Jump to content

DFWTexEx

Legacy Members
  • Posts

    438
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by DFWTexEx

  1. It's been Central Market for me, with the occasional stop at Rudolph's.

    But Cooper Meat Market just opened in Sylvan 30.  The son of the family who opened Coopers in San Antonio 20 years ago lives in Oak Cliff, so he opened this one.

     If it works out, there will be one less reason for me to ever go north of the Trinity.  I bought some choice filets there a couple of weeks ago.  They were on the expensive side, but in the ballpark.  They were butchered to order and all eight were nice (nothing to tie up or anything).  The cooked up well and everyone was pleased.  But, the prices for prime and Akauushi (whatever the hell that is) are pretty crazy.   The whole operation is nicely set up.  They have a chef that has worked at steakhouses to grill up the meat for you if you want to eat there (very simple, not fancy set up so it's not a real steakhouse experience).  Lots of sides and pre-made food for parties available too.   I hope they can generate enough traffic or get restaurant sales to they stick around.  Good addition to the North Oak Cliff scene.

  2. What part of the county?  Sound like you are not in Sonoma itself.  Western Sonoma County will be most welcoming to rednecks.  Guerneville was very NASCARy last time we were there (which was surprising because the time before that, in the early 2000's it was gay and fabulous).  Just get on the river.  You'll have a good time.  Jealous.

  3. 42 minutes ago, bularry1 said:

    you and your neighbors all just had some perfectly stored '75's sitting around?  Or did you provide the wine?  how acquired?

     

    sorry to pepper with questions, just really curious.

    A neighbor bought the cellar of a friend who became ill.  The collection had, from what I understand, a remarkable library of California wines and was perfectly stored.  He generously donated the ‘75s to a neighborhood silent auction.  Two other neighbors bought the wine  at the auction and invited the donor to dinner.  They also invited me and I brought the steaks and some other food.  Apparently, there is much more old wine left and he intends to share it.

  4. Fun night with neighbors over the weekend tasting 1975 California cabs.  All were in great shape and easy to drink.  The fruit tasted nice and soft.  The lack of tannins took away some body, but they could still stand up to the food, including the filet.  The Chappellet and the Christian Brothers were certainly the best (for me).

    2h5lifa.jpg

    • Like 1
  5. 18 hours ago, HiggyBaby said:

    Also is Wingfields still slinging burgers? Haven’t been in years.

    Yes, they are still going strong.  Still, in my opinion, the best home-style burger in town.  Pretty sure, it's the biggest too.  I haven't been in about a year, but even then the parking and traffic around it is pretty crazy.  Still takeout only.  The fries suck.  Don't even bother.  Just the greasy burger.  It's all you need.  It may be all that you will ever need.

  6. On 5/1/2018 at 8:54 PM, Skipper said:

    Anyone done Bazaar Meat in the SLS?  Currently have that booked for a client dinner next week.  Could be persuaded to drop it but looking for someplace nobody in the group has tried which eliminates most of the steakhouses and Italian (although Scarpetta is an option).

    Yeah.  The restaurant is nice with terrific service.  The food is exceptional, definitely a steakhouse with a twist.  The apps and sides are, as you might expect for Andres, very creative and quirky.    The steaks are cooked over a wood fire, which you see as you come in.  This is nice, but it can take a long time to get a steak, especially if you order a big one to share.  So, have some drinks with the fun starters.  Also, you may leave smelling a little bit of smoke.    BUT the SLS is just a sad place, or at least it was the night we went.  It looks unfinished and empty.  The Bazaar Meat folks are really happy to see you and they treat you really well.  But, walking through that casino brings the night down.  It just got sold and the new owners say they are pumping another $100 mil into it to liven it up.  We'll see.  I don't think it will work until that entire North area of the strip gets going.

    If you want the big meat experience in a more refined atmosphere (and a lot more of a traditional menu), go to CarneVino.

  7.  

    Quote

    Well...this list sucks:

    .

    Quote

    I just don't get it.  Papas is OK, but geesh.

    Agree on both counts.  Pappas is ok, but there is some seasoning on the steak that doesn't sit well with me and driving to a quasi-suburban parking lot in a part of town that did not make it, is just not fun for me.  That said, the onion rings are crazy good.  

    I am not sure what to say about Knife. I thought it was just barely good.  My foodie friends all hated it.  The atmosphere is weird and seems all over the place.  The overhyped bacon sampling is just not good at all.  But, the press really loves this place.  As I have often said, no one sells himself better than Tesar.

    Town Hearth was also ok. We went really on in the run, maybe its second week.  The steak was fine, but nothing special.  The soggy french fries were unforgivable.  The price did not seem right for the overall experience.

    Happy to see CBD there.  It's not really a traditional steakhouse, but I had a steak there for my last birthday.  It was perfect, as were the sides and the service.

    On the other hand, SER is just plain terrible.  I can't imagine why it would be on this list.  The steak was bad.  The sides were average at best.  The service was awkward and bad.  I have been back for just drinks and apps and everything sucked.  Even the shared signature dessert.  It exists only to steal money from convention attendees.

    I'm still an Al Biernet's guy or maybe Bob's. I haven't been N&S in a long time, but, just like the writer said, it's a place you go for the whole experience and it's fun (or at least it was).

    • Like 1
  8. A film is being made of your life.  You get to pick the music.  Assuming you don’t just get the music of your favorite band(s), who do you get to write the score or put together the soundtrack (living, dead, old, young, etc.)?

    ·       Williams (Star Wars, Jaws, ET, Close Encounters, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter…..)

    ·       Newman (Toy Story, The Natural, Ragtime, Cars, Monsters, Inc.)

    ·       Bernstein (West Side Story, classical stuff, Broadway)

    ·       Mancini (Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Pink Panther. Peter Gunn)

    ·       Barry (Dances with Wolves, Bond films)

    ·       Jarre (Doctor Zhivago, Dead Poets, Lawrence of Arabia)

    ·       Vangelis (Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner)

    ·       Zimmer (Lion King, Gladiator, Thin Red Line, Dark Knight, Inception)

    ·       Horner (Titanic, Wrath of Khan, Aliens, Braveheart)

    ·       Tarrantino

    ·       Herrman (Psycho, Taxi Driver, Citizen Kane)

    I’m sure y’all will think of others.

    For me:  Morricone.  Easy choice.  He was great at adventure, romance, sweeping "big moments",  and simple beautiful moments.  I could listen to the music from Cinema Paradiso and the Mission every day.  The Good, the Bad, the Ugly is still amazing.

  9. We just got back from 6 nights down there.  The weather was as perfect as could be.  I can't add too much to this thread because this is our "chill" vacation, with as little planned activity as possible.  But, I do recommend The Office (pretty much the perfect fun, party restaurant on the beach), Restaurant Maria Jimenez (charming, wonderfully prepared traditional Mexican food and great service) and drinks/dancing at No-name bar on the marina.  Lots of pretty things to look at for you guys that are into that sorta thing.

    We did 3 nights at a house rented with friends up the hill in Pedregal and 3 nights at Secrets Puerto Los Cabos (AI with no kids).  Pretty good combination.  In Cabo we did the nightlife, heard all the music and the party scene.  Secrets is absolutely secluded.  Played volleyball and all that, but we didn't leave the resort. It was magnificent.

     

     

  10. Is there any guidance on how often you can apply for bonuses?  I am sure it varies by card, but are there any tips?  For instance, we upgraded to the Chase Sapphire in 2016 for the rewards bonus.  It worked great.  I did the same for the business Ink in 2017.  We also got a couple of Aadvantage Barclays cards last year.  We have closed all the accounts but the Sapphires.   When can we make another run?

  11. I have Purepecha on my list and plan on taking out of town guests there in August. I am looking forward to your report.

    We did Frank Underground a while back.  I posted about it on the old board.  It was a fun night, but overpriced for the food.  And I don't know how they get away with the "we are not a restaurant and, therefore, not subject to any sort of law or city code that regulates or addresses physical safety, food safety, sales tax, alcohol sales or restaurants generally".

    Zen Sushi in Bishop Arts is a fine, local sushi place.  Our go to.  The chef, Michele Carpenter (D mag profile: Sushi Chef Carpenter) does an omakase with a few days' notice.  It's not actually backroom. It's a special booth section of the sushi bar.  We did it once.  It was extraordinary.  She had a fish flown in that day from Japan for us.  She used Japanese and French techniques to create a 10+ course meal that blew us away.  It's not secret, but looking at the restaurant, you would not think that such a thing happens there and you have to plan in advance.  It's for 4 people.

     

     

  12. 17 minutes ago, Pasken said:

    You get what you pay for. People have known that about Allegiant for years. I remember a report coming out about their pilots responding in a survey that they don't allow their families to travel with them out of concern for their safety. Sad thing is they have expanded significantly since moving to the South Terminal in Austin.

    The negative press will not affect Allegiant or Sun Country at all.  People that fly those airlines choose only the lowest fare available without regard to anything else.  In the case of Allegiant, a lot of their flights are charted casino junkets where there is no alternative to the free flight.  

    With respect to the SW flight today, I believe the woman who was partially sucked out is critically injured at least.  One guy a few rows behind her said that they tried to revive her through CPR but couldn't.  There was blood everywhere.  (Reported to D Magazine).  The whole thing sounds really bad.

  13. Boulevardiere Oyster and Champagne Happy Hour (half off glasses of wine and Champagne) on Wednesday.  Oyster happy hour with all bottles of wine half off on Friday - smoking deal on the wine!

  14. Doesn't seem like the meta thread from the old board made it.

    Here is pretty good summary of what's happening at Dallas City Hall. Schutze as usual nails it.

    "Progressives"(?) Question Insider Airport Deal

    Quote

    So here we have two so-called progressives doing two things. First of all, they are calling for transparent businesslike practices. In the second place, they are fighting to defend southern Dallas from being sold out to inside players, arguing that Executive Airport is on the verge of being attractive to private capital. Nothing could be worse for the airport or the surrounding area than giving away airport land in a junk sale

     

  15. 17 hours ago, Landomatic said:

    Funny...I used to agree with you.  When I lived at my last house, the pizza hut was garbage.  Slow, sloppy, usually cold, order wrong with sparse ingredients.  Not sure what the deal is now, but my new house has an incredible pizza hut.  I mean, shit shows up in 20 mins piping hot loaded with ingredients mostly delivered by what look to be some nice young college kids.  I don't know if its the one that services their CEO so they've got their shit together or if it's run by a bunch of SMU kids who have some pride and have their shit together or what.  But I'll easily put it up against all the other chains you mentioned.

    My experience exactly.  The Pizza Hut product I am getting now is far superior to the crap they used to put out and also far better than Papa Johns, Domino's, etc.  With the app, you can customize (light sauce, type of crust, etc., extra this or that).   And our store is just South of Davis on Oak Cliff.  Pretty sure this is not the CEO's store.  To be clear, we would rather walk to Nova for pizza or get to Eno's or Cibo, but for the 1-2 x year we want cheap delivery, it's Pizza Hut.  Pizza Hut talk has to go away.

  16. 2 minutes ago, C-Man said:

     

    5 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

    Pizza Hut?  Really?  You had me right up until then.

    LOL.  I figured as much.  Belongs on the thread about embarrassing things you can admit.  It just does the job for something cheap.  Like the taco bell bean burrito, which I also like but which I won't confuse with an El Trompo taco.

     

     

  17. 1 hour ago, Landomatic said:

    Delivery...how does it work?

    I'm fucking with you, but seriously I think probably 9.5 times out of 10, if I'm doing pizza, I'm doing delivery.  Favor, Uber Eats, etc have made it possible to enjoy the best pizzas on the comfort of my couch.

    We use Uber Eats / Caviar and all that, but not for pizza.  It's just not worth it with places close by.  Pizza is best right out of the oven (or cold the next day!).  I can't imagine having a pizza driven to my from across the river.  To be honest, on the rare occasion when we have pizza delivered, it's Pizza Hut (hand tossed crust, premium tomato sauce, mushrooms).  It's perfectly fine.  When we want to step up, we go get it..walking normally unless its Cibo.

  18. This may belong on the "unpopular opinions" thread but pizza to me is local.  I won't drive around town for pizza.  I did that once for Cane Rosso.  It was damn good pizza, but not so incrementally better than what I can get within a mile from my house to make it worth it.   The other exception is a destination.  We will get pizza at Olivella's in Victory when we are going to a game and it's also damn good.

    So, for me, it's Cibo Divo (real Italian guy making it, brick oven, perfect crust, simple, fresh ingredients, nice patio bar, other food is great too, especially the 44 Farms steaks that are cut to order and Daniele's pastas), Nova (walking distance, perfect neighborhood bar, excellent pizzas, especially the Jimmy's three meat pie, but the simple tomato pie with the balsamic drizzle is a favorite) and Enos (different because the crust is cracker thin, but the toppings are fresh and remarkably good...because the crust is so thin, I can eat more!)

     

     

  19. I went to Marfa and the area back at the end of '15.  There was a similar thread on the old board with many of the same recommendations. All of this is very helpful.

    The most helpful tip, though, was to always have drinks and snacks in your car and at your place.   The restaurants out there seem to think their business hours are only suggestions and many are closed for random reasons.  We bought some cheese and crackers and other snacks at the grocery store when we got there.  Despite trying to eat well (we did get to Cochineal, Jett's, M Burrito, etc.) we ended up having to eat the Dairy Queen (only think in town that was open in the middle of the afternoon when we got back from Dom Rock) and also had a fun meal with friends at our VRBO after we got back from the observatory (nothing else was open) of Cheetos, canned mushroom soup that was left in the house, cheese, crackers and the kick ass wine that we had brought with us!  That was a memorable meal.

    Also, Food Shark is way overrated.

  20. On 4/9/2018 at 8:03 PM, Hundystick said:

    Funky Gourmet:  http://www.funkygourmet.com/en

    Also, a nice breakfast and/or place for drinks with a view is rooftop at the Grand Bretagne hotel: http://www.gbroofgarden.gr/en/

     

    We were staying at the Grand Bretagne and had dinner at the rooftop restaurant.  For a nice and expensive meal, it was quite disappointing.   But, as Hundystick said, for drinks or a fancy breakfast, it was spectacular.

  21. Haven't done Secrets on that side of Mexico, but the Secrets in Cabo has been great.  NO KIDS.   Fairly high end booze.  Good enough food and nice, high-end resort feel (dress codes in restaurants...the women dress up).  Did I say that there are no kids?  I know there are super luxury places to stay, but the no kids thing on this sort of vacation is important.  Not a usual fan of AI, but I have enjoyed Secrets.  Despite the name and the weird marketing campaign, it's not swingers spot.   There are normal couples, groups and a fair number of singles of all ages.  The main pool can be a good party scene, but the rest of the place is pretty elegant.  I am sure the formula for the Cancun area locations is the same.  The Marona Beach location has been recommended to me.

×
×
  • Create New...