Finding good Cajun food in Dallas isn't exactly easy, but Charlie McGuinness and the folks behind Greenville Avenue institution Dodie's have always been known for serving reliably solid Cajun dishes, especially those of the deep-fried variety. Now, though, McGuinness has set his sights on a more ups ... More >>
We told you yesterday about the latest chapter in the Dallas restaurant scene's epic struggle against Evil Critic Leslie Brenner: An organized effort, first reported by The Washington Post, to thwart The Dallas Morning News' critic by banding together to refuse to accept her money, boxing her into ... More >>
Just when you thought we were finally past the time where Chef John Tesar and Dallas Morning News food critic Leslie Brenner were at each other's throats in the media, the story picks up steam from one of the country's most respected journalistic institutions. Yesterday, the Post's Tim Carman prof ... More >>
To be called a chef is to have earned respect in the culinary world -- or at least that's the way it used to be. Now, more and more people who have attended culinary school and cooked in a restaurant for a few years are champing at the bit to designate themselves a chef, or worse, a goddamn "celebri ... More >>
It had all the makings of an epic tale. Eric Brandt, a competent and capable chef, and Victor Hugo, a front-of-the-house guy with exceptional customer service skills, had grown restless and needed a change. They'd been working together at Bistro 31 in Highland Park, where Brandt plated up Americaniz ... More >>
Because we live in a culture where everything has to measure up to something else, we should probably pit Dallas' neighborhoods against one another as a function of their gustatory offerings. Also, it's useful: Say you're out and about on an evening Uber is using its dynamic-pricing model, and you w ... More >>
Nestled between Crush Craft Thai and a liquor store, and across the street from Dee Lincoln Steak and Burger Bar, is the newly opened TnT Tacos and Tequila. The Austin-based restaurant comes from the same group that birthed the Blue Mesa chain. The polished industrial style of the interior delivers ... More >>
Earlier this week, when I told you Chennai was moving to Frisco, that was only half of the story. Or maybe not even half. The Eat's Blog reports that owner Karthik Thambidurai is hanging onto the old real estate to open a new restaurant. A second restaurant by the owners of one of the best Indian e ... More >>
Whiskey Cake, the Front Burner Restaurant Group's ode to casual dining in Plano, has been open for almost four years now, and other than two new locations, not much has changed. When Hanna Raskin reviewed the restaurant for the Observer shortly after it opened, she described creative cocktails, must ... More >>
DiDi's Tamale Diner, a casual tamale and tequila joint, opened its doors in Trinity Groves last week. DiDi's Tamale Diner was originally opened in Mesquite in 2011, earning rave reviews from local diners who have sorely missed the spot since it closed for the relocation to Dallas. From all accounts, ... More >>
"I find the pastrami to be the most sensual of all the salted, cured meats." George Costanza was right about one thing: charcuterie is damn sexy. Case in point: The Char Bar at Asador Restaurant inside the Renaissance Dallas Hotel.
Folks who enjoyed dining at Chennai but hated driving all the way to Plano are in from some bad news. The Indian restaurant known for its complex biryanis and thali specials has permanently moved further north to Frisco. The extra drive is surely a drag (unless you live in Frisco) but there are som ... More >>
Call off the Carb Police. Tell calories they can "see you next Tuesday." Fuck fat. Just fuck it. Because Thanksgiving. It's the Rex Manning Day of holidays for this turkey lover. It's a time to get drunk and sit on the couch to watch all the sports (I hear). It's a time to eat a perfectly sensible a ... More >>
Local ingredients are certainly all the rage these days, but the best chefs don't just use local ingredients, they use them intelligently. If you think the whole farm-to-table trend is played out, you're right. That said, visiting Asador might just remind you why the trend began in the first place ... More >>
Even though they spend the other 364 days of the year cooking for other people, chefs love Thanksgiving. Whether it's because they're craving something much simpler than the fancy dishes cooked in their kitchens or they just really, really love cranberry sauce, many of Dallas' best chefs are plannin ... More >>
Craft cocktails are like foie gras or caviar in that they inevitably make us feel fancier than we actually are. Every time you order that top-shelf gin or that herb-infused vodka, you're essentially making a statement that you, unlike the plebes who swill well spirits and cheap beer, actually know w ... More >>
Somewhere over on the east side of the airport, on an unassuming street corner, lies the tiniest hole in the wall barbecue restaurant I've ever seen. The front of the house is just a waiting room with two chairs, a window for orders, and for some reason a guitar, fully set up ready to go with an amp ... More >>
With a nationally recognized reputation as the creator of "New Texas" cuisine, 30-plus years of experience honing his craft and numerous awards to his name, Chef Stephen Pyles isn't hurting for credentials. Still, he continues to impress, particularly with the reimagined South American flavors showc ... More >>
All week, we're bringing you stories from Dallas' burgeoning roasting community. See other extended interviews in our coffee archive, or see them all in one place in this week's feature story, "Roasting Dallas." Every Saturday, Kevin and Mara Sprague get up before the sun and set up their tent, tab ... More >>
For this special edition of the food calendar, we present to you a meticulously curated collection of restaurants. Because let's face it, your family isn't going to love you anymore if you spend 16 hours doing meal prep. (Also, you just don't have the upper body strength required to stuff that duck ... More >>
Restaurant names may range from the practical (Norma's Cafe) to the vaguely pretentious (Spoon, Knife, any other utensil restaurant) to annoyingly alliterative (Scotch and Sausage), but they're usually pretty good at indicating whether or not an establishment is, in fact, a place where people can bu ... More >>
All week, we're bringing you stories from Dallas' burgeoning roasting community. See other extended interviews in our coffee archive, or see them all in one place in this week's feature story, "Roasting Dallas." Clay Eiland talks about his roaster with the beaming face of a dad describing his four- ... More >>
Like craft beer and chef-driven restaurants before it, specialty coffee is having its moment, finally, in Dallas: Davis Street Espresso, in Oak Cliff, has found that a lack of Wi-Fi and to-go cups has not meant a lack of customers. Ascension, in the Design District, hums all day, despite limited par ... More >>
All week, we're bringing you stories from Dallas' burgeoning roasting community. See other entries from the series in our coffee archive. A few years back, after years spent behind coffee bars, Gerald LaRue decided it was time to delve deeper into the business of coffee. He ended up in Juno, Alaska ... More >>
There are many steakhouses in Dallas -- places where you can order a thick cut of beef with potatoes gratin and spinach as a side, and places that serve plenty of overpriced bottles of red wine. You can treat yourself to a cold shrimp cocktail or freshly shucked oysters to start at scores of steakho ... More >>
All week, we're bringing you stories from Dallas' burgeoning roasting community. Monday we introduced you to the guy behind Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters, and yesterday the guys behind Tweed. Jonathan Meadows was 18 when he started working at White Rock Coffee and fell in love with coffee culture. "A b ... More >>
It used to be that you could only find "good food," the fancy kind made with quality ingredients, in restaurants that required both a jacket and half the average person's weekly salary for dinner. Now, though, times are different. Fine dining restaurants are struggling to adapt to diners who are dem ... More >>
If you haven't made it to Deep Ellum in the last year, you may not realize that it's currently undergoing a massive facelift. Segments of the streets and sidewalks are missing, all in the name of renovating the old neighborhood with a uniquely grungy reputation. Now, it looks as if that process coul ... More >>
Shows what I know. Of all of the Mico Rodriguez restaurants, Mesero Miguel, on Henderson Avenue, was my favorite. But apparently the restaurant is in trouble. See also: Mico Rodriguez and His Growing Tex-Mex Empire Are Putting Mi Cocina to Shame The sign has been taken down for a rebranding effor ... More >>
Shannon Neffendorf's entry into coffee roasting came out of selfish necessity. His job with Blockbuster (remember that) required work trips to Milan several times a year, and he soon found himself meeting with friends for cappuccino in the morning and taking a break for an espresso in the afternoon. ... More >>
The saga is finally over. After the owners of Proof Pantry refused to allow The Dallas Morning News' food critic to pay for a meal that she was planning on reviewing, Leslie Brenner has finally published her thoughts on the One Arts Plaza restaurant and dropped a cute little bombshell in the proce ... More >>
I'm sure you've had that experience: You're looking at someone's face and thinking, "I know I've seen this guy before," but his name eludes you. I just had the same thing happen to me while I was looking at the logo for a restaurant. An Old Chicago is moving into Mockingbird Station, and while I was ... More >>
When David Uygur isn't hand-crafting pasta, making desserts out of pork's blood, and generally dazzling the palates of Dallas diners, the man has to eat. The chef behind Lucia doesn't make it out much thanks to his busy restaurant, but not even a chef can survive on staff family meals and kitchen sc ... More >>
Could David Anthony Temple's long awaited Twenty Seven finally be coming to fruition? The rogue chef says he's aiming to open his first restaurant at the start of next year in Deep Ellum. Temple gained popularity years ago as one of the first chefs to shore up Dallas' rather anemic underground dini ... More >>
Italian food isn't exactly something Dallas is known for, yet the city's most-lauded restaurant is a tiny Italian spot in Bishop Arts. People are still clamoring, four years later, for a coveted reservation at Lucia, the brainchild of chef David Uygur and his wife, Jennifer. The reserved Uygur has e ... More >>
When Jon Alexis took over TJ's Seafood in 2009, the fish counter was still just a guppy of an enterprise. Sure, it had more than 20 years of fish peddling under its gills, but at that point it was still a small shop tucked into a North Dallas strip mall. Alexis' parents had run the business for 10 y ... More >>
Veteran's Day is one of those holidays that doesn't get as much fanfare as the ones where you get presents or chocolate. Whatever your feelings on United States foreign policy, the men and women in the United States Armed Forces give up a lot, and this holiday is meant to honor those sacrifices. For ... More >>
The Blind Butcher probably isn't the first place you think of when you're craving something sweet. They're a self-proclaimed "Beer Meat" Mecca, and they've rightfully earned a spot on Scott Reitz's list of "100 favorite dishes" with their pastrami egg rolls. Yet, this is where I found myself on a ... More >>
We get it! David Uygur, Teiichi Sakurai, Matt McCallister and other highly lauded chefs are worthy of infinite praise. They've opened restaurants that have defined the Dallas dining scene and offer cooking that demonstrates unparalleled refinement. They were also the chefs we celebrated last year, a ... More >>
In theory, Thanksgiving is the time of the year when you get together with your family to be grateful, watch football, and eat yourself into a coma. Unfortunately, though, this holiday often ends up being more about listening to your racist Aunt Edna rant about ebola and Obama, and worse, eating Gra ... More >>
Even for restaurateurs, Josh Yingling and Matt Tobin are incredibly busy. When they're not running their successful restaurants and plotting new ones, they can't just survive on artisanal sausages and brisket-topped burgers alone. Despite their insane schedules, they still manage to make it out for ... More >>
Last week, Goodfriend Beergarden and Burger House announced a new menu was in place. Owners Matt Tobin and Josh Yingling worked with chef Eric Salome, who used to work at the Omni Hotel, to develop new menu items that include a number of new burgers, a changing seasonal salad and a cheese board. Oth ... More >>
Specials typically have a less-than-savory connotation within the restaurant industry. If a chef orders too much meat for Friday and Saturday night dinner services, he might throw what's left in the grinder the next morning, creating the makings for a meatball special for Sunday brunch. Day-old fi ... More >>
The past three years have been kind to Josh Yingling and Matt Tobin. After opening Goodfriend Burger House in East Dallas to rave reviews and a dedicated neighborhood following, the duo struck gold a second time with Greenville Avenue gastropub The Blind Butcher. Whether it's the unlikely ascent of ... More >>
In a week or so, you'll be able to order a pig's foot that's been stuffed with ground pork parts at the Meddlesome Moth. Trotters, as they're called, can be found on a few menus across the country, but they're hardly commonplace, especially in Dallas. Chef Robbie Lewis says he was inspired by his ... More >>
Usually, when you have a good formula, you don't fuck with it. The pizza at Zoli's is widely considered by food-eaters in Dallas among the city's best (and is considered by our critic as the best), so it was surprising to some when the New York-style pizzeria made some sweeping changes to its menu, ... More >>
The greatest thing about sandwiches, beyond their hand-held portability and general deliciousness, is the infinite variety of sizes, shapes and flavors they come in. There are wraps, deli sandwiches, heros, paninis and more, and they come filled with just about anything you could otherwise consider ... More >>
Last week, Leslie Brenner, the restaurant critic for The Dallas Morning News, officially gave anonymity the middle finger, publishing an interactive feature on the News' web site complete with portraits and video. In the story and video, Brenner announces that after years of masticating dry-aged ste ... More >>
Greenville Avenue continues to add restaurants after the city widened sidewalks, added parking and generally increased the number of potential customers walking around the neighborhood. The latest to open, Clark Food and Wine, began serving customers last Thursday. See also: Bohemian Cafe, the New ... More >>
If you needed any other reason to believe that the time for Dallas' varied and unique dining scene is finally starting to have the day in the sun it so deserves, turn on your television. Many of the city's best chefs, including Roe DiLeo, Patrick Stark, and (of course) John Tesar, are trying their h ... More >>