For a restaurant that opened over a decade ago, Nonna still feels like a secret. It hovers on the edges of the spotlight, watching as newer openings and other Dallas favorites steal our attention. Its website hails from an era of the internet when people thought it was a good…
We’re just a couple of weeks away from Iron Fork, the annual Dallas Observer food event that brings together some of Dallas’ best restaurants for a night of food and drink sampling coupled with a live cooking competition. From 7-10 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, Centennial Hall at Fair Park will…
There are four items on the menu at Sky Rocket Burger: A single, double, and triple cheeseburger and a grilled cheese. On Scott and Tio Wagner’s 4-foot griddle, there’s little room for anything else. The restaurant’s walls are have little more than a coat of white paint: Photos of their…
It’s always brunch time at Edith’s French Bistro. That’s all you need to know, right? Edith’s opened last summer in the former Rockfish Seafood Grill space in Mockingbird Station. Edith Ferreyro got her start running an at-home bakery. Trained by a French master pastry chef, she became known for her…
At the risk of stirring up bitter memories of the last time the Observer wrote about a chain restaurant serving Mexican-inspired food (for the record, the editor of the Observer is a regular at El Fenix), allow us to tell you about La Nueva de Zacetecas. It’s a chain of…
The plain exterior of the family-owned Candelaria’s Bakery on Gus Thomasson Road in Mesquite doesn’t let on to the magic that happens inside. Even walking into the shop, nestled between an elementary school and an event center, all you’ll find is a modest glass case on the right filled with a handful of sweet…
The bunny is coming! Jesus is risen! Find the eggs! Easter can be so confusing. What isn’t in question: It’s time to hurry and plan that obligatory spring family meal that probably also incorporates copious amounts of ham because it’s not a Passover seder. Whether one celebrates Jesus’ rising or…
Jimmy Niwa turns the knob, and the grill in the center of the table roars to life. Fire licks below the iron grate. A steaming bowl is walked to the table, and Niwa lights up. Buta kakuni, a stew of pork belly that’s been tenderized in rich, sweet-salty soy ginger,…
As fans of bourbon and barbecue, we like the premise of Barrel & Bones, the new smokehouse and cocktail spot in The Colony. We first spied the restaurant last year when we were checking out The Shacks at Austin Ranch across the street. The food and drink photography on B&B’s…
Host a straw poll that asks what go-to spot Dallas chefs hit for cheeseburgers in the area, and you are likely to hear Off-Site Kitchen as a quick response. At least a handful of chefs in the past year have conveyed this choice in interviews. It makes sense from the standpoint…
Nearly 2,000 people made it out in one of the first warmer days of the year for Between the Buns, a Dallas Observer event that had attendees tasting and voting for their favorite sliders from local restaurants. Chef John Tesar was on the griddle for Knife’s pimento cheese burgers, and…
Before Anita and Octavio Avila opened their restaurant, there was the bungalow at 4714 Maple Ave. The front of the house was devoted to Anita’s beauty shop, which she ran until 1982. On Sunday mornings, three blocks away from the storefront, granddaughter Katherine Avila and the rest of the family…
With developments like Legacy West in Plano and The Star in Frisco, there’s a lot happening north of Dallas proper these days. If you’re looking to try someplace new north of the Wall (aka Interstate 635), here are a few restaurants to check out. Union Bear Brewing 5880 State Highway…
There’s a never-ending breeze at the Cold Beer Co. It rolls in through the open bar, lifting menus out of their holders and skating potato chips around on their metal trays. The bar feels open and doorless, like any Dallasite could saunter in the dining room from any point in…
“Did you hate this?” the server asked, picking up the glass containing an alleged bloody mary. It’s not exactly the ringing endorsement you’d like to hear from restaurant staff. You’d think when a place opens for Sunday brunch, it would have a bloody mary on the menu. You wouldn’t expect…
Recent food news has made much fanfare of the opening of Michelin-awarded chef Jose Andres’ new restaurant, Zaytinya, in Frisco’s The Star. Opening a little more quietly in early March was a fine-dining neighbor that comes from the same Turkish hospitality group, called “d.ream.” Italian concept Da Mario and Zaytinya…
Checking out the local flora is great and all, but don’t you find the great outdoors is made even better by a glass of nice wine and a snack in hand? Join the Dallas Arboretum for its annual food and wine festival, hosted in conjunction with the Dallas Blooms festival…
Sisters Annette Baker and Marianne Lacko opened Nature’s Plate in 2011 as a small, part-time venture. Now, it’s a plant-based kitchen that offers grab-and-go food and weekly meal plans with one storefront in Lake Highlands and another opening at Preston and Forest in a couple of months. Vegans for nearly…
Shell Shack, the flagship Uptown seafood joint that opened in 2013, later spawning five other locations, is moving to Henderson Avenue, according to a press release. The restaurant is taking over the space formerly occupied by the short-lived Mellow Mushroom, “which means more interior seating, a patio and a bigger…
The Pharmacy in Deep Ellum, which opened last summer, abruptly closed this week “amid a name dispute from the State of Texas,” according to a press release. The new concept, Select Start, is slated to open in the Pharmacy’s space within the week. Via the release: “The Pharmacy Deep Ellum,…
What is it that makes Tei-An such a satisfying restaurant? The little things. This is a place where every tiny detail deepens your gratification, adds to your respect. Tei-An is a restaurant where you can see that an owner and staff have thought carefully about every last moment. The wooden…
Nothing against IHOP or Denny’s, but sometimes when you go out for breakfast, you just want a plate of bacon and eggs that taste and feel like a labor of love. That’s exactly what you’ll get at Eddie’s Diner, which opened in Plano one month ago. This cozy diner on…
