DFWTexEx

That was my freshman year. It was only the beginning of a very dark time.

We try to go once a year, especially in the Texas summer when we have to pack light sweaters. Don't let the "it's overrun with gringos" talk bother you. Yes, there is an expat crowd, but SMA is still very much Mexico and Mexican and it's fantastic. It's more overrun by pinche Chilangos. Our favorites that we go back to regularly, are Atrio (prefer it to Quince for spectacular rooftop meal in the shadow of the Parroquia), the Restaurant, and Antonia. We sometimes break things up with a steak meal at Tio Lucas, especially when there is live music. Bovine was the new place we tried this last trip and it was excellent. El Pegaso is still great for straight up Mexican food. And, no trip for us is complete without a torta at Torta Mundo (milanesa de res o de pollo), a hole in the wall on Umaran down from the Jardin. A fun, guilty pleasure: the churros at the bar at Casa Sierra Nevada. The street food is cool, but you won't be disappointed by this upscale version. And, Luna at the Rosemont is good when we are there with people who are in SMA for the first time. The view is awesome and the upscale lunch is great. This looks like a good list for a bunch of newish, foody places: https://www.timeout.com/mexico-city/restaurants/best-restaurants-and-bars-in-san-miguel-de-allende For non-food, get to the Fabrica La Aurora for sure. You can spend a good bit of time there looking at and buying art and other design products.

I love pizza, but no pizza is worth a 40 minute drive. Yes, I know I am outlier on this group. The best pizza to me is the closest, good pizza. I know I am lucky. I can walk or have a short drive to really excellent pizza (Cenzo's, Nova, Eno's, Cibo) or just good enough local pizza.

Ok. So I just start start it myself but with him as beneficiary? Something like that. I don't need to involve my sister? That's easy. I can go to my advisor and set that up.

I definitely had my local blinders on, but in hindsight, I understand the few stars overall and only one in Dallas. When I think about my experiences at starred restaurants, the level is just higher. I expect that chefs/owners will have to decide how far they want to reach. For example, the biggest surprise in Dallas last night was Lucia not getting even one star, just a bib. But, it does try to be approachable in its offerings and everything is a la carte. It's just plain good. Will Chef Ugyur develop a tasting menu with more innovative offerings and more sophisticated plating or just keep doing his thing that has led Lucia to be one of the most popular restaurants and hardest reservations in Dallas? Overall, lots of interesting recognitions and room to grow. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out over the years.

Texas 45 Ark 17 WR yards: 381

Help. My sister had a later in life baby in August. She is a single mom with enough resources to support herself and the child, but not a lot extra. I am the gay uncle with no kids, so I have no idea how all this works. Can I start one of these plans for my nephew or does it have to go through the parent? Who gets any available tax break (not that it matters that much)? Where do I start?

We did the tasting menu at Rye last night. The D magazine review is spot on in that it is fun. Many of the courses were imaginative and became topics of conversation with the table next to us. It ended up a communal experience in a very good way as we all shared our thoughts on the crazy plates. But beyond the creativity, there were just too many misses. A couple of plates were quite bad. The standout was essentially a mini barbacoa taco that was amazing. It's on their a la carte menu and I would go back for just large versions of that. I won't give too much more away in case any one goes, but there was kangaroo meat involved! Service was casual but spot on. Two of the owners frequently brought the courses and had good talks with us about their philosophy. That part was great. They are invited to the Michelin event in Houston on Monday and are very excited about the possibility of a star. I understand that the invitation could just mean that they will be recommended in the guide, which is good. I don't think this is a star experience yet, but maybe they are on their way. I still put them in my "in the running" list on the Michelin thread because they will be there and maybe reviewer was blown away by the fun plates.

Monday is the day. What's your call for your city? I am going to revise my Dallas prediction a bit. 3 stars: None 2 stars: None (Lucia and Tatsu in the running) 1 star: Likely: Lucia, Tatsu, Purepecha, Georgie, and Tei-An (in the running: Petra & The Beast, Uchi, Mr. Charles, Fearings, Mot Hai Ba, Shoyu, Rye, and one barbecue place (Cattleack or Pecan Lodge) Green star: Beatrice Bib: Revolver Taco and one or two barbecue places if no star is given to barbecue

I'm from the Valley and still live there half time. Tacos are Mexico's gift to the world. And they can be great in a variety of ways. The cheap bistek/deshebrada/pastor/asada, etc tacos on the greasy little double tortillas from the cheap stand or gas station are magic. But so are the "fancy" ones with smoked mushrooms, waygu beef, duck, etc. on fresh, nixtamal tortillas. No need to argue.

Just early voting demographics. No polling. And pretty much saying that Democrats need historic turnout today. Ok.

Good Morning America pretty much calling it for Trump. I don't mean to be watching. It's just in the background.

Right. I get all the upgrade offers when I book and as I check in. And the complimentary upgrades are based on status. Seems like hotels are becoming like the airlines, as upgrades are monetized or very much based on status. The old days of dressing up to get bumped to first class are gone. But Vegas may always be Vegas. Tips rule. So the above may not apply.

Beautiful place and I feel like I should like it more than I do. Everything feels fresh and nice and definitely veg centric. I just haven’t a meal there that draws me back.

D Magazine just gave them a very nice review. Star worthy? I want to check it out. https://www.dmagazine.com/food-drink/2024/10/ryes-new-tasting-menu-is-some-of-the-most-fun-you-can-have-in-a-dallas-restaurant/

Nope. That’s my neighborhood. El Si Hay is nostalgic and fun and the elotes man is the best if you are willing to stand in line. The tacos are definitely good but are nothing special. Just because they are greasy doesn’t make them worthy of this list. Trompo (RIP) was way better.

Fuel city was so great. But it has evolved into a greasy, generic mess. No longer worth the stop. Revolver is totally legit. Check him out on Taco Chronicles. As good as the tacos are, the tasting menu he does in the back with his mom making making tortillas and his cousins serving is extraordinary - as in 2 of the best meals I have had in Dallas. I hope he gets a star. Mascaras is walking distance from my house in Oak Cliff but I have not been. From all accounts, it’s good and people like the different variety of taco styles for comparison. Mexican-American from the Valley living in Dallas, here so I know tacos.

Fuel city was so great. But it has evolved into a greasy, generic mess. No longer worth the stop. Revolver is totally legit. Check him out on Taco Chronicles. As good as the tacos are, the tasting menu he does in the back with his mom making making tortillas and his cousins serving is extraordinary - as in 2 of the best meals I have had in Dallas. I hope he gets a star. Mascaras is walking distance from my house in Oak Cliff but I have not been. From all accounts, it’s good and people like the different variety of taco styles for comparison. Mexican-American from the Valley living in Dallas, here so I know tacos. Fuel city was so great. But it has evolved into a greasy, generic mess. No longer worth the stop. Revolver is totally legit. Check him out on Taco Chronicles. As good as the tacos are, the tasting menu he does in the back with his mom making making tortillas and his cousins serving is extraordinary - as in 2 of the best meals I have had in Dallas. I hope he gets a star. Mascaras is walking distance from my house in Oak Cliff but I have not been. From all accounts, it’s good and people like the different variety of taco styles for comparison. Mexican-American from the Valley living in Dallas, here so I know tacos.

We've taken DART to the game before and it worked just fine. They add extra trains, stage them well and also have bus connectors and generally plan well. Something went terribly wrong yesterday. We didn't take the trains in and parked on MLK but had to walk across the tracks that had non-stop red lights blinking and gates down and no trains moving. Eventually they led us walk under the arms and through. Absolutely dangerous and nuts. The stadium itself was a clusterfuck. Running out of water? The bottlenecks. That's the worst I have seen it. But the improvements for next year will make a big difference with the flow of people. That won't help the fact that it is understaffed with no visible "guest services" or security to deal with shit.

For several years, we parked at James Madison HS on MLK. We came in from the South and it was easy. But I hear they have some construction going on. The Google map view shows a huge construction site but I don’t know what is happening now. Has anyone been there recently?

The condo building where we stay on Treasure Island / St. Pete beach every year was fucked by Helene. All the units are fine as they are on the high up second floor or higher, but the pool equipment, elevators, offices, mechanics, etc. were pretty much destroyed by the Helene surge. And now Milton is headed there. Sucks. Family has been going there for 40+ years.

I am a fan of San Miguel de Allende. We go every year. I’ve backpacked around Mexico and have done all that but SMA is just great for me now. My husband is a gringo city boy and he loves it too. We do a beach trip too and they are very different.

I am spending a lot of time in the Valley and this is true. When you couple it with Latinos’ hyper support of the police and military and all things patriotic, you see what’s happening. BLM was the biggest disaster for south Texas Democrats and it will take a long time to recover from that. I sense that the real MAGAS are laughing at them.

That's unfortunate. We went before a Stars game and just had drinks and appetizers at the bar. It was stellar. We intended to go back for the full restaurant experience, but maybe not. They are very proud of their own beef program, so the fact that the steaks were bad is particularly surprising.

We may need a separate thread on Michelin star guesses and then results. We went to Georgie for a special occasion last week. It's on the short list for a star now that it has been revamped from a steakhouse to a true chef driven restaurant (chef has French Laundry experience). We had the tasting menu with wine pairings. It was not cheap. But, it was very, very good. Of the 8 courses, only one was a miss. The waiter recognized that we didn't care for it and the chef sent out something else (agnolotti, which was spectacular). We had one standard wine pairing and one reserve pairing. The reserve pairing was $120 more than the standard and not really worth it. We would do the tasting menu again with a standard pairing. Service was just perfect. The room was beautiful and much livelier than I expected, with a nice bar scene (cocktails are in the $25 range, so you know). They tried to sit us at the worst table in the house, essentially at the host stand. We politely asked for another table and they accommodated us with a much nicer table. We'd like to go back. Recommend!