Last week, 6th Street Business Partners LLC, a group of bar owners from around the state that includes Michael Klein, president of the Texas Bar and Nightclub Association, filed an application for a temporary restraining order against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. They want to prevent enforcement of his order that…
Good to Go is a column where our food writers explore Dallas’ restaurant scene through takeout orders, delivery boxes and reheated leftovers. Blues Burgers wasn’t my first choice. Smokey John’s Bar-B-Que had been selling shoebox lunches, symbolic of oppression during the age of Jim Crow. I had intended to get…
The North Texas Food Bank recently began a collaboration with Amazon to deliver groceries directly to the doorsteps of families facing food insecurity. Two food bank partners, Crossroads Community Service and Sharing Life Community Outreach, provide and prepare shelf-stable groceries and prepackage the foods in boxes. Amazon then donates the…
There’s a segment of local bar owners who feel they are being unfairly restricted by Gov. Greg Abbott’s June 26 executive order that mandated they shut down. While restaurants are allowed 50% indoor capacity, outdoor seating, plus food and mixed-drinks to-go — several restaurants recently reported the latter has sustained their…
Feel like slipping into a pool of calm blue water, slipping your head underwater and muffling out all the noise? We get that. And while we might not be in our primest bikini shape — literally rolling out of the winter of COVID — who cares? Get outside in the fresh air, dive…
As a way to support local business, the Brewers Association has designated July 3 as National Independent Beer Run Day, which should be self-explanatory, but in case it’s not, it means you need to hit a craft beer drive-thru. There are around 70 independent breweries around North Texas, and now…
Yelp updated its Local Economic Impact Report June 25 and reported that from March 1 to late June, 23,981 restaurants across the United States have closed. Locally, it doesn’t seem like we’ve seen the full spate of closings yet. In many cases, it’s hard to determine if a restaurant is…
The Nashville hot chicken sandwich party has officially started in North Texas, and Red Claws Crab Shack is front and center in the mosh pit keeping things stirred up. (Does that concert reference hurt a little bit? It does for us, too.) Red Claws didn’t initially set out to crush…
Well, amazingly we’ve just about made it halfway through 2020. High fives all over the place. As we ease into the downhill side of this (please, can it be the easier downhill side?), when making plans for our Fourth of July parties, let’s focus on locally owned places. This is…
Friday morning, Gov. Greg Abbott snatched up the welcome mat to bars, which were ordered to close at noon that day as more COVID-19 cases surged across the state. Also, restaurants were required to go back to 50% capacity, down from the 75% at which they had been operating. However,…
Strange times, indeed. On Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott hit the pause button on reopening the state and there’s also news of a Saharan dust cloud sauntering our way. Sounds like maybe we need to hunker down this weekend. Again. Pictures on Twitter portray hazy days in the Caribbean and layers…
There’s an interesting culinary movement playing out in kitchens across the area that swings far and wide on a pendulum, both socioeconomically and culturally. It’s a combination of Japanese and Mexican staples, topped off with a bit of Texas. If this were Russell Crow in A Beautiful Mind, there’d be…
The tipping point happened in a parking lot just off the Dallas North Tollway, while I was sitting in my car. The sun had only put in a few hours’ work that day and was casting a golden yolk haze inside my Honda. I was holding a kouign-amann (pronounced “queen…
Dive bars don’t happen by design. There’s no script or blueprint. They’re unimpressed with plans. Usually they have odd touches of character in both people and furnishings that just fall into place. Over time, they evolve into a retreat where we yearn to wet our whistles. The Grapevine Bar seems…
The Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission got busy last weekend. Last Wednesday, it issued a warning to businesses that weekend plans included “strictly monitoring bar and restaurant activity” to ensure compliance with the state’s protocols. They warned they would take swift action and suspend liquor licenses for 30 days for first-time…
This Friday, June 19, marks the 155th anniversary of Emancipation Day in Texas, when in 1865 Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger read federal orders in Galveston proclaiming that all enslaved people in Texas were free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation declared that slaves in rebellious states were free on Jan. 1,…
Good to Go is a column where our food writers explore Dallas’ restaurant scene through takeout orders, delivery boxes and reheated leftovers. On a recent Saturday night, people leaned against their cars, scrolling through their phones as music played in the background, waiting for their orders outside Hershey’s Palace in…
Dallas restaurants — or rather all restaurants — are precariously navigating uncharted territory. The National Restaurant Association released some distressing numbers this week: The food service industry is predicted to lose $240 billion by the end of 2020, and more than eight million restaurant workers are unemployed. All the while, Dallas County reported its…
Mia’s holds a special spot in many bellies and hearts across Dallas. Specifically, the spot reserved for good Tex-Mex. The mom-and-pop restaurant originally opened in 1981 and has garnered a solid following for their classic dishes of nachos, enchiladas and brisket tacos. The service is quick and polite, and the…
What do you give the person who already has everything, namely you? Scratch-offs are always fun, but Dad already hit the lotto once when he was gifted you. Alas, you can’t show up empty handed. What Dad really wants is time with you! And maybe between y’all is the…
June 3, the state released phase three of its comprehensive plan to jumpstart the economy since the COVID-19 pandemic slammed the brakes on it earlier this year. Texas bars and restaurants were granted higher occupancy rates, but they come with some rather cumbersome safety measures. Bars and Breweries As soon…
Weathered Souls Brewing Co. in San Antonio recently launched a “Black” is Beautiful initiative “to bring a collaborative effort amongst the brewing community and its customers, in an attempt to bring awareness to the injustices that many people of color face daily.” The idea is that other brewers use Weathered…
