The Dallas Stopover
Gastronomic Adventure 4.0 morphed into two mini-gastros. The routing was the Texas Eagle from Chicago to LA and a return from LA on the Southwest Chief. As our planning continued, we realized that we owed it to ourselves to spend a few days in Dallas riding the local steel wheels and sampling the food of this great Texas City. On 4 April, I boarded the Pere Marquette in Grand Rapids and transferred to the Texas Eagle in Chicago. I made dinner reservation for two in the diner and JoeG joined the excursion in St Louis. We had a nice late supper and settled in for the overnight trip through southern Missouri and Arkansas. We arrived at Dallas Union Station about noon on Friday.
The local light rail, Dart, is conveniently located one platform over from the Amtrak trains. Vending machines dispense tickets for all four routes that Dart uses to give excellent coverage to the urban sprawl of Dallas and many of its suburbs. Also, the vending machines take credit cards so you do not have to fret with exact change. We hopped on the Orange line and rode to the Downtown Plano stop. Within a two block area there are at least ten restaurant choices, we chose Kelly's for our first sampling. The Friday afternoon lunch crowd is very upbeat and happy to be winding down another work week. We have a great time getting the cotton out of the throat and adjusting to the Dallas pace. Rather than go for one of the excellent BBQ dishes at Kelly's, we decide to go to Brix, the restaurant right next door, for something a little lighter, but not much!
At Brix we order the lime chicken nachos. The nachos are presented in a large tortilla shell, with finely shredded chicken breast with a very light lime seasoning. The chicken is resting on a bed of corn chips, melted mild white cheeses, sliced green onions, fresh tomatoes and avocados. Not a jalapeno in sight, in Texas? Go figure!! It was a very unique nacho combination and very delicious. It is getting to be late afternoon so we decide to make do with the nachos for supper and hang out in downtown Plano meeting and having a few laughs with the friendly people in this suburb.
Saturday morning we wake up hungry. The hands down first choice (a recommendation from years ago by one of JoeG's Mexican friends living there) for breakfast tacos and burritos is The El Grande Burrito Cafe. The breakfast tacos are loaded with eggs, cheese and either mild sausage, bacon, or chorizo. Each taco and burrito is made fresh after you order it and they are wonderful both to eat and to pay for, only $1.65 per taco!! JoeG considers this the best chorizo he has even tasted and he is on a suicide mission to sample chorizo from across the country. A great hidden extra is the green chili sauce. It is served at the table in syrup pourers, it has a pretty good kick but it is bursting with flavor. We are definitely contented until lunchtime.
The Dart Green line takes us to Deep Ellum for lunch. This is a diverse, urban walking neighborhood in south downtown Dallas. This community is organically grown, not master planned. No one cares what you drive, look like, or how you dress (although cowboy boots are the preferred footwear). This area is stuffed with art galleries, music and dining with everything from burger joints to fine dining. Locals is a great $$$ choice. Pepe's and Mito's have great TexMex, Pizza at Serious or Zini's, Mama Fays for ribs. We narrow our search for a joint to these three: Twisted Root, Uncle Uber's, and the Angry Dog. We settle on the Angry Dog. It must be a good choice; the line is out the door. This place is noisy, packed with people enjoying cold beer and good sandwiches. We pass on what is self described as the best burger in Dallas and select the all beef kosher dog piled high with chili, grilled onions, and cheddar cheese, with a small mountain of fries on the side. What a great choice!! You could spend an entire week in Deep Ellum and never run out of fun but the gastro gods lure us on.
We decide dinner should be an authentic Mexican joint unique to Dallas. JoeG has eaten at, and bragged about, numerous great Mexican eateries around town but tonight we take the advice of a friend and go to Amigo's which is convenient to the Orange line. The evening starts off very upbeat with a witty, engaging waiter and an excellent queso dip. I decide on the beef brisket served on a bed of mashed potato enchiladas, you heard right, enchiladas filled with mashed potatoes. I like enchiladas and I like mashed potatoes but never dreamed the combination would be so tasty!! JoeG, on the other hand, was less than impressed with his Carne Asada. The steak was not the best cut of meat and the cheese sauce, that is normally the highlight of this dish, was broken. Needless to say, the con queso appetizer saved the day for him. We are eating al fresco, so it is easy to hear some excellent live blues music being played next door so we don't linger over dinner too long. We take up position at The Line for a nightcap and some great music. Regretfully they are on their last set and we don't get to enjoy the music too long. We move on to a nearby authentic cowboy honky tonk. This joint specializes in cold beer, two-steppin', and line dancing. Most of the folks in this joint are closer to our age than the normal 20-something scene and the band is very definitely a bunch of good old boys. A very nice wrap up to a fun filled day.
Sunday morning starts with brunch at Dodies Grill. The lure of this dive is the feature: a 25 foot long Bloody Mary bar. The waitress delivers a huge schooner filled with ice and a shot of vodka or you can enjoy the nonalcoholic bar with just a schooner of ice. Take your schooner to the bar that is set up in the first section with every imaginable spice you could think of to try in a Bloody Mary. The next section is every possible tomato juice, hot sauce, and prepared Bloody Mary mix. And the coup de grâce, the toppings! Shrimp, ham, salami, peppers, olives, hard boiled eggs, radishes, celery, and anything else you can dream up to make your drink look pretty and tasty!! Brunches tend to include a lot of snacking and good conversation and suddenly it is mid afternoon so we will take a break until dinnertime.
Sunday night is always a good time for a pizza! We go to Allen, TX for a visit to Grimaldi's. This pizza parlor should be familiar among our New York friends. The original is in Brooklyn at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. It is reported to be one of the top pies in town, reportedly a favorite of a Mayor (Giuliani) and the Chairman (Sinatra) but that report holds sway across many a restaurant that was allegedly visited. Anyway, despite the tradition, this place in Texas is outstanding. They feature a coal fired pizza oven and they are very adept at using it. We start with a house salad, luckily we only order one and it can easily feed four people. I go for the sliced meatball and jalapeno pizza. The char on the crust adds to the flavor and I enjoy every bite! JoeG orders the pepperoni, sausage, onions, olives, fresh basil, and mozzarella. There was not a bite left on either plate!!
We go to sleep contented with good memories of Dallas and a commitment to return. With places like Pappacito's Cantina and The Twisted Root still out there how can we not come back for round two? But, tomorrow we hop back on the Texas Eagle and this gastronomic adventure continues....
Gastronomic Adventure 4.0 morphed into two mini-gastros. The routing was the Texas Eagle from Chicago to LA and a return from LA on the Southwest Chief. As our planning continued, we realized that we owed it to ourselves to spend a few days in Dallas riding the local steel wheels and sampling the food of this great Texas City. On 4 April, I boarded the Pere Marquette in Grand Rapids and transferred to the Texas Eagle in Chicago. I made dinner reservation for two in the diner and JoeG joined the excursion in St Louis. We had a nice late supper and settled in for the overnight trip through southern Missouri and Arkansas. We arrived at Dallas Union Station about noon on Friday.
The local light rail, Dart, is conveniently located one platform over from the Amtrak trains. Vending machines dispense tickets for all four routes that Dart uses to give excellent coverage to the urban sprawl of Dallas and many of its suburbs. Also, the vending machines take credit cards so you do not have to fret with exact change. We hopped on the Orange line and rode to the Downtown Plano stop. Within a two block area there are at least ten restaurant choices, we chose Kelly's for our first sampling. The Friday afternoon lunch crowd is very upbeat and happy to be winding down another work week. We have a great time getting the cotton out of the throat and adjusting to the Dallas pace. Rather than go for one of the excellent BBQ dishes at Kelly's, we decide to go to Brix, the restaurant right next door, for something a little lighter, but not much!
At Brix we order the lime chicken nachos. The nachos are presented in a large tortilla shell, with finely shredded chicken breast with a very light lime seasoning. The chicken is resting on a bed of corn chips, melted mild white cheeses, sliced green onions, fresh tomatoes and avocados. Not a jalapeno in sight, in Texas? Go figure!! It was a very unique nacho combination and very delicious. It is getting to be late afternoon so we decide to make do with the nachos for supper and hang out in downtown Plano meeting and having a few laughs with the friendly people in this suburb.
Saturday morning we wake up hungry. The hands down first choice (a recommendation from years ago by one of JoeG's Mexican friends living there) for breakfast tacos and burritos is The El Grande Burrito Cafe. The breakfast tacos are loaded with eggs, cheese and either mild sausage, bacon, or chorizo. Each taco and burrito is made fresh after you order it and they are wonderful both to eat and to pay for, only $1.65 per taco!! JoeG considers this the best chorizo he has even tasted and he is on a suicide mission to sample chorizo from across the country. A great hidden extra is the green chili sauce. It is served at the table in syrup pourers, it has a pretty good kick but it is bursting with flavor. We are definitely contented until lunchtime.
The Dart Green line takes us to Deep Ellum for lunch. This is a diverse, urban walking neighborhood in south downtown Dallas. This community is organically grown, not master planned. No one cares what you drive, look like, or how you dress (although cowboy boots are the preferred footwear). This area is stuffed with art galleries, music and dining with everything from burger joints to fine dining. Locals is a great $$$ choice. Pepe's and Mito's have great TexMex, Pizza at Serious or Zini's, Mama Fays for ribs. We narrow our search for a joint to these three: Twisted Root, Uncle Uber's, and the Angry Dog. We settle on the Angry Dog. It must be a good choice; the line is out the door. This place is noisy, packed with people enjoying cold beer and good sandwiches. We pass on what is self described as the best burger in Dallas and select the all beef kosher dog piled high with chili, grilled onions, and cheddar cheese, with a small mountain of fries on the side. What a great choice!! You could spend an entire week in Deep Ellum and never run out of fun but the gastro gods lure us on.
We decide dinner should be an authentic Mexican joint unique to Dallas. JoeG has eaten at, and bragged about, numerous great Mexican eateries around town but tonight we take the advice of a friend and go to Amigo's which is convenient to the Orange line. The evening starts off very upbeat with a witty, engaging waiter and an excellent queso dip. I decide on the beef brisket served on a bed of mashed potato enchiladas, you heard right, enchiladas filled with mashed potatoes. I like enchiladas and I like mashed potatoes but never dreamed the combination would be so tasty!! JoeG, on the other hand, was less than impressed with his Carne Asada. The steak was not the best cut of meat and the cheese sauce, that is normally the highlight of this dish, was broken. Needless to say, the con queso appetizer saved the day for him. We are eating al fresco, so it is easy to hear some excellent live blues music being played next door so we don't linger over dinner too long. We take up position at The Line for a nightcap and some great music. Regretfully they are on their last set and we don't get to enjoy the music too long. We move on to a nearby authentic cowboy honky tonk. This joint specializes in cold beer, two-steppin', and line dancing. Most of the folks in this joint are closer to our age than the normal 20-something scene and the band is very definitely a bunch of good old boys. A very nice wrap up to a fun filled day.
Sunday morning starts with brunch at Dodies Grill. The lure of this dive is the feature: a 25 foot long Bloody Mary bar. The waitress delivers a huge schooner filled with ice and a shot of vodka or you can enjoy the nonalcoholic bar with just a schooner of ice. Take your schooner to the bar that is set up in the first section with every imaginable spice you could think of to try in a Bloody Mary. The next section is every possible tomato juice, hot sauce, and prepared Bloody Mary mix. And the coup de grâce, the toppings! Shrimp, ham, salami, peppers, olives, hard boiled eggs, radishes, celery, and anything else you can dream up to make your drink look pretty and tasty!! Brunches tend to include a lot of snacking and good conversation and suddenly it is mid afternoon so we will take a break until dinnertime.
Sunday night is always a good time for a pizza! We go to Allen, TX for a visit to Grimaldi's. This pizza parlor should be familiar among our New York friends. The original is in Brooklyn at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. It is reported to be one of the top pies in town, reportedly a favorite of a Mayor (Giuliani) and the Chairman (Sinatra) but that report holds sway across many a restaurant that was allegedly visited. Anyway, despite the tradition, this place in Texas is outstanding. They feature a coal fired pizza oven and they are very adept at using it. We start with a house salad, luckily we only order one and it can easily feed four people. I go for the sliced meatball and jalapeno pizza. The char on the crust adds to the flavor and I enjoy every bite! JoeG orders the pepperoni, sausage, onions, olives, fresh basil, and mozzarella. There was not a bite left on either plate!!
We go to sleep contented with good memories of Dallas and a commitment to return. With places like Pappacito's Cantina and The Twisted Root still out there how can we not come back for round two? But, tomorrow we hop back on the Texas Eagle and this gastronomic adventure continues....
If you thought Dallas had Good Tex-Mex wait till ya'll get to San Antonio on the next 2 Joes Adventure! (I'll give yall a couple of reccos when I see ya'll on #21 next Tuesday @ TAY!) Look forward to the next Episode of as the Joes Eat and Drink! :wub:
