What Did I Eat in Dallas?

Living in a foodie city like Portland, with so many world-class restaurants, one would imagine I have every culinary wish my heart desires. While it's true that I am spoiled with great restaurants in this city, food is perhaps the only thing about Dallas I truly miss.

When I began planning my weekend in Texas, the first list I made was of restaurants. Mind you, Dallas has never been nationally famous for its food, unless you consider portion-size something of notoriety. Furthermore Texas is probably only known for its barbecue, which is not even a food I really enjoy or crave. So what could I possible want in Dallas?

The restaurants on this list are nostalgic. They are the best food memories from my teenage days. Alright, so La Madeline may not be the best French cuisine in the world, and Taco Bueno is certainly not the best Tex-Mex in the world, they are still pretty decent and possess a great deal of sentimental value to me. With so many places to choose from and only three days in Dallas, I could not eat at every one of my favorite places, so these photos reflect the very best of the best.

1. Food I wished I had but didn't:  Mint Restaurant. Great Vietnamese-Thai cusine, but I just didn't have enough time. 
2. Food I had but wished I didn't: BBQ ribs.I guess I'm not a true Texan after all. 
3. What should have been on the list: afternoon tea at the Joule! 
4. Biggest surprise: How crowded WAffle House was at 2:00am on Saturday. 
5. Most delicious meal: Sweet Georgia Brown. Almost makes me want to go back...

Taco Bueno

My favorite Tex-Mex fast food chain since birth. My top picks are always the beef quesadilla, tamale platter, and nacho salad. 

Sweet Georgia Brown

If you go to Dallas and can only eat one meal, I would tell you to eat at Sweet Georgia Brown. It's kind of a long drive from the city center, and you will probably have to wait in line, but this is as soul food as it gets. With gigantic portions, one order may end up lasting you for days anyway...

Waffle House

The 24-hour breakfast chain serving "cheese grits" (which is a paper cup of grits with a slice of partially melted American cheese on top) is a 2:00am default of mine. 

Kalachandji's

Gorgeous and delicious Indian vegetarian buffet at a Hare Krishna temple. This is my go-to place for spring and summer months, so I can sit in their outdoor patio surrounded by the beautiful garden. 

La Madeleine

A cafeteria-style French restaurant with the best Chicken Caesar salad (is that even French? who cares). 

Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse

Ribs are staple food to order when in Dallas, but ironically I never ate BBQ or ribs when I was living in Texas, but now it feel like a requisite for any tourist.

Dallas Cafe Catalog

When I was a teenager in Dallas, I never went to cafes. Coffee just wasn't my thing. Laptops weren't really a common household item back then. I didn't have a blog. I didn't write. Sadly, I spent more time in Walmart and McDonald's than cafes. But that changed when I moved to Portland, the cafe capital, and I became obsessed with coffee. On a recent journey through my nostalgic homeland, I decided to sample the emerging coffee culture in Dallas, noting that none of these places existed ten years ago when I was in high school. 

Ascension

More of a restaurant than a café. Located in an upscale area between manicured lawns and imported furniture stores. Their lavender latte was great both iced and hot, but I didn’t really get the vibe that it was ok to pull out your laptop. Too bad, because it’s open until 11:00pm and I would have liked it to be more of a chill place.

Davis Street Coffee

In a developing part of Dallas I had never been to as a teenager, Davis Street Coffee felt like a new experience. Note – they don’t do to-go cups, so you either have to purchase one of their sustainable tumblers, or have your coffee for-here. When I went on a Saturday morning it was packed with families and cyclists. The ambiance was more like a weekend brunch than a café, so not good for working, but the coffee was top-notch.

Houndstooth

My favorite café in Dallas, probably because it reminds me of Portland. I like the very modern, sleek atmosphere, plenty of people working on their laptops, and the variety of coffee and pastries was unlike anything I had seen in other cafes in Dallas. I ordered a Smores Donut, which was a donut covered in melted chocolate and graham cracker crumbles, with a homemade marshmallow on top. Amazing. I could have spent all day at Houndstooth, but unfortunately it was my last stop before the airport, so I had little time to linger.

Mudsmith

Located in the trendy but over-hyped Greenvillle area, Mudsmith is the kind of place you can only see in Dallas. There must have been a dozen deer and mouse heads mounted to the walls. It was a bit dark and had more of a bar/pub atmosphere, but I did see people on laptops and I stayed for a bit on mine as well. I ordered a cortado with honey, which was very bitter (as it’s supposed to be), but it was an interesting experience.

Oaklawn Coffee

Oaklaw Street is where some of my best memories from high school took place. I feel a strong sense of nostalgia in this neighborhood, and thus I am inclined to like almost anything here. When I was in high school, Oaklawn was a place for young people, but in the last ten years it has become gentrified and now there are many families. The café guests seemed like regulars. I was pleased with my drink and if you can find a seat (it’s a bit small) then this can be a great place to work.

Weekend Coffee

Weekend is located in the lobby of the Joule Hotel in downtown. It’s incredibly popular at almost all hours of the day, probably because downtown Dallas is so lacking in good cafes. I can definitely tell the crowd here is the office-type. Since there is no seating, except in the lobby, most people get it to-go and go back to work. The taste of the coffee was good, through the latte foams was not well defined.