When I first moved to Dallas a few years back, Lower Greenville Avenue was a mess. The sidewalks and street had been obliterated and you couldn’t walk anywhere without circumnavigating a construction barrier. Business cried out with banners hanging from their storefronts. “We’re still open,” they pleaded, hoping customers would…
Central Market’s Hatch Chile Festival ends on August 19, and I almost missed it. But I have refocused on the important things and I’m ready to go. Like a latch-key kid whose parents are out for bowling night, I’m going to live it up and have what I want for…
In this week’s cover story, Cheap Bastard Alice Laussade tries on vegetarianism for a month. Here, a day-by-day diary of her experience. Day 1: I tell my husband I’m going vegetarian for a month. He replies, “You do whatever the hell you want — the boy and I are eating…
When you receive a press release that says, in all caps, “SAMSON’S WANTS YOU TO SHOW THEM YOU WEENIE,” you simply cannot look away. It’s not just the all caps, it’s the “YOU WEENIE” part that really interests me. Was it the fear of using the wrong “your” in this…
There is a steep let down from a disappointing burger. It’s one of the harshest drop-offs in the world of food excitement. It begins with the phrase, “Want to get a burger?” Upon hearing these words, the eyes dilate, the pulse pounds, the pants expand, and the hands often tighten…
To prepare for this fall’s Best of Dallas® 2014 issue, we’re counting down (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes. If there’s a dish you think we need to try, leave it in the comments, or email me. I love doughnuts; I am not a morning person. I wonder…
It has come to my attention that some people choose to be vegetarians. I personally find most animals to be quite delicious. I like the porks. I very much like the beefs. I even like the fishes, which (as I would soon learn) are not, in fact, vegetables. Long story…
Follow the Cheap Bastard as she scours the city, looking for a good — or at least non-lethal — lunch for less than 10 bucks. People sitting out on the patio at 1:30 p.m. on a Thursday in August (temp approximately 1 million degrees Fuck-Me-renheit) count: 0 Women dragging children…
Trading Vintage Skirts for Chicken Wings A familiar Uptown shop is reinvented through booze and bar food. Uptown was dealt a bit of a blow when Michael Longcrier announced he would be closing his business. For more than 30 years, his store offered shoppers what was regarded as Dallas’ best-curated…
It’s weird how things work this way. Just last week I was driving up McKinney Avenue and a traffic light stopped me right in front of House 34. There were two people on the porch, which is more or less the number of customers I saw enjoying themselves every time…
Last weekend, I was leaving the Blind Butcher, and some glistening crusts caught my eye through the glass. Five or six puck-shaped pastries that looked suspiciously like meat pies were sitting on a shelf inside the deli case. Chef Oliver Sitrin was behind the case, so I asked him if…
To prepare for this fall’s Best of Dallas® 2014 issue, we’re counting down (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes. If there’s a dish you think we need to try, leave it in the comments, or email me. Snagging a barbacoa taco from Estilo Hidalgo isn’t easy. They’re only…
Our own not-so-little neighbor Frisco was named the second fastest growing city in America this year, right behind Austin. And while a lot of Frisco is composed of the sprawling housing developments that keep popping up to hold all of these people, those people have to eat, too. And some…
With its extensive craft cocktail menus and upscale food menus to go along, the gastropub trend shows no signs of slowing down. Especially not in Dallas. As diners increasingly seek out more casual fine dining experiences, gastropubs are happily stepping into the shoes once filled by stuffy and exclusive restaurants…
In this occasional series, Teresa Lensch provides a woman’s view of area “breastaurants.” She previously filed dispatches from Twin Peaks and Wild Pitch. Here we are in our third week. We’ve seen some interesting things together. Some tame, some a little vulgar. What did you expect, waitresses braiding each other’s…
For most of 2014, Houndstooth has slowly been taking shape on Henderson Avenue, its veneer of finished cedar tiles and planks cover the walls and planter boxes out front. Inside chairs of blond wood and blue steel wait to cradle caffeinated bums and more cedar lines the counters and walls…
It was supposed to be easy, at least as far as tangles with the city go. Nora Ontiveros, who owned Herrera’s with her husband Larry, was at city hall trying to figure out how to change the address of the building she expected would host the fourth location of her…
We gave Aaron Barker of Carnival Barker’s Ice Cream (at the Truck Yard) a big ol’ box of crap and asked him to make us hot dog ice cream. He said, “OK.” Every ingredient from The Box had to be used, and he could choose to either split the items…
To prepare for this fall’s Best of Dallas® 2014 issue, we’re counting down (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes. If there’s a dish you think we need to try, leave it in the comments, or email me. Some version of this pizza has made it into our 100…
Fear not, Dallas citizens, for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people aged 21 and over. For unto you is served this day, in the master-planned restaurant complex of Trinity Groves™, a summer indulgence, which you’re going to want to pour into…
In Happy Endings, we travel the part of the globe that says “Dallas” in search of great desserts and great places to eat them. Today, we take a closer look at a classic: Abuelo’s. There are seven locations in Texas, but for our purposes here, let’s talk about the one…
Coming in, sitting down, scanning the menu, ordering, waiting, eating and finally, satisfactorily patting our bellies while saying “wasn’t that good” before going home. This is the order of things, the way we eat out. It is a complacent activity by design. Often, the joy we take in having a…
