In the mood for some authentic Thai cuisine, I came across Thai-Rrific. Ballsy name for a place in a super-rundown shopping center. Even ballsier name for a place that serves up shitty food. It pains me to say that, since the service was really friendly. But it also pained me…
Our server knew something was wrong at five paces. “A little too much whipped cream?” he asked with an ambiguous smirk that either indicated he thought we were fools for chancing another course after a disappointing meal or he’d grown accustomed to the kitchen’s clumsiness. In any case, he was…
You know the story. First pig builds house of straw, wolf blows it down, second pig builds his house of sticks, wolf blows it down. Smart Pig #3 builds house of bricks, and wolf huffs and puffs with all his might and can’t blow house down, so smart pig survives…
The overall vibe at the just-opened Crossroads Diner is less Bone Thugs Crossroads, more Britney Spears Crossroads. They serve breakfast all day, which is pretty Bone Thugs of them. But they offer frittatas, which errybody knows is ungangster. “But, hey!” Crossroads Diner seemed to say. “We put fuckin’ chorizo in…
Say you play the oboe. Say you’re a regular oboe master and have designs on tooting your oboe in an orchestra. Your tryout will probably involve your plopping down behind a screen, so you’re unseen as you puff through a Mozart concerto: That’s because conductors aren’t supposed to care about…
Last week, I had some underwhelming chicken at Pope’s. Since then, my fried-chicken stomach has been super pissed. After almost a week of letting FCS relentlessly hurl unkind words at me (including, but not limited to, “Jeggings are awesome!” and “Scarlett Johansson is a talented actress!”), it was time to…
I once had a job at a bridal boutique that sidelined in dresses for prom. What I learned from the girls who came to our store in search of sparkles and sequins and as little material as their principals would allow is that preparing for a high school dance is…
Elvis Tuna Tartare at Shinsei Top Chef contestant Casey Thompson may be gone from Shinsei, but thankfully Elvis is still in the house, rockin’ the fresh sushi. Recovered completely from a motorcycle accident, Shuji “Elvis” Sugawara still draws crowds with specialties like his Elvis Tuna Tartare, a sumptuously simple preparation…
Bit of a paradox, blogging about pork sausage the same week I blogged about potato latkes, but what the heck, I don’t keep kosher, and I can’t keep quiet about these pigs that need no blanket — not anymore. My Jewish guilt is somewhat assuaged by the fact that I…
I hadn’t had a very good Monday. My computer was threatening to lock me out of my e-mail, nobody was returning my calls and my dinner date canceled on me, sending my carefully crafted review schedule into a tailspin. Staggering under the weight of my 9-to-5 troubles, I wandered into…
I heard Pope’s Fried Chicken was a rundown, super-sketchy chicken place near Carroll Avenue that even some grown men are openly afraid of approaching. You had me at “Pope’s.” The guy is super angry old and he’s pretty busy being the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, but the pope…
T.S. Eliot proclaimed that April was the cruelest month, but we would argue that November has been particularly unkind to some restaurants. Top Chef fan favorite Tiffany Derry found herself without a gig after Go Fish Ocean Club shuttered its doors this month, and Sharon Hage closed York Street, long…
I steered clear of Piggie Pies for the longest time because of its location and name. Something about a place called Piggie Pies that’s in the same shopping center as a Condoms To Go made me question what it was that Piggie Pies might be serving up for lunch. And…
I wouldn’t dare claim food writers have it worse than podiatrists and divorce attorneys, who can count on strangers to show them their bunions and bore them with stories of rapscallion spouses, but the patter unfurls pretty predictably when civilians learn they’ve crossed conversational paths with someone who eats for…
It’s no dirty secret that combining two already-great foods into one juggernaut food is a staple in this country. So, what’s better than to take a fried thing and drop it on top of a breakfast thing? Not much, we’d propose. So, let’s embark on another photographic journey, shall we?…
Since it opened one week ago today, there’s hardly been a moment when the Anvil Pub’s “OPEN” sign wasn’t on that I didn’t pass by and see the place brimming ever fuller with enthusiastic patrons overjoyed to have a proper pub in Deep Ellum. Opening up on a strip of…
The Varsity Grill recently opened in the same spot that used to be Coach’s Burgers. Other than the name change, the decor looks exactly the same. Even the menu is similar. Seems to me opening a sports-themed burger restaurant in the same place that a sports-themed burger restaurant recently tanked…
When Avner Samuel, a revered titan of the Dallas dining scene, this summer dismantled Aurora—where the famed Grand Tasting menu cost about what a minimum-wage worker takes home each week—he saved its most accessible elements, stitching them into a new concept he’s calling Nosh. Samuel purposely lifted the expression from…
The pumpkin-chorizo cappuccino amuse-bouche at Pyramid is a delight, however, it’s one that you’ll be lucky to taste. That’s because it’s only one of the amuse-bouche Chef Andre Natera is playing with on his new fall/winter menu. “It’s on rotation and will be paired with a spoon amuse-bouche,” said Natera…
Guess I should have been a bit more sensitive to my surroundings. But it wasn’t until I stepped out of my car that I realized I had dressed in leather boots and a wool-blend sweater to attend a vegan cooking class called “Holiday Fixins” at the Spiral Diner & Bakery…
Texas oyster season is under way, and you might as well be greedy. The oysters emerging from the Gulf this year are plump and sweet, and they’ll probably be gone by Christmas. While the recent BP oil spill didn’t taint Texan waters, oyster eaters in Louisiana weren’t so lucky. To…
Sfuzzi (Don’t try to pronounce it sober. It’s a drunk word.) is now open at the location that used to be Split Peas Soup Cafe. (I know, you’re thinking, “You mean that didn’t last?? I can’t believe all those drunk, single teenagers and sleazy, married-but-not-wearing-the-ring dongs decided not to spend…
