Yelp! Inc.

Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios will be Non-Smoking Starting May 7

For quite some time Dallas has maintained no-smoking laws in its bars, restaurants and music venues, forcing smokers into the elements during concerts or comedy shows; but just 40 miles away, Denton has long remained the go-to city for tabacco users because of its lenience towards smoking in bars an ... More >>

Sloppy Food, Clean Art

Campo Verde in Arlington, Inside a Kaleidoscope of Crazy

No, that's not a picture from inside a kaleidoscope. That's actually from inside a restaurant, one that is bejeweled within an inch of its life in hundreds (perhaps thousands) of strands of lights and tinsel. How festive, you say? Yeah, I took that picture last week. In what might be called an Arl ... More >>

Momentum is Building to Close Dawson State Jail

For years, talk has been swirling of closing Dawson State Jail. The city of Dallas pushed for it five years ago, wanting to develop the property at the foot of the levee at Commerce Street into something more in keeping with its vision for river corridor. State Senator John Whitmire, D-Houston, exp ... More >>

Yelp to Add Restaurant Health Inspection Grades to Site

Yelp is adding restaurant health inspection grades to its restaurant pages. The reports, however, aren't based on customer reviews, but rather city-provided health score information. Yelp has already launched the new feature in San Francisco. New York is next and then it will gobble up the rest of ... More >>

Team Kerouac

Kristen Stewart and Garrett Hedlund chat about the film version of On the Road

Talking Food Critics, Ethnic Influence and Chef Instability in Dallas with Eric Ripert

This Friday at Bass Hall in Fort Worth, Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert will deliver an interactive performance discussing the industry that has granted them stardom. Most of the press coverage about the show has focused on Bourdain, but while Ripert takes a quieter approach to life his story is no ... More >>

Late-Night Eats: The Four Meat Pizza At Nova

On a Thursday evening, just past 10 p.m., Oak Cliff was sleepy. Yelp said Boulevardier was open till 11 but the staff said otherwise. Same went for Bolsa, which offered cocktails and beer but no food. That's what I get for trusting a third-party source instead of getting operating hours direct from ... More >>

Here's a Chat with Jon Taffer, Host of Bar Rescue, Who is in Town Tomorrow for a Workshop

Jon Taffer, host of Spike TV's Bar Rescue, is in town tomorrow for his Rescue Tour Workshop, which is basically how to save your bar from yourself. I've watched Bar Rescue a few times, often grimacing at the dumb things people do and wondering, "Why are these people even in the business?" And I ap ... More >>

The Great Library-Inspired Bars of Dallas

It's hard to not love a good dive. The Goat. Lee Harvey's. But sometimes a woman must "spend time with [her] fools," or be one, even if that means they've dragged her out of the warm solace of trusted neighborhood haunts into the sweeping unknown of fedoras and ascots. With the noted (and occasion ... More >>

Austin: I Came, I Drank, I Conquered (And Then I Drank Some More)

I'm taking every opportunity that comes along this summer to get out of the steamy swamp currently hanging over our city, and that means one thing: road-trippin'. I made the trek (more of a hop, skip and a kolache-fueled jump, really) to Austin this weekend to visit friends and raise hell, and did ... More >>

The Creamy Bastard Puts Breakfast in an Ice Cream Sandwich -- and Soon, on a Food Truck

Trolling Yelp one night in search of ice cream near my apartment, I came across a listing for Creamy Bastard (no relation to our own beloved Cheap Bastard, although I'm sure Alice is creamy in her own right).  Reviewers touted it as the best frozen custard around, but there was no address ... More >>

Private Social May Multiply, but Will People Come if Tiffany Derry's Not in the Kitchen?

Eater dug up a scoop on Uptown's Top Chef destination, Private Social. A post on the restaurant's Facebook page hints at expansion plans, asking applicants to send in their resumes. Chef Tiffany Derry has yet to release any details on what she's planning on doing with her expanded staff, but rumors ... More >>

How a Negative Yelp Review of Maple Motor Ended with Hurt Feelings and One Less Yelp Account

Last night Jack Perkins, proprietor of Maple and Motor, took a break from flippin' burgers to check out his Yelp page. He noticed a review from Dace Street, the son of Gene Street, owner of Snookies and brother to Mariel Street, who owns the newly expanding Liberty Burger. Turns out earlier this m ... More >>

Drink This: Tate's "Spiced 75" and Some Robust, Strong Drinks To Come

A handful of people were scattered throughout Uptown's newest watering hole, Tate's, on Tuesday night. Bartender, JW was busy whipping up Sazeracs (he puts on an impressive show, misting each glass with absinthe, then torching it with his handheld blow torch). The bar was, and still is, celebrating ... More >>

Knox-Henderson Keeps Shedding Restaurants

Just three weeks ago, we reported that Horne & Dekker had closed abruptly, on the heels of other failed restaurants in the area. H&D, Redfork and Alma all closed in less than a year, and I wondered if Knox-Henderson was a tough neighborhood for the service industry. Or maybe their food just sucked. ... More >>

Matt McCallister Ate a Yelper for Breakfast

​Poor, poor Tina. With just nine Yelp reviews under her belt she decided to report on her experience at Campo Modern Country Bistro. She wasn't fond of her meal, awarding the experience a single star. Tina "really wanted to like" Campo but was upset that her chicken came with a bone in it (it ... More >>

Straying from the Common Table's Beer List Gets Dicey, Unless You're Tasting the Rainbow

Whitney FilloonThe Mick. Ick.​Two simple words possessed me to fight rush-hour traffic and patronize loathsome valet parking for a Friday happy hour in Uptown: Skittles Sangria. Perusing Yelp for a new-to-me drinking spot, I'd stumbled on the Common Table's drink menu, and my inner alcoholic ... More >>

Fishing Around Lands a Keeper at Taco Taco

This week, Cheap Bastard rolls the dice and finds she loves the crunchy fish taco (heh, heh, she said crunchy fish taco) at Taco Taco, 5954 Royal Lane, 214-750-4420.) Other diners in the restaurant besides me count: 0 Times I laughed when I realized that I recommend the crunchy fish taco: 2 When m ... More >>

Happy Hour at Malai Kitchen, Where Five Dollars Will Make You Hollar for Another One

The West Village isn't typically a favorite destination 'hood of mine unless I'm seeking fro-yo or a sale on cardigans, but a Yelp search pointed me in the direction of Thai-Vietnamese spot Malai when I found myself in dire need of a drink on a Sunday evening. I have zero desire to wait 30 minutes ... More >>

What Does the Internet Say About the Health of Dallas' Dining Scene?

Eric Asimov, the interim New York Times restaurant critic sandwiched between Sam Sifton and his permanent replacement Pete Wells, published a story last week about his short tenure as a critical diner. Asimov reviewed restaurants before becoming a full-time wine columnist in 2004. His column compar ... More >>

Jay Jerrier of Il Cane Rosso on Guy Fieri, Naples and Making Peace with Yelp

In one quick year, Il Cane Rosso has become the most esteemed pizza joint in Dallas. Owner Jay Jerrier discovered this style of Neapolitan pizza while on a trip in Naples with his wife in 1995 and has worked diligently to bring the same pizza experience to Dallas. Recently Guy Fieri and the Diners, ... More >>

National Haiku Day: This Is Why You Care

​ A NEW YELP IN TOWN? THERE COULD BE, IF YOU'RE DOWN TO KICKSTART IT FOR THEM Watch out Yelp. Three Dallas dudes are hoping a Kickstarter campaign will help them launch a new mobile app they're calling Haiku Review. Stu Hill, Wes Hendrix and Brad Alesi are asking for $65,000 to help them buil ... More >>

If Google Swallows Open Table Too, Yelp Could Yelp Its Last Yelp

​Back in September, when we wrote about Google taking a bite out of Zagat, we wondered if the Internet giant had plans to compete with Yelp. Google already allows users to give restaurants a star rating and to offer their thoughts on recent dining experiences. Zagat's database, containing prof ... More >>

Sol's Nieto on Mockingbird Closes; Like it Or Not, That Yelp Rating Couldn't Have Helped

News broke yesterday that Sol's Nieto Mexican Grill at Mockingbird and Abrams closed. Gubbins got the scoop from manager Blanca Perez: "The landlords refused to make any kind of deal with us, so there is nothing we can do. After 10 years, it's heart-breaking for us to go down this way." Landlords . ... More >>

From Yelp to Food & Wine to Jonathon's Bottom Line: The Making of a Beer Cheese Soup Star

Jonathon's Oak Cliff continues to generate buzz. Just as Eater almost awarded Jonathon Erdeljac chef of the year, November's issue of Food & Wine featured the casual restaurant's "Beer-and-Cheddar Soup." I called Jonathon's wife Christine and asked her how the restaurant came to be featured in the ... More >>

Café San Miguel: A Failed Restaurant Through the Eyes Of Yelp

Cafe San Miguel's star rating rocketed from two to nearly four stars in two months​City of Ate had just posted its monthly revolving doors column when the Dallas Morning News reported on the closing of Cafe San Miguel yesterday. The owners sent out an email to diners saying, "After making a ho ... More >>

Village Voice Media Responds to Clergy Attack Ad in Today's New York Times Over Backpage

​Today 36 clergy affixed their names to a paid ad and open letter to the Village Voice, the Observer's New York sister paper, and the classified ad site Backpage.com. The full page ad was published in the New York Times. The religious coalition demanded that we close down our legal, adult cla ... More >>

Google Buys Zagat. What's Next (Besides Mind Control, Obviously)?

​The Google-chompers gobbled up Zagat yesterday, as reported by the New York Times, the LA Times, and then everyone else. The acquisition gives the internet mogul access to a sizable restaurant database full of addresses and reviews that's 29 years in the making, and positions the company to c ... More >>

The New Kid in Town, Squealing on Yelp and More

Sara KerensChicken, waffles and coffee at Oddfellows.​This week in food blogs, the T Room sold sandwiches, users decided Yelp! is even more unreliable than they thought, and the newly opened and recently gassy Redfork is down two chefs. Most important, our new food critic started posting. Read ... More >>

Two Local Food Entreprenuers Level the Field Through Social Media

Dan Kim, president and chief executive officer of Red Mango, in a photo from the company's MySpace page.​It's undeniable that social networking has changed the landscape of food. How we eat, view and hear about food has been dramatically altered thanks to websites like Yelp, Twitter and Faceb ... More >>

Nine Tips for Digging Through Local Farmers Markets

​It didn't take a study of Vermont farmers markets to tell us what we knew for a long time: Supermarkets aren't cheaper. That being said and this being spring, it's a good time to riff on farmers' markets, plus give you a few shopping tips on how to navigate them. 1. Find Your Market I always ass ... More >>

Brackets Declines to Replace Departed Executive Chef

The executive chef at Brackets has left, and the restaurant's management team has decided against filling the position. ​Pedro Castrejon, late of Aventino and Ferre Ristorante e Bar, was at the helm when the table tennis-themed sports bar opened late last year in the former Trader Vic's locat ... More >>

What's Lurking in Your Server's Apron?

You do not want your server to have waffle pants.​"Disheveled wait staff" is a cliché on Yelp! - people love to pluck away stars and blame the stained shirts, dirty fingernails, bad haircuts or collection of piercings glittering from a server's face. But the worst, least appealing bits of the ... More >>

Maple & Motor's Jack Perkins:
He Does it His Way

Photo by Robert BostickMaple & Motor's Jack Perkins​This week, Three-Course meal interviews burger meister Jack Perkins, who grills up one of the city's most popular patties at Maple & Motor. Tomorrow, we throw a Q&A Perkins way, and Friday he hands us the keys to the kingdom, showing us step ... More >>

Serving a Dish Called Revenge

A chef could always tell a critic to lick his chocolate salty balls.​BRC, the gastropub with the naughty name that's been a sensation in Houston this summer, failed to impress Houston Chronicle critic Alison Cook. In her review this week, Cook declined to give Big Red Cock a single star. But ... More >>

Zaguán Latin Café & Bakery's Known For Food, But The Coffee's Damn Good Too

Photos By Daniel Rodrigue​This morning, after hearing very good things about the coffee and espresso at Zaguán Latin Café & Bakery from several of the folks around the bullpen at Observer HQ who regularly visit the establishment, Roasted finally headed across the street for an early-morning ... More >>

Los Cabos: Okie-Mex is About What You'd Expect.

Despite Some Bad Publicity, Yelp Teams With Dallas Restaurants for Meal Deals

​Yelp, the reader review website that's currently fighting a class action lawsuit from retailers and restaurateurs (the plaintiffs claim the company strong-armed them into buying ads in exchange for deleting negative reviews), has recruited 15 Dallas restaurants for its upcoming Yelp Eats! Wee ... More >>

Stranded at the Altar: Zander's House Teases With a Menu We Can't Taste

​Plano has its share of Asian restaurants, but seeing as how I live in between the two closer options of Richardson and Arlington, I never feel the need to travel past Belt Line Road. Luckily, a shopping expedition to Allen made sure I'd have to drive through our northern neighbor, and I wante ... More >>

Campania Pizza Stretches The Delivery Range

Patrick MichelsCampania delivers: Here lies the loneliest salami​Campania Pizza 3500 McKinney Ave, Suite 150 214-780-0605 Promised delivery time: 45-60 minutes Actual delivery time: 38 minutesScoring SummaryGoing the extra half-mile, outside the usual delivery range: 20 Still beating the promis ... More >>

Yelp Tries to Hush Those Pesky Lawsuits

From Birdsall's Story in SF Weekly here​Remember how news came last year that the San Francisco-based Yelp was using the "Favorite Review" feature to strong-arm businesses into becoming advertisers? Well, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman has a response to the lawsuits, as reported by food editor John Bi ... More >>

Yelp Lawsuit Widens: From Washington to Chicago to L.A., Plaintiffs Charge Extortion

​ Nine companies have joined the proposed class action lawsuit against Yelp, the San Francisco-based Internet giant, attorneys in Miami and California announced this morning. The new plaintiffs are located everywhere from Tujunga, California, to Washington, D.C. They include businesses rangi ... More >>

The Year/The Decade: People

​We all--well, most of us, anyway--like to group certain traits or people into easy shorthand definitions.For example, the French become "surrender monkeys," southerners are all "rednecks" and Eagles fans are...um, that's unprintable. As the guys from Monty Python once pointed out, the only group ... More >>

Words On Review

Out is the new safe.​I began to worry a long time ago--1985, more precisely.Not only was it the year an anti-christ appeared in the form of Don Denkinger (google 'worst call in World Series history' if you don't recognize his name), but it was also the first time I heard college students refer to ... More >>

Words And Meanings: A Blog Commenter's Responsibilities

Ian Britton/FreeFoto.com​Every Monday in this space I pick something to rant about. Today, however, I'm at a loss.I did want to thank Leslie Brenner for bringing up the growing "we don't take reservations" trend, which I find annoying...although I understand the value to a restaurant's bottom line ... More >>

Girl Drink Drunk: Family Karaoke

Seriously, no idea who that is. Really.First of all, I realize some people don't like karaoke, that it ain't their thing and they'd prefer to sit there and just watch the fun. That's cool. But just trust that at Family Karaoke -- where parties of up to 25 can reserve private sound-proofed room ... More >>

How 'Bout Them Knockers: Texan Steak

Patrick MichelsHere's a hot cooking tip for summer! Don't put Styrofoam in the microwave. Use the grill instead...Texan Steak4817 Ross Avenue214-521-7999Promised delivery time: 45 minutesActual delivery time: 35 minutesNovelty of concept: 15No menu online, or discernible storefront on street: -20Hel ... More >>

How ‘Bout Them Knockers: Bangkok City