There are certain peaks in life that must be surmounted, simply because when Mount Everest shows up in your backyard, you must climb it sooner or later if for no other reason than it’s there. The Grape has been the standard-bearer of Dallas wine bars for lo these many years,…
“Pretty woman, walkin’ down the street, pretty woman the kind I like to meet, pretty woman. I don’t believe you. You’re not the truth. No one could look as good as you…Mercy!” If rock ‘n roll pioneer Roy Orbison were alive today, he might take great pleasure in knowing that…
When winter’s last crispy cold blast canceled plans to visit a time-honored Dallas destination, my wife and I were left with little choice but to stay close to home at The Colony. On such frigid occasions, comfort food is often the order of the day, and given the fact that…
Chow Asian Street Food 3309 Dallas Parkway at Parker Road Plano 972 608-1883 The phoenix is a mythical fire bird prevalent in many of the world’s cultures. According to legend, it lives 500 to 1000 years, after which it builds a nest of twigs, ignites itself, burns to ashes, and…
Spring’s awakening. The city returns to life after winter’s long slumber. Of course, March means college basketball and St. Patrick’s Day, but it also means the start of patio season, the all-too-brief time when we can dine alfresco between snow and scorch. There are plenty of patios to take advantage…
At first glance, downtown McKinney and its approaching streets seem bucolic, picturesque, quaint even. Wooden frame houses line Louisiana street, giving a small-town feel to the place. When you reach the courthouse square, you will swear that you’ve entered Fredericksburg or some other Hill Country burg. As far as dining…
Forty tons of shrimp. That’s how many of the curvy crustaceans are processed and shipped from Mazatlan every year deservedly earning this jewel city of the Mexican Riviera its designation as “Shrimp Capital of the World”. (In fact, I’ve read estimates as high as 40,000 tons. In any case, that’s…
Well, it’s officially March, which means the coming of spring, college hoop madness, and yes, St. Patrick’s Day, which, in addition to attending the Observer’s annual Greenville Avenue parade, many Dallasites celebrate by visiting the North Texas Irish Festival, an entire weekend devoted to Irish music and dancing, not to…
Just getting there is far and away the biggest challenge. Not only is the fast, casual ThaiBox located in Allen, which is directly north of Plano off Central Expressway and therefore a considerable haul for most Dallasites, but the place is situated in The Village at Allen, a monstrous outdoor…
How appropriate that fish tacos, the perfect beachside snack, were first introduced to the States by an American college student who became obsessed with them while on Spring Break at a Mexican beach. So says Barry Popik, eminent etymologist and Austin guru of word origins. Although most historians trace the…
This eye-popping alliteration can be found at the top of the menu at Lemon Bar, the hot new pub that set up shop in the West Village in the old Lazare space, down the block from Mi Cocina. Lemon Bar is a hopping, happening place, crowded at noontime on a…
Are they links to dining nirvana…..or are they chains of fools? So goes the conundrum of chains, those bastions of food consistency so beloved by time-pressed suburbanites and so often despised by die-hard food lovers for their perceived and often very real mediocrity. Endless repetition of mundane cookery seven days…
“Original Cuban sandwiches come from Ybor City; everything else is just a sub.” This rather controversial statement comes to us courtesy of Andy Huse, Assistant Librarian at the University of South Florida, as quoted in Cigar City Magazine. Immediately, most readers are probably thinking, “Wait a minute. Aren’t Cuban sandwiches…
In Venezuela, it’s called Carne Mechada. In the Caribbean, it’s known as Ropa Vieja. The Mexican version goes by the name Carne Deshebrada. In any case, shredded beef is an important component of the cuisines of several south-of-the-border countries. Here, we are talking about marinated, slow-cooked moist beef, as opposed…
Chalupas or tostadas? Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. Of course you know what constitutes a tostada. That’s a flat, crispy disc made from corn, then loaded with all sorts of freight including lettuce, tomatoes, beans or meat, cheese, possibly pico or crema, and topped with salsa. Just like…
On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Nobody gets tongue tied when the subject is, um, tongue.Writing in the Weekly Volcano (Tacoma and Olympia Washington’s “only edgy, irreverent, and thought-provoking alternative newsweekly”) Jake and Jason de Paul relate their encounter with lengua…
On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.There’s no doubt that the Spanish are passionate about paella. Paella is, of course, the painstaking meat, rice and vegetable dish traditionally cooked in (and often eaten from) a large, shallow pan. However, early versions…
On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Mad Cat, Insanity, Hogs Ass, Snake Bite, Idiot Boys. No, this is not the Granada’s line up for February. Rather, they are names of hot sauces featuring the dreaded habanero chile, as listed by Chris…
On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Steamed, not smoked. According to Rick Bayless, chef extraordinaire and author of Mexico: One Plate at a Time, that’s the primary difference in preparing Mexican barbacoa and traditional Texas barbecue. True, barbacoa is slow-cooked like…
On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Many of us got our first taste of sopapillas by raising the flag. Doesn’t make sense? Well, back when dining out options were fewer and farther between, Panchos Mexican Buffet was one of the few…
On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.As the song says, deep in December it’s nice to remember…Every Labor Day, the tiny town of Hatch, New Mexico springs to life with the Hatch Valley Chile Festival. Thousands of Chileheads from all across…
On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Take a couple slices of meat and stuff them into my flour tortilla, along with some handy rice, beans, salsa and, finally, jalapenos. We know the last ingredient colloquially as a pepper, yet pepper is…
