I’ve never met a luchador in real life, but I’ve read a little about them. And after drinking a few beers for this story, I feel as though that’s plenty to make me an expert. The stories I’ve read tell of two-faced men, quiet and reserved in the real world,…
There were rows and rows of food and booze at the Dallas Observer’s Iron Fork event at Fair Park’s Centennial Hall last night, but the chef competition was easily the best part, aside from drunkenly taking ridiculous photos in the photo booth. This year, two-year reigning champ Matt McCallister of…
Every year I get to Iron Fork, the Dallas Observer’s annual tasting event, as soon as the doors open, I do my best to eat everything available and pick my top bites. I’m always pretty sleepy after the event, but this year’s featured more restaurants than any year before it…
It used to be that fine cuisine was prepared by French-educated men in white coats who adhered to a very strict set of rules about what food should be. Now, there is an entire generation of young chefs happy to thumb their noses at the culinary establishment’s stuffy rules. One…
Follow the Cheap Bastard as she scours the city, looking for a good — or at least non-lethal — lunch for less than 10 bucks. You’re pretending to work on a rainy day. So, you go to White Rock Coffee (10105 E. Northwest Highway). When Duncan Sheik begins to play…
For as much as texting has taken over our lives, there are a few human interactions where spoken dialogue is still standard. We may text friends a happy birthday message, but we don’t — we can’t — text our service provider, “WTF Time Warner?” when our bandwidth seems low and…
The Observer’s food critic, Scott Reitz, said recently that there’s no such thing as a good ice cream sandwich. He said this in private, but I am making these statements public, because they deserve examination. His take: The cookies are too hard, the ice cream squishes out when you take…
It was just about a year ago when Twin Peaks first made the announcement: The Dallas-based breastaurant group was getting into the beer-brewing business, riding on the heels of the craft beer movement that was inundating the nation in small-batch suds. The chain released two beers with the promise of…
As Dallas slowly becomes a mecca for beer-drinking in Texas, yet another brewery is establishing itself in the Design District. Though it opened back in January, Texas Ale Project celebrated its “grand opening” on Saturday. Inside the fence at Texas Ale Project, it is like any other brewery tour you…
You’ve undoubtedly noticed the tall, gray skyscraper in the Dallas skyline, emblazoned with “BELO,” the former owner of WFAA. After Belo Corporation was sold to Virginia-based company Gannett, they vacated the massive building at the intersection of Wood & Record streets, which kicked off a massive multi-million dollar renovation. According…
Dallas is dotted with a number of exemplary taquerias — the ones that are worth a drive if you don’t live or work within walking distance, or even worth a trip on DART. A life-changing taco will only set you back a dollar and change, which is an investment worth…
Just like Oak and Pakpao, the two Aphelia Restaurant group restaurants that preceded it, El Bolero makes an exceedingly good first impression. There’s stone and tile work everywhere in the new Design District space, with each installation lending color and texture. The front patio is wrapped in cinderblock walls, with…
Who knew this writing-about-barbecue thing would lead to shoulder-rubbing with the upper-most layer of Dallas’ upper-crust elite this quickly? I was invited into the secret cabal of about 30 judges for Friday’s Big D BBQ Battle, which regrettably had to be cut short due to rain at about 7 p.m…
After a stint at Uchi in Austin, among other posts, Jeramie Robison took over as Shinsei’s executive chef in February, and like most new chefs he was careful not to make waves. The Pan-Asian restaurant has been courting a loyal customer base for close to a decade now, and to…
It’s the weirdest food story involving Dallas I’ve seen in a long time. Just a few hours after news broke that Revolver Taco would be closing, the owner Regino Rojas said that one of the most popular restaurants in Fort Worth would be resurrected soon afer. What’s better is –…
If Dallas were to get a most improvement award, it would definitely be awarded in the late-night eats category. Just a few years ago, your only options after midnight were sketchy tacos. Now your options are sketchy tacos that taste better than your previous sketchy taco options, plus a whole…
See if you can count the red flags in this sentence: A Detroit native wanted to clue Texans in on authentic Mexican tacos, so eight months ago he opened a joint in Southlake called Frezko, where 80s rock and pop greets the lunch crowd alongside an Aztec Sun Stone mural…
It makes sense that Prohibition-era cocktails are making a resurgence at the same time as craft cocktails, because the people who are willing to spend $14 on a cocktail are the same people who are deeply enamored with being able to have a drink that was once served in a…
Like a brawny, gay version of breastaurants, Tallywackers will open in Dallas’ Oak Lawn neighborhood soon, flaunting scantily clad dudes who have obviously been spending more time at Crossfit than you have. There’s been some effort to brand this class of restaurants. Eater went with Dickstaurant, but I’m having a…
This Blue Bell recall has local ice cream fans skulking around the freezer aisle. Shelves have been cleaned of the company’s product as a voluntary recall counters a mysterious listeria contamination. You can’t get Blue Bell anywhere right now. I’ll admit, though, I’m having a hard time figuring out why…
Zero Hour was for typing. It was middle school in the ’90s, and a couple of days a week I was in “zero hour” class, which meant it was before-the-sun early, and involved typing meaningless phrases to bolster my words-per-minute score. A sheet of paper rested over the tops of…
To say that the culinary world is dominated by men might be the understatement of the century. Even as women continue to make strides in the industry, they’re still fighting their way to the top. In Dallas in particular, the number of female chefs is embarrassingly low. But the women…
