Most Dallas diners can name a favorite Lebanese spot, a go-to Indian buffet and three Persian kebab houses without thinking twice. Afghan food rarely makes the list. That’s a shame, because it’s some of the most generous, comforting cooking in the city, and right now you can find it from Lower Greenville to the Sycamore neighborhood of south Fort Worth.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
In 1978, Lower Greenville Avenue was not the place it is now. There wasn’t much business on the strip at all. That year, Pat Snuffer opened a small burger joint next to the Granada Theater with one dining room that seated 55 people. What he had in mind was simple: a fun place where SMU students could get a burger and a cold beer.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
Modern baking is not just about preparing delicious treats anymore. As consumer demands keep changing and regulations in the food industry are becoming more stringent, baked goods are expected to check many boxes nowadays: they have to be healthy and nutritious, account for dietary restrictions, have a fair price, offer a great sensory experience, look good, taste even better, and be sustainable, on top of it all.
Continue readingFiled under Crave
North Texas doesn’t do quiet weekends in late September, and this one might be the busiest of the fall. The State Fair opens Friday. There’s a German festival in McKinney, a Broadway legend at the Meyerson, a honky-tonk headliner at Billy Bob’s, a baseball team that dances between pitches and the Indigo Girls downtown on Sunday night. Here’s how to pace yourself, where to eat and a few tips that’ll save you money and aggravation.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
Austin’s MML Hospitality spent years eyeing Dallas. Now it’s here, and it has a list.
The company is run by Larry McGuire, Tom Moorman and hotelier Liz Lambert. McGuire and Moorman opened their first Austin restaurant, Lamberts, in 2006. Today MML runs more than 25 properties in Austin, including the Michelin-recommended Jeffrey’s, plus hotels in New York and New Orleans and restaurants in Houston, Aspen and California.
McGuire has laid out the Dallas plan in order. Neighborhood Sushi comes first, then June’s All Day, then Clark’s Oyster Bar, then three Swedish Hill bakeries. That’s six restaurants in under 18 months, and he has said this could be the group’s last big expansion push.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
Sam and Gabby Lopez had the résumés for a traditional path. Both trained at The Culinary Institute of America. Both put in time at The French Laundry and Bouchon Bakery. Then they left corporate kitchen jobs in Chicago in January 2022, moved to Sam’s hometown of Denton and opened a food trailer.
They called it Insurgent, and it’s finally getting walls. The husband-and-wife chefs are opening their first permanent restaurant at the Dallas Farmers Market in late October, in the space at 920 S. Harwood St. that last housed Caribbean Cabana.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
Shady’s Burgers & Brewhaha started with five neighbors, a backyard fire pit and a few beers.
That was 2012, in the Canyon Creek neighborhood of Richardson. Greg Cooney, Don Bouvier, Anthony Bolner, Dave Swiney and Steve Gumbert were sitting around Bolner’s fire pit talking about what the neighborhood was missing. What they landed on was a place with good burgers, cold beer and a patio where families could hang out on a weeknight. None of them had ever run a restaurant.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
The paddlewheel is turning again at Fair Park.
If you grew up going to the State Fair, you know the Old Mill Inn by sight. It’s the timber-and-stone building on Grand Avenue with the big water wheel out front. After the pandemic it went dark and stayed that way for years. This fair season it’s open again as a full-service restaurant and bar, and when the gates open on Friday, September 25, it will be feeding anyone who needs a break from the Midway.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
