Dallas dining & drinking - 2/28/11

Another week exploring food places around Dallas. Some recent places I tried:

The Blue Fish - A Japanese/Sushi restaurant over on Greenville Ave - across from the Granada Theater (where I was headed for IgniteDallas). I went with some co-workers/friends for a quick drink and sushi. I have to say they have a great happy hour menu - they had several rolls and other appetizers that were around $4. The crab potstickers, salmon roll, california roll and shrimp tempura roll were all pretty good - nothing special, but a great deal.

Quarter Bar/Breadwinners - On McKinney Ave at Hall
Part 1: Quarter Bar and Breadwinners are next door to each other and owned by the same people. Quarter Bar has great drink specials ($2 wells and $2 domestics on Thursdays) and Breadwinners has great food. So my friends and I went to Quarter Bar and ordered off the menu of Breadwinners. I had the Grilled Mahi Sandwich - it was pretty good. I could have just ordered the Mahi - the bun didn't really do anything for me. The side caesar salad was also pretty good.

Part 2: I was meeting some friends for brunch and we were set to meet at Breadwinners at 11:30am on Sunday (I normally don't go to the same place twice in a week, but I'd heard they have amazing brunch). There was a huge crowd waiting outside and we were told there would be a 15 min wait - based on the number of people I assumed it would be closer to 45min, but they were getting people seated. We waited about 20min. It was the best brunch menu I've ever seen. There were at least a dozen things I wanted. I'm not even exaggerating. I'm going to have to go back a few times - and will absolutely be taking visitors here. I decided on the Stuffed Biscuit, one of their weekly specials and WOW - it was fabulous. It was a biscuit that was set on top of "brunch potatoes" the biscuit was overflowing with scrambled eggs filled with bacon, sausage, cheese, veggies and topped with gravy. I only ate half and ate the rest for lunch today - still delicious.
Here's a photo:












Jake's Burger's - A burger spot on McKinney at Boll - My parents came over to help me hang curtains and a few other things and we were looking for a low-key spot on a Saturday evening where we wouldn't have to wait. It was the perfect place - nice enough weather to sit on the patio and people watch on McKinney Ave (my parents were entertained). I got the Flaming Rooster - I know, not a burger but it sounded so good- Grilled chicken, hot mustard, Monterey jack cheese, and fresh pico de gallo. And it was sooooo good. The hot mustard and pico were perfect - both my parents tasted it and agreed it was stellar. My dad had the Jalapeno Bottle Cap Burger and I had a bite - equally delicious. My mom had the caesar salad and said the chicken on it was fabulous but I wasn't interested in trying as I was focusing on scarfing down my chicken sandwich. We split an order of their waffle cut sweet potato fries and Jumpin Jake's fries. The sweet potato fries were topped with brown sugar and cinnamon, which were delicious. But my favorite were Jumpin Jake's fries - they were just seasoned perfectly. Although I have to say, I still think Ketchup (mentioned last week) has the best fries.
My Flaming Rooster:











And fries:

IgniteDallas

One of the local events I loved in NC was IgniteRaleigh - luckily I moved to Dallas in time for IgniteDallas. I really don't know anyone in Dallas in the social media industry, so I was unsure what to expect but knew it should be a great community event. My friend Tracy and my co-worker Jes came along.

Tracy was perfect to attend the event with - she had a lot of followers and contacts so we connected with some people there that she's known through various networks.

The speakers and presentations were all awesome! My two favorites:

• What I got rid of today - Dave Weaver (@planboy) spoke on a challenge he's working on - to get rid of something each day for a year. He talked about getting rid of everything from music, DVDs, clothing, his CAR!, and more. We all have so much junk, it's a really cool journey to get rid of things - whether it is junk, or whether it's letting go of something so you can move on.
• 24 Years, 24 People, 24 Lessons - Mouyyad Abdulhadi (@MouyyadA) talked about how we can learn from the people that are closest to us, rather than celebrities. He went through his circles of family, friends, co-workers and classmates and highlighted what he learned from each. Made me reflect on what I learn from the people I surround myself with.

Looking forward to more IgniteDallas events! I think both Tracy and Jes enjoyed and hopefully will be back for more events too.

A few comments...

• I really wish it was cheaper - it was $16-something - IgniteRaleigh and IgniteDurham are both free events. I know it depends on sponsorships and venues, but I feel like there would be a better turnout if it wasn't expensive
• Crowd participation - I recall a lot of crowd interaction at IgniteRaleigh - yelling "Fire it up!" - there wasn't anything like that. I guess it has a lot to do with the hosts and overall vibe?
  

Regardless, it was all around a great event - thanks to all who organized and the awesome speakers!

Restaurants reviews - dining around uptown

A few restaurants I've tried in Uptown:

• Urban Taco - Mexican food restaurant on McKinney Ave. I went there for lunch with two of my coworkers and it was perfect, but very busy on a Friday at lunchtime. It was one of the days when it was just beginning to get warm so we sat on the patio which was had a great set-up. We tried a trio of salsa for an appetizer - first of all, their chips have this delicious seasoning on them! All three of the salsas were tasty, I really enjoyed the black bean & roasted corn pico and the avocado lime creama. For tacos I loved the al pastor and barbacoa - I will definitely be getting both again! Glad to have a great taco place nearby.
• Red Mango - I love frozen yogurt and this place is right around the corner from me - on McKinney Ave. When my parents came to my place the first time, we walked around the neighborhood so they could get a feel for where I live. Naturally I insisted on a break to try this frozen yogurt spot. I had original with chocolate chips (I also tasted the Madagascar vanilla). It was pretty good, but I'm picky when it comes to frozen yogurt - I didn't like the texture of it - I felt like it needed to be smoother/softer. It was definitely still ok, and there were no complaints from my mom who had the chocolate with strawberries or my dad who had a smoothie. With all the frozen yogurt places nearby, I'll keep searching for a spot where I'll be a regular.
• Ketchup - on Hall Street, between McKinney Ave and Cole Ave. Seriously awesome burger spot - and their fries are amazing - and they have a variety of specialty ketchup (per their name). I went there on a Saturday evening with some friends visiting from Houston, and their baby. They have outdoor and indoor seating, with a variety of options. I had the Blue Burger which was perfect and my friends both had the Ketchup Burger and said it was great. Now the fries...wow - they were unbelievably good! We got a trio with the Sweet Potato, Garlic & Chive and Spicy Buffalo - I keep thinking about how great the Spicy Buffalo fries were! All of their specialty ketchup was great and unique - we tried the house, green tomato and chipotle - all were tasty depending on what you paired it with. I will absolutely be back soon.
• Vino 100 - A wine bar at the corner of McKinney Ave and Allen that sells wine by the bottle - with a great patio. My friend Tracy introduced me to this place on a Sunday night (25% off bottles). You walk around a room full of wine bottles and once you make your selection just tell the staff and they'll bring it to your table. I was impressed that they had so many reasonable priced bottles of wine - a lot to choose from below $25. We sat outside on their patio and it's a great spot to people watch.

More to come as I try new places. Recommendations on where to try?

Getting Settled

As I was moving in to my new places on Thursday, I realized, exactly two weeks ago I had just wrapped up at my old job and was packing-up my place in Raleigh. It's crazy how quickly things change.

I'm getting unpacked and moved into my awesome new place. Here's why it's great:

• About 8min walk door to desk (home to work)...yea I said walk (after driving 1-1.5 hours in traffic to work from my parents house, this is amazing)
• Surrounded by bars and restaurants within walking distance
• Friends everywhere - one of my best friends lives 2 floors and 2 doors down, other friends live really close
• Near the Katy Trail, where I plan to run a lot

The big downside is the size - it's tiny! But I'm trying to be creative. Here's a picture from when I had everything delivered:










Still need to get a sofa and coffee table...then I'll officially be settled and ready for parties and visitors.

I'm looking forward to exploring Dallas - hoping to do something new each week. Yesterday Taylor and I went for a run on the Katy Trail (so I know how to get there!).

Dallas: Week 1, so far a success

I've been here a week now. Here's a quick recap:

• Delicious food - I've had Mexican food 3 times (I love having good Mexican food places everywhere), dad's chili as my first meal back, steak and of course, Whataburger.
• Work - Everything is going really well, jumping into projects. I'm working with some really great people. I look forward to the challenges and the travel (SXSW in Austin and a tradeshow in Orlando - both in March).
• Place to live - I've been commuting from my parents house, which is about 28mi from work - but it takes an 1 - 1.25 hours which is really annoying (especially if I work long hours). I found an awesome place to live, walking distance to work and a lot of restaurants and bars. Plus one of my favorites lives here (with her dog, which I plan on kidnapping frequently). The place is about half the size of my townhome in Raleigh, so we'll see how I adjust. Now I just need to get my Pod delivered, hire movers, unpack and buy new furniture.
• Welcome back night out - I have some great friends in Dallas and we got together for dinner and a fun night out. My tolerance is definitely not what it used to be. Photo highlights below.

Austin asked for someone to grab a branch. Mike grabbed this tree:













Some of my favorite ladies - Taylor and Tracy:











Some of my favorite guys - Austin, Mike and Jake:

Today's Fortune: First day

I opened a Dove Chocolate (thanks Sarah for the stash!) and got this perfect fortune:











I guess I don't need to go to the psychic anymore.

Raleigh friends: you've been fantaztic

2.5 years later and I'm gone. As I was leaving HM&P for the last time today, I was chatting with my boss and pointed out to her I've spent half of my career here. Shocking.

Well, friends...it's been great. I'm rarely sappy so pay attention because this won't happen again for a while.

The people I've met in Raleigh have been amazing. It took me a while to find a few wonderful circles of friends that I fit into - and I'm very grateful for all of you. The happy hours, concerts, dinners, bar hopping (tour de Raleigh), slumber parties, shuffleboard games, BeerFests (and Dallas other boozefests), races, runs, hikes, sporting events, parties, ice cream/frozen yogurt/blizzard runs, Bachelor watching....everything has been awesome. I never expected to meet so many people who I truly enjoy so much. And my liver will need a transplant soon.

Thank you all for the good times and please come visit me in Texas!