Toasted monkey or [expletive deleted]? These are the two prevailing definitions for the origin of the term chimichanga, that ever-popular fried burrito that has become a staple at Tex-Mex establishments.Chimichangas may have originated as early as the 1940’s, when cooks at a bar in Nogales, Arizona baked (not fried) one…
Mother’s Day is coming up. Depending on how many boxes of Girl Scout cookies she sent you this year (or whatever other criteria one judges moms by), you could take her to Denny’s or to someplace nice. Can’t make up your mind? Get a live lobster and let her decide…
The Victor Tangos bartender has been at it for just about a decade. In that time he’s seen a lot: the rise of hard door clubs and bottle service, the resurgence of old school cocktails, good times and bad. But it’s almost as if Bedell was born into the business…
“This is about McDonald’s becoming a beverage destination and building off our offerings of fountain beverages.” (Karen Wells, vice president of U.S. strategy and menu for McDonald’s, on a new with Plano’s Dr. Pepper Snapple Group replacing Pibb Xtra–a Coco-Cola product–with Dr. Pepper. Guess the Doctor has more drawing power…
Ever wonder how much otherwise edible food gets tossed every day? If you haven’t before, this post over at Treehugger will get you thinking. It cites a recent study at American University that found students waste less cafeteria food when they can’t use trays, essentially because they can’t pile up…
Tacos Chano’s934 W. Jefferson Blvd.214-948-1846Dude Factor: 6, or “Cheap Floor Tiles” on a scale of 1 (“Montezuma’s Revenge”) to 10 (“Cheap Prescription Meds”)One of my favorite things about visiting Mexico is haggling over the price of souvenirs. There’s nothing like the rush of taking home a belt buckle marked $10…
Don’t be alarmed by the website. To be fair, Ginger Thai actually has a really nice one, with colorful shots of curried asparagus and spring rolls. It would be downright welcoming if it didn’t read, on the “location” page, “ginger is said to treat nausea and vomiting in pregnancy.” OK,…
Yep–once again time to plug, shamelessly and without mercy, the Observer’s email newsletter. Hot off the Grill comes to subscriber in-boxes every Monday evening with all the restaurant-related news and events and stuff you might want to know…without having to sort through all these blog items. ‘Tis the season for…
Tuesday, May 5, marks an important holiday, and we’re not just talking about the commemoration of the Battle of Puebla. That date is also Teacher Appreciation Day. These tireless men and women are shaping the lives of our children, molding the very minds of generation after generation of future leaders–you…
Less than a decade ago, he was riding on good restaurant reviews and a thriving Deep Ellum club scene. The man behind the award-winning Liberty Noodles and then popular Club Clearview even ventured into the lounge scene with a place called Open.On the other end of the spectrum was Yarbrough’s…
“This is a journey, and we still have work to do, but expanding our sourcing of beans from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms and partnering with the Gates Foundation represents significant steps.” (Steve Yucknut, vice president of sustainability, announcing Kraft’s intention to increase coffee bean purchases from certified farms by 50…
People we’d like to shake hands with:Jason Williams, from the cradle of NFL superstardom and Harvard of the Midwest–yep, Western Illinois University. Home of the fighting Leathernecks. WIU is many time almost-champion of 1-AA (they tend to falter in the playoffs, even when ranked #1), the team that almost beat…
The Libertine2101 Greenville Ave.214-824-7900Not so many years ago, when a pub served food–and happened to have a skilled hand in the kitchen–people would call it a “good place.”But that sort of straightforward simplicity just won’t do it these days. I mean, “good place”–what the hell? No way to tell from…
Every so often, a ripple of controversy over the number of stars awarded to some restaurant disturbs Dallas waters.The three-star handouts to Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen and Hully & Mo by the Morning News certainly got folks excited. As for the big man’s place, I can’t say–never been there. I…
Tony’s Pizza & Pasta18918 Midway972-267-9180Promised delivery time: 50 minutesActual delivery time: 33 minutesScoring Summary:Real Italian accent on other end of line: 15Knocking 17 minutes ahead of schedule: 17Chance that arriving that far ahead of schedule can interfere just a bit: -5Simpson’s-fast-food-clerk voice from Clark Kent look-alike delivery guy: 0Awkward chatter…
Cowtown-based Rahr & Sons Brewery earned the Clear Channel Outdoor Excellence in Business Award April 22 during the Entrepreneur Expo luncheon at the Fort Worth Convention Center. The award is more than just a pat on the back: the brewery will receive creative consulting and five billboards with 24-weeks of…
He grew up in Los Angeles, but his understanding of fish began to emerge further up the coast–in Seattle, where Morgan worked at fish shop. The chef of Dallas Fish Market learned the cooking side in professional kitchens on each coast, working in New York (including a stint at the famous…
“I remember it distinctly because the Diet Dr. Pepper shot right out of my nose and onto my laptop–for a moment I was worried I had shorted out the letter “F”. Because really, how was I going to respond without an ‘F’?!?” (Blogger Amy Severson, after reading in the Dallas…
Some call it talent, some call it chance, but here at City o’ Fate, we know these things are preordained. Some chefs are picked early on as future stars. Some competitive eaters peak early and wonder, years later, and reminisce over a sandwich. If you want to predict the future,…
Four up-and-coming chefs — two from Dallas, two from Fort Worth — earned the honor of preparing the food for last night’s Rising Stars Chefs’ Dinner at Turtle Creek Mansion, just one of many events in store at this weekend’s Dallas Wine and Food Festival. See shots of the chefs…
What makes a dive a dive?In other words, just what are the criteria for a dive? And do bars like Lee Harvey’s that look dive-like by design count?Results from last week, in which we asked about the best unknown chefs in Dallas. A disappointingly short list, but here goes:Mike Smith–2900Chad…
We must admit something. We’ve devoted this week to work…which is to say sipping Champagne on the terrace at The Mansion and slugging vodka at Nick & Sam’s Grill. We also have a vague memory of proposing to Nancy Nichols.Anyway, we haven’t had a lot of time. Therefore this week’s…
