St. Pete’s Dancing Marlin2730 Commerce214-698-1511Everyone who passes through this Deep Ellum holdout must, at some point or another, think ‘you know, if they’d toss all the damn model fish, this would be one handsome old fashioned saloon.’After all, it’s not really a seafood joint. And the creaky hardwood floors, long…
Each week in ‘Knockers’ we order from a different delivery restaurant, assessing their efficiency and keeping a running score.Chili’s Various Locations www.diningin.com Promised delivery time: 45 minutesActual delivery time: 45 minutesScoring summary:Easy online ordering: 20 Not having to deal with a human on a bad night: 40 Getting a food…
Beginning today, Five-Sixty by Wolfgang Puck is celebrating its first year in Dallas’s One Big Ball with a special anniversary tasting menu created by executive chef Sara Johannes. Through February 11, diners at the Reunion Tower restaurant can order a chef’s amuse and various options for first course, main course…
I made no New Year resolutions. At least, I’ve not called any of my plans to become a better me “resolutions.” Too easily broken once you put that dastardly moniker on them, you know. But I will say that this Lose It! iPhone app is coming in handy and my…
Consider this new feature an extended scavenger hunt.You know how they work. Here’s how we muck it up a bit: Each week we will select an item–something in a local restaurant or pub (or maybe in several restaurants and pubs). Locate it and write in with the correct details, you…
A Nick Too Far?Last we we asked about chains. This time around, we were wondering about small-scale expansion. Word came recently that Nick Badovinus, chef and owner of Neighborhood Services, would soon open a second and third branch of the restaurant. Nothing wrong with this–expansion is sometimes the only way…
What can you say about a week where one commenter uses the word “yum,” another lets “yucky” slip into a post and someone else writes “to die for”? Oh, and to top it off, djs added the phrase “I like beets” to a story.Weeks like this make us want to…
If ever you get a chance to attend a traditional Lithuanian wedding, make up some excuse and send the couple your apologies.Not only can they be all day affairs, it is customary for just about everyone present to make a lengthy toast–and considered very rude for guests to eat or…
Delaware’s Dogfish Head landed at No. 2 on the Hophead Beer of the Year list for 2009, thanks in large part to its creative approach. But the brewery isn’t just forward-thinking with its innovative beverages–it also has a healthy respect for the past, and goes so far as to resurrect…
It is that time of year when we begin to waver on our resolutions. Oh, we still push ourselves to actually visit the gym we have been dutifully paying for the past eighteen months. Diet books fly off the shelf as we survey the damage done by the excess of…
Addison Cafe5290 Belt Line972-991-8824Damn this place is quiet inside.Not empty, just quiet–the soundtrack cranked down to a level only barely audible. The near-silence is so stark, you quickly become self-conscious. Anything you say above a whisper is fodder for other tables.We eventually saw opportunity in this and began mumbling false…
Recipe Demonstrated by Brady Cottle of Urban Dog Coffee The workplace can be tricky. When you’re first hired on at a new job you cross your fingers hoping you won’t have to share an office with a bunch of Dwight Schrute wannabes. You say a little pray before you step…
A couple years ago I sat in some fancy French restaurant watching two servers wheel a polished brass cart to my table. One of them fussed about a copper chafing dish for a moment then began to splash Grand Marnier over the delicate, sugarcoated pancakes within it. Flambé presentations build…
Each week, Pairing Off attempts to find just the right bottle of wine to go with ordinary food.National restaurant chains know how to stretch the limits of almost any word. Olive Garden tries to sell us on the “Tuscan” influences in their dishes–you know, the grilled shrimp caprese, five cheese…
The classic combination hasn’t disappeared. In fact, during a recent visit to Fort Worth, I spotted the option on Grace’s dinner menu.Once upon a time, however, this double-wallop of protein was such a common feature it rivaled (perhaps even beat out) bacon and eggs, ham and eggs and other contenders…
Westfork is our series exploring the dining culture of Fort Worth and its surroundings.Occasionally I enjoy a little nostalgia. The fondest of these trips down memory lane end up taking me back to the glory days of post-college years in the mid 90s, when my drinking budget was at its…
On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Mad Cat, Insanity, Hogs Ass, Snake Bite, Idiot Boys. No, this is not the Granada’s line up for February. Rather, they are names of hot sauces featuring the dreaded habanero chile, as listed by Chris…
Jersey Mike’s multiple locations Dude Factor: 10, or The Situation, on a scale of 1, Sammi Sweetheart, to 10. Let’s be clear–I am no stranger to Jersey Mike’s, and it is no stranger to me, either. I started visiting the sub chain’s Greenville Ave. location during my circa-2003 stint as…
If Memory Serves chronicles moments from my dining past, perhaps explaining what’s wrong with me.God how I despise pickled beets.You know, those slices of bright magenta mush that come from a can…or is it jar? Since I won’t allow them in the flat, I’ve forgotten.My hatred ran so deep as…
City of Ate reader, Margie, comments, “Oh, and I’d like to add that this rash of dieting talk all over the web and TV is making me sick. My resolution is to eat more and drink more and have more fun doing it. Saying ‘hell’ more than ‘damn’ is another…
The first one showed up around 6 a.m. Sunday, and by noon the line stretched down Travis Street and into the Sur La Table parking lot: hundreds of homemakers, grillmasters and amateur chefs waiting in the cold hoping to land a spot on Gordon Ramsay’s American incarnation of MasterChef.Buoyed by…
Like the sirens of Greek mythology, certain locations call out to passing restaurateurs, luring them in. Sometimes the space pays off for a year or so–but it’s a trap. Sooner rather than later, things start to go wrong.Why this happens–a jinx, negative waves, bad feng shui, the presence of Cubs…
