For three months, I have leaned on (read: annoyed) the owners of Taqueria Pedrito, a family run taqueria in East Dallas, to purchase cow heads from the packaging plant in Weatherford that supplies their beef. So you can understand my excitement when I went there a couple of weeks ago…
Ladies!!!! If you’re looking to hook up with an elderly man (or 12) wearing brand new orthopedic shoes, I’ve found the spot for you. No, I’m not talking about Walgreens or Babydolls, I’m talking about Mexicali Restaurant: This restaurant is total grandpa heaven. At 5:30 p.m., it’s stunningly wrinkly. This…
Much to my chagrin as a kid, the only things I was ever capable of doing quickly were reading and writing. Neither skill was especially valuable in gym class. But in a newsroom, where deadlines are perpetually looming, high-speed literacy isn’t just a parlor trick. It’s extraordinarily helpful to be…
Starbucks has been roasting and serving coffee for 40 years now, and has picked up a few extra menu items along the way. One such creation, which has become a staple item for the company, is the blended, frozen, dessert-in-a-cup, known as the Frappuccino. The blended treat has been all…
Texas bourbon, which is launching an assault on Kentucky’s whiskey supremacy, isn’t readily available just yet. Lucky connoisseurs around Austin and San Antonio this week were able to snag newly released bottles from Garrison Brothers in Hye, but most of the state’s bourbon is still sloshing around in barrels. But…
Some of you may remember the day when hush puppies were featured at many of the seafood places such as Zuider Zee, H Salt Fish and Chips, Arthur Treachers and Captain D’s. Perhaps you shed a tear when they were taken off the menu at Red Lobster (to be replaced…
Walking down Cedar Springs, you immediately notice Thai Lotus Kitchen. It’s the skanky, busted place right next to the Black Eyed Pea that everyone is glaring at, whispering about and avoiding. It’s the Brooke Hogan of restaurants in Oak Lawn. It somehow managed to look skeezier than the dude I…
When a sitcom actor surrenders to the lure of a movie contract or retirement or heavy drug use, the show’s producers have two choices: They can write the actor’s character out of their scripts or they can recruit a replacement with roughly the same build and hairstyle and hope viewers…
Whether living in Denton or simply passing through after a long night of venue-hopping and beer-slinging (last week’s 35 Conferette comes to mind), you might find yourself turning to Ruby’s Diner On the Square. It’s nearly impossible to miss — what with its central location next to the Calvary Chapel…
Pizzeria Venti’s slogan is “America’s only authentic sliceria®.” Yes, “sliceria.” Not to be confused with BEE in Oak Cliff, which is an “enchiladeria.” If you ask me, there’s a diarrhea of new -eria’s being invented in town lately. Can’t we just call a pizza place a pizza place? Anyway, Pizzeria…
As someone who spends a good bit of time in restaurant dining rooms, I’m accustomed to being told “Just let me know if you have any questions about the menu.” But the offer usually comes from my server, not a diner at a nearby table. What’s remarkable about Shinsei, a…
Though it violates every Jewish dietary law my ancestors held sacred, I’ve eaten many a mussel in my day. For me, it’s as much about their taste as their texture: more chewy than oysters, less chewy than squid. (I know, Oma. I know.) I’ve indulged that texture in every sauce…
At restaurants all over town, elusive eats await under the radar. Menus are updated, new items are added, and sometimes the best things are not on the menu at all. Let Off the Menu guide you to some of Dallas’ lesser-known culinary creations. Few things are more disappointing than sitting…
You may have heard Il Cane Rosso finally found a bricks-and-mortar home in the warm bosom of Deep Ellum, in the welcoming shadow of the Central Expressway overpass. Two trips in the last week haven’t gotten me any closer to being the Foursquare mayor (Doyle!), but have given me a…
Mexico City: The Gourmet Taco offers a variety of Mexican food plus mini gas station taquería-y tacos and “gourmet tacos.” For those of you who don’t know, in Spanish “gourmet tacos” means “same as the mini tacos but in a larger tortilla and topped with veggies ‘n’ shit.” I was…
The way the kitchen had envisioned it, a roundup of chocolate that followed a recent multi-course meal at Decanter was supposed to double as a dashing centerpiece. In a stroke of Cubist inspiration, the pastry chef had plated a thick slice of sweet potato chocolate terrine abutting a parfait glass…
Even sold under the retro name of “Gulf oysters” and pawned off for rock-bottom prices that makes oystermen shudder, oysters are still awfully sexy. The same can’t be said of oyster drills, one of the many trash fish and overlooked shellfish spotlighted in a Foodways Texas panel on by-catch. In…
At restaurants all over town, elusive eats await under the radar. Menus are updated, new items are added, and sometimes the best things are not on the menu at all. So, whether it’s featured on a hand-written sign taped to a wall, or something that only regulars know to ask…
The weather may have given Dallas the finger right before the Super Bowl, but some high-profile restaurants, including The Cedars Social and Lockhart Smokehouse, were able to open in spite of ice, snow and Steelers fans. In January, we found out that Metro Diner will be closing its Gaston Avenue…
Breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day. And at John’s Cafe, it’s goooood. John’s also serves up super cheapo lunches, but their breakfast is so otherworldly and giant, you’ll be so full of egg and coffee and awesome that when noon rolls around, you can just burp pancake…
Foremost among the many charms of Lucia, the homey Italian bistro that’s riveted local food lovers since it opened in Oak Cliff late last year, is the restaurant’s singularity. Eaters may swoon over chef David Uygar’s expert salumi or front-of-the-house deaconess Jennifer Uygar’s twinkle-eyed warmth, but neither food nor service…
For most of the crowd gathered there Sunday afternoon, the birthday bash at Spiral Diner was about celebrating three years of vegan eating in the always-friendly Oak Cliff spin-off, but for Mario Sanchez it was about something else entirely: “Retribution.” That was the word on Sanchez’s lips moments after he…
