Just visited Dallas: my thoughts...

[Ultron]

Just got back from Dallas (first time to TX)....thought I'd share my experience (with a few restaurant reviews). I was down there for work, so had limited time to see all of the sites. I stayed in Richardson, which is very similar to the suburbs of Chicago....lots of restaurants, strip malls, and 6 story office buildings. Suburban. Also went to Plano and Carrelton. Typical suburbs, in a good way. Housing is ridiculously cheap there.

Dallas is a cool city...definitely easy to navigate, plenty of ample and free (!) parking, small skyline, but nicely lit at night. Got a tour of the Park's area....Highland Park is very cool (reminds me of Chicago's North Shore towns), went to Highland Park Village (beautiful mall)...ate at Patrizio...excellent short ribs and risotto. Also drove around some other neighborhoods...lots of cool condos, hip restaurants, etc. Love the use of limestone in the homes! Outside of the Katy trail, I didn't see too much foot traffic....seems like most people want to drive then walk. With the available parking, it's easy to see why.

I had lunch at Twisted Root burger....big-ass greasy burger, but tasty and fresh. Fries were way overseasoned. Went there twice.

I tried Sushi on McKinney (recommended by someone here) in the Knox/Henderson neighborhood...easy to get to off of 75, but average sushi....same with Little Katana. I think Chicago has better sushi spots.

BBQ was a bit of a letdown as well. I heard Rudys is very good, but didn't get a chance to try it. I went to Sonny Bryants in Richardson...not bad, didn't blow me away. I'm sure there are better places out there. Got mixed reviews from the locals on Spring Creek and Red Hot and Blue. Most of the locals recommended their own home-made BBQ.

Last night there I ate at Neighborhood Services on Lovers Lane (We wanted to go to Tillmans Roadhouse, but they were closed for dinner on Mondays). Small stylish place, packed with diners on a Monday night. Waiter poured about 4oz of $12/glass Malbec into our glasses. We commented on the light pours, and he said he was more generous than the bartender. That would not fly in Chicago. Service was very rushed, waiter asked us for dinner order every 5 minutes...trying to move tables obviously...annoying though. I ended up ordering ribs. The rub/sauce was good, but the ribs were full of little chunks of cartilage which was fun pulling out of my mouth. Onion rings were perfect. Food was somewhat overpriced. The kicker was seeing the $2.50 charge for bread on our bill. I would not recommend it. My friends agreed, their veal dishes were unimpressive.

All the people I met seemed very friendly, very hospitable....as far as women/hotness, I noticed far more milfs than usual, but overall the women seemed on par with downtown Chicago. Dallas was much nicer than I figured....it's an easy city to live in, with very nice dining and shopping areas. I didn't make it to the arts district, but I heard it's well done. I'll be going back next spring/summer, I'll bring my wife this time.

[jetattblue]

I've been in Dallas for the last 10 years, and I love it. That's a very nice review.

[Steeltoe]

You forgot to tour White Rock Lake. And you missed Oak Cliff, home of the Vaughns.
I lived in lower Greenville in '86/'87. Saw Lonnie Mack play there at a small club.
I remember Luby's Cafeteria and Grandys Fried Chicken...Grandys always had a granny walkin' around filling up your ice tea.
Try to buy beer in Garland on a Sunday...no such luck. Or was is all the time? Can't remember.
No bums walkin' around downtown...ever. In Los Angeles...always.

[yodude]

I've been to TX several times on business and I never liked any part of the state. Houston has to be at the bottom of cities in the country. I used to have to go to San Antonio. I never understood why the tourism is so high there. There's nothing at all. The Alamo?

[sayus]

You forgot to skip Dallas and come to Houston.

[Stratobuc]

No Mexican food? You missed one of the city's best attributes...

Garland has been dry as long as I can remember - I lived there in the 60's - 70's. and remember Dad driving to the county line to get some beer - through the drive through window.

[coreybox]

Originally Posted by Stratobuc

No Mexican food? You missed one of the city's best attributes...

Garland has been dry as long as I can remember - I lived there in the 60's - 70's. and remember Dad driving to the county line to get some beer - through the drive through window.

Garland can now sell wine and beer in grocery stores. After noon on sundays. Happened around 2 years ago I guess.

And yeah, we have better mexican food than sushi!

Sonny bryans is about on par with red white and blues. Both are better than spring creek. The good stuff is in hole-in-the-wall type places though.

[Prof.Fuzz]

Twisted Root is good burger.

Glad you enjoyed your stay in my current hometown of Richardson!

[DavidLM]

Originally Posted by Steeltoe

You forgot to tour White Rock Lake. And you missed Oak Cliff, home of the Vaughns.
I lived in lower Greenville in '86/'87. Saw Lonnie Mack play there at a small club.
I remember Luby's Cafeteria and Grandys Fried Chicken...Grandys always had a granny walkin' around filling up your ice tea.
Try to buy beer in Garland on a Sunday...no such luck. Or was is all the time? Can't remember.
No bums walkin' around downtown...ever. In Los Angeles...always.

Except for maybe the small Bishop Arts area, it's probably best not to steer people to Oak Cliff, kind of a rough area in general.

White Rock Lake area is a must see - great paths for walking, running, riding. Lot better than it used to be even. One of the only geographically pretty places in the whole city.

There are plenty of homeless people downtown now - well, last fifteen years or so.

Still a few Luby's around. I can't say I have eaten at one lately, or in the last twenty years, but they are there. Not sure about the Grandy's. I think they ran their course.

[DavidLM]

Ultron, glad you got to visit the city. Did you get to see Jerry Jones' billion dollar party tent in Arlington? It is fairly impressive as a structure, but not what goes on in it.

Yeah, the Sonny Bryan's in Richardson is good, not too fatty, not too dry. It might not be the best in the world, but they have a good slugging percentage in my book. The Colter's, Dickey's, and Spring Creek chains just are not worth it IMO. They all used to be better.

But I hardly ever eat BBQ, so I stick to Sonny Bryan's when I do, knowing it will be at least pretty good. The Railhead in Fort Worth is another that gets a lot of positive reviews.

I have never heard of Neighborhood Services, sounds like county office, but I am in no hurry to eat there after your review. Sounds like you stuck to the nicer areas of town, that's probably for the best.

If people only saw the nice parts of Plano, Preston Hollow, University Park, and Highland Park, they would think Dallas was a yuppy paradise. And it sort of is for a bunch of people.

[ford]

Originally Posted by yodude

I've been to TX several times on business and I never liked any part of the state. Houston has to be at the bottom of cities in the country. I used to have to go to San Antonio. I never understood why the tourism is so high there. There's nothing at all. The Alamo?

Houston is fantastic.....so much to do...... it's huge and spread out..... but a great city....

San Antonio has the popular River Walk area and of course the Alamo... and great Mexican food everywhere....

DFW/DallasFortWorth has tons of things to do also...great metro area.... I love Twisted Root Burger Company myself...!

As far as BBQ, most of the best is at smaller places and non chains. Rudy's is a chain now... but a well done one. I've eaten at the original near San Antonio.

[Ultron]

I did eat some mexican. It was Amigos, in Richardson I believe. It was good, nothing spectacular. Next time there I'll try Chuys and El Fenix.

[Ultron]

Originally Posted by DavidLM

If people only saw the nice parts of Plano, Preston Hollow, University Park, and Highland Park, they would think Dallas was a yuppy paradise. And it sort of is for a bunch of people.

That's funny, the folks that gave me the tour are older yuppies that moved there from Chicago. Those are primarily the areas they showed me.

[The Last Rebel]

Next time try out Ft. Worth. In my opinion, it's a much nicer city than Dallas.

[jeffh]

Originally Posted by yodude

I've been to TX several times on business and I never liked any part of the state.

Have you been to Austin ? I used to travel a bit to Houston for work, always escaped to Austin on the weekends. Great city.