The Elbow Room 3010 Gaston Ave. 214-828-9488
Roadrunner-like delivery speeds: 15 Delivers at extreme hours: 25 Ability to cure hangover: 18 Crazy good bar food: 30 Total: 88
I had an occasion to spend some time with a friend who lives in a loft in eye-shot of the Dallas Farmers Market. The occasion was that I had a rough weekend during all the festivities of the seemingly weeklong celebration of Saint Patrick's Day and pretty much didn't feel like maneuvering too far from where I landed Sunday night.
My good friend Isi had a lovely lady friend from California visiting who made comment that she has never seen any city embrace the Irish holiday quite the way Dallas does. Possibly she has never been to Boston, where they have held the parade since 1737. Or New York City, where festivities started in 1762.
Perhaps Dallas doesn't have the longest-running parade to offer homage to the good saint, but certainly we take the love of the green to another level of extreme. Or at least I did.
This past weekend probably shouldn't be chronicled for future generation of Doyles to read, but it is my duty to report that I danced on a roof, kissed a chick cop, romped with thousands, drank more brews than I care to count, doused myself in Jagermeister shots, ate a lot of hummus (not Irish, but Izmir Deli was conveniently located next to the Dallas Observer festivities at the Granada Theater), and generally danced for three solid days enjoying what had to be the best Saint Paddy's I can remember.
Having done all this, I found myself a bit in need of repast and repair.
My friends explained that there weren't many places that would deliver in the downtown area, and I was not about to suffer further through a bad pizza or sloppy Chinese food. That's the difficulty with scouting new places for Knockers: Most that deliver fall into those two categories. But after a few well-placed phone calls, I discovered that a nearby pub did indeed deliver, and I set us up for some much needed grub.
The Elbow Room is located off Gaston Road, just outside of Deep Ellum. They offer some pretty delicious pub fare, mostly in the way of pizza and calzones. But they do offer sandwiches and salads too.
After placing the call we were told that the delivery would take 45 minutes to an hour. Fair enough, I wasn't going anywhere.
I ordered some sandwiches and cheese fries. My sandwich would be the chicken parmesan, and they were kind enough to substitute the regular chips that accompany the sandwich with an order of cheese fries. Pretty spectacular if you think about it. But I am easily impressed.
The sacks of food arrived much quicker than promised. A keen 26 minutes. Over a full half hour faster than I anticipated.
I dug into my chicken sandwich, which had an amazing bun and a side of marinara sauce. The chicken was a thinly pounded breast of chicken, large and meaty. The fritter was well seasoned and crispy on the outside and very juicy in the middle. On the side was a nice assortment of greens and a few large slices of tomato. As if the greens could be used as a salad, they also offered up a side of what appeared to be a balsamic vinegar dressing. I didn't need it.
The chicken sandwich was quickly devoured, and I almost forgot my rather large order of cheese fries. These are the real deal, hand-cut fresh fries and were saturated in melted mozzarella, served with a side of ranch. A perfect ending to my meal. I will also add that chicken parmesan sandwiches pair well with Smithwick's Ale.
The next day I stopped in the Elbow Room for a beer and to rest my weary bones from all the revelry. I was able to speak with chief delivery man, cook, bartender, busboy and anything else the place needed, Jordan Bolinger.
Jordan is a pretty cool dude, and said he loved his job at the pub but was in actuality an aspiring filmmaker. I asked Jordan if he had any odd delivery stories. They were odd, but not terribly entertaining. The tales ran the gamut from delivering dozens of pizzas to a trainload of circus people, to some wild cheerleaders who forgot to stay in their hotel room and he had to track them down in the lobby. They not only didn't tip, but shorted him some change. Just goes to show you, never trust a hungry cheerleader.
I asked Jordan what his normal delivery range was, and he mentioned he once delivered to Plano. Plano from downtown, that's a hell of a range. It was a $200 order, so I suppose they would deliver to Plano if you can fill his car full of pizzas.
Elbow Room delivers all day and into the night. They cut off service at shocking 1 a.m.
Next time you find yourself on the sofa of a friend after a weekend of wild green beer guzzling, don't forget to order a sandwich where most circus folks find theirs in the middle of the night.
