Everyone knows the most authentic banh mi sandwiches are served in the suburbs, where they come wrapped in paper and cost two dollars and some change. You could buy the whole office lunch at prices like that, depending on the size of your office and how generous you’re feeling, and…
Most times when critic Daniel Vaughn writes up a notable brisket for Texas Monthly’s BBQ Blog, the story is prefaced by a tank of gas and a few hours behind the wheel. That’s great if you’re the kind of person who relishes a Sunday drive. Epic journeys make smoked meats…
You’ve got to hand it to Kent Rathbun. Outside of his Iron Chef accomplishments, he’s damn near the most important, influential guy in Dallas dining. After more than a decade as a successful restaurateur and three great restaurants, Rathbun is ready to try his hand at something a little more…
The Texas Rangers rolled out some mouth-watering, stomach-upsetting new concession items this season: a state fair stand with nothing but fried foods, nachos with tater tots instead of tortilla chips, bacon beer. There is also a thing called the “sausage sundae.” But that’s all on the ground level, where the…
“I need one spicy mazemen ramen,” Matthew Hoa, the baby-faced executive chef at Dallas’ newest ramen shop, Ten, announced. Sous chef Christian Koelling cranked the heat on a sauté pan, spun around to the other side of the galley and started chopping roast pork belly. “Hai,” he offered, softly. In…
NorthPark Center will be getting a new restaurant this fall. Wait! Don’t go! This restaurant is actually interesting. Where you’d expect another moderately priced Phil Romano chain restaurant, this new spot looks like it could be reason enough for a trip to the mall whether you need a new pair…
Headed to Tallywackers? I have one piece of advice for you: take a sweater. While I didn’t see the dial when I visited recently, I’d guess the thermostat was set to meat locker, as evidenced not only by my own shivers but those of the scantily clad waiters that surrounded…
Nearly half a year into Café Momentum’s opening, it’s safe to say they’ve hit their stride. It’s no easy feat for any restaurant, but Café Momentum isn’t just any restaurant — it’s also a second chance. Here, young men released from the city’s juvenile justice department receive paid job- and…
When Daniel Vaughn reviews a barbecue joint on his frequent jaunts throughout the state in search of the Holy Barbecue Grail, he knows the only way to form a real opinion on a spot is to order basically one of everything. So he was glad I was tagging along this…
On-Premise opened recently in Deep Ellum. Of all of the remodels I’ve witnessed since I started covering the Dallas dining scene, this is by far the most transformative. Remember Lemongrass, the Vietnamese restaurant that served up an excellent bowl of pho in Deep Ellum? There isn’t a trace of that old…
Jefferson Boulevard continued its gentrification march earlier this week when Carnival Barker’s Ice Creams opened its first standalone business in the Jefferson Tower project. The small storefront with a walk-up window is now selling the crazy flavors creator Aaron Barker has become known for, and for the rest of this…
I get to Fort Worth a handful of times a year, usually to check out a performance at Bass Hall or to putz around the museums. Last summer my infrequent visits became permanently appended with a mandatory visit to Melt Ice Creams. I won’t leave Fort Worth until I’ve had…
It’s all acutely organized at K.T. Burger. Coolers, piled high with ice and evenly distributed beers, run alongside a long entryway. A server greets you, writes the number of your party and your table on a bordered, sticky slip of paper. Four of the latest flat screens, each seemingly equidistant…
Now that the weather has finally decided to get its shit together, we are now firmly planted in the middle of grilling season, which means that it is time to gather around the grill with beer, fire, and most importantly — meat. Whether or not you’ve scraped all of last…
When that hollow voice from my GPS instructed a turn onto Menefee Avenue and announced the final destination was a mere 1,000 feet away, I assumed I’d made a wrong turn. A thrift store, a vacuum cleaner repair shop and a collision center were all within sight, and the road…
Barbecue doesn’t necessarily lend itself to the food truck. The extensive food prep, including overnight cooks in most cases, is usually best left to those with brick-and-mortar bases of operation. Barbecue truck operators are forced to decide whether to smoke offsite and keep the day’s prepared meat warm using a…
If I didn’t know what I’d ordered, I would have assumed the plate contained freshly sliced tuna. The fish was a deep and rich crimson, not from myoglobin stores, which tuna and other red fish have plenty of, but from beets. The fish was salmon that had been cured with the…
If you’ve been waiting for the right time to visit Chef John Tesar’s Knife inside the Dallas Highland hotel, now may be a good time to pull the trigger. For five nights beginning today, Tesar and pastry chef David Collier of Knife will welcome a different celebrated guest chef for…
Uchi means “naked” in Japanese. Makes sense, when you think about it. Not because every “foodie” (shudder) in town is all, “who do I have to sleep with to get a reservation up in here?” but because executive chef/owner Tyson Cole does magical things with each solitary, naked ingredient in…
Your soul needs soothing. You stumble into East Dallas’ Mot Hai Ba for dessert because: donut holes. Donut holes served with condensed milk ice cream adrift in a toddy coffee. Face-stuffing works so much better than “being honest with your feelings.” Stupid therapist. But on a cloudy afternoon that threatens…
When Jeana Johnson and Colleen O’Hare announced they would be turning over the kitchen of Mot Hai Ba to a new and unheard of understudy, panic swirled in East Dallas. They had made a similar move to open that very restaurant, turning over the kitchen of Good 2 Go Taco…
If you’ve done a lot of drinking in the Cedar Springs-Oak Lawn area, you’ve probably soaked up a few of those Jello shots at Snookie’s, the low-key pub just down the street from all the action in the gayborhood. Snookie’s is famous for its drunk-appropriate fare, like epic piles of…
