So, I think they’re being facetious, but not totally sure. Tone is so hard to detect in the written word sometimes. Regardless, Food & Think on Smithsonian.com offers a lesson about our nation’s growing thirst for sodas through the history of Big Gulps. The title of the article is “We…

The Cedars Social bartender Trina Nishimura knows an awful pickup line when she hears one. With almost a decade slinging drinks in Dallas, she’s had a front row seat to our fabulous booze-fueled etiquette. Splitting her time doing voice-overs for Japanese animated films, Nishimura has helped develop the Dallas craft…

We all measure success in widely varying degrees. A gold star, five stars or, perhaps, front page billing on Reddit. “Look, Mom! More than 1,100 comments!” Matt Bull, a Dallas-based freelance ad guy recently created a new billboard (seen above) for Chicken Scratch in north Oak Cliff. The ad on…

In a move that once again pushes smokers further to the periphery, Starbucks will invoke a new law of the land, which forbids smoking within 25 feet of their stores. That means enjoying a smoke on the patio is no longer allowed. You’ll have to move it to the parking…

You could use a little sun. And some dirt under your fingernails. And some fresh air. We’re not saying you spend too much time inside, but rather your pastiness just doesn’t go well with the wall paint. Gardening is a great way to make all that happen. The small community…

It’s a banner week for the finest of all fine-dining and drinking spots in Dallas. As we reported earlier today, Keller’s Drive-In was included on a list of the 10 best burgers in the country and now, the Windmill Lounge has made a list as one of the best bars…

Because burgers are the anchor of three-day weekends, on Friday CNN (via Eataocracy) posted the Top 10 Burgers Around the Country, courtesy of food writer and eater of-many-burgers Josh Ozersky. See also: Burger Smackdown: Dairy-ette vs. Kellers The list includes several from his hometown, New York City, including the “best…

Lakewood Brewing Co.’s founder and brewer, Wim Bens, is getting kind of creepy. He’s released the second in a Legendary Series of beers, the first of which was Brabo’s Cut, made with “blessed water” and named after a Roman soldier, Silvius Brabo, who slayed the giant Druon Antigoon, a ogre-like…

Tonight at Garden Café there will be a screening of the movie “Viva Les Amis,” a documentary about the funky, small coffee shop in Austin, Les Amis, that was part of the actual real weird movement prior to everyone figuring out 1) Austin was, in fact, a little weird and…

This Sunday there’s a mission to make the best margarita in Dallas at the 3rd Annual Margarita Meltdown in the Bishop Arts District between 7th and 8th Street (408 N. Bishop). Just after you arrive by taxi, you’ll work your way along the street while imbibing in two-ounce samples of…

There’s a barbecue revolution afoot. Put a tiara on that slab of meat and give it a dozen roses. Barbecue is the new beauty queen in the culinary world. For many of us, smoked meat is as right as being born a Texan, or getting here as soon as you…

Each week we track down a chef for a few burning questions. This week, Omar Flores at Driftwood shares some cookbook advice, spills on a few crazy requests and has a suggestion for a damn good margarita. What are a few of your favorite cookbooks? I love anything by Thomas…

Deep Ellum Brewing Co. will host its Third Annual Brew-B-Que this Sunday, an event that was a launch party of sorts back in 2011. It will a chance to pack the brewery and courtyard with hopheads, sip local beer and have Pecan Lodge barbecue, all while listening to tunes of…

Deep Eddy pool in Austin is the oldest man-made swimming pool in Texas. According to the Friends of Deep Eddy site, in the early 1900s locals flocked to this natural pool where a large boulder in the Colorado River created a natural eddy. Springs from the banks of the river…

You’ve probably heard Micheal Martensen’s name around town, most likely preceded by the word “mixologist.” As a bartender at The Cedars Social, he’s been credited with helping establish Dallas’ old school cocktail movement. More recently he has extended that charge by opening the first reservations-only cocktail den, Smyth. It all…

On Friday afternoon, at 4:07 p.m., a round of applause and cheers wafted down from the balcony seats in House of Representatives as a five-pack of craft beer bills were passed with five thick slams of the gavel. It was technically the second vote of three, and the third, as…

Financing a brewery, either in part or whole, through crowd funding campaigns like Kickstarter is a fascinating phenomenon. Old-fashioned lengthy business plans with amortization charts, projections and risk assessments are buried at the bottom of the recycling bin, or better yet, under a box of hipster-cut, 100-percent organic cotton T-shirts…