All-American is a series that looks at beloved, longstanding North Texas eateries and examines their histories while exploring how the food has changed — for the good or bad — over the years. The wax paper carrying the tater tots is translucent. Grease spatters the bottom of the brown paper…

The charcoal lights around 10 p.m. Just off Main Street, on an open-air patio that borders Monkey King Noodle Co., alongside thumping bars and piles of fallen leaves, a keyboard-sized grill glows lava-orange. Steam dances out, nearly spelling out the words in vapor that you’re imagining when you whiff the…

Citizens of this great city, the state of our beef union is strong, but it has been a madcap year for the cow. We’ve lost and we’ve gained. We’ve torn down the new, and, in a breath, boarded up the old. Only the vegan may be blissfully unaware of this…

For chef Jeff Biehler, there was a simple reason for adding a burger to a poultry-themed menu: Customers asked for a dish that wasn’t entirely bird, and the kitchen listened. Oak Cliff/West Dallas food playground Chicken Scratch has been focusing on hulking, patio-style, fried chicken and biscuit sandwiches since January…

It’s happening beneath your feet. You’re standing in line at The Commissary, eyeing the glossy candy apples painted like they were plucked out of a dark fairy tale. Underneath your feet, there’s a frosty basement. You won’t get to see the basement, but one afternoon, we did. Clean, cold air…

In Urnerboden, a Swiss village in a high valley, about 60 families craft cheese the old-fashioned way. When the snow melts, they lead cows up the mountain to dine on the chilly flowers and grass. The munched-on petals and grass enrich cows’ milk with flavors of sunshine and Swiss earth…

Pardeep Scharma watches carefully. About 12 years ago, the then-owner of India Palace watched his fast-casual, concise and modern concept unfold on McKinney Avenue, noticing that his customers stuffed the baked naan with creamy chicken tikka masala as they dived into their meals. Casual eating usually encourages hand-held dishes, so…

It’s called “KFC,” but it has nothing to do with fried chicken. The Knox Fish & Chips drops at lunchtime on a patio sun-dappled like it’s a impressionistic painting, and for a moment, the idea that this Knox-Henderson space used to house a Chili’s feels laughable. Despite its former life,…

Two nights before Thanksgiving, there are Creamsicle-tinted clouds streaking high above the Cold Beer Co. patio in Deep Ellum. The air is the temperature of a Texas autumn, which means it feels like May anywhere else, and inside the bar, the heat’s pumping to the music. The room is sparsely…

In 2016, for the first time in three years, Jack Perkins had a quiet Thanksgiving. The feeling was, as he tells it, a little weird. Perkins had sold The Slow Bone, his barbecue restaurant in the Design District, which meant he had a little extra time on his hands for…

All-American is a series that looks at beloved, longstanding North Texas eateries and examines their histories while exploring how the food has changed — for the good or bad — over the years. Ground pork belly sizzles and crisps into Dunston’s house-made bacon bits. French bread is sliced and fried…

Hide owner Nick Backlund’s love for fast food flourished while he was an undergraduate student at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. He played baseball for the school and, after each game, had a Chick-fil-A-themed meal of a fried chicken sandwich, a cookie and some chips. When Chick-fil-A’s spicy chicken sandwiches…

All-American is a series that looks at beloved, longstanding North Texas eateries and examines their histories while exploring how the food has changed — for the good or bad — over the years. There’s a feeling that tugs at your heartstrings not long after finding a booth. You’re sitting with…

All-American is a series that looks at beloved, longstanding North Texas eateries and examines their histories while exploring how the food has changed — for the good or bad — over the years. A sailing ship is in the throes of invisible waves above the beer taps. There are surfboards…

elote, corn, tacos, pastor, oak cliff

There are only a few places left to get a real street dog. Dallas is a hot dog ghost town while major cities around the country have dogs pinned to sidewalks. There are carts that griddle in the open breeze, squiggle them with mustard and pile on butter-soft onions while…

All-American is a series that looks at beloved, longstanding North Texas eateries and examines their histories while exploring how the food has changed — for the good or bad — over the years. Whether you like it or not, lunch and dinner at Prego Pasta House begin with 50 shades of…

The sandwich you’re looking for right now tastes like Thanksgiving on a toasted bun. It happens around the same time every year — the temperature plummets, the papery leaves whoosh around, the gourds come out and you’re drifting off while imagining carved turkey, mayo, cranberry, maybe some bacon and that…

During Hidden Gems Week, the Observer food and drink writers are celebrating an abundance of diverse, delicious restaurants and bars around Dallas, places that don’t often (or ever) get mentioned by big-name food media, trendsetters, bloggers or chefs. We’re taking you outside of the ordinary to help you discover something…

All-American is a series that looks at beloved, longstanding North Texas eateries and examines their histories while exploring how the food has changed — for the good or bad — over the years. A little more than 22 years ago, Praveen Sachden sat and sipped chai with friend Kumar Pallana…

She was her mom’s sous chef. Reyna Duong was born in a small fishing village on the southern tip of Vietnam — a tattoo on her forearm bears the city’s name — and grew up in California’s Orange County. Sharing food using the right ingredients from home was a non-negotiable…