Whether you party all night for New Year’s Eve or head to bed before the ball drops, there’s something magical about the first day of another year, and that goes double this year. After a year like 2020, who wouldn’t want to eat a bite of something that promises to…
As a fan of fast food and a fan of dessert, I have long been distressed by the state of fast food dessert. But I bring good news, brothers and sisters. These dark days are over. Now we have Popeyes beignets. Well, we have them for now. The Popeyes strategy…
While breakfast may allegedly be the most important meal of the day and a favorite one for this writer, 2020 had fewer visits out for the meal than we intended. Upon putting together this list, that became obviously true, and we missed spending weekends finding new places actually cooking eggs…
This year has offered us plenty of opportunities to change the way we live. One of those is eating outside. It’s not just about doing more of it, but accepting — during these months especially — that the utensils may freeze our hands, our food may chill more quickly and…
An end to this year – the most disruptive in our lifetimes for all but a few – simply cannot come soon enough. And though we won’t be together as we usually are on the last night of the year, collectively we can throw 2020 a rousing farewell party. We…
Old Lake Highlands is a sleepy neighborhood. Perched on a hill overlooking the city, it’s known more for its views and proximity to White Rock Lake than anything else. That may be changing. At the intersection of North Buckner Boulevard and Northcliff Drive lies White Rock Center, a small strip…
One of the things I most miss from Normal Times is unexpected interactions; so it was a pleasure to run into Feargal McKinney, the owner of The Old Monk, as I arrived to try its new coffee service. “We live just the other side of Abrams [Road], and I’ve had my…
Some might say the foundation of a great taco is the tortilla. When Luis Perez opened Tortilleria La Norteña in Oak Cliff in 2014, he wanted to make a tortilla that reminded him of those his mom served him as a kid in the Northern Mexico state of Sonora, which has…
Navigating the social scene this time of year can be a challenge if you don’t drink alcohol. While the merriment looks different this year, options for sober celebrating still seem sparse at first glance. Sure, you can find apple cider and sparkling grape juice in faux Champagne bottles at your…
Like holiday decorations in retail stores, reminders to order tamales for Christmas start popping up around Halloween. La Popular Tamale House sold out their orders for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day pickup more than a month ago. If you need some of those lovely stuffed bundles of masa on your…
Honestly, get the grilled cheese anyway you damn please. Add a runny egg (over-medium or over-hard, too) or grilled jalapenos, just a few or a whole nest of them, and onions. Raw white onions? No, a spread of caramelized onions is my personal choice: Heavily peppered onions, grilled until their…
Remember those fascinating cake-cutting videos? Not the wine glass one, but the one where it looked like a real object, say a shoe, then a knife enters stage left and cuts through a two-layered cake? Synapses in your brain go off like fireworks trying to process it all. Is everything…
It’s tough to open a restaurant in the middle of a pandemic, and even more so following a controversy. After a brief closure following the surfacing of a recording with homophobic comments allegedly made by the bar’s owners, Redfield’s Tavern reopened Monday as Redfield’s Neighborhood Tavern. Redfield’s became a hot…
This is a season of looking back and looking ahead, and we’ve done so as we look forward to the best 100 restaurants in Dallas and recount some of the best dishes we had over the last year (most of which were in takeout containers). Another way to look back…
Twelve months ago, the Dallas restaurant scene was riding high on a wave of national recognition, including being named the “Restaurant City of the Year” in Bon Appétit. Our chefs were starring in splashy magazine profiles and raising funds for exciting new openings. Diners were falling in love with bold…
In its Dec. 9 meeting, the Dallas City Council approved a pilot program, Street Seats, which will allow for private or public parklet options and the use of up to two curbside parking spaces. “This approval is Dallas’ semipermanent parklet seating solution that includes options for restaurants and retail establishments…
There’s a new coffee shop in Casa Linda, just to the west of White Rock Lake. The shotgun layout has some seating for those who brave indoor eating and drinking and a coffee bar before the door to the kitchen. El Porton may feel like just another spot to grab…
Bucking the trend of closures, the originally pickup-only cheese and charcuterie board operation Amor Y Queso, which was previously housed at The Jelly Queens in Dallas, has recently put down more permanent roots in Deep Ellum. The pandemic has not been kind to the restaurant and foodservice industry, to say the…
Like many coffee shops, Opening Bell Coffee is more than just a place to get your morning caffeine. Is a place to congregate and a place for community, and the pandemic has, for the most part, put a stop to that. This was doubly true for Opening Bell, largely because…
After this extended season of partial solitude, it’s interesting to think about what long-term effects it may have on our tolerance for loud, crowded and tight spaces. After this passes, will it bother us if the next table is in our elbow space? Will large family gatherings roar back, or…
As the weather cools and a vaccine is still months away from being distributed to the masses, restaurants around the city are facing what could be even more bleak months ahead. Winter patio dining in Texas is typically a less-than-pleasant experience with temperatures in the 30s and 40s, leading to…
Every so often, Dallas gets a day in December that actually feels like winter. Many of us rejoice in the air feeling like the proper season before we realize we’re underdressed and the car’s heater just doesn’t work quickly enough. It’s days like those when we need a spicy guiso…
