While Snack wrestles with a new menu, concept, or whatever they're planning to accomplish during their two week hiatus, Goodfriend in East Dallas is spending that time celebrating their first year anniversary.
Comparing the two says a lot about which restaurant concepts are often successful and which are headed for failure.
Goodfriend got through their first successful year by building out an impressive dinning room and patio, producing great burgers and offering a killer beer list in a neighborhood that really needed a casual burger joint.
Snack, on the other hand moved into an area with several established restaurants and offered a trio of concepts in a dining room that had a patio, multiple bars, a menu with flavors from around the world, and oh why the hell not, raw oysters.
I've praised small menus in the past, and think Goodfriend is another example of a focused kitchen turning out a few dishes that are really refined and perfected through repetition. Sure the menu has sandwiches, salads, sides, and these fried green beans that everyone seems to love except me, but when you think Goodfriend you think burgers, and subsequently the place has an identity.
Snack on the other hand had some genuinely great plates, but to find them you had to sift through a lot of dishes that never came together. The restaurant left you with no impression or impact, and in the end was forgettable.
Oh well.
To mark the anniversary, Goodfriend is throwing a party! There will be new beers, drink specials a band and the burgers we have come to know and love. If their other events are any indication, and the weather turns out to be as sexy as it has been some recent days, I'm predicting this thing is their biggest bash yet.
Get out your party hats October ,17 from 4 p.m. till they close.
