In 2013, Texas Monthly ignited a culinary revolution — and created national headlines — by hiring Daniel Vaughn as a full-time “barbecue editor.” Now they’re doing something similar again. José Ralat, the Oak Cliff-based taco writer who’s contributed to the Dallas Observer, D Magazine, Texas Highways, Eater Dallas and Cowboys…
Dallas has a growing bounty of diverse, interesting places to eat, but the iconic Dallas restaurant is an institution that hasn’t changed much in the last 30 years: the steakhouse. In almost every affluent neighborhood in town, steakhouses serve big grilled cuts of beef and big tannic bottles of cabernet…
The Dallas area has an abundance of Korean barbecue restaurants. What sets K’s House apart is its location, 10 miles southeast of any of the others, just across a bridge from downtown. Located in a prime new corner of the Trinity Groves development, K’s House gives residents of the city…
The Virgin Hotel, opening in the Design District this December, will include a restaurant by Dallas chef Matt McCallister. The Kitchen by Matt McCallister, as the new eatery will be rather grandly named, will showcase the kind of seasonal cooking we’ve come to expect from the chef, who became famous…
Nusr-Et, the high-dollar chain steakhouse run by Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe, is on track to open this fall in Dallas, even though other locations are facing increasing legal setbacks. Gökçe, who goes by the nickname “Salt Bae,” became famous on social media for viral videos in which he throws steaks,…
Mi Lindo Oaxaca, Oak Cliff’s beloved home base for tlayudas, squash blossom quesadillas and made-from-scratch mole, is closed. According to a Facebook post, owner Honorio García is directing customers to his new restaurant, El Oaxaqueño Panadería y Taquería, at 2324 W. Clarendon Drive. El Oaxaqueño offers trompo tacos and trompo…
For centuries, the Chinese city of Chang’an acted as a capital and royal residence. Just to the east, across the Bahe River, are the famous terra cotta warriors; in town, a recently-opened park showcases the remains of a nearly 1,400-year-old royal palace. Here, for centuries, traders from across China gathered…
The Dallas food scene is a confusing, tumultuous place. Restaurants open and close constantly, and fads seem to sweep in from the coasts with regularity before receding. For out-of-towners, Dallas is especially mysterious because our reputation is out-of-date. Around America, food lovers know Houston is a mellow melting pot of…
I love Manhattan Project Beer. I keep a stash of their impeccably made, ultra-drinkable pilsner in my fridge. I chat about the beer business with one of its founders. Every few weeks, my girlfriend and I stand in front of the coolers at Central Market, awed by all the choices,…
Texas beer lovers are about to get a new holiday. Sept. 1 marks the legalization of beer-to-go sales, meaning customers will be able to buy up to one case (288 ounces) per person, per day of beer directly from the brewery that made it. Dallas craft breweries are planning to…
Can an old restaurant learn new tricks? An interesting experiment is underway at a Park Cities landmark. For 22 years, Sevy’s Grill has embodied the 1990s ideal of the fine-dining restaurant, with wedge salads, salmon fillets and well-dressed waiters who ask, “Would you like fresh cracked pepper on that?” Yes,…
Dallas’ queen of dessert is back. When Maggie Huff retires from serving sweets in North Texas, we’ll have to figure out where to put the statue. The year in which she wasn’t regularly baking and pastry-making — between FT33’s closure in summer 2018 and Homewood’s opening this spring — was a sort of Dark…
One of downtown Dallas’ oldest buildings is getting a local craft brewery and beer garden. The 19-story Dallas Power and Light Building will soon be home to a second branch of Pegasus City, the 2-year-old Design District brewery that specializes in hugely drinkable styles and won the Observer’s Best Brewery…
This summer, Flora Street Cafe was supposed to execute a full makeover, an attempt by owner Stephan Pyles to bring some life to a fine-dining kitchen that had lost its way. The main dining room would become a more casual concept with smoked meats and brunches from chef Tim Byres…
We had many questions about Chubby Cattle, a Plano restaurant that boasts “conveyor belt-based hot pot.” How does conveyor belt hot pot work? Does the broth come in a little train tanker car? Do meat platters arrive in a cascade of tiny little dishes rolling along the belt? Is it true, as…
Philip Kingston isn’t running for office anymore. And that means that, finally, he can speak his mind without fear on one of his favorite subjects: food. After we exchanged some lively words on Twitter about hummus, Kingston invited me to El Taxqueño Taquería in Oak Cliff, where we spoke for…
A new generation of restaurants is rising in Carrollton’s Korea Town. Across the parking lot from the traditional soft tofu stew shops, dumpling counters and barbecue houses, two recent openings offer unusual spins on Korean-Japanese and Korean-American fusion foods. At Kurobuta Ramen and Tonkatsu, “super spicy” ramen and cheese katsu…
This has been a bad month for Mille Lire, Oak Lawn’s criminally underrated Italian restaurant. On June 30, co-owner Brian Ellard, wife Ornella and her two teenage children were killed in an airplane crash in Addison. The restaurant kept its doors open after the tragedy and Ellard’s co-owner and brother-in-law,…
Wayback Burgers has an, uh, interesting way of doing things.
The new Ceviche Oyster Bar on West Davis, a few blocks from Bishop Arts, brings unpretentious Gulf seafood to a former mechanic’s shop.
Our review of Circo TX, published in January, suggested that the restaurant “could stay open for months.” Now we know how many. Circo served its last meal Sunday, after just nine turbulent months after opening. It’s a pity, really. That glass-bottomed rooftop swimming pool had finally opened. The restaurant’s closure…
Join Observer Food Critic Brian Reinhart on r/Dallas on Thursday, June 27 for a Dallas dining AMA (ask me anything).
