Late one Friday we were seated for dinner in the central dining area of what seemed like a relatively quiet spot, Otaru Nippon Collection Japanese Restaurant and Lounge, located just off the Tollway. Coats off, drinks ordered, we settled in. Shortly after, we noticed the staff was not just tidying…
I discovered Pollo Fiesta while taking a Spring Valley detour to avoid the usual 20-car pile up on the High Five. (By the way, high five for naming this, Dude Who Named the High Five. And high five for all the wrecks it’s causing. High fuckin’ five.) Pollo Fiesta’s sign…
Just what makes a pub a “pub”? If we’re speaking of an English place, it should serve fish and chips. Most of them list a number of beers and perhaps a few interesting whiskeys. A long wooden bar says “pub,” as do library shelves, wooden beams and a decorated mirror…
Lesson I should’ve learned a long time ago: Check your order before leaving the drive-through. I never check—feels rude, like I am questioning the drive-through lady’s order-taking abilities. But after today, I’m changing my ways: From now on, I’m an A-Hole Drive-Through Order-Checking Person, just like the rest of y’all…
Earlier this week I settled in for an appetizer and a 10-ounce steak with one side. The bill, when two drinks were added on, approached $90.Worth it? Well, the steak was good. But there’s nothing rare (if you’ll pardon a really bad pun) about good steak in Dallas. I know…
Promotions and public relations people must have read somewhere that we store up the stuff they send in to give away–one day, maybe–as prizes, because the flow of non-perishable goodies dwindled to a trickle this week.The perishable stuff goes to our receptionist.So as usual, we have nothing to give to…
There are two possible reasons why India West’s dining room was so sparsely populated the evening of my final visit. One involves the presence of a Russian businessman speaking in ponderous, but voluminous tones to three young patrons of Indian descent. On the phone—which he used several times, once even…
I was all hyped up to eat lunch at ChaCha’s—which surprisingly (and disappointingly) is not a gentleman’s club, but instead was a kickass-lookin’ Mexican restaurant I’d spotted right across from Keller’s—and then I got there and the place is closed. Directly below the window paint that shouts, “Nice People!” it…
There’s Tuscany and Provence. Sushi and other dishes from Japan have circled the globe. People argue the merits of Argentine beef or Scottish salmon. But who ever says “I’d love a good Russian head cheese” or “let’s have some Irish food tonight”?Unless by that they mean Jameson’s.Closer to home, could…
OK, so I should have had this thing posted half an hour ago.But, you see, I just finished a long conversation with Jesse “Hophead” Hughey on the relative value of doing beer flights in a crowded pub. Before that I was involved in a discussion about rye whiskey. Then our…
In the absence of Michelin stars, The Mansion on Turtle Creek serves as Dallas’ culinary measuring stick. The priciest restaurants are described as “more expensive than The Mansion.” When other kitchens list tortilla soup on their menus, people ask: “Is it as good as The Mansion’s?” And when people recount…
I heard about Chicago Hot Dog from a friend who knows food, so I was pretty eager to eat lunch there the other day—so eager that I showed up at 11 a.m. on the dot, right when they’re supposed to open. Only thing was, the door was locked, and the…
A Nick Too Far?Last we we asked about chains. This time around, we were wondering about small-scale expansion. Word came recently that Nick Badovinus, chef and owner of Neighborhood Services, would soon open a second and third branch of the restaurant. Nothing wrong with this–expansion is sometimes the only way…
What can you say about a week where one commenter uses the word “yum,” another lets “yucky” slip into a post and someone else writes “to die for”? Oh, and to top it off, djs added the phrase “I like beets” to a story.Weeks like this make us want to…
A couple years ago I sat in some fancy French restaurant watching two servers wheel a polished brass cart to my table. One of them fussed about a copper chafing dish for a moment then began to splash Grand Marnier over the delicate, sugarcoated pancakes within it. Flambé presentations build…
Sure, Houston’s is better than, say, Applebee’s or Red Lobster, but it’s still a nationwide chain. And if you admit to dining at Mi Cocina or Taco Diner because of the quality of their cooking, you might also like Chili’s.So what’s going on? If we love one and hate another,…
We’re already stockpiling prizes that we probably won’t give away until the end of the year, if at all. Great prizes, too–such as 8 oz. flasks with the Dallas Observer ‘Best of’ 2006 logo (which kinda makes them collectibles and thus quite valuable). And if we can ever find someone…
It’s hard to say 2009 was a pivotal year in Dallas dining. The city did, however, tally a surprising number of new restaurants. We also saw a few venerable locations shut down.If it weren’t for the recession, this would all seem unexceptional. Establishments open and close on a regular basis,…
Some people insist a diet of fatty foods not only rounds out the waistline, it also invites a series of almost certain future ills. If they’re right, then Blaine Staniford must want to kill us—although with his arsenal of bacon, butter, cream and slabs of richly marbled red meat, ours…
Back in the spring of 2001, I sat with a group of friends in the dining room of Cuba Libra. Just about a year ago, I found myself at almost the same table, looking at a space less crowded but otherwise barely altered. Sometimes it seems nothing much has changed…
On my way to NorthPark mall (hyped for my favorite game of “Find a Good Parking Spot and Sit in It With My Car in Reverse While I Eat My Lunch and Ignore Your Honking,” which is sooooo much better during the holidays), I stopped by Taqueria La Paloma at…
From one decade to another, one year to another, one concept to another…Change is good, right? And so despite economic trials, the few announced restaurant closings in December are–in most cases–merely reworkings. That means some upscale fusion venues will become burger joints, some Greek places turn into global kitchens and…
