Best Dentist's Office 2006 | Forest Park Dental Care | Best of Dallas® 2020 | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Dallas | Dallas Observer
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Best Dentist's Office

Forest Park Dental Care

Forest Park Dental Care may not be the fanciest office in Dallas, situated as it is in a nondescript low-rise office park just off Interstate 635. But when something's gone south in your mouth, you don't care about landscaping or leather waiting-room furniture. You want to get in quick, you want to get fixed right and you don't want to feel a thing. That's the forte of the folks at Forest Park. Dr. Blake Williamson maintains an easy demeanor, takes care to explain things as they go and won't make you wait until next Christmas for an appointment. All that and he gives new patients free custom whitening trays too. Now open wide!

Best Tooth Rotters

NoKa Chocolate

He was in Dutch and trying to make up for some pretty bad behavior, but when our man brought us NoKa chocolates in their distinctive and very snazzy stainless steel box, our heart melted and our mouth watered. These handcrafted bites of heaven are concocted from some kind of magic dark chocolate, a dollop of fresh organic cream and, who knows, some secret love potion that makes whoever bites into them forget any and all transgressions. The sweets aren't cheap--a few will cost about $20 and more can go up into the hundreds--but sometimes a make-up gift this good is better than diamonds. Make that almost better.

Best Techno Do-Gooders

G-C Partners, LLC

If you think that deleted e-mail or trashed Word document is going to hide your tracks, think again. This small start-up can recover just about anything from any computer, becoming a quiet Dallas success story in less than two years. Their computer forensics techniques have drawn the attention of government agencies, large corporations and even civilians in tracking down the questionable computer activities of disgruntled employees, industry competitors and cheatin' spouses. Why the success? After founders Rafael Gorgal and David Cowen contributed to the popular Hacking Exposed series book Computer Forensics, the calls for help began. Hackers, beware!

Best Doggy Style

Armhole

Please, before you go spending 40 bucks at PetSmart on a marabou-cuffed jumper for your otherwise hip and dignified canine, get in the car and get your shih-tzu to Armhole. The boutique, recently relocated to the Mondrian Building in Uptown, features spunky, punky and modern clothing (for humans). The shop is beloved for its T-shirt press for which there are binders and binders of iron-ons (ranging from vintage TV show logos to ironic sayings) and fine-fitting American Apparel tees. But most important, and more on topic, the shop stocks dog tees as well, ready for proud pet parents to customize. Try a hot pink kiss print on the rump of a gray jersey for a ladies' pug, or a striped tie on a black shirt for a post-punk pit. Perhaps your teenage bitch totally needs a Degrassi tee to show her fictional school spirit. Whatever the message, Armhole has it collared.

Best Food
for Fido

City Pet Supply

Right next door to City Vet, this shop carries lots of specialty items for dogs and cats, from embroidered pet placemats to beds in hip, contemporary fabrics, to natural, good-for-'em treats and grooming supplies. We also love their selection of Ezy Dog products--especially the neoprene-lined collars and bungee cord leashes. And when you finally figure out that the grocery-store brand isn't doing the trick, City Pet Supply has a multitude of premium dog and cat foods. You'll find Science Diet and Nutro, along with more esoteric lines such as Wysong, California Natural and Merrick's (a Texas-based company). To take your dog to the next level, check out the raw frozen foods from FarMore and Nature's Variety. City Pet Supply is also one of the only pet stores in the area to carry food mixes--dehydrated grains, veggies, fruits and herbs that you rehydrate and combine with fresh meat and oils--by Sojourner Farms, Dr. Harvey's and The Honest Kitchen. Not sure what to pick? Consult Sadie, the store dog--she's probably tried them all.

Best Duds
for Purse Dogs

Dog Specialties

There are normal dogs and then there are pocket-sized canines that thrive on bonbons and never having to walk anywhere. We've lived with a mastiff, a German shepherd mix and a particularly feisty basset hound, and our pooches have never worn rhinestones, drunk bottled water or been named after a fairy. But if we did have a tiny yapper, we would outfit him or her in splendor at Dog Specialties. With items such as crown-shaped food bowls and crystal-studded collar tags, there's something for every pampered prince and spoiled bitch. The store also carries dog-themed items for humans to enjoy.

Best Aquarium Supplies

Dallas North Aquarium

Dallas North Aquarium wasn't going to let a little disaster put them out of business. Though a fire devastated their sales floor and fish room on May 4, they never closed the store, selling supplies out of the back during rebuilding. We visited just days before the fire, so we could tell that when they reopened in July, the store was better than ever. Beautiful saltwater, freshwater and planted display aquaria greet you near the front door, and the store offers pretty much any aquarium supply you could ever want--including great bargains on used equipment and a full complement of respected brands such as Eheim, Hikari and Oceanic. Is your fire eel desperate for frozen bloodworms? On the hunt for a bunch of ludwigia repens? Have no idea what live rock is? Your quest will inevitably lead you here.

Best Fish Boutique

The Fish Gallery

Sure, PetSmart and Petco have goldfish. They have African cichlids. They might even have an oddball or two--a dojo loach or a black ghost knife. But once you step into the Fish Gallery, you won't think of buying fish anywhere else again. The store (recently expanded) is filled with tanks of amazing freshwater fish that you'll never see at a pet emporium--Senegal bichirs, roseline sharks, baseball-sized orandas and the hard-to-find Siamese algae eater. Their cichlid selection is likewise astounding. We don't have space to list the Malawi and Tanganyikan beauties they have on display. If you have dreams of being the next Takashi Amano, they have aquatic plants, or if you like spending hundreds of dollars on demanding, finicky fish, their saltwater selection's decent too. And the Aquarium Environments side of the store will help you pick out or custom-design the aquarium you've always wanted. C'mon, go for a custom 450-gallon. What are credit cards for anyway?

Best Thrift
in a Pinch

Counter Culture (Deep Ellum)

There comes a time in a hipster's life when decisions have to be made. The costume party is in two hours, and a decade must be decided upon. Will you wear '80s chic or '60s mod? These are the hard questions, especially when time is of the essence. Whatever your quandary, the Counter Culture store in Deep Ellum is guaranteed to have what you need at a reasonable price. The staff is always available to help with a wayward zipper (or four, depending on your outfit), and the store's small enough that they can easily point you in the right direction for your thrift clothing needs. Avail yourself of the scarf bin, too, but remember: Avoid the Mockingbird Station location like last year's asymmetrical bangs. There, you'll pay twice the price for similar vintage gear.

Best Wrist Work

Adventures in Synthetics

In The Graduate, Mr. McGuire says it best: "I want to say one word to you. Just one wordAre you listening?...Plastics." He wasn't talking about jewelry, but it still applies. Especially when it comes to Adventures in Synthetics. Using plastics, as well as other uncommon materials such as foam and styrene, Dallas jewelry designer Mary Ann Atkinson creates unique pieces of jewelry that dance on the line between space-age and whimsical but never flirt with tacky. The clear bracelet coils are bold but unsuspecting on the wrist, and their simple, colorful, graphic embellishments are vital and special--no two are alike. The graceful pieces are, without a doubt, wearable art, and their packaging is just as thoughtfully designed to serve as a flattering frame.

Best Of Dallas®

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