From the start, Potato Flats feels off. In line, a woman asks if I want a white or sweet potato. Not having prepared for that one, I say, “uh, white?” She proceeds to cut and clobber a white potato with a silver potato-clobbering machine. She asks if I want salt,…
While nothing complements a cup of coffee better than a baked something, many area coffee shops really muck that something up. I’ve encountered croissants with the consistency of challah bread and muffins that were dense and gooey. I’ve had stale scones that eat like biscotti and stale biscotti that eats…
When talking about burgers with other people who like them, it would be totally appropriate to yell, “Dallas is a burger destination!” Shout it with confidence. If we weren’t a destination for great burgers before, we’re one now. Make the claim, and I’ll back you. There is a lot of…
When Henderson Avenue’s Tried and True closed last year, its departure further reduced the stock of restaurants or bars with dedicated menus for whiskey. Scotch and Sausage has helped fill the void, but the need for whiskey-friendly joints is still in demand. Hello, California-based Eureka…
Shul lung tang, at LA Han Bat and elsewhere, doesn’t make a great first impression. It’s a Korean soup made from beef bones and cuts of meat, and it’s bland and lacking at first, like a blurry picture of what seems like an otherwise respectable bowl of sustenance. But the…
When the bananas Foster I’d ordered at Oak arrived sans pyrotechnics, I had a hard time consoling myself. (The ice cream helped a little.) The whole reason people order bananas Foster — the whole reason this post-meal sweet is a kids’ favorite alongside cherries jubilee — is the requisite tableside…
Follow the Cheap Bastard as she scours the city, looking for a good — or at least non-lethal — lunch for less than 10 bucks. Other cars in the drive-thru: 0 Level of seriousness of the person serving me frozen booze in a sealed, plastic bag: HIGHEST The Original Daiquiris…
Look out, Highland Park — there’s a new chef in town. After a stint at Bolsa in Oak Cliff, Andrew Bell has officially taken the helm at Highland Park Village’s Bistro 31. It may seem like a bit of a gamble, bringing in a chef from a restaurant with a…
One of the strangest bar menus in Dallas has to be at Cold Beer Company. Hot dogs are loaded up with brisket or mac ‘n’ cheese, and the tortilla and pita chips come with two salsas and a plastic cup of freshly mixed pimento cheese. They have a late-night peanut…
It had all the makings of an epic tale. Eric Brandt, a competent and capable chef, and Victor Hugo, a front-of-the-house guy with exceptional customer service skills, had grown restless and needed a change. They’d been working together at Bistro 31 in Highland Park, where Brandt plated up Americanized riffs…
I am by no means a great cook. I do not own a lot of the things I should for some of the recipes I undertake, and I tend to get panicked and just start throwing things together and praying it works. Double boiler? Nope. I’m gonna boil some water…
“I find the pastrami to be the most sensual of all the salted, cured meats.” George Costanza was right about one thing: charcuterie is damn sexy. Case in point: The Char Bar at Asador Restaurant inside the Renaissance Dallas Hotel…
DiDi’s Tamale Diner, a casual tamale and tequila joint, opened its doors in Trinity Groves last week. DiDi’s Tamale Diner was originally opened in Mesquite in 2011, earning rave reviews from local diners who have sorely missed the spot since it closed for the relocation to Dallas. From all accounts,…
Whiskey Cake, the Front Burner Restaurant Group’s ode to casual dining in Plano, has been open for almost four years now, and other than two new locations, not much has changed. When Hanna Raskin reviewed the restaurant for the Observer shortly after it opened, she described creative cocktails, mustardy deviled…
There’s no reason for Digg’s Tacos to have one of Dallas’ most addictive burgers, but they do. I’m there just as it opens for lunch, before the carnitas or queso has been fired, and the burger hits the cooktop with a blazing sizzle. A griddle press is placed on top…
The restaurant business isn’t known for stability. Flux and dysfunction are built in to the gig, in menu and operational tweaks and makeovers, staff changes, backroom drama and bloodshed in the budget. Restaurants are more likely to close than they are to stay open during the first year in business,…
For all we go on about brisket, the pork rib has a beauty all its own. Beloved in greater swathes of the country than brisket, it’s nevertheless shunned across the Lone Star state as an not so worthy of barbecue. Well, if Kevin Spacey on House of Cards is constantly…
With a nationally recognized reputation as the creator of “New Texas” cuisine, 30-plus years of experience honing his craft and numerous awards to his name, Chef Stephen Pyles isn’t hurting for credentials. Still, he continues to impress, particularly with the reimagined South American flavors showcased at his newest restaurant, San…
Somewhere over on the east side of the airport, on an unassuming street corner, lies the tiniest hole in the wall barbecue restaurant I’ve ever seen. The front of the house is just a waiting room with two chairs, a window for orders, and for some reason a guitar, fully…
Snuffer’s founder Pat Snuffer isn’t interested in talking about his past endeavors. Instead, he seems excited for his future in bar food and, now, pizza. His newest restaurant, Pat’s and Mike’s, is the start of a new chapter for the longtime, Dallas-area restaurateur — one that includes his son, Mike,…
The number of taquerias in Dallas that serve their taco fillings on handmade tortillas is limited. Most employ the standard working man’s tortilla, an honest round pressed from masa that’s reheated on a hot grill. These tortillas are dependable and get the job done, but their texture is lacking. They’re…
There are many steakhouses in Dallas — places where you can order a thick cut of beef with potatoes gratin and spinach as a side, and places that serve plenty of overpriced bottles of red wine. You can treat yourself to a cold shrimp cocktail or freshly shucked oysters to…
