Torchy’s Tacos, which began several years ago out of a trailer in Austin, is busy with expansion plans. A new spot in Allen opened a couple of weeks ago and, per the Dallas Biz Journal, the SMU location has a sign out front promising it will be “opening soon.” And…

A French blog, Convergence Alimentaire, has assembled a road map of the 10 largest multinational brands that run a racket on supermarket shelves. From the Convergence Alimentaire website (after a quick drive through Google translate): Hundreds of brands that we find on the supermarket shelves give the impression that our…

Thursday morning on Sports Radio 1310 the Ticket, the Musers dedicated a segment to the lost art of family dinners. They (loosely) cited a new report supporting the old doctrine that a family that breaks bread together stays together. Their conversation was, as always, insightful and thought-provoking. They made P1s…

There’s strategy in everything. Red lights, slot machines, napping at work, bunting. The odds are always better if you have a plan. Strategy! So what would be the best strategy for eating as many oysters as possible in 30 seconds? Are those slippery bivalves easier to shovel in with your…

Word out of the Monrovia, California, HQ for Trader Joe’s, is that the company’s first two Texas stores will both open on Friday, June 15 at 8 a.m. One is in the Woodlands north of Houston and the other in Fort Worth. The Fort Worth location at 2701 South Hulen…

Jonathan Colley is one of the resident barkeeps and beer nerds in the basement at West Village (aka Union Bear). He got into the beer biz by frequenting his neighborhood watering holes in Oak Cliff, where he met the ambitious Spillers Group. When they recently opened Union Bear, they hired…

Natasha Calvert is originally from Denver, and began working at Whole Foods in 2006. She recently moved to Texas, where she’s a “forager” for local products, traveling around meeting purveyors, producers, growers, ranchers and the occasional chicken. Then she helps bring those products to the store’s shelves. Here’s how she…

Last night Jack Perkins, proprietor of Maple and Motor, took a break from flippin’ burgers to check out his Yelp page. He noticed a review from Dace Street, the son of Gene Street, owner of Snookies and brother to Mariel Street, who owns the newly expanding Liberty Burger. Turns out…

In terms of eating healthy, do your days often start with the best of intentions, but descend with the sun? Maybe you begin with oatmeal and a banana, but end with a plate of nachos that are washed down with a couple cold beers? Well you’re not alone. You’re still…

A comment in my story a while back about phone stacking caught my attention. “In Japan they have ‘No Phone Areas’ in restaurants, bars and even the subway,” Wagner Gui Tronolone wrote. “I think it’s awesome!” It does sound sort of awesome. Sometimes a cell phone feels like a leash…

Chefs gathered along the sidelines of the Paul Quinn farm last night to serve food for the Community Cooks event. Over 400 guests attended, which was twice as many compared to last year’s inaugural feast, and college officials said the dinner raised over $250,000 for the farm. Paul Quinn College…

Dallas native John Kleifgen took his first job at a restaurant as a teenager because a gig carrying mulch at Calloway’s didn’t provide much entertainment. So, when a friend told him about a kitchen job for the Lakewood Country Club, he weighed his options and wisely chose a country club…

News broke Tuesday that local restaurateur Phil Romano is opening two new eatZi’s in the area. A Grapevine (at 1319 Hwy 114) store will open on May 17, and a lease has been signed for a new development in Plano. Today eatZi’s chef executive, Adam Romo, clarified a few more…

Ben & Jerry’s annual Free Cone Day was scheduled for April 3, but tornadoes forced some local shops to play a make-up game, and that making up goes down today. Three local shops are partaking in the festivities: Plano, McKinney and the Shops of Highland Village. The Plano store has…