Good to Go: Brick and Bones Is a Must for Takeout

Good to Go is a column where our food writers explore Dallas’ restaurant scene through takeout orders, delivery boxes and reheated leftovers.

What we love about restaurants is evolving these days, and one new important aspect is how well the food travels.

For that well-accomplished task alone, you should add Brick and Bones in Deep Ellum to your list of places to get takeout.

First note: It has the city's amended emergency regulations posted, and not just one page, but the whole thing. (Businesses are supposed to do this, but not all are, it seems.) Around it, it has an abbreviated version of its menu on offer during this season of COVID-19.

The menu has chicken and four side options, which really is enough — especially when those sides are so good.

And for that food, Brick and Bones uses good packaging, the kind you can wash and reuse. Of course, I'm not bitching about the Styrofoam other places are using, considering the circumstances, but the fact that this spot is using more sustainable materials is delightful.

You also feel intention with the food in that packaging: Each serving is well-plated in the container. The staff could've thrown it in there — the food tastes good enough to make you not care — but they still care about how you first experience it visually.

As part of my habits to keep things safe, after sanitizing the exterior of containers, I also put the food in dishes from home rather than eat out of them. My apologies for missing the beauty that the green beans were before I slopped them into a bowl.

Brick and Bones is a favorite for many people who live in or frequent Deep Ellum, and there's good reason. The chicken won't blow your mind, but it will hit the spot.

As of now, only the fried chicken is available (there’s usually naked, hot, sexy, etc., versions), in three pieces ($9), six pieces ($17) and 10 pieces ($26). The meat's brined for 24 hours, battered and deep fried. They're served with radish, cilantro and lime.

I get excited anytime I see radish; the lime adds acidity to the batter, making this a unique flavor you don't normally get with fried chicken, and we're all for that.

As for the sides, what's currently on the menu are poblano-mashed potatoes ($6), habanero-bacon mac ($7), Mexican corn ($5) and green beans ($6).

I'm trying to watch carbs, because I’m eating more restaurant food than usual, but I couldn't stop eating the macaroni and cheese. I even had to do that thing where I move the dish across the table so I wouldn't keep taking bites of this super creamy mac. It goes easy on the habanero — if you don't do spice, skip these — if you're OK with a bit, a nice hit of spice follows on the back end of these.

The beans are well-prepared, something that seems to be hard to accomplish at some places. The Mexican corn is just fine; the consumption of carbs is better spent on that mac, though.

I'll keep varying the takeout orders, but it's going to be hard to not return to this one soon.

Brick and Bones, 2713 Elm St. (Deep Ellum). Call 469-914-6776 to order. Currently open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.