“[Sales] may have been negatively impacted by media surrounding swine flu.” (Chuck E. Cheese executive Michael Magusiak on the effect of the “pandemic” on the family friendly pizza chain’s fortunes, The restaurants suffered a 20 percent drop in same-store sales during the first three days last week…although first-quarter earnings were…
Even these dark, ominous skies looming all around us, don’t make it less true: today is May 1, and summer’s right around the corner. That means patios, pools and mint juleps (or Cheladas) — and another week of highlights from City of Ate.The Week in Review(s):Your own Dallas Observer: A…
As if overweight individuals needed more to make them feel socially undesirable, the past couple of weeks have seen at least three different online news outlets tackle the subject of human obesity and its possible environmental impacts, citing an increased carbon footprint. Live Science approaches the topic more sensitively than…
Why is the patio at Primo’s so popular?Certainly there are nicer patios at places serving better food. So what’s the attraction?Results from last week, in which we asked what features make for a true dive. Several well thought through posts showed up in response–as well as one in haiku form…
You know, we had a winner selected. It was a comment posted by someone on DMN’s blog. Unfortunately, we came up empty when we went to look for it today.Either someone deleted the comment or we completely misremembered just where we first saw it. (Both are distinct possibilities.) So, after…
Few bartenders know how to make a decent mint julep and few people order the bourbon cocktail. There must be a connection.But which came first? It’s a perfect cooler for blazing summer days (which seem unlikely to arrive anytime soon)–icy fresh, with a wicked punch–and one closely tied to the…
A few years back, when the economy was in better shape, people used to wring their hands about how retailers seemed to start the Christmas shopping season earlier and earlier every year. But have you ever noticed how, aside from the teetotalers and Avi Adelmans of the world, there are…
The chef and co-owner of Ava, the new and much talked about Rockwall destination, got his start waiting tables right after high school. But it was his decision to enter El Centro’s culinary program that really set things in motion.From there, the Dallas native worked in hotel and country club…
“It’s killing our markets. Where they got the name, I just don’t know.” (Iowa hog farmer Francis Gilmore on the effect of swine flu on the value of his product. Since the outbreak and spread of this virus, hog prices have dropped from a $62 per 100 pounds average to $59 per…
Dave is really in his element for this week’s review of Inca’s, the home-style Peruvian strip-mall spot in Carrollton. He finds plenty to recommend, and you can read all about it here.To get a look at Inca’s — more than the mask on the wall featured in this week’s paper…
We were trying to think of any significant restaurant closings in Dallas over the last 30 days and nothing, besides that odd moment when Kavala in Oak Cliff shut down then reopened almost immediately. So, we had to call our buddy Teresa Gubbins and pry into her database-like brain.Thanks TG.Just…
Remember the great ska craze of the mid-90s? My memory of that era is a bit cloudy, but from what I recall it was a thankfully short-lived phenomenon in which kids rediscovered English ska punk from the ’80s, which itself was a rediscovery of the original version of ska, a…
Sweet Basil17610 Midway972-733-1500Sometimes your expectations, well…Let’s just say that from the outside, Sweet Basil resembles some kind of candy shop, what with the brightly striped awning and cute name.The only hints of its true nature–apart from the “Italian Cafe” printed on the awning–is a small patio decorated with an classical-style…
It wouldn’t be the media if there weren’t a cursory reference to the recession, so here goes: Order the vegetarian Maza Tray for dinner at Food From Galilee, and your $12 will have you eating like a veggie queen (or king) for a week. Can’t beat that, especially if you’re…
Demonstrated by Margie Hubbard The best cooks aren’t always professional chefs. Sometimes they’re just regular people who like to prepare food and love to eat. Take Margie Hubbard for instance. As the author of Eating in Dallas, she’s a banking specialist by day and influential food blogger by night…and early…
From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow, Nana at the Hilton Anatole will offer its monthly wine and food flight trio, Friday Night Flights. For $20 per head, plus tax and tip, you can sample three of the bar’s fine wines paired with scallop ceviche, drunken goat cheese and grilled…
He spent a lot of time in and around the pizza joints of New York–minus four years spent at a Pennsylvania college and a bit living in D.C.So it’s no wonder Green longed for a taste of the familiar after moving to Dallas. He sold medical supplies and software for…
“I’ll either look like a genius or a fool.” (Ed Bailey, owner of the just opened Bailey’s Prime Plus in Cedar Hill–as well as three more proposed branches of the upscale steakhouse–on his prospects over the next year as he sells off profitable McDonald’s locations in favor of fine dining…
There are a couple of things you should know before heading to Inca’s, the Peruvian hangout in Carrollton. First, on a recent Friday night visit, the not-quite-dog-whistle shrieks of kids filled the dining room as three little rugrats bounced around, trying their best to drown out a live band. The…
There are literally hundreds of places you can get yourself a burger in Dallas. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there’s a Back Yard Burgers restaurant right across the street from a McDonald’s, which is awesomely located in the 24 Hour Fitness parking lot. (“Want fries with that…
Fourth-graders leading a political movement, paying for tap water… Wisconsin fourth-graders are organizing to boycott their school’s lunches. Even weirder? Administrators take it seriously. The kids want healthier options on the menu and worked with their teacher to set up demonstration consisting of a pot-luck fresh-food lunch, full of fruits…
One thing that becomes clear, as we move through this series, is that pairings can be a bit fussy.The nonchalant approach of discarding a specific recommendation in favor of something easier to find within the same style doesn’t always work–at least not when you’re dealing with beasts such as processed…
