Texas

Le First Look at Le Bilboquet: A Spot of France in Uptown

Opening quietly just over two weeks ago, Le Bilboquet has confidence that can only come from experience, which makes sense, since the restaurant is actually a transplant from the Upper East Side in New York City. The original in New York is expanding, and expanding quite far to boot, since it's made ... More >>

Governer Signed New Craft Beer Legislation That Allows Breweries to Expand Operations

If you're a craft beer fan, you may want to charge up your cordless drill. On Friday Governor Rick Perry signed off on a five-pack of bills relating to the craft beer industry that will, in part, allow them to expand brewery operations. For over a decade the Texas craft beer industry has been push ... More >>

Texas One of Ten Best "Food-Tripping Adventures" in America with Craft Distillery Road Trip

The feature story of the July issue of Cooking Light, which hits stands today, highlights America's 10 Best Food Adventures in Food-Tripping USA. The blossoming craft distillery industry in Texas made the list. Usually we work hard to find the holes in plans like this, figuring there's some hilari ... More >>

Feds: Greatest Risk for Summer Power Grid Problems Is in Texas

It's that time of year again, when the feds single out Texas' precariously thin power reserves. Even California -- a state not known for electrical reliability -- is projected to experience fewer problems with its power grid as the summer heat drives residents to their thermostats. A reserve margin ... More >>

Texas Puts a Lot of People in Jail for Weed, Especially Black and (Probably) Brown People

The Sierra Blanca border patrol checkpoint is, at this point, the stuff of legend: If you're a musician and you pass through there, you're going to get popped for pot possession. You just are. Snoop Dogg, Fiona Apple, Willie Nelson -- all of them drove on Interstate 10, found themselves in that tin ... More >>

Meet the Texas Heelsplitter Mussel, the Costly New Hurdle to the Trinity River Project

When Ron Kirk began pitching the Trinity River Project in the late 1990s, no one was thinking about the Texas heelsplitter or the Texas pigtoe, or the Mexican fawnsfoot, the smooth pimpleback, or the Texas fatmucket. There was no real reason to. Back then, the species were sufficiently abundant that ... More >>

Report: Texans Are Astonishingly Bad at Making Friends, Caring About Stuff

Picture a long, steep staircase. Now, picture an extremely obese individual climbing up it. There's a lot of sweating and heavy breathing, no doubt, accompanied by a chorus of unseemly grunts and muttered curses. There's a not-too-distant risk of cardiac arrest. In this scenario, put forward on Mon ... More >>

A Dallas Tea Party Leader Says the Republican Party Doesn't Want Black People to Vote

First, a bit of background. For the past several months, Battleground Texas has been laying the groundwork for a Democratic takeover of Texas. It will be a long process, requiring the development of the on-the-ground political infrastructure needed to reliably turn out Democrats to vote, Latino ones ... More >>

Ten Best Texas Country Songs of 2013 (So Far)

We've made no bones about the fact we're not completely sure what an artist or a song has to be or consist of in order to be lumped under the massive "Texas Country" umbrella, aside from simply having some sort of connection to the Lone Star State -- even if sometimes it's a loose one. To be certain ... More >>

Unemployment Among Young Adults Decreasing in Texas, But Ever So Slowly

The workers bearing the disproportionate brunt of the recession are young, underemployed or unemployed and struggling to gain a foothold at a critical stage in life. In Texas, the overall unemployment rate is 6.8 percent. The number of unemployed, aged 16 to 24, is more than double that, a report fi ... More >>

Tesla is Putting a Supercharging Station Between Dallas and Austin Next Month

Tesla's bid to sell cars directly to Texas consumers, thus bypassing the state's deep-pocketed car dealers, came up short this legislative session. But that's not stopping the electric car company from edging its way into the Texas automotive market. Tesla announced Thursday that it's tripling the ... More >>

Checking Out Private|Social's Awesome Texas Food Menu

Two weeks ago Private|Social announced a new direction on their Facebook page. Edible art was out, and "awesome Texas food" was in. A subsequent news release said the restaurant was looking to embrace a menu with a lower price point and more approachable food. See also: - Rocco Milano on the Chang ... More >>

Waiter, There’s A Neurotic Breakdown In My Soup

Storytelling Pioneers

Strongest Email Privacy Bill in the U.S. Is on Gov. Rick Perry's Desk

Unless Governor Rick Perry uses his veto, Texas is set to enact the most stringent email privacy protections in the country. The legislation, passed unanimously, would require state law enforcement agencies to secure search warrants before accessing emails. Previously, Texas mirrored federal rules, ... More >>

Texas 18-Year-Olds Still Can't Carry Guns, Despite the NRA's Best Efforts

It's hard to tell sometimes, but Texas does in fact have gun restrictions. Handguns, for instance, are barred from sporting events, courtrooms, polling places, racetracks and schools, particularly when gunowners are drunk. They still can't be carried out in the open or onto college campuses, despite ... More >>

Take a Ride on Six Flags' Texas Skyscreamer, the "Tallest Swing Ride in the World"

We were sad, distraught even, when Six Flags announced that it was closing the Flashback last summer. The news that it would be replaced by the 400-foot Texas Skyscreamer, and that the Skyscreamer would stand as the tallest swing ride in the world, failed to move us. No matter how tall, we thought, ... More >>

Coal Is Making a Comeback, and Nobody Burns it Like Texas

For a time, coal was moribund, on life support. We thought perhaps the country was permanently shrugging off its dependence on the dirtiest of all fossil fuels. Coal-fired power plants were being mothballed en masse. The share of electricity generated by them fell 25 percent between 2005 and 2012. ... More >>

LARK, Carbone's and Barbacoa: This Week In Dallas Dining

The unofficial start of summer is here, and the three-day weekend promises smoldering grills, coolers full of beer, and if you stumble over to 20 Feet this weekend quick enough, the first of this season's soft-shell crabs. Let's get this week wrapped up. This week I reviewed Lark on the Park and ga ... More >>

The "Merry Christmas Bill" is Headed to the Governor's Desk

The Texas House and Senate have both passed the "Merry Christmas Bill," which allows public schools to openly celebrate Christmas without fear of legal action. The bill specifically allows teachers to say "traditional greetings" for "traditional winter celebrations," such as Christmas and Hanukkah a ... More >>

In Texas, a Golden Age for Smoked Meat

There's a barbecue revolution afoot. Put a tiara on that slab of meat and give it a dozen roses. Barbecue is the new beauty queen in the culinary world. For many of us, smoked meat is as right as being born a Texan, or getting here as soon as you could. Brisket and ribs are clogging our veins and ... More >>

Dallas High School Students Could Graduate in Three Years Under Proposed Plan

For some Dallas ISD students, the senior year of high school is immensely valuable. There are mountains of college credits that can be accumulated free of charged through AP, IB, and dual-credit courses, and the mechanically inclined can enroll in vocational programs like Skyline's aeronautics clust ... More >>

Every Anti-Abortion Bill in the Texas Legislature This Session Has Failed

Man. We remember a time, long ago last legislative session, when all your state lawmakers wanted to do was talk about abortion and how much they hated it. They were super-duper against it, as they could not seem to stop talking about, so much so that they cheerily decimated the Texas Women's Health ... More >>

A Field Guide to the Activists Protesting This Week's Vote on the Gay Boy Scout Ban

The Boy Scouts of America's National Council meets this week at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, and it's scheduled to decide on Thursday whether to lift its long-standing policy banning gay scouts. (The ban on gay leaders is staying in place for now, but the organization's leadership, as well as a l ... More >>

Whiskey Folk Ramblers' Long Road to a New Album: Listen

In this week's music feature, Gavin Cleaver gets up to speed with Whiskey Folk Ramblers. They just released an excellent sophomore album, The Lonesome Underground, which you can buy on their website. It's been a long time coming for the band, which has lost members and engineers and still, as Gavin ... More >>

The Battle for Cupcakes Sales Faces a Looming Deadline at the Legislature

Having déjà vu? Feel like we've been here before? Well, don't pinch yourself. Be calm. You're not crazy. We have been here before. For years the great cupcake bakers of Texas have fought for the freedom to sell their delicate clouds of sugar and butter to a hungry public. With the fierceness of ... More >>

The Legislative Push to Make Texas More Marijuana-Friendly is Officially Dead

Marijuana advocates were abuzz last month -- and by "abuzz" we mean excited, of course -- when a bill to reduce penalties for marijuana possession was passed out the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. The bill had been watered down to apply only to people younger than 21, but the Texas ch ... More >>

State Health Department Warns of Unsafe Mercury Levels in Local Fish

The state health department just released a warning for Texan seafood lovers. Fish examined from the northwestern Gulf of Mexico contained mercury at concentrations that exceed health guidelines. That means if you're pregnant (or even thinking about it) or under the age of 12 -- no more wahoo for yo ... More >>

The Washington Post Suggests that America Boot Texas From the Union

Obama's reelection last year prompted a lot of talk over whether Texas should once again secede from the Union. Except for a few die-hard secessionists, though, few considered it a serious proposal, more like an opportunity to make Texas jokes. So the debate just kind of fizzled out. But the Washin ... More >>

Pop Diners, Cinco De Mayo and a Slew of Restaurant Openings in This Week's Wrap

We had a busy week at the CoA. Scott Reitz endured some bad karaoke at Pop Diner at in Uptown. No matter what the T-shirts may say, pulling off good food is sometimes easier said then done. Unless you're drunk, then who cares? Exactly ... We covered some solid Cinco de Mayo festivities and 10 happ ... More >>

Double Busey BeatDown

Revel in their Drawls

Saint Arnold's Releases New Icon Series Brew This Wednesday

Saint Arnold Brewing Co., the oldest craft brewery in Texas, is releasing the next beer in their icon series this Wednesday. Icon Green is an Amarillo hefeweizen made with two-row barley and Vienne and Cara-Munich malts. "This is a refreshing summer beer for Texas and Louisiana that has the base of ... More >>

Be Very Afraid: In the Texas House, the Gun Lobby and the Boston Bombing, the Fear-Mongerers are Winning

So who exactly wants innocent people sent to prison for life? C'mon. You know this one. We all know the answer. It's the same people who think we should toss out the Constitution and put American citizens on trial in military courts. They're the arm-in-arm allies of terrorists everywhere, the same ... More >>

A West, Texas Fertilizer Plant Has Exploded, Killing 5 to 15 (Video) [Updated]

Update, 10:24 a.m.: Scroll down for updates, including a statement from the President and information on shelter for the people displaced by the explosion. We'll be adding to this post throughout the day, as new information becomes available. Original post, 11:20 p.m., Wednesday: News outlets acros ... More >>

Texas is Last in High School Graduation, First in Hazardous Waste, and Other Depressing Tidbits from a New Legislative Report

The Texas Legislative Study Group is a caucus of around 50 Democratic representatives from the Texas House, and they're real buzzkills. The LSG keeps a full-time staff of policy analysts around, who almost every year since 2003 have released a report called "Texas on the Brink," detailing all the mo ... More >>

With More Police Officers in Schools, Thousands of Texas Students Wind Up In Court Each Year

On Tuesday, Eric told you about a DISD sixth-grader who was arrested at his school, DISD's Learning Alternative Center for Empowering Youth, after attempting to steal $4 from a classmate. After his target felt the sixth-grader's hand in his pocket and pulled away, the frustrated would-be thief knock ... More >>

Road Trips, Bowling Alleys and Brisket: This Week In Dallas Dining

There is so much good stuff on CoA this week I'm having trouble figuring out how to wrap it all up. We're going to need some grade A, organic jumbo lettuce leaves to get this all taken care of, but I promise it's worth it. Have a look for yourself. This week I reviewed Bowl & Barrel, a Park Lane bo ... More >>

Big Texas Beer Fest Was Even Better the Second Time. Here's Why.

More than two hours in to the second iteration of Big Texas Beer Fest, I ran into organizer Chad Montgomery and asked him what beers he'd had so far that really impressed him. The answer shocked me: He hadn't had a sip yet, he was so busy.  Montgomery's dedication to making the event run smooth ... More >>

Here Are All The Reasons Why Texas Teenagers Can't Seem to Stop Getting Pregnant

Congratulations, Texas! After a lot of hard work and many long nights, we're number one in the nation for repeat teen births. According to the Centers for Disease Control, which released a new report on April 2, in 2010, 22 percent of Texas teenagers aged 15-19 who gave birth were delivering their ... More >>

Congressman Steve Stockman to Gunmakers: Come Check Out Texas

U.S. Representative Steve Stockman is not a subtle man. We could go so far as to say he has a flair for the dramatic. He is, after all, the man who brought Ted Nugent as his plus-one to the State of the Union address, and compared the Earth to a sort of fuel-filled water balloon. And even further ba ... More >>

Seriously Amazing Culinary and Beer Events for the Week, April 3 - 9

Thursday, April 4 Garden Café will host Freedom Through Food, a small gathering of local sustainable food and gardening activists, including Suzie Marshall of GROW North Texas. Chef Chad Houser and Graham Dodds will be cooking at the event, which starts at 5:45 p.m. Scott Reitz got more details ea ... More >>

Greg Abbott Wants To Make Texas' Interim (And Still Probably Unconstitutional) Redistricting Plan Permanent

As you may recall, Texas' 2011 plan to redraw political boundaries was so brazenly partisan, so undeniably bent on reducing minority influence, and the evidence was so mountainous and convincing that a federal court didn't even bother cataloging it all in its ruling against the state. "The parties h ... More >>

Rap Genius Wants to Expand Our Understanding of Southern Rap

A Worried Dad Has Trouble Keeping His Wabs and Gabachos Straight

Deep Fry Masters. It's a Show About Deep Frying Things. They Want You to Fry Things.

I've been dreaming about this day. The day when fried food and reality TV finally make a TV show baby. And it's finally freaking here, people. Yesterday, I received an email from one of my most reliable deep-fried connections (yes, I have connections in the deep-fried world, and I'm absolutely bragg ... More >>

State Senate Passes Craft Brewing Bills That Would Allow Expanded Sales

Earlier this week, the Texas Senate approved a family of bills dear to the heart of Texas craft brewers. The legislation lets brewpubs sell a limited amount of beer through distributors, while craft breweries will get to sell their products to consumers on-site. See also: - Public Hearing Set for C ... More >>

The Best Culinary Events of the Week, Including TexasFest, An Underground Dinner and Movie Night at Rahr

Wednesday, March 27 Sigel's at 3209 N. Fitzugh Ave. is hosting TexasFest, a celebration of Texas craft beer, spirits and wine, which includes 14 Texas beers, 26 Texas spirits and eight wines. Brian Luscher of The Grape will provide sustenance with his new Post Oak Red Hots. You'll need to reserve a ... More >>

Balcones Texas Single Malt Wins Another Award

Balcones Distillery, the folks responsible for the Texas single malt whiskey we tasted back in January, just made news with the Ultimate Beverage Challenge. The Waco-based distillery's product just won the American whiskey category in a recent spirit evaluation held by the organization, which tastes ... More >>