What to Eat and Drink This Weekend: Greek Fest, Malai Pop-up and a Wine Festival

Each week we like to dig around and find unique, boozy and indulgent things to get into around Dallas. It might be a festival, a social gathering of like-minded imbibers at a brewery, a special dinner or a pop-up. Here's what we're excited about for the next week.

The State Fair of Texas is still rolling. With the temperatures in decent territory, it's a great time to get out and enjoy a festival or two. And there are many.

Mid-Cities Greek Fest
St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church
303 Cullum Drive, Euless
Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 14, 15 and 16
This Greek festival has been around for more than 30 years. All the food is homemade according to long family traditions. Try the Athenian Platter ($23) with Greek chicken, rice pilaf, two dolmathes, spanakopita, tiropita, Greek salad and pita bread. Or the Santorini Platter ($25) with fish, or a Zorba Platter ($27) with lamb. There are also a la carte offerings, like hummus and pastitsio, plus sweets and gyros. There's plenty to eat, is what we're getting at. Go hungry. And visit the website for a full schedule of events. Admission and parking are free. The Greek band LAAND will provide live music all weekend so you can show off your fancy Greek dancing skills.

Attalie Guest Chef Dinner for Genesis Women's Shelter
Attalie at The Exchange, 211 S. Akard St. (Downtown Dallas)
Friday and Saturday, Oct. 14 and 15
Local chef and James Beard nominee Misti Norris and guest chef Paul Liebrant will co-host a dinner on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Attalie at The Exchange. Then on Saturday, Josh Harmon steps in, along with Leibrant, for a second dinner. All proceeds will go to the Genesis Women's Shelter. Tickets for both Friday and Saturday are $160 each, plus an additional $60 for a custom beverage pairing. Read more about the event here.

Live Music at the Boardwalk
Granite Park, 5880 State Highway 121, Plano
6 p.m. – 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14
The Boardwalk at Granite Park is a collection of restaurants around a large pond that can be a nice setting for a dinner out, especially when the weather is cooperative. Like now. Local artists are slated to perform throughout October. This Friday, look for music from Charity Young, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Restaurants along the boardwalk include the Suburban Yacht Club, Blue Mesa Grill, Union Bear, The Biscuit Bar, Golden Boy Coffee and Wine Bar, Fork and Fire, and Chip's Old Fashioned Hamburgers. All of these spots have large patios to enjoy the music. Not a bad way to wind down the week.

Harvest Fest
Huffhines Park, 1500 Apollo Road, Richardson
10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, and 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16
The City of Richardson hosts its 46th annual Harvest Fest on Saturday and Sunday at Huffhines Park on Apollo Road. There will be crafts, live music, a big pumpkin patch and all the requisite family activities. Plus, lots of food like Leo's Greek Food, Tounge in Cheek Ice Cream, TJ's Dawg House and Mrs. Lively's home cooking, all to be washed down with craft beer. And because it's fair season, they'll also have corndogs, lemonade and kettle corn. Admission is free.
Bia Hoi Pop-Up
Malai Kitchen, 3699 McKinney Ave. (West Village)
11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15
Malai Kitchen, the ever-popular local Thai and Vietnamese restaurant (we recently wrote about co-owner Yasmine Wages), will host its annual Hanoi-style street food pop-up this Saturday. They'll serve Malai's signature Vietnamese beer (yes, they brew their own beer), Bia Hoi, which will go for $1 a pint. And for the full authentic experience, they'll have tiny plastic stools and tables to sit at. Party at Malai. See y'all there.

McKinney Wine & Music Festival
Towne Lake, 1405 Wilson Creek Parkway, McKinney
Noon – 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15
The 6th Annual McKinney Wine and Music Festival will showcase 30 award-winning wineries, 10 restaurants and four bands. You can buy a food pass for $35, which allows bites at all the restaurants from noon to 4 p.m. And wine-tasting tickets ($40) will get you 20 one-ounce tastings. Buy a combo food and wine tasting pass for $70 and get 20 sips and tastings from all the restaurants. Parking is free. See a list of restaurants and wineries on the website.

The Piehole Project
Online Auction
9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 17 through 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27
The Piehole Project was started three years ago as a way to raise funds for Chefs for Tomorrow, which provides culinary scholarships for local kids (budding chefs). Each year local chefs auction off pies to the highest bidder online, and each year has a theme; this year it's the '80s. But the big news here is that you can get a one-of-a-kind pie from some amazing local chefs, all for a great cause. The auction starts at 9 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 17. So set the stove alarm. The bidding runs through 9 p.m. Oct 27.

Halloween Treats
La Casita Bakeshop, 580 W. Arapaho Road, Richardson
Through Halloween
We recently wrote about La Casita Bakeshop baker, Maricsa Trejo, who is on The Food Network's "Halloween Baking Championship" this season. Check out Instagram to see why she was nabbed to be on the baking show in the first place. Halloween is their bestest time of the year. Then pre-order an entire box of goodies for pick-up this weekend.