It all started with a typo. Peja Krstic, chef-owner of acclaimed Dallas Vietnamese restaurant Mot Hai Ba, reversed the h and n in “bánh mì” while writing a caption on Instagram June 16. He says autocorrect is to blame. But then three Vietnamese American women replied to correct the typo…
Revolver Taco Lounge has long been two restaurants in one: a casual taco counter in the front and a formal, reservations-only tasting of traditional Mexican foods in the back. That double identity as a hangout spot and a fine-dining destination is part of the reason this author has, in the…
Good to Go is a column where our food writers explore Dallas’ restaurant scene through takeout orders, delivery boxes and reheated leftovers. The arrival of coronavirus, and the subsequent cancelation of just about every event in Dallas, sent many pop-up food organizations into a panic. But not the Nepali dumpling…
In this combustible moment of national reckoning, restaurants and culinary leaders across the United States are being held accountable for incidents of racism. They are also facing the tricky balancing act of determining what punishment fits what crime — and whether the alleged misconduct really took place. That balancing act…
One of the most common complaints food writers get come from readers upset that they’ve been forced to think about anything else. “You’re a food writer,” they often write. “Stick to describing the food!” But in Dallas, especially, it’s impossible to understand local food culture without also understanding a long…
In December, a new Asian restaurant opened in Cedar Hill, taking over a former location of the Burger Island chain. In March, when coronavirus struck and forced the dining room’s temporary closure, the new owners hadn’t even finished remodeling. Buns, Bowls & Bubbles reopened when it was legally allowed to…
Business is slow at Shawarma Press, the excellent fast-casual Jordanian restaurant in Irving, but things could have been much worse. For one, the kitchen’s signature meal — a shawarma wrap using thin, freshly made shrak bread — makes a perfect takeout food. For another thing, the coronavirus erupted in Dallas…
Most agree restaurants should follow heightened safety protocols during the coronavirus pandemic, but from there, things get complicated. Texas has its official guidelines for restaurants. The Centers for Disease Control has its own set of recommendations, as does the Food and Drug Administration. The Aspen Institute released an independent handbook…
As Texas breweries received permission to begin reopening, individual business owners had to grapple with a difficult question: How do you safely open an alcohol-dependent business during a health crisis? Many local breweries delayed their openings to spend more time contemplating that question. Welcoming the public back into a taproom…
Good to Go is a column where our food writers explore Dallas’ restaurant scene through takeout orders, delivery boxes and reheated leftovers. It’s not a place where we’d look for a restaurant, even in good times. To the west, the six-lane road ducks under an old freight rail bridge. To…
Every restaurant in the Dallas area has battled against an impossible spring. But one beloved Mexican restaurant in Oak Cliff is facing a tougher fight than most and doing it with more optimism, too. It’s no surprise that Maskaras Mexican Grill would have such combative spirit. The dining room is…
When the federal government opened emergency and Payroll Protection Program loans to small businesses, the funding appeared to be a lifeline. But even for the lucky restaurant owners who got a share of the money, the hard part is just beginning. Jennifer and David Uygur, the owners of Lucia and…
Yuki Hirabayashi, the sushi chef who opened Sushi Bayashi at Trinity Groves in 2014, is taking over the sushi bar at Musume in the Dallas Arts District. Hirabayashi, a native of Tokyo, came to Dallasites’ attention during a seven-year run at Kenichi in Victory Park before moving to Trinity Groves…
One of the few good things about coronavirus is the way it has challenged some common ideas about human nature. The global pandemics of fiction imagined lawlessness, mass looting, murder and chaos — not charity and voluntary quarantining. And on social media, we could have reasonably expected outpourings of anger…
Back in the good old days of restaurant dining, the idea of leftover barbecue was a little strange. You’re sitting at a long wooden table with a tray full of spectacular smoked meat, and you can’t finish it? How Texan are you? But in the time of coronavirus, the very…
Friday, Texas restaurant dining rooms will be allowed to reopen, if they wish, up to 25% of their capacity limits. Gov. Greg Abbott announced the reopening as part of a gradual, phased reopening of the state Texas. The reopening plan seems destined to fail as the coronavirus returns. Cases of…
The big-hearted eatery offers six tacos and a bottle of wine for $30.
Good to Go is a column where our food writers explore Dallas’ restaurant scene through takeout orders, delivery boxes and reheated leftovers. March 16, a day before Plano’s City Council voted to close restaurant dining rooms in response to the spreading coronavirus, one of the city’s leading Taiwanese and Chinese…
Although coronavirus appears to be at or near its peak in Dallas County, some public figures are already looking ahead to the next big question: How should society reopen? Proposals to reboot the restaurant industry include a popular suggestion mentioned by Dallas City Council member David Blewett in a recent…
Early Easter Sunday morning, two men broke into Rex’s Seafood and Mimi’s Pizzeria on Northwest Highway. The target of the two burglaries was cash. At Mimi’s, the thieves took around $200 from the register and coins from video game machines, and at Rex’s they opened all four cash drawers (two…
A great deal has been said about the need to support small, locally owned restaurants during the coronavirus outbreak. Because the inability to serve customers on-site has slashed many kitchens’ sales by more than half, it’s literally true that if we don’t patronize them now, we may never be able…
Any lover of good food who is forced by a pandemic to self-isolate for a month will, eventually, start to fantasize about tacos. The timing may be fortunate or calamitous, but this week marks the official release of the perfect quarantine food reading: American Tacos: A History and Guide, by…
