On the inside flap of the menu, Pappas Delta Blues Smokehouse lays out goals for its new Plano barbecue establishment. “We wanted to elevate the BBQ experience for Texans,” it reads. “No need to wait in line and eat off a plastic tray: Pappas Delta Blues Smokehouse offers the best…
You’d be forgiven for thinking of fall as that long-awaited party guest who shows up late then leaves early. The start of October still had temps in the high 90s, and Halloween week brought rain and some unseasonably cool weather with it. So when the clouds give way to sun…
Now in its sixth year, Smoked BBQ Festival has become one of the can’t-miss food festivals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The pitmasters in attendance are a veritable who’s-who of barbecue, not just from our area, but from all across Texas. If we had any sense of shame, we’d be…
There’s nothing quite like the excitement of setting foot in a new restaurant for the first time. No matter the cuisine, hope shines most brightly in those first steps in the door, when the possibility of finding a new favorite is at its zenith. Alas, more often than not, there’s…
Most of us have heard plenty about how great the economy is, but a glance of our bank account balances begs to differ. Sure, the C-suite crowd has probably seen some big gains in their investment portfolios, but for the rest of us not swimming in extra cash, we need…
Don’t let our name fool you: Even though we’re the Dallas Observer, we love nothing more than sharing great barbecue finds from all over the Dallas-Fort Worth area. And judging from our latest travels, Fort Worth is absolutely killing it in new barbecue right now. There is immense joy to…
People often assume being a food writer for the Observer comes with a laundry list of secret restaurant perks. High among them is a notion that we can get a reservation at any spot in town on the busiest of nights, followed quickly by the assumption that we know all the…
Every four years or so, Daniel Vaughn and his team of barbecue cohorts at Texas Monthly publish the TMBBQ Top 50, a veritable who’s who in Texas barbecue. When the latest list was published in 2017, we were happy to report that DFW laid claim to 10 of the top 50 spots…
It seems logical to assume that opening a new restaurant would take lots of planning. Perhaps the future owners would scout locations, do some research about the neighborhood and line up finances. Then there’s build-out, menu planning, stocking the kitchen and training staff. Months might go by, or maybe a…
Matt Pittman wasn’t born in Texas, but he barbecues like a native. After his first exposure to true Central Texas barbecue, Pittman’s passion for smoking meats grew quickly, and soon he was a regular on the competition barbecue circuit. In 2014, he landed a spot on Season 5 of the…
By and large, the standard fare at most Texas barbecue spots doesn’t stray too far from center. Brisket, sausage and ribs define true north, with beans, coleslaw, and mac and cheese the likely side choices. That said, we love to see shops flex their creative muscles, and there may be…
Situated right across the street from Wild Acre Brewing, the new Joe Riscky’s Barbecue has Fort Worth barbecue legacy and shockingly inexpensive eats.
Tender Smokehouse was a huge hit when the barbecue joint opened in Celina in 2018. Now, it’s taken over the massive Frisco space that formerly belonged to 3 Stacks.
As the crow flies, Dallas and St. Louis are separated by 547 miles. In this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, the distance between the Stars and the Blues was much closer. Through the first six games of their playoff series, each team had won three games. Each had scored sixteen goals…
Are we really suggesting that you let that brisket sit in warm, circulating water for 24 hours before throwing it briefly on the smoker? Why yes, yes we are.
Dallas Stars fans experienced a Stanley Cup playoff series victory on home ice for the first time in 11 years Monday night, as the Stars defeated the Nashville Predators 2-1 in overtime of Game 6 to win the series 4-2. Dallas joins a host of teams in this year’s Stanley…
Even casual sports fans know about the Dream Team. Finally allowed to tap professionals to participate in the Olympics in 1992, Team USA picked the best basketball players the NBA had to offer and assembled what is widely considered the greatest sports team ever. The Dream Team ran roughshod over…
It’s been three years since the Dallas Stars found themselves in the NHL’s second season, the Stanley Cup playoffs. That 2016 team ended an eight-year drought by winning their first-round series, and excitement was high for the future. Right up until it wasn’t. The following season, the Stars missed…
At the Dallas screening of A Fine Line, celebrity chef Cat Cora talked to the Observer about the importance of empowering female chefs.
Knowing when and where to get burnt ends in DFW is like a secret handshake among barbecue hounds. Not every joint serves them, but the variety of burnt ends from those that do is astonishing. You’ve got your classics like at 18th & Vine, the bacon burnt end at Heim or…
As winter Sunday mornings go, this one feels especially brisk as we step out of the car at Smoke Sessions Barbecue in Royse City. The sun is out, but so is a biting wind that finds any exposed skin in short order. Seeking shelter from the breeze in the shadow…
A familiar — if sexist — trope is that a woman’s place is in the kitchen. While this hackneyed saying has its roots in the home, in the restaurant world, less than 7 percent of head chefs and restaurant owners are women. In the new documentary A Fine Line, first-time…
