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…
An expectant hush falls over the table as the waiter finally reappears, platter in hand. He ceremoniously and deftly dips and drops your meal, wishes you bon appetit and silently glides away. You admire the pretty midnight purple package before you and then, like a child at Christmas, joyously rip…
Some may argue that a Bloody Mary or a little hair of the dog is the best cure for a nasty hangover, but a cup of black coffee and a dozen or so doughnuts always seem to do the trick for us. Serious hangovers call for serious doughnuts, and the…
‘Well, here’s the deal,” Davey Griffin, associate professor of animal science at Texas A&M University, told me when he learned I planned to show up at an Oak Cliff packing plant for the Southwestern Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest. “It’s not a spectator sport.” Surely there’s a promoter somewhere who could…
BEE: Best Enchiladas Ever (brought to you by Monica Greene of Monica’s Aca Y Alla) calls itself an “enchiladeria.” To me, “enchiladeria” sounds like the immediate effects of eating one too many spicy enchiladas. “Dude, that meal gave me severe enchiladeria.” But, as it turns out, it just means that…
Let’s face it, you’ve been good to yourself. You’ve resisted the urge to patronize multi-caloric palaces of pleasure and instead have chosen to dine at Seasons 52, where every item on the menu is less than 475 calories. Well, now that you’ve polished off your ripe plum tomato flatbread and…
Burgers and fries will never be good for you. But the conceit behind Elevation Burger, a small chain that recently opened its first of three planned DFW locations in the Hillcrest Shopping Center, is that fast food could be good for the earth.Elevation Burger claims to be the only franchised…
Goghee To Go’s website says the restaurant offers “real food” with “100 percent real flavor.” I can back them up on this claim. They do serve real food. Goghee’s offers up tacos, burritos, quesadillas, tortas and nachos—only they’re all Korean barbecue-d up. It’s really not that much of a departure…
Whiskey Cake, the impressively thought-out pub by the Tollway in Plano, was designed for drinkers who don’t laugh when their bartenders spritz their cocktails with atomized oils and diners who don’t berate their servers when they learn their lukewarm tomato soup isn’t eligible for a quick nuke, because the kitchen…
Monica’s Aca Y Alla in Deep Ellum has been a neighborhood staple for years, weathering bad press and a bad economic climate with quality Tex Mex and great specials. But it’s still just another excellent Tex-Mex restaurant in Dallas. Yawwwwwwwn. We need something new. Different. And Monica came up with…
Just last week on the The Dallas Morning News’ Eats Blog, Leslie Brenner lamented the fact that “Tex-Mex is not Dallas’ strong suit,” and invited readers to submit an acceptable list of establishments. She listed El Ranchito, Cuquitas, Mias, and Mextopia as passing muster. I would have added Gonzales, Chitos,…
