Restaurant Of The Day
Joe T. Garcia’s
Fort Worth
In the beginning (that would be 1935), Joe T. nurtured a tumbledown frame house into what would become a sprawling complex of dining rooms and patios with a seating capacity of 1,000 to 3,000, depending on the season. And it was good. So good, in fact, that Tex-Mex devotees still come from miles around to enjoy the chips and attention-demanding salsa, the plates of enchiladas and fajitas, and the ice-cold cervezas and primo margaritas. Amen. Bar.
web site | map | access ++
New + Noteworthy
Tintos Spanish Restaurant & Wine Bar
Inner Loopers can settle in for a nice nosh at this fine new tapas and wine bar in the River Oaks Shopping Center. A glass-walled dining room and shady garden make a pleasant backdrop for sharing plates of caracoles andaluces (snails, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, and goat cheese, Andalusian-style) and shrimp cooked in white wine.
Good Eats in Llano
Ordering a seafood dish miles from the Gulf Coast could be considered a risky endeavor, but it’s no gamble at the Acme Café on the Square, a cozy lunch spot across from Llano’s historic courthouse. Owner Maurie Kay Beasley’s hand-formed, two-inch-high crab cakes, served with a zesty homemade remoulade, are as tasty as they are unexpected.
Pat’s Pick
Bailey’s Prime Plus
It doesn’t seem to matter how many steakhouses there are in our fair state, there’s always room for one more. And so it was that a month ago I found myself in the company of my friend the Good Doctor at Bailey’s Prime Plus, a glitzy new Dallas meat mecca. And before the evening was out we’d had some damn fine steak, some damn fine seafood, and some damn good desserts.
Easy Recipes From the Experts
Fortune House Special Lobster
Executive chef Chun Lau, of Fortune Chinese Seafood in Austin, creates a delightfully delicious fried lobster mixed with garlic and jalapeños.
Eating Out in Austin
The Capital City long ago shed its reputation for offering only Tex-Mex and tofu. We’ve put together a list of the fifteen top places to eat Mexican food, dine outside, and enjoy Italian and Mediterranean cuisne. These places are serving some of our favorite dishes.
More Food Stories
Why Are Tortilla Chips So Damn Good? (September 2009)
The World’s First Hamburger (August 2009)
That’s the Spirit (July 2009)
Vineyard Hopping (June 2009)
How to Eat Well in Hard Times (April 2009)
Where to Eat Now 2009 (February 2009)
The 40 Best Small-Town Cafes (December 2008)
Your Bird Here (November 2008)
Keeper of the Flame (July 2008)
BBQ08 (June 2008)
Where To Eat Now 2008 (March 2008)
Eat Their Words (February 2008)
Meat Your Maker (December 2007)
Taco Capital, U.S.A. (April 1986)
Dining Out is Fun (July 1984)
The Texas Food Manifesto (December 1983)
Requiem for a Margarita (February 1979)
Video
Eat + Tell: Cooking With David Garrido
Patricia Sharpe helps chef David Garrido, of Garrido’s in Austin, craft a delicious carrot soup with shrimp pico de gallo.
Feature Story
The Right Stuffing
Robert Del Grande serves up a Thanksgiving menu made especially for Texas.
Web Exclusive
Fly Away Home
A prayer of thanks (and some cranberry stuffing) for those who don’t give up hope. By Donna Xander
Street Smarts
Berry Street Bakery
At this quaint clapboard house diet-busting treats, like pecan pie bars, flaky turnovers, and decorated cookies and cakes, are hard to resist.
Get Cooking
Pumpkin Custard Pie
Patricia Sharpe shares her mother’s recipe. The finished product is light and fluffy, not like the usual boring, flat, brown Thanksgiving pie.
Web Exclusive
We Gotcha Kolache
Any Central Texan who has ever sunk their teeth into the soft, yeasty cloud of a fruit kolache knows that Czechs bring a delicious contribution to the Texas culinary table. By Virginia B. Wood
Video
Eat + Tell: Go Texan
Patricia Sharpe helps chef James Robert, of Eddie V’s, whip up a fabulous shrimp dish for Go Texan Restaurant Round-up September 28 through October 2.
Dishing
A Reader Says:
You forgot Jucy’s Hamburgers, in Longview, which should have been in your top ten. That is one good burger joint that East Texas cannot be without.
Web Exclusive
A Prayer (and a Recipe) for Cowgirls
The queen of the rodeo may not have been mother of the year but her pecan pralines were to die for.
Hill Country Peach Cobbler »
This simple cobbler has an appealing, almost puddinglike consistency.
Beans and Cornbread »
A meal of beans and cornbread isn’t fancy, but it’s one we just plain love.