Welcome to Beautiful Southeast Denton!
The town square says something about the soul of that town. For all the genuinely good things that can be said about our downtown – its focus on humans, its increasing walk-ability, its constant invitation to linger a bit, its conduciveness to conversation, its historical preservation, and its eclecticism – it has yet to overcome one major obstacle: its own whiteness.
Look around. Who is hanging out on the courthouse lawn on sunny weekends? Who is attending plays at the Campus Theater? Who is dining in the restaurants or perusing the shops? And lest we have the tendency to peg this problem on the more conservative segments of town, who do you find up until 2am frequenting our internationally renown indie music venues? Typically, it is middle class white people.
Denton is much more colorful than this: 22% of Denton is Hispanic, nearly 9% is black, and altogether non-whites make up close to 40% of our population. In fact, the highest concentration of Denton’s black and Hispanic population resides within walking distance to the square in Southeast Denton – quite literally just on the other side of the tracks. The story of how SE Denton came into its current demographic situation is tragic. The area you now know as Quakertown Park or Civic Center Park (just North of Emily Fowler Library and the Civic Center) was once the home to a thriving working-class black neighborhood, complete with its own grocers and churches. After being forced out by a city-wide vote in the early 1920s, many of the residents moved to Solomon’s Hill, a fly-infested cow pasture near the railroad tracks. You can read more on this story here…
While most of the city’s commercial focus is directed at either the square or the Loop, this unassuming spot in between has continued to nourish a culture all its own. Here’s a list of reasons to spend some quality time in Southeast Denton…
TACO STANDS!
Denton’s overly-cautious and embarrassingly-outdated ban on mobile food carts doesn’t stop McKinney Street vendors from serving up some of Denton’s best late night cuisine on Friday and Saturday nights. One warm evening this Fall I saddled up my little red Honda scooter and made a solo ride to check out the scene. Along the way, I brushed up on my best Spanish: “dos asada tacos,” I kept repeating, in hopes of sounding legit. As soon as you cross the tracks, you’ll see a bright yellow dive that is all things to all people – a gas station, a mini market, a grill, and a carwash. Ready with my bueno espanol, I was at once relieved and defeated when I was greeted with a “What’s up, man?” La Estrella (602 E. McKinney) will boast that they are the only stand that cooks its meat outside over a fire grill. After two wonderful asada tacos topped only with cilantro, onion, lime, and salsa, I headed East down McKinney. Within a couple blocks there is a spot on your left where you usually pull up and buy Elotes and snowcones (just near the charming, one-roomed Veronica’s Cafe) – they weren’t open that night so I continued on a bit to Taqueria Guanajuato.
Located at 1015 E. McKinney and attached to a mini market, Taqueria Guanajuato’s entrance into the late weekend night street taco market is just another step of greatness that keeps coming from this little place. An appropriate mix of techno-laced Tejano music blared from a pick-up truck parked next to their taco stand. You could choose between tacos al pastor and asada tacos before heading back to your car or finding a spot to sit on the sidewalk. More than one truck seemed to be treating themselves to some sort of unofficial parking-lot-BYOB-special as a compliment to their tacos. I considered the same thing, but I quickly concluded that I couldn’t pull off the same sort of vibe sitting alone on my scooter. Both spots are worth trying again and again. Think date ideas, gentlemen…
THE NEIGHBORHOODS
Get on your bike and head East on Sycamore past Rubber Gloves and start exploring the neighborhood along some very bikable streets. Along the way you’ll find plenty of charming older wood framed houses, historic churches whose history dates back to the days of Quakertown (check out St. James AME Church on E. Oak and Mount Pilgrim Church on Robertson, for instance), the historic Fred Moore High School, and a few tucked away small businesses (SE Denton has maintained a certain amount of mixed-use living, a city planning trend that is becoming fashionable once again). Each time I bike or walk through this area of town, I find a phenomena that is rare in most other Denton neighborhoods – people outside their homes. It is the exception when I am not waved to or greeted by neighbors sitting on their porches, conversing with one another. There is something very human about all this…
NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS
If you have kids, bike them to one of SE Denton’s neighborhood parks. Referred to respectively by my two-year old as “purple park,” “Rosie-size park,” and “yellow park,” Carl Young, Sr. Park, Fred Moore Park, and MLK Park provide some great equipment and scenery. Neighborhood centers are also prevalent in SE Denton and often times connected to the parks (the MLK Recreation Center is beside MLK Park and The American Legion Hall borders Fred Moore Park, for instance).
HIDDEN BBQ
Tucked away at 511 Robertson, Sweet Y Cafe and Catering provides all the charm and flavor that you look for in a hole-in-the-wall establishment. Those of you old enough to remember the days of Steve’s BBQ near downtown will appreciate this. The building is historic and the name hearkens back to an old cafe that used to serve pastries to the black residents of SE Denton during the days of segregation. Literally sitting on a ‘Y’ created by the convergence of Robertson and Wye Streets, the old Sweet Y would serve sweet treats to students coming to and from nearby Fred Moore School. Owner, chef, and Renaissance man Raymond Redmon is someone to chat up after you are served the best BBQ in town. Though he might deny it, Redmon once held the District 1 City Council seat for two terms and he just might engage you in a discussion of city politics and happenings. He might also take you outside and show you his organic garden where several of his side dishes are grown – all with the help of two on-site rain harvesters. As Raymond will tell you, “I’ve been green before being green was cool…”
HISTORIC CEMETERY
A Texas Historical Landmark, Oakwood Cemetery, located just North of Fred Moor Park, began soon after the settling of Denton. The cemetery is the resting place of many early Denton pioneers, including a friend of Abraham Lincoln’s. Try and find the headstones for Andrew and George Brown – there you will find the inscription, “Executed.” They met their fate at the Denton gallows in 1879.
DID I MENTION MEXICAN FOOD?
Beyond the McKinney Street taquerias already mentioned above, here are some other personal favorites:
– TACO NACO (501 E. Prarie) – housed in the old RJ Burger joint, this spot run by a former long-time Morrison Milling company worker will surprise you with their adventurous take on authentic mexican cuisine. If you don’t know already, ask them what “Naco” means while you eat.
– TORTILLERIA LA SABROCITA (201 Dallas Dr.) – much more than just a place where you get tortillas, this place serves delicious meat options by the pound. You must try their tacos al pastor along with an assortment of their many homemade salsa options. If you plan on take-out and dine-in on the weekends, get there with time to spare – but it’s worth the wait. The gal at the counter tells me that they have plans to open 24 hours soon…
– CASA GALAVIZ (508 S. Elm) – this is often my first choice for breakfast tacos in Denton. Their tortillas are fresh and made on the spot. Their salsa is never mild, yet it fluctuates between a 7 and a 9 most mornings – a great cure for early morning sinus headaches or late morning hangovers. I suggest the chorizo, potato, egg, and cheese taco or a bowl of caldo de res. Owner Joe will surprise you with his outskirts of Denton sounding Texas draw.
– LA MEXICANA (619 S. Locust) – one of the rare authentic Mexican spots that actually serves up cerveza, so this is a great spot for lingering dinners – it is also one of the only ones that is a sit-down establishment.
– ESTER’S TORTILLERIA AND BAKERY (710 S. Elm) – you must try their tortas and gorditas. The best part of Ester’s is saving room for some fresh-made pastries for dessert. My suggestion: churros.
THE FUTURE OF SE DENTON
For all its glories, downtown Denton risks pricing itself out of its own uniqueness. High dollar consultants, an upcoming train, and special fostering by city leaders have resulted in an increased interest in investment and development of the downtown area. That is good news in that the area will continue to prosper and add to the tax base of the city. There is, however, a downside to all this: as interest in the area grows, so do rental costs and property values. The once “funky feel” of downtown Denton just may be harder to maintain once young, creative, risk-taking business ideas are priced out of the market. Already, much of the lauded upcoming businesses are not entirely local or unique – they are coming from well-financed entrepreneurs who have succeeded with the same model in other college towns. The likes of Sweet Y, Taco Naco or Taqueria Guanajuato could never dream of relocating to the square. Yet it is precisely those sort of businesses that would make the downtown area more of what we all want…
All this to say, as the creative class of Denton continues to grow and prosper, there will be a increased demand for space to open up and try out new sorts of business ventures – from coffee shops and bars, to restaurants and small grocers, to record shops and art galleries. If the downtown trend continues, these new start-ups will no longer see downtown as a viable place. Denton just might see a shift of its cultural center as a result and a new place will be found. Once Fry Street was torn down, we saw a shift to the Square – and once the Square prices folks out, we just might see a shift, once again, to the East (in this sense, Rubber Gloves is THE visionary venue). The above mentioned amenities, combined with dirt cheap housing options (a fixer-upper’s dream neighborhood) provide a strong argument for the possibility of a new cultural district emerging in SE Denton.
In the meantime, let’s all spend some more time in this beautiful section of town.