Velveeta Cheese

The 11 Best Bites from the Dallas Observer Iron Fork 2013

Hopefully you made it to Iron Fork last night. Hopefully you dressed lightly. While massive blowers at the front of the venue did their best, the back of the Dallas Contemporary was quite warm. I'm half convinced that Matt McCallister's sweat was the magical ingredient that propelled the young chef ... More >>

Dallas Morning News Critic Leslie Brenner Really Hates Queso

Leslie Brenner laid down the gauntlet today publishing a blog post that promises to inflame an entire state. "Queso is awful," writes Brenner saying she's ready to come out of the queso closet. She goes on to defend queso fundido, which often makes use of higher quality cheese, but that Velveeta bas ... More >>

BrewFest, Next-Mex, Openings and Benton's Bacon: This Week In Dallas Dining

Gloomy day in Dallas today, and the weekend promises to deliver more of the same. Perhaps a little liquid sunshine will brighten your weekend? I know I'm excited to try a few hundred beers while strolling around the Arts District. Before we start celebrating beer, though, we have a week to wrap up, ... More >>

Downtown Plano Is Waking Up With A New "Next-Mex" Spot That's Good

Downtown historic Plano has gained some character as of late. While dining at Urban Rio, the subject of this week's review, I talked to Nick Rallo a ton about how Plano has changed since he grew up there. While West Plano had a resurgence that centered around Preston and Park and the Shops at Legacy ... More >>

The College Diet: Breaking Down the Food at SMU's Cafeteria

America's future leaders are piling back to their schools, and we're honoring them with how-to's, survival guides and personal stories of failure from Observer staff. That's right, It's College Week. See also: The Top 20 Dorm Room Posters Of All Time As Nick and I walked into SMU's RFOC Cafeteria ( ... More >>

Solving the Mystery of Melting Cheeses

My recent investigation into the endless cycle of queso enjoyment promoted a question in the comments. After I described a bubbling plate of molten cheese primi timpano asked: A little surprised at the bubbling cheese as I thought cheese heated to these temperatures would result in broken proteins. ... More >>

Top 10 Super Bowl Commercials Starring Food

This year, like most years, the multi-million-dollar-slinging advertising competition known as the Super Bowl was largely dominated by those in the motor vehicle category. But if you were paying close attention, somewhere between the David Beckham ogling, flipping back and forth from the Super Bowl ... More >>

We Gave Campo's Matt McCallister a Big Box of Crap and He Made Us 14-Layer Dip

​​​Once a month or so, we invite a new lucky soul to attempt to conquer The Box. Their challenge: To create something awesome out of whatever ingredients are in the box. It's like Chopped plus Punk'd, only less terrible. This month, Campo's Matt McCallister attempts to make some Super Bowl app ... More >>

Can Campo's Matt McCallister Turn this Big Box of Crap into Awesome Apps? Probably.

Mmm. Fuzzy Navel.​Welcome to the return of The Box. Last time, Trailercakes turned our big box of crap into two delicious cupcakes. This time, Chef Matt McCallister of Campo will get a chance to turn a box of chips, hot dogs and wine coolers into something that's actually edible. Here's the c ... More >>

The Wild Cards Are Finished: Watching the NFL Through Food

What a weird weekend in football. While I'm glad New Orleans trumped Detroit (what do people in D-town eat besides sadness?), I'm devastated by Pittsburgh's loss to Denver, another town whose culinary culture is difficult to define. What Would Tebow Cook? Pittsburgh, however, gave rise to the glory ... More >>

Meso Maya's Hands of God

Behold, the truly hand-made tortilla.

Tex-Mex Sandra Lee-Style: Matt's Rancho Martinez's Bob Armstrong Dip

You too can make this tasty dip in five easy steps​Matt's Rancho Martinez may be known as a solid Tex-Mex joint with good fajitas and boozy drinks to some, but a secret dip that was so popular it was eventually added to the menu is the restaurant's real claim to fame. Behold, Bob Armstrong Dip ... More >>

Dallas' Five Best Macaroni and Cheese Dishes

​Our love of mac and cheese is a deep-rooted affair, grown from a seed planted by our parents with a blue box and neon orange cheese powder. Velveeta upped the pre-fab ante, boxing up cheap pasta with a foil pouch of pre-melted cheese food product that introduced us to a new level of ooze. O ... More >>

Time To Get Cookin' For City of Ate's Blue Ribbon Recipe Contest

​ Do you think your lasagna could beat Bobby Flay's version in a throw-down? Do you firmly believe that your pot roast is better than everyone else's recipe, including your grandma's? Are you the self-proclaimed Top Chef of your household? If your cooking is so good that your kids even eat ... More >>

Revolving Doors: Who's Afraid of a Little Ice?

​The weather may have given Dallas the finger right before the Super Bowl, but some high-profile restaurants, including The Cedars Social and Lockhart Smokehouse, were able to open in spite of ice, snow and Steelers fans. In January, we found out that Metro Diner will be closing its Gaston Avenue ... More >>

Tomorrow: Fondue Night at Scardello

Sara Kerens​Good news, everybody! We're expecting warmer weather this weekend, as in it's going to be just plain cold rather than cheek-blistering cold. Resist the urge to hibernate at home tomorrow night and head to dinner at Scardello (3511 Oak Lawn Ave.). Fondue Night has returned, and t ... More >>

Free Is Too Much for Jack in the Box Tacos

​"Our tacos have had a cult-like following since the 1950s, when they gained a permanent place on our menu. This is especially true in Dallas, where our guests are counted among our long-term favorites," Brian Luscomb, Jack in the Box spokesperson, told me over the phone. With those words in m ... More >>

Hash Over: Screw Your Quiz, Go to Artopia
And Cook with Dean

Though Thanksgiving is still weeks away, stores are already stocking the shelves with holiday lights and Christmas ornaments. You could be like our neighbors and put out the inflatable snowman right now, or you could enjoy what little time you have left before it's all turkey talk and last-minute sh ... More >>

Acing the Cheese Course at Central Market

Editor's Note: Since we're not especially scholastic at City of Ate, we recruited our intern Brooke Nottingham (who's probably a whiz with a highlighter and page marker flags) to attend a few local cooking classes. Her occasional series of reports begins today with a cheese class at Central Market. ... More >>

Our Top 5 Most Expensive Things
To Eat or Drink

​You just invented the Opti-Grab just like The Jerk's Navin R. Johnson, or possibly hit it big in what many now may consider their only chance at retirement, the lottery. What would you do with all that loot after buying a ration of fine automobiles and country estates? Well, you could join th ... More >>

Reading List: Four Food-ish Books to Complete Your Summer

​It's not just students who feel rushed to finish their summer reading lists in the last few weeks of August: Adult readers who've lugged the same books back and forth from the pool are hurrying their way through the novels and memoirs they had every intention of reading this season. But for ... More >>

The Common Table: Good Beer, Uncommonly Poor Food.

Broadway On Akard

Clearing Out The Mailroom: Tuesday, April 20, 2010

​We've got quite a backlog of CDs we've never gotten around to, so we're going to try to chip away at the pile with this regular feature. The plan: to take four or five at a time and play each CD for as long as I can stand it.The 5 BrownsThe 5 Browns in Hollywood (E1 Entertainment)Residing in U ... More >>

Death Lite: Two Shows at the Bath House Dare to Laugh in the Face of the Grim Reaper

Chef David Uygur Looks At Life After Lola

​A week ago today, Leslie Brenner of the Dallas Morning News dropped a bomb on the Eats blog: nine-year-old Lola on Fairmount Street is closing in October. The Uptown charmer has earned top marks from reviewers and locals alike for its thoughtful, well-executed menu and top-notch wine program. T ... More >>

Girl Drink Drunk: Cherry Vodka Limeade

"If you like Calvin Klein's Obsession, you love Designer Imposters' Confess." "If you like Acqua di Gio, you'll love Designer Imposters' Mascolino." Yeah, uh huh. And I suppose that Liza impersonator does Cabaret just as good as the real Broadway loon, and that Velveeta tastes something like actual ... More >>

Pairing Off: Spam

Patrick MichelsThe classic 1949 film Battleground ranks as one of the best not only because Ricardo Montalban (or his character, anyway) freezes to death. There's also a scene appropriate to this week's Pairing Off.It lasts just a few seconds, but says everything one needs to know about America's re ... More >>

Sloppy Seconds: All Washed Up

After a long night traipsing around Austin looking for another Michelob Ultra or Tuaca giveaway party, nothing soaks it all up like a lukewarm slice of Roppolo's pizza and a mind-clearing read through the City of Ate archives. That's how some of us felt, anyway, in the wake of SXSW this week. If you ... More >>

On The Range: Enchiladas

Let's face it: A true Tex-Mex establishment succeeds or fails on the strength of its enchiladas. I realize I'm speaking only for myself, at least as far as popular dishes go. Many patrons of an El-or-La-something-or-other (as Rosemary Kent dubbed Tex-Mex restaurants in her Genuine Texas Hand ... More >>

On The Range: Bar-Mex (Nachos, Chips And Stuff Like That)

Most of us--well, most non-Hispanics, anyway--have been eating nachos for many years without a clue as to where the term originated. You see, in Tejano culture, "Nacho" is merely the nickname for Ignacio, a rather common name in Spanish-speaking households. And according to Robb Walsh and his ... More >>

10 Questions: Rich Rogers

The owner of Scardello Artisan Cheese on Oak Lawn used to be just your average film and video production person.In fact, he spent 15 years shooting and editing corporate video. But the Dalhart native always loved good food and--in particular--good cheese. In between projects he studied the history o ... More >>

Bless Us, Oh Lard

Damn fajitas and health-conscious eaters. They're killing traditional Tex-Mex.

Love (or at least sex) Mexican-style

Burn, Baby, Burn

Lower Greenville was on fire at the Observer Showcase

Dirty Dining

Roux Note

Can this new seafood joint draw the jazz lovers?

Wheying the Options

Why are there so many cheeses?

The Datsuns, the D4, the Electric Six, the Sights; Sahara Hotnights, Ikara Colt, the Washdown

March 15

Roots

Pretend your heritage is colorful with the Dallas International Festival

Sweet Leaf

The Bay Leaf has plenty of personality

Scratch Shot

Banquet-hall chic

Bowling for Calories

What are our favorite football foods?

Playing Chicken

Come boom or bust Dallasites gotta eat--out, that is

American Cheese

What is Velveeta?

True Lies

Thai Bistro

Suze cruze

He finally did it

It's not easy being green

Green Papaya needs some seasoning

Roadshows

Little Italy

San Remo, Plano's neighborhood Italian restaurant, is a nice place