Hopefully, a year from now, we’ll be publishing a slideshow of the festive hullabaloo that was the State Fair of Texas. This year, the folks at the fair have wrapped up a season that succumbed to the coronavirus pandemic and pivoted with a drive-thru experience. For 15 days, fair-goers waited…
Shannon Neffendorf found his love for European coffee culture through Blockbuster. No, not through whimsical movies with stars sipping cups of coffee at street cafes in Italy, but rather through his work with the company. After graduating from Texas Tech, Neffendorf got a job working as an accountant at the…
The State Fair of Texas is looking to be a far different experience this year, but today, leaders at the fair also announced the Big Tex Choice Awards for the best fair foods is still happening. The whole competition will take place online with the first of five voting rounds…
A couple of weeks ago, we went to a random Golden Chick in Oak Cliff, sat in the drive-thru and drove away with three decent versions of Fletcher’s Original Corny Dogs. But simple food isn’t always easy to execute, and not every location has delivered solid versions of the State…
Peaberry Coffee is a family-owned coffee shop that opened January 2019 in the Kiestwood neighborhood of Oak Cliff. Owner Elijah Salazar, a teacher who grew up in Oak Cliff, lives two blocks behind the shop. Salazar taught in Dallas ISD for five years before opening Peaberry. For years, coffee was…
Some hot summer days, something simply cold won’t do it. Caffeine is needed. Serious, maybe slightly bitter caffeine. Plus sugar, because when coffee is quite bitter, it could use the sweetness. I won’t forget the first time I had, and fell in love with, Vietnamese iced coffee. Years ago, I…
The novel coronavirus may have shifted the way we work out, eat and live, but it didn’t change the need some of us have for coffee. That’s evident based on the line of cars and people at White Rock Coffee in the Hillside neighborhood of East Dallas. The Lake Highlands-based…
Working from home means plenty of changes: more time with your dog, kids and/or partner, running the dishwasher more and making sure that cup of coffee hits the perfect note in the morning. Of course, if you use the last of your beans on Saturday, you’ll wake up to a…
Whether you’re your own boss who can work where you want, you like to meet people over a small two-top with your hands around large mugs or you’re plainly addicted to caffeine, coffee shops call to many of us. Last year, we lost two great destinations in Crooked Tree and…
It would seem as though a devoted college student with a full load of intense classes would be as certain in what his future held for him as just about anyone in the undergrad phase of their life can be. Just a few years ago, Novel Coffee Roasters co-owner Kevin…
Spend a month in Vietnam, and you’ll fall in love with the people, the food and the landscape. The country will call you to return years later. At least, that’s how I feel about it. While that explains why I’m at places such as Sandwich Hag (and Mot Hai Ba…
There’s a little Baby Yoda around the internet, and he’s just so cute, Starbucks is getting involved. We caught wind of a Baby Yoda Frappuccino at the coffee chain and rock-paper-scissored to see which lucky writer would go order it. We needed proof that matcha green tea, caramel, ice and whipped…
Try some Bourbon County beers with pastries this Friday. Apparently there’s frequently a wait for these bottles and pours, and this ticketed event avoids that. Each ticket (each person must purchase separately) gets you one 2019 flight of stout, Cafe de Olla, Mon Cheri and Weatwine, two to three bottles…
Whether or not you’re ready, things are starting to look a lot like Christmas around town, rather intentionally by those who are going crazy with the decorations. I mentioned something about Christmas on Nov. 23, to which my brother told me, “There should be no Christmas decorations or music until…
The State Fair of Texas is showing some appreciation for the waste not/sustainability/be a good human movement in food. As part of the State Fair Cares initiative, the fair has asked its food and beverage vendors to donate leftover food items to local food pantries and shelters in the South…
It seems like yesterday we were just hearing, “Howdy, folks” for the first of the State Fair of Texas season, and we were just learning what the finalists were for this year’s top foods. But here we are at the last weekend. After the food is eaten, the rides are…
WHAT IF I TOLD YOU you didn’t need to go to the State Fair of Texas to devour the foods from hell. Enter the gates, passing by the monolith of Big Tex, you will encounter a wagon-red doughnut. What is it? Is it cherry-flavored? Nope. Is it from the darkest deepest…
Every year since 2005, the State Fair of Texas has awarded Big Tex Choice Awards to top new foods. For the first 12 years, they gave the title to two different new foods: the best tasting and most creative. Beginning in 2017, the state fair expanded the winners to three…
It’s the end of an era for East Dallas coffee drinkers, with sad closing news coming from Lower Greenville. Mudsmith is closing its original location Sunday, Oct. 6, after eight years at 2114 Greenville Ave. It was one of Dallas’ first independent coffee shops that served as a hub in…
There is a bountiful surprise at the State Fair of Texas this year, tucked away in a greenhouse beyond the Star of Texas Ferris wheel and carnival games. Big Tex Urban Farms is instilling urban agriculture practices to help fill in food deserts of South Dallas. A hydroponic garden is…
We’re just over a week away from the opening of the State Fair of Texas, which is nationally recognized for its battered and fried, over-the-top calorie bombs. In the spirit of the season, many Dallas-Fort Worth restaurants are following suit and serving fair-inspired cuisine. If you can’t make it to…
For all of the frenzied development near the intersection of O’Connor and Las Colinas boulevards in Irving over the last two years, one vital element has been highly conspicuous in its absence: coffee. Thankfully for the cubicle warriors and apartment dwellers who hustle and bustle inside the always buzzing Las…
