Since 1924, the Luna family has been selling chips, tortillas, tamales and such through The Luna Tortilla Factory. And now, almost 86 years later, they have finally opened a family restaurant. And, guess what? They’ve been holding out on us. Shame, shame. It all started back in 1923 when María…
People say you should give a restaurant time to “find its stride” before you go there and judge their food. To those people I say: bullshit. Don’t open your restaurant if you’re not ready for people to eat your food. And now, a public service announcement: Taquería La Paloma and…
The cashier at Lockhart Smokehouse nodded as he rang up my order for the day’s special, a smoked trapezoid of ivory-hued fish graced with three slim lemon wheels. “I’m glad we’ve got this,” he said. “The vegetarians have been asking for something.” Putting aside the question of whether non-meat eaters…
The only thing more exciting than discovering delicious off-the-menu items at a restaurant might be finding savory morsels where there’s no menu to begin with. Or even better, discovering such tasty treats after a few PBRs, which is exactly what happened to us Saturday night at the Double-Wide. One would…
It may not feel like it today, but spring is officially here, but that’s not the only change we saw in March. Restaurants and bars looking to capitalize on patio grazers opened their doors, most notably the Katy Trail Ice House, which received lots of buzz during its soft opening…
Over spring break my husband and I loaded up our kids and took a road trip out to Lake Mineral Wells State Park. We hiked, climbed, cried, threw rocks into the water and generally disturbed nice people trying to embrace the serenity of nature. After all that hoopla, my husband…
From the outside, Szechwan Pavilion totally looks like a strip club. Not that there’s anything wrong with that—some restaurants look like strip clubs, and some strip clubs look like herpes. Shit, maybe Szechwan Pavilion used to be a strip club and they just kept the name and the super buffet…
On the ingredient lists that now pass for menus, it can be hard to discern exactly how a dish is assembled: Squid, rutabagas and chocolate sauce sounds so daring when the nouns are lined up neatly as cornstalks, but the wow factor fizzles when the plate arrives with the fish…
A Cedar Springs landmark will be serving its last rounds of mimosas and eggs Benedict this Sunday. The Bronx Café, which has resided near Observer headquarters at Oak Lawn and Cedar Springs for almost 35 years, has been sold to the adjacent Warwick Melrose Hotel. Co-owner Jess Gilbert told us…
A local raw food company appears to be on the brink of becoming a nationally recognized brand, thanks to the confluence of a major industry award and a new distribution contract. Hail Merry, maker of granolas, flavored nuts and macaroons, this week won VegNews’ “Best of Show” title at Natural…
The first thing one receives at Oishii Sushi & Pan-Asian Cuisine is a large laminated menu and paper menu overflowing with sushi options. But if you sit at the sushi bar, there’s a small, wall-mounted chalkboard above the chopping and dicing sushi chefs. The very top of that chalkboard reads…
Today is the last day that Dude Fooder Noah W. Bailey will actually work here in our Dallas Observer offices. He’s leaving us, moving on, spreading his bearded wings. (Don’t get too upset — we think we’ve gotten him to say he’ll still contribute to our fine publication on occasion.)…
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…
