The first thing that happens at John Tesar’s three-Brenner-star Knife, after you order a glacially-cold beer from an iPad, is a flight of complimentary crudités (fancy word for chopped, fresh vegetables with dip) hits the table. The place-mats look like woven, Elvish armor. Because this is Texas, the crudités comes…
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’m a little late to the game. Tiffany Derry and her…
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. A handful of plates leaving the kitchen at CBD Provisions will…
Look, when it comes to a much-mocked place like Addison, you don’t always want to deal in stereotypes. But sometimes these jokes write themselves. In what is presumably an attempt to catch people who accidentally drove past the first Addison TGI Friday’s, a second one is opening a block away…
Uptown may be one of Dallas’ most recognizable neighborhoods. It’s also got a reputation for being a bit of a minefield, filled with towering heels, excess hair product and a slew of mediocre or downright terrible restaurants and bars. Despite the reputation, though, there are some great finds along and…
The Liberty Bank building has quite the provenance. It has been four saloons, one bank and now, over a century after it was built, the building is home to Green Door Public House. Architect Craig Melde relocated the building from its original site at the intersection of Cesar Chavez and…
Sunday is National Ice Cream Day. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Carnival Barker’s You can actually stop looking for ice cream now. All you really need to know is that Carnival Barker’s, creator Aaron Barker’s ice cream shop at Truck Yard (it doesn’t roll away), is serving the flavor…
This week, John Tesar’s new steakhouse, Knife, was reviewed by Leslie Brenner, the longtime critic at The Dallas Morning News. Brenner awarded three stars, an assessment that translates to “very good: a destination restaurant for this type of dining,” according to the paper’s review and listing policy. You might think…
Most people in Dallas have no real reason to venture over to Irving for dinner, but FM Smokehouse is the exception to the rule, and the kind of place that might change your mind about venturing that way. Owner Brian Rudolph, best known for his craft beer-focused Holy Grail Pub…
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 could argue that if Mesa is good enough for Jay-Z…
Editor’s note: For several years until about 2012, Alice Laussade, the Observer’s James Beard Award-winning (and twice nominated) food writer, traversed Dallas in search of sub-$10 lunches that didn’t suck. She eventually shut her foul mouth to focus on other writing and her hugely successful fundraiser, Meat Fight. Now, after…
Until recently, the recipe for a steakhouse hasn’t been much more complicated than the recipe for perfectly cooked steak. Fill a sizable dining room with leather booths and a sharp-looking staff, put some dry-aged rib roasts on display in a meat locker and wait for the Bentleys to come test…
In Happy Endings, we travel the part of the globe that says “Dallas” in search of great desserts and great places to eat them. Lately, so many new restaurants and bars have popped up around town that it’s hard to keep up. Many of these places seem to have similar,…
Ask any restaurateur and they’ll tell you that it isn’t easy to build a business that can withstand the test of time, especially in a market as notoriously fickle and fractured as Dallas. When someone can manage to overcome economic uncertainty, the whims of the public and bad luck to…
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. Pizza is one of the most abused foods Americans are subjected…
Each summer, the restaurant business slows to a crawl as temperatures rival convection ovens and monied customers flee for Colorado. Some restaurateurs use the downtime to close their businesses and give their employees a breather. Some trim employee hours and do their best to make a profit through the slow…
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. Everyone loves a Reuben; it’s what the sandwich will do to…
Ah, Restaurant Week. The time of year when your favorite neighborhood restaurants are flooded with people who only dine out a few times a year. It’s a week notorious for bad service, small portions and watered-down menus, but unlike some other cities’ versions, DFW’s benefits the North Texas Food Bank…
The greatest trick Pizza Hut ever pulled was convincing the world it had more than one kind of good stuffed-crust pizza. The Hut has found a way to cram, bowl and thread cheese into the crust in confounding ways over the years, and the newest version is the Cheesy Bites…
It was The Libertine Bar that set me off. I was craving a BLT, but what I got was a failed attempt at a fancy “BLT” riff. Pork belly stood in for bacon and was soft, thick and sweet. The lettuce was shredded and fell from the sandwich with every…
As Americans, we generally don’t give a shit about the historical observances of other countries. There is one major exception, though – any holiday or festival that allows us to get really drunk or eat a lot of food. See St. Patrick’s Day, Carnivale, and Cinco de Mayo. Today is…
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. You will know El Ranchito is special before you even get…
