Happy Wednesday! I’m giving away four $50 gift cards to Central Market today.
Central Market has generously donated four gift cards because it won four different categories in our Best of Big D issue. This gourmet food store earned the Readers’ Choice award in the Best Butcher, Best Cheese, Best Fish, and Best Wine categories. For those of you running out of grocery money, one of these gift card babies could definitely buy you enough wine and cheese to survive two nights or more.
Enter here. We’ll draw four lucky winners at 5 p.m. at the end of today.
Today’s Best of Big D giveaway is a pair of invitation-only tickets to Torchy’s Tacos’ grand opening party on Wednesday, August 15.
Last week I told you about the new Torchy’s location that’s opening along SMU Blvd. on August 16, and now this winning taco chain (picked by our editors for 2012′s best taco joint) is hosting a blowout bash for Torchy’s lovers. The tickets are basically a free dinner feast for you and whoever’s lucky enough to go with you.
Enter here. We’ll draw one winner at 5 p.m. at the end of today.
Lots of freebies today. On Friday, I mentioned that The Stand in Uptown is giving away 100 free hot dogs starting at 11 a.m. Now I’m happy to inform you guys that, because it’s still National Ice Cream Month, Norma’s Cafe is also serving up free Blue Bell vanilla ice cream in three oz. cups for all its guests (until supplies last).
Every day is some national food day, but here on SideDish, we only mention the most important ones, of course. National Hot Dog Day on Monday, July 23 is, quite honestly, the big bazoohley of them all because
1) hot dogs are the new hamburger, as Nancy keeps sayin’
2) The Stand in Uptown is giving away free hot dogs to the first 100 people who show up starting at 11 a.m.
Who’s going to camp out? Grab me a hot dog if you do.
Every year, July rolls around and I count the days until it’s Free Slurpee Day at 7-Eleven. No joke. My life is that pathetic. I’m telling you guys this because I know that some of you, gasp!, have never tried a Slurpee before. Please correct this offense, pronto. It’s 7-Eleven’s 85th birthday on July 11, and you should celebrate by getting a free 7.11 oz. cherry cola Slurpee. In case you still need convincing, here’s why:
You: Hey, I’m leaving work.
Boss: Why?
You: Free Slurpee Day.
Boss: Alright, I’m coming with you.
Skip the Slurpee Lite crap and go straight for the sugary stuff. That’s my plan, anyway.
1 Comment »D is hosting a fancy schmancy party with Bombay Sapphire called the World Bazaar on Tuesday, July 17 at 6 p.m. Executive Chef Tre Wilcox from Marquee Grill Village Marquee – Texas Grill & Bar is preparing international dishes and cocktails for this festive food pairing event. Do you want to go? Would you like to see Mr. Wilcox in person instead of through photographs all the time? (Update: Wilcox will be in Italy. You’ll have to cross the Atlantic to see him.) It’s your lucky day, amigos y amigas. We’re giving away five tickets (each ticket includes a guest pass) to the World Bazaar. Since it’s a bazaar, all you have to do is write a nice comment down below on the most bizarre thing you’ve ever seen in order to be in the running. (Keep it clean! And use a real email address if you want to win.) We’ll pick random winners on Wednesday, July 11, at 3 p.m. and send you an email with instructions if you’re one of the lucky five.
Continue reading "Free Giveaway: Five Tickets (With Guest Passes) to D‘s World Bazaar on July 17"
This one’s pretty straightforward. Fuel City is offering $1 tacos until midnight today to celebrate its recent partnership with Gulf Oil.
Starting at 10:30 a.m., Norma’s Cafe is being a real sweetheart on its 56th Anniversary Celebration by allowing you, the customer, to purchase one of three different entrées (the chicken fried steak, meatloaf, or chicken and dressing) for the low, low price of $1.79. Each dish is served with green beans, mashed potatoes, and a buttered roll.
Did I mention that you could get this whole plate of food for $1.79 only? No? Because it only costs $1.79. Actually, with an 8.25 sales tax rate, your total cost is $1.94 if I’m doing my eighth grade math correctly.
$1.94 for a whole chicken fried steak is a steal. It’s (almost) free food. Read this story about Krista’s encounter with a generous homeless man in Main Street Garden, and consider taking a fine fellow with nothing to eat to either of Norma’s two locations today. The deal ends at 8 p.m.
Bradford Pearson over at Oak Cliff People just alerted me to a good deal that ends before 3 p.m. today. If you follow these simple steps from Cafe Brazil’s website, you can earn yourself a free spicy chicken sandwich.
- Must purchase a drink – any drink
- You must print off this blog post and present it to your server or show it on your smartphone/iPad/laptop/etc.
- Not valid on to-go orders
- Offer valid while supplies last
This offer only applies to the Bishop Arts location, and make sure you print off the blog post that I linked in the instructions (so, obviously not this SideDish one). Have fun eating, then tell me how it compares to Chick-fil-A’s spicy chicken sandwich, will ya?
California’s Jordan Vineyard & Winery created the 4on4 Dallas Art Competition in order to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Local artists rose to the challenge of blending Jordan Wines with Dallas’ distinct city flavor, and their pieces will be judged at an art exhibition/wine tasting event on Tuesday, April 24th at RISING Gallery from 6 to 9 PM. The expert judges include Chef Kent Rathbun and our very own FrontRow arts editor Peter Simek. (D is hosting the event.)
4on4 event is free and open to the public, but you should still RSVP here.
It was bound to happen: pizza lover and baseball writer, Evan Grant, finally met pizza maker and baseball lover, Jay Jerrier. The twosome came up with a publicity stunt. (SHOCKER) They invented “Name a Pizza for Mike Napoli” contest. (If you don’t know who Napoli is, you can go back to work.) If you love the catcher-first-baseman-DH lovingly referred to as “Dirtbag,” you will love this: Today, Grant and Jerrier announced four finalists plus Grant’s unofficial “look-how-funny-I-am”entry, “The (he wishes) Grand Salami.” Hear him brag:
2 Comments »After much consideration, pizza-maker extraordinaire Jay Jerrier and pizza-eater extraordinaire Evan Grant (that’s me), have come up with four finalists for our Name a Napoli Pizza contest.Tuesday (Feb. 7 or tomorrow to most of you), we will roll out some samples of these fine entries for you to taste and, as always, the full Cane Rosso menu will be available. One of these fine recipes will end up as a special pie on the Cane Rosso menu for the next month and one of these neophyte pizza creators will walk away with a nice little prize package. Maybe we can come up with some other surprises, too. So, if you are free come on down. We’d love your input here and at the restaurant. Here are the finalists. Be there at 7PM.
It’s National Froyo Day, which means you can get FREE frozen yogurt at any Yogurtland location between the hours of 4 and 7 pm today. I’m only posting this in case there are any weirdos out there obsessed with Yogurtland’s spoons. Yogurtland is giving out special edition collector spoons and cups that would look great in my, uh, growing collection.
Continue reading "National Frozen Yogurt Day"

Nammi and The Butcher’s Son have teamed up and are serving FREE food today at FairLease, Inc., an automotive leasing company. The two food trucks have been teasing us with this special surprise for several days now and asked us to hold the information until the event starts at 11AM. But they just tweeted it so we’re posting!
Want some free food? FairLease is at 8131 LBJ Freeway, Dallas, TX 75251, near the I-635 and 75 High Five exchange. All you Texas Instruments employees, line ‘em up.
The event is part of Fairlease’s Random Acts of Fairness program. What a great spirit!
1 Comment »Raise your hand if you’ve ever tasted kulfi, the ice cream of the Indian subcontinent made with only pure cooked milk, cane sugar, and natural flavors. It’s decadent; it’s intense; it’s lower in calories, sugar, and fat than similar ice creams. Sold yet?
If you’re still unsure, swing by the Dallas Farmers Market between 10:30 and 4:30 on Sept. 11 when Dallas’ own Kaurina’s, local manufacturer of authentic Indian kulfi and exotic ice creams, will partner with the Cooking Channel’s Frozen Treat Truck tour stop to hand out free samples of Kaurina’s 80 calorie Kulfi bars.
A bit on Kaurina’s:
4 Comments »Kaurina’s started when, co-founder, Mrs. Jas Singh began making kulfi from an original family recipe for family and friends. Kaurina’s stays true to tradition by using only pure, simple and all natural ingredients, with no eggs or preservatives. Today Kaurina’s supplies their delicious Kulfis to all major ethnic Indian and South Asian grocers throughout Texas as well as Market Street in DFW, and coming soon to Central Markets.
“We were excited to taste these all-natural kulfi pops by Kaurina’s, a small company in Texas,” said Merritt Watts, senior editor at Everyday Food for marthastewart.com. “They were rich yet refreshing and had the perfect creamy texture.”
“We want to offer Kaurina’s Kulfi as a healthier alternative to traditional ice cream. With fewer calories, sugar, and fat, you can savor the flavor without the guilt,” said Aman Singh, VP of Kaurina’s. “Kulfi has been enjoyed for generations overseas, and Kaurina’s wants to introduce that tradition of enjoying authentic Kulfi to the West.”
In honor of the third anniversary of their Bishop Arts location, Cafe Brazil‘s filling bellies fo’ free. Just stop by this Wednesday (17th) between 6:30 am and 6:30 pm for a free order of chicken crepes, pasta de tigre (rowwwrrr), pumpkin pancakes, or the wine country salad. Save room for the free slice of red velvet cake or banana cheesecake. Extend your good fortune by wearing a Cafe Brazil t-shirt; do so and your drink will be on the house as well.

The Dole Fruit Truck will hand out fruit cups at Main Street garden tomorrow and Wednesday. (Image courtesy of Dole.)
Tomorrow from 11 am to 6 pm, Dole will have a truck parked Downtown at Main Street Garden Park (Main St. at Saint Paul), giving away fruit bowls to raise awareness about nutrition and domestic hunger issues.
Dole will donate one cup of DOLE All Natural Fruit in 100% juice to the North Texas Food Bank and the Tarrant Area Food Bank for every person who visits the fruit stand in person and an additional bonus cup for every Facebook “check in” on-site. Additionally, consumers can participate on Dole’s Facebook page, with the ultimate goal of sharing 250,000 cups with kids in need.
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Before we get swept away by a twister, I wanted to let you know about some additions to our weekly Brews News updates:
Sigel’s Craft Beer Festival at the Greenville location on May 18 from 6 to 8 pm. Reps from 19 craft brewers will be on hand handing out samples of 36 craft beers. While you sip, keep an eye out for special guest, Michael Lalli, brewmaster at Choc Beer Co.
Just call Sigel’s at 214-739-4012 to RSVP and reserve your Craft Beer Festival Passport. This will get you tasters of 20 of the 36 Craft brews available. As you sample each beer, the rep will stamp your passport. When you have finished tasting, have your passport validated then turn it in to be entered in a prize drawing.
Oh yeah, and it’s free.
jump for more Brews News events… Continue reading "Brews News: Free 36-Beer Tasting at Sigels, Hairy Eyeball at Meddlesome Moth"
Monday night our photographer Desiree Espada dropped by John Tesar’s inaugural dinner at The Table, the 12 8-seat tasting room next to The Commissary. The table was lined with friends including Jennifer and David Uygur (Lucia), Chef Bruno Davaillon (Mansion execuchef), Michael Flynn (Mansion sommelier), Tim Byres (Smoke), Teiichi “Teach” Sakurai (Tei-An), and The “Ubiquitous” Brad. Sarah Reiss from our staff was also invited. Here are the pictures Desiree managed to capture.
Continue reading "Photo Essay: First Service at John Tesar’s The Table in Dallas"
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