According to this sign spotted in South Oak Cliff, Neighborhoods for Safety is urging us to VOTE AGAINST NO on Proposition 1, a ballot item up for vote Tuesday, November 2, that would legalize beer and wine sales for off-premises consumption in the city of Dallas. In other words, the ... More >>

Hennepin Saison Vs. Homebrew Clone

Jesse HugheyOur cloning technology is clearly in the early stages of development.​This Sunday as part of Central Market's Brewtopia beer marketing drive, the Dallas location is offering a homebrewing workshop from 3 to 5:30 p.m. The class is only $10 and offers the opportunity to purchase Central ... More >>

Giveaway: Five Pairs of Tickets to See Street Dogs Tonight at The Loft

Given Street Dogs' and my own shared Boston roots, yes, I'll always have a soft-spot for the punk rock quintet, which is currently on the road--and stopping by the Loft tonight--in support of its new, self-titled album, their overall fifth release since their 2003 debut. But this band's more than ju ... More >>

Elbow Your Way To Good Pizza, So-So Drink Deals

Jesse Hughey​Each week City of Ate will give you the lowdown on a local happy hour in Quittin' Time, with the details and why you should or shouldn't take up the featured bar or restaurant on its drink specials.Where: The Elbow Room, 3010 Gaston Ave., 214-828-9488When: 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Fr ... More >>

Randomly Ranking Three Beers From Three Texas Breweries, Plus Ginger Man Offers Christmas In July

Jesse Hughey​Sometimes there's some kind of theme to this column, like last week's tie-in to Belgian Independence Day or previous weeks' explorations of beers tried on a trip to Alaska. Other times, new or newly available brews are fodder for a Hophead column. Then there are times when I simply wr ... More >>

Celebrating Belgian Independence At The Ginger Man, Ranking Urthel Hop-It And Le Merle Saison

Jesse HugheyUrthel Hop-It Belgian IPA​Just as the hot summer months inevitably result in a spike in crime stats, something about the July heat must make people get the urge to collectively rise up against their oppressors. Not only is our own country's independence celebrated in July, but the Fren ... More >>

Summer Brew Smackdown With Karma Ale, Foret Saison And Schneider Hefe-Weizen

Jesse HugheyForet Organic Saison​As if it weren't hot enough already, summer officially began Monday. Temperatures are already steadily hitting the upper 90s and triple-digits mark. Delicious as a thick, dark, high-ABV Russian Imperial Stout or barleywine served just shy of room temperature may be ... More >>

Bonus MP3: Deep Snapper -- "The Ballad of Ignatius J. Reilly (Sung to the Tune of Texas Beer and Titty Law)"

Deep Snapper takes themselves seriously.​In this past week's paper, Jesse Hughey gave local Minutemen-adoring trio Deep Snapper's latest, Pi on the Side, an educated listen and found it to be a melange of "shouted vocals about politics and other nonsense, earworm melodies and breakneck drum-bashi ... More >>

Info On Saturday's Brew Riot, Plus Notes From Flying Saucer On The Lake's Spring Beer Festival

Jesse Hughey​The last time I went to a Flying Saucer beer festival (the fall 2009 fest at the Fort Worth location), I learned that tasting the big, bad, high-gravity and high-ABV beers before trying lighter brews can throw off your tastebuds and make the latter drinks seem puny by comparison ... More >>

Watch: Nervous Curtains -- "Bad Neighbor"

Back in March, Jesse Hughey talked to area ivory tinkler Sean Kirkpatrick about his band Nervous Curtains' new release, Out of Sync With Time, and how his gloomy project, originally meant to be a solo side-project from The Paper Chase keyboardist, was coming into its own as a three-piece. Despite th ... More >>

Sampling New Releases And Old Favorites From Harpoon Brewery

Jesse HugheyHarpoon Belgian Pale Ale​A few new offerings from Harpoon Brewery should be making their way into North Texas: the New England company's first offering of a Belgian Pale Ale, a new Imperial Red (as part of its Leviathan series) and the annual return of Harpoon Summer Beer. Harpoon is a ... More >>

Giveaway: Two Pairs of Tickets to Tonight's Mark Growden Show at the Kessler Theatre

When outsider troubadour Mark Growden rolled through the region back in January, Jesse Hughey previewed the show--quite excitedly, I might add. Wrote Hughey:Mark Growden creates the kind of rich, evocative, cabaret-noir-Americana that thousands of Tom Waits imitators would give their porkpie hats ... More >>

Rating Kulmbacher Eisbock And Lagunitas Hairy Eyeball

Jesse HugheyKulmbacher Eisbock​Apologies for this week's post being both tardy and short, my fellow beer lovers, but kid-related circumstances have kept Lady Hophead and I housebound, and trying new brews was temporarily knocked down a few pegs on the priority list. Good news is I managed to take ... More >>

Snookie's Bar and Grill: Getting Happy Could Be More Affordable, Now the Chicken Fried Steak...

Jesse Hughey​Each week City of Ate will give you the lowdown on a local happy hour in Quittin' Time, with the details on why you should or shouldn't take up the featured bar or restaurant on its drink specials. Where: Snookie's Bar and Grill, 3604 Oak Lawn Ave., 214-521-1068When: 2:30 p.m. to 7:30 ... More >>

Hophead: Belhaven Ales Prove You Don't Need Whiskey To Toast Robert Burns

Jesse Hughey​O gude ale comes and gude ale goes; Gude ale gars me sell my hose, Sell my hose, and pawn my shoon-Gude ale keeps my heart aboon! -- Scottish poet Robert Burns, whose birthday is toasted annually on or around January 25With Burns Night coming up, what better time to try a few pints of ... More >>

Dude Food: Country Burger

Jesse HugheyYes, that spot on the tomato slice is mold. ​Country Burger401 S. Hampton Rd.214-330-4743Dude Factor: 3, or Buckethead, on a scale of 1 (Axl Rose) to 10 (Slash)Last night in choosing a place to eat, I decided to stick to my New Year's resolution. Fortunately, my resolution is to eat mo ... More >>

Another Year At City Of Ate

​We understand City of Ate is an, um, unusual blog.The Dallas market was already well-served, when we started up, by outlets breaking news tidbits, speculating on rumors, providing forums on topics of the day and such. So we conceived of a 'magazine-style' blog--a venue for recurring articles, som ... More >>

Dude Food: Humperdink's

Jesse Hughey​Each week the Dude Food guys assess the 'masculinity' of Dallas area dives. The more fried meat and junk on the walls, the better the rating...Humperdink's 6050 Greenville Ave.214-368-1203Dude Factor: 7, or "____ her? I hardly know her!" on a scale of 1 ("...OF COCK.") to 10 ("That's ... More >>

Dude Food: J J Fish & Chicken

Jesse Hughey​J J Fish & Chicken2332 W. Ledbetter Dr.214-337-1111Dude Factor: 10, or Muddy the Mudskipper, on a scale of 1 (the vegetarian shark in Shark Tale) to 10Until I got my receipt, I didn't know what this place was called. But the name--typeset as one J-shaped fish, a smaller straight f ... More >>

Hophead: Pyramid Haywire Hefeweizen And Deschutes Black Butte Porter Free Samples--Sometimes You Get What You Pay For

Jesse HugheyPyramid Haywire Hefeweizen​A Pyramid PR representative recently sent a press release announcing the Gold Medal awarded to the brewery's Haywire Hefewiezen at the Great American Beer Festival, and offered to send over sample bottle or two. As if she needed to ask.Ben E. Keith beer distr ... More >>

Dude Food: Chesterfield's Food & Spirits

Jesse HugheyChesterfield's bacon cheeseburger with onion rings.​Chesterfield's Food & Spirits2555 Inwood Road No. 143214-353-9268Dude Factor: 9, or Recently Deceased Celebrity, on a scale of 1 (Not Wearing A Costume Because Halloween Is Satanic) to 10 (Devil)Chesterfield's is a sports bar loca ... More >>

Hophead: First Batch Of Homebrew Exceeds Abysmal Expectations

Photos by Jesse HugheyTransferring beer from secondary fermenter to bottling bucket.​The day I have been waiting for since I bought my starter kit back in August finally arrived yesterday, as Lady Hophead and I popped open our first couple of "H.M.N.I." home-brewed beers. (The initials, incidental ... More >>

Hophead: Yes, Southern Star Can

Jesse Hughey​Two weeks back in this column, Oskar Blue made a pretty convincing case that high-quality beer need not be kegged or bottled to taste great. In fact, as commenter Paul Hightower pointed out, you can find a Texas example of high-quality craft beer that comes in cans. And no, that's not ... More >>

Burning Question: What's Going On At City Of Ate?

Hey, wait a minute...this is a government waste disposal schedule.Someone posted a comment under our new Veggie Girl segment this week wanting some kind of alert when the column pops up--RSS, we think they called it.The Burning Question crew, of course, knows nothing about technology...which is prob ... More >>

The End Of The End Of Year Lists: Jesse Hughey's Favorite Albums Of 2008

Sure, 2008 may be done, but the list-making still continues... This year, five contributors to the Dallas Observer's music section were asked to participate in the Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll, which compiles the lists of hundreds of music critics across the country into one m ... More >>

How I Loves Ya|Best Year of Their Lives

A Rasher Act: Bacon Brings Families Together

(Un)sound Bites: Vitto Italian, An Offer You Can Refuse

Room Service|Work Smarter, Not Harder|Sweet on the Tea|Yeah, But It Was Tons to Read|F-Bombed Out

Which Old 97's Record Would You Place On This List? If Any?

Playback: The Week (5/16/08 - 5/23/08) In Review

Ab-NORML-y Good Music? Well, Maybe. For Once.

Have A Close Encounter At Hailey’s This Weekend

Deep Ellum Throws Hip-Hop A Bone Tomorrow Night

The Grinches Visit Oak Cliff

P.P.T.'s Picnic Works on Coughee Brothaz Disc

Will Johnson Only Wants 2 See U Laughing in the "Purple Rain"

Fan-friggin'-tastic| The Invisible Sheriff |That '70s Hair| Vanishing Green Space