​As Dallas Observer’s Cheap Bastard, Alice Laussade, so eloquently put it in this week’s cover story, fried food at the State Fair of Texas might have jumped the shark, thanks to Mark Zable’s fried beer. Zable’s creation won this year’s Big Tex Choice Awards’ Most Creative prize. The annual fried-food…

Promised Delivery Time: 45 minutes Actual Delivery Time: 33 minutes Scoring Summary: Easy Order Taking: 10 Partially Mucking Up My Order: 5 Repeatedly Being Told “God Bless You” By Delivery Driver: 30 Having to Eat Without Raccoons and Possums Begging for Food at My Feet: 30 Total: 75 I have…

When I walk into a Latino-operated or staffed establishment, I am inevitably greeted in Spanish. It must be something about my skin color, my black hair and black Vandyke. They must be indicators of my ability to speak the language. My sisters can pass as white. Not I. Mrs. Ralat,…

“That’s what it’s about. That’s what we do. We represent,” said chef Joey Guzman of Northwood Club, when asked about the significance of three Latino finalists in the Chefs Under Fire D/FW semifinal at Milestone Culinary Center, an the event to which City of Ate was invited. The other two…

At an independent fashion-and-crafts art show/flea market in the Essex Street Market in Lower Manhattan, my wife chastised me for taking photos of some of the finer products available for sale — noveau velvet paintings of the latest Brooklyn It band, shirts with images of unicorns sectioned into cuts of…

Manga and anime, Japanese comics and cartoons, respectively, have a long history of sexually objectifying female characters. This extends to food, specifically in the food-themed manga subgenre, which is unofficially called mangia manga. Among the popular series in that subgenre are Food Girls, Kitchen Princess and Oishinbo, of which the…

Dallas’ little sister, Fort Worth is showing up Big D. First the city hosted the contestants of The Great Food Truck Race. Now, adding insult to injury, Tacoheads, a food trailer trading in — you guessed it — tacos, is opening tonight in Cowtown. To celebrate the event, Sarah Castillo,…

Fruiti Pops, Inc., based in Santa Fe Springs, California, is voluntarily recalling its 4-oz Mamey Paletas frozen fruit bars due to possible contamination with Salmonella typhi, the cause of typhoid fever. If that seems familiar to you, it should be. Goya Foods recalled its frozen mamey pulp earlier this month…

Food trucks, or their paucity, in Dallas are hot. The topic has been covered by local food media outlets, including City of Ate. One food truck has done more to highlight residents’ desire for mobile food vendors. That food truck, Green House Truck, has been nominated as one of America’s…

Move over, Boston Market. There’s a new bird in town. 7-Eleven, home of the Slurpee, is adding roasted chicken, for the low, low price of $7.99, to its menu, according to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times. This comes on the heels of the Dallas-based convenience store chain’s other new…

We look forward to coming within a hair’s width of a coronary every September, thanks to the State Fair of Texas’ fried-food bonanza. This year is no different. The State Fair has announced the 2010 finalists for the annual Big Tex Choice Awards, with promising entries, ones that could top…

The recent food recalls of eggs and beef (and their subsequent protests) got us thinking about food recalls that would better serve humanity. Herein, we provide a list of foods that should be taken off the market. One is worse for your heart than bacon. Than bacon! Are you reading…

One of the reasons I was attracted to this Cockrell Hill taquería, located catercorner to the Westmoreland DART station, was the paucity of information about it online. There’s much on its sister location in Lakewood. But again, zip about Los Altos de Jalisco No. 2. I had 20 minutes before…

As we reported in June, this year’s Chefs Under Fire has gone regional. Each region’s applicants have been listed on the region’s page (see the Dallas/Fort Worth page here). The public can now vote for the chefs they’d like to see compete at the regionals. The Dallas/Fort Worth applicants include…

Sometimes you stumble upon something serendipitously and fall in love. It’s just awesome. Buena Vista Social Club was like that. I knew nothing of Wim Wender’s documentary when my roommate suggested we schlep from Queens to the Angelika for a screening. It was pure joy, having grown up with similar…

Secaucus, New Jersey-based Goya Foods Inc., the dominant Latin American foods company, has recalled all its 14-ounce packages of frozen mamey pulp. The product is used to make milkshakes and smoothies. The packages were distributed in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Texas. Curiously,…

This morning the Food Network posted a simple and absurd tweet on its Twitter stream (@FoodNetwork): “What taco is tops?” This tweet can be construed as an assumption that the fascination with tacos is a fleeting trend. Furthermore, the update is clearly tied to their new show, The Great Food…

Hard to remember the last time the temperature was less than 100 degrees. Aside from holing up in our air-conditioned house and jacking up our utility bill, we’re starting to think there are no other means of keeping cool. But Twisted Root Burger Co. has given us another way of…

When friends and loved ones offer unsolicited praise for something, usually a movie, a dismissing hand is usually a sufficient reaction to get them off my back. This week, however, they sucker-punched my weak spot: tacos. “Did you hear about Taco Bell’s new ‘street tacos’?” “When the hell are you…

While the alien taco invasion, as Dallas Morning News’ restaurant critic Leslie Brenner has called it, bombards Dallas, one taco joint has walked among us for several years. Originating from a land, far, far away (Mexico City) owners Markus Pineyro and John E. Tuma, have successfully integrated Urban Taco into…