People demand certain things of restaurant patios. They want a view, perhaps, or a stream of passers-by, each more interesting than the last, and maybe a breeze off the lawn smelling of lavender—that sort of thing. Then there’s Dallas’ version of outdoor dining, which usually involves a deck jutting into…
In my family, Sunday night is Dive Night. At my stepfather’s insistence, we explore “dive” bars or restaurants so he has an excuse to eat queso and hamburgers and drink beer while my mother and I get picky with salads and nibble on fried pickles. Whether Sol’s is actually a…
“2500 lbs of chili and less than 600 beers? Somebody was way out of whack on the beer to chili ratio.”A comment left by “Brent D.” in response to this week’s On The Range piece, which touched on the lowdown bit of bribery used to ensure that chili became the…
They say Green Papaya isn’t authentic Vietnamese. I say: When I first moved to New York, my oldest friend introduced me to her cousin, who also lived there and was also a journalist. We hit it off immediately, and one of our shared passions–aside from writing, reading, watching Project Runway…
The sign at Wok China that reads “No refunds. Exchange only” might scare away some diners, but not me. That was true especially once I saw that every entrée on the drive-through menu is $5.49, which gets you a nice healthy portion of the dish plus way more rice than…
If your oral surgeon misses by the tiniest fraction, that foolproof replacement tooth could end up cracking your mandible. Did you know that? I didn’t either until I overheard what amounted to a dissertation on modern dentistry practices, complete with pain thresholds and gore and all the other stuff you…
Last weekend, I set off on my bike. I would save gas, stay close to home, and kill like three birds with one stone by brunching at the promising-sounding Garden Café, on Junius Street in Lakewood. I’d been there as a pre-vegan, and I remembered a lovely garden in the…
So much to choose from this week.We loved everything about this post on the blog Eating in Dallas by one Margie. It was passionate, provocative…and unfortunately about a month old. Another blogger, this time Dallas Eats, went on quite a wonderful tirade. But she also writes for City of Ate…
It only took one vegetarian to convince Nana chef Anthony Bombaci to draw up a meat-free tasting menu. “They made reservations, they told us they were vegetarian and they paid for their food,” Bombaci recalls. “And we served them meat.” After their visit to Nana, Bombaci got a letter–“snail mail,…
You’ve heard this sort of thing before: “Your job is safe,” or “I was just out with guys.” Maybe you believe such assurances the first few times. After a couple trips around the block, however, you catch on. And the more absurdly cocksure in delivery, the more red flags should…
Summer’s on its way, and that means it’s time to bulk up to fit into that bikini, ladies! That’s right, I’m talkin’ to you, skinny bitch. Last I heard, Abercrombie don’t make a size quad zero, so it’s time to shove some meat into that Skeletor face of yours—or you…
Behind a beaded curtain at one of Kereje’s secluded booths this Sunday, my dinner companion for this week’s culinary adventure equated our situation–my situation, really, since he’s Taiwanese–to entry #71 on the blog Stuff White People Like: “Being the only white person around.” In other words, everyone else at Kereje…
Among the NFL’s labia-friendly rules changes for 2009 are that defenders knocked to the ground can’t tackle quarterbacks and kicking teams can’t bunch together more than five players for an on-sides kick attempt. A discussion on new pads to protect players’ ovaries was tabled.Richie Whitt in the Observer blog Sportatorium.Note:…
A hat tip to the writers of Dude Food, who this February ensured that good ol’ meat-eatin’ men could dine successfully at Eatzi’s. So, it turns out, can veggie-eating types. Eatzi’s is one of those Oak Lawn institutions whose charming perks have given it staying power. It could be the…
Dallas loves celebrity chefs. Hell, Guy what’s-his-name, the one with the hair, from Food Network, drops by a restaurant or two and people practically wet themselves. The arrival of Nobu Matsuhisa, Charlie Palmer, Tom Colicchio or any famous name from either coast for a brief visit to their kitchens sends…
“No pets, shirt shoes required,” is my favorite sign inside Taco King on Park Lane. I’m pretty excited to go back without my cat and also without a shirt or shoes and order me up some tacos. Inside, it’s pretty sparse. One ceiling-mounted TV broadcasting the requisite telenovela with requisite…
Yeah, expensive places like Sullivan’s continue to cut prices or delve into the prix fixe menu idea, but there have been more comings than goings lately. So we wrap up March with a brief survey of what turned out to be a mild, mild month:EnteredLazare–in the Uptown space vacated by…
Fill in the blank: The best thing about Cosmic Café is… …a deck of Tarot cards at every table. …free yoga. …unlimited mugs of soy chai. …delicious plates of all-veggie food, whose prices all add up to multiples of nine. (We don’t know why. We asked our waitress, and neither…
On the fourth Sunday of every month, an assortment of vegetarians–police officers, an airline pilot, animal activists, nurses and all manner of otherwise normal people–gather for all-you-can-eat vegan Sunday brunch at Veggie Garden in Richardson. The restaurant is small and casual, occupying an unassuming suite in a strip mall near…
I always wondered about the wisdom of that bit of advice that urges road-trippers to stop at diners with a bunch of trucks parked outside. Not that truckers don’t know a good plate of hash browns, mind you, but do big-rig jocks really grasp the finer things? There’s no reason…
Through all my phases, from finicky meat-eater to cheese-hating vegetarian to vegan, I’ve never had a server actually encourage me to complicate my order. But at the Cliff Café last Friday our server, Ryan H., did–even after my “girly lunch” group had finagled a table on the sunny, secluded back…
Remember the old saying “never trust a skinny chef”? Well, our waiter—the one with gunmetal hair—nods toward the back room where Didier Viriot ambles back and forth, carrying his bulk confidently. The implication is clear: Have faith in the chef and his restaurant, Citrus Bistro. But should you trust a…
