Tag Archives: Chili

by Steven Doyle | February 1, 2013 · 3:05 pm

The Hunt For A Bowl Of Red: The Fatted Calf

by Bryan Coonrod

In our search for the perfect bowl of red, we asked contributor Bryan Coonrod to chime in on one of his favorite chili bowls in the DFW area. Bryan is one of the area’s hottest DJ’s in Dallas and has a voracious appetite.

One of my favorite suburban cities to dine in is Rockwall just east of Dallas on I-30 . You can find several of the top restaurants in the area here such as Ava, Zanata, Culpepper’s and The Fatted Calf where we end up today to try their Texas Red Chili. Chef-Owner Ted Grieb runs this establishment and delivers some awesome food time and time again, which you can tell by the full dining room we saw today. The chili here is quite the serving; a large bowl that you can call Texas-sized. Continue reading →

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Filed under Bryan Coonrod, Hunt for a Bowl of red

Tagged as Bowl of Red, Chef, Chili, Dallas, Rockwall, The Fatted Calf

by Steven Doyle | January 25, 2013 · 8:50 am

Pyles Freshens Up New Stampede 66

by Steven Doyle

Just a few months after opening his latest venture, Stephan Pyles is already tweaking Stampede 66. The homage to his hometown roots integrates cuisine from across the great state of Texas. Now Pyles is rethinking the idea of so much in one menu.

“My initial intent was to give diners a sampling of Texas foods cut from a broad cloth. In retrospect, I have come to realize the menu is perhaps too broad and tries to encompass too much. Streamlining the menu a bit will help the kitchen focus more intently on each of the items that remain,” said Pyles. Continue reading →

The Hunt For A Bowl Of Red: Tolbert’s Restaurant

by Steven Doyle

Last week we began a short series that explored chili in the DFW area. We began with Jack’s Southern Comfort Food located on lowest Greenville Avenue where we found some pretty tremendous chili. We are hoping to uncover more bowls as we continue our search. We have had many really interesting suggestions, and we plan to hit them all up to see if Dallas is really a chili town.

That being said, we loaded up the crave wagon and aimed it towards Grapevine where the legacy of chili resides. Tolbert’s Restaurant is now owned by Frank X. Tolbert’s daughter, Kathleen Tolbert Ryan who also runs the big chili festival in Terlingua, which I am mighty happy to make that pilgrimage each year in November. Continue reading →

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Filed under Chili, fun with food, Hunt for a Bowl of red, Steven Doyle

Tagged as Chili, Dallas, Frank X. Tolbert, Grapevine, Hunt for a Bowl of red, Kathleen Ryan Tolbert, Texas, Tolbert's Restaurant

by Steven Doyle | January 18, 2013 · 2:12 pm

The Hunt For A Bowl Of Red: Jack’s Southern Comfort Food

by Steven Doyle

There was a time when Dallas was ripe with bowls of chili. I’m not talking the bean-ridden nonsense infiltrated by our neighbors to the north. I refer to the perfect bowl of red that has somehow escaped our dining landscape.

Back in the 1880’s the San Antonio chili queens dominated the Plaza, hawking their home-made chili that was often made with just meat, tomatoes and chiles, served with a side of beans and tortillas. The queens would offer chili to the soldiers and just about anyone that happened by as they kept the pots waed over a mesquite fire. In 1937 with a concern for public health, the chili queens were banned from the Plaza, and some of them took to brick and mortar restaurants. Consider these dames the early pioneers of the modern day food truck. Continue reading →

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Filed under Hunt for a Bowl of red, Steven Doyle

Tagged as Bowl of Red, Chili, Chili Queens, Dallas, Frank X. Tolbert, Greenville Avenue, Jakc's Southern Comfort Food

by Steven Doyle | November 6, 2012 · 11:15 am

Terlingua Is A Spicy Party In The Texas Desert

by Steven Doyle

It’s the right of passage for seasons; merging Summer into Fall in a spicy mélange set in a bowl of stewed meat. Chili gives us pause to celebrate, and many do as 8,000 people have qualified internationally to cook at one of two cook offs set in the desert near the Mexican border in Terlingua, Texas.

I wrote up the history of the cook off last week, detailing the highlights that produced the legendary event set in the Chihuahua desert. We just celebrated Terlingua’s 46^th cook off in grand style with near perfect weather. The final night a gale-force wind swooped in, but otherwise you couldn’t ask for better weather. Continue reading →

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Filed under Chili, tamales, Terlingua, Texas

Tagged as Chili, Cook Off, Terlingua, Texas