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Mini-Review: Texas de Brazil Express in Dallas

Bacon-wrapped organic chicken sandwich on ciabatta.

I just dropped into the newish Texas de Brazil Express in Preston Center and picked up a couple of sandwiches. It’s a create-your-own sandwich, salad, or rice bowl concept. I guess you could call it a mini-churrascaria: There are skewers of beef, chicken, lamb, pork, Brazilian sausage, and picanha (sirloin) sizzling over an open flame in the middle of the self-service line.

If you love Texas de Brazil, you’ll love the mini-TdB. It’s certainly a cheaper way to enjoy the familiar meats. It took me forever to make up my mind, but dozens of regulars moved past me and recited their orders like robots.

Jump for my love. (more…)

Mini-Review: Tortas La Hechizera in Dallas

I hit Tortas La Hechizera on Maple for a late lunch (2:30 p.m.) and the place was packed. There was not an empty chair in the house so I ordered my torta poblano to go. (Note to self: wait for an open table.) By the time I got to my house, the bread was so soggy I had to eat the torta with a fork-a. As you can see from the picture, it’s not a pretty concoction but even cold and sodden this torta always makes me happy.

The two huge slices of Mexican bread are filled with fistfuls of sliced avocados, chopped and griddled poblano peppers and white onion, melted white cheese, crema, sliced tomatoes, and lettuce. For a little torta joint, this place offers a zillion options: too many tortas to name (Cubana is probably the most familiar to you), quesadillas (deep-fried), enchiladas mole, and tostadas. They also carry a large selection of bottled Mexican soft drinks and candies. The price of the torta poblano is $6.69 but one is enough for two people. Unless one of those people is me. I am looking down at my stomach right now and it looks like I am, once again, pregnant with a food baby.

Hot Dogs in Dallas: Costco in Plano

This will be my last hot dog report for a while—my stomach is still recovering from Sunday. After I visited Double Dip Frozen Custard in Frisco, I headed over to Costco to try their dog. I thought Costco sold Sabrett or Hebrew National in their concession stand, but when I got there I was not too surprised to find Kirkland products on the menu. (Hebrew National dogs are available in the refrigerated meats section.) Short story: the all-beef Kirkland dogs are cooked in a shallow pan of hot water and any flavor the “meat” might had ever had has been boiled away. They present a nice beef-to-steamed-bun ratio—almost an inch of  the wiener hang from each end. They are cheap: two dogs and refillable drinks were $3.25! And they offer freshly diced onions, but I’ll eat before I go again. Oh wait, I did that last time. Maybe that is why I’ve been sipping Sprite and eating Wheat Thins for two days. Moving on.

Submarine Sandwiches: Jersey Mike’s in Dallas

Yesterday I was in a mad dash and multi-tasking to the point of being dangerous on the road. On top of it all, it was 2:30 p.m. and I hadn’t eaten all day. Speeding down Spring Valley, I noticed a “Grand Opening…Jersey Mike’s” sign. “Oh goodie, good copy,” I thought as I screeched into the parking lot. And lunch.

I’ve never been much of a sub sandwich fan—to me, once you pile on all of the ingredients and douse them with oil and vinegar, they all taste the same. I’m sure some versions have better bread and others have qualities I fail to appreciate, but ordering a sub sandwich for lunch isn’t my first, or fifteen, choice.

But yesterday, I ordered one at Jersey Mike’s. The store opened had just opened the day before and was doing a brisk business. The manager was shocked when I told him I’d never heard of Jersey Mike’s. I learned that the original opened in 1956 and currently there are over 350 locations nationwide. The manager, Dalton, held up a big roasting pan full of two raw meat and said, “You don’t see this in too many sub shops.”

I didn’t want to disappoint him so I ordered the “Famous Roast Beef and Provolone Cooked on premises using only Certified Angus USDA choice top rounds.” (Pictured) I added all of the fresh ingredients and oil & vinegar. The bread had a slight crunch and didn’t crumble all over my lap. The beef was a beautiful light pink. I’m sorry, it tasted like every other submarine sandwich I’ve ever ordered. Except Potbelly. There I said it. Potbelly is better. TGIF.

SideDish TableTalk: Three Jews, Zinsky’s Deli in Dallas, Six Opinions

We hope to start an occasional feature here on SideDish in which one of us adventurous eaters endeavors to discuss a restaurant experience with either some dinner companions or a couple of Dishers who might have expertise in the area.

For the first installment of SideDish TableTalk, I knew just where to go to round up a couple of fellow Chosen People to talk about Zinsky’s Delicatessen. What follows is the transcript of that conversation (or, if you prefer, complaint fest). We all seem to like Zinsky’s very much, but that doesn’t stop myself, “The Pastrami Kid,” and “Harry” from finding something to kvetch about. Below we discuss important Deli issues such as the one-handed sandwich, kasha knishes, and bagels. You don’t have to be Jewish to appreciate this, but it helps.

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Quick Lunch Review: The Chocolate Angel In Dallas

Watch your back, Celebrity Bakery. Here comes The Chocolate Angel. Two sisters, Sherrie McCall and Marcia Clingon, have turned their wholesale fudge operation into four locations of The Chocolate Angel, a bakery, café, and tearoom.

I was shocked to open the door of the location in Preston Forest–the room was full of women. The only men in the space were behind the counter. The menu consists of soups, salads, sandwiches, a quiche of the day, and baked goods. (The Richardson location serves afternoon tea from 3:30-5:30 p.m.) The Chocolate Angel feels a lot like Celebrity Bakery except when you are stand over the cookie case waiting to order, you don’t faint from sticker shock: lemon bars are $1.00, Neiman-Marcus recipe chocolate chip cookies are 85 cents, and cupcakes are $2.75.

JC and I were jonsing for cheese and cheese we did find. She went for the four-cheese sandwich sprinkled with garlic salt and grilled between two thin slices of sourdough. We were so hungry we forgot to ask which four cheeses were melted together. (more…)

Comfort Food In Dallas: What Comforts You

I am getting a little uncomfortable with the direction comfort food is taking. Can I blame it on the Gen Y population? Sure, why not. They don’t read SideDish. Gen Y’ers are more Britney than Julia.

While the overall trend in dining today is to eat sloooowly, the Gen Y’ers I know are more content to snack quickly. What happened to the good old days of turning on The Thorn Birds (before you knew Richard Chamberlain was gay), grabbing a spoon and a half gallon of ice cream, and eating the whole thing? Once, after I got turned down for what I thought was my dream job, I went back to my apartment, made a three-layer German chocolate cake, and ate every last crumb. Did I feel better? You betcha.

What is comfort food? At home it is one thing, but now restaurants are trying to comfort us in public. Take Kent Rathbun. (beat, beat…) He has gourmet comfort food. He isn’t alone; there are lots of folks making their mortgage payments by selling upscale mac and cheese. Isn’t gourmet comfort food an oxymoron? If you agree, then WTF is healthy comfort food? A lie? You betcha.

I was curious to see if there were any distinctive differences between generations when it came to constant cravings. I didn’t have to Google far to find this little salty tidbit. Jump with me. (more…)

$5 Lunch in Dallas: El Jordan Cafe

This week’s search for a cheap lunch took me to the Bishop Arts District. I wanted to sample the empanadas at Espumoso Cafe, but they are closed on Mondays (major grrr). Luckily, just down the road was El Jordan Cafe, a place I’ve always wanted to try. It is a cheap eats mecca. Jump for the rest.

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$5 Lunch in Dallas: Antoine’s

Antoine’s has been on my list for a while now, mostly because Nancy told me they serve po’boys. Now, I had a New Orleans po’boy in my mind when we headed to Harry Hines today. I was thinking fried shrimp, maybe oyster. Definitely served warm. Antoine’s was different than that. But it was all good. Jump for it.

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Eat This Now: Soft Shell Crab Sandwich at Parigi

I love soft shell crab. When I was growing up, my family and I would spend a week in the Florida Panhandle every summer, and I’d eat soft shell crab every chance I got. Some people are turned off by the idea of eating the whole thing, shell and all. And that’s a tragedy, because they’ll never have the pleasure of eating this sammy from Parigi. The crab was cooked perfectly–well-seasoned, with just the right crunch. But the bread is what makes a good sandwich great, and that is so true here: the bun was soft and buttery, not to thick, and reminiscent of the pan de yema at La Duni. Roasted potatoes–not too many, mind you–had a punch of heat. Get this dish while you can.