Dallas

(From June 2012)

The same instinctive memory Proust had for his beloved madeleines, we have for the comfort food here, which hasn’t changed in forty or so years. Talk about retro: the chicken tetrazzini, with its gooey cheese and tender spaghetti, took us back to high school days. The turnip greens and zucchini muffins are just the same too, but the black-eyed pea salad has gotten a little kicky with the addition of jalapeños. You simply must end a meal like this with a slice of coconut cake slathered in fluffy icing.

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(From March 2012)

As we sat on a comfy banquette in this green frame house in Oak Cliff, we perused the quirky, Southern-leaning menu and hooked up with its most expensive item: a $15 ribeye swathed with sautéed peppers, onions, and provolone cheese and nestled on a bed of aggressively flavorful chile-cumin grits. After such a filling entrée, we nonetheless found room for a house-made “baby” cranberry pie with a big pillow of whipped cream. Bar.

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(From February 2012)

We wonder if anyone ever orders the Raisin Bran at this temple of breakfast, especially when the menu boasts a fabulous Frisbee-size ham steak plattered up with two eggs, buttery grits, and toast. Seriously, it’s daunting to finish. The cinnamon rolls are also legendary; there’s even one that feeds 40 to 50 people (for $74.99). The tilting floors are gone, but the service is still the friendliest in town.

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(From February 2011) Corporate types, UT Southwestern med school employees, police officers, and ordinary folk make this Dallas institution a madhouse at noon. If you’re thinking about the meat loaf, make sure to get it with plenty of the slightly spicy Creole sauce of onions, peppers, tomatoes, and carrots. Sides (there are more than 20) are pure comfort food; we especially like the pinto beans. A separate menu proclaims that “pie fixes everything,” and we’d have to agree after devouring our piece of chocolate–peanut butter cream pie with a chocolate cookie crust.

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(From June 2011)

Creative and fresh combinations are the or-der of the day at this earthy, urban hot spot (and, yes, there is a real porch in front). Locals love the “Big Board,” with its daily specials, but the regular menu is filled with American comfort food dishes. Smoked-brisket enchiladas with tomatillo rice, avocado, and fresh salsa were good and filling, as was the Porch Salad, with greens, red grapes, toma-toes, crunchy smoked almonds, and pickled on-ion. Leave room for the S’more Redux; the heavenly pillows of torched marshmallow topped with gooey chocolate lava cake and crunchy graham crackers will take you back to campfires of yore. Bar.

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(From January 2012)

Walk in and turn to the right for the “social” area, with its communal tables and small-plates menu; turn left for the “private” area, with its formal tables and full menu. Pork buns, looking like giant marshmallows, stuffed with crispy pork and slivered veggies made a promising start, while pan-roasted Louisiana sturgeon nestled in a bowl (dotted with tiny bits of pancetta and doused with a cup of blue crab chowder) was intense in a very good way. Even with closed eyes, we would have known that the small square dish of crackly crusted crème brûlée was of the sweet potato variety—subtle but distinctive; the little side of port-soaked cherries was genius. Bar.

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(From April 2011) Looking for an earthy but upscale oasis in downtown Dallas? Wander over to the historic Saint Ann School building, where Mi-chael Guerrero, formerly of Abacus, is serving up simple, crowd-pleasing food at prices that are easy to live with. Our cafeteria-style lunch—chicken breast in a creamy beurre blanc with cheese po-lenta and baked Parmesan-topped tomatoes—was a winner. But the crispy, thin-crust pizzas look appealing too. At night this chic spot turns into a watering hole with a view of the downtown lights and an expanded, full-service menu. An initial evening sampling was hardly promising—semi-raw, fishy scallops and a poor-quality filet cooked medium-well after having been ordered medium-rare—but the space is so inviting that we’d still go back for a drink and appe-tizers. Bar.

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(From June 2011) Ah, a step back in time to the days when there was absolutely no crunch to vegetables (you do remember your mother’s green beans, don’t you?). This is old-school home cooking at reasonable prices; entrées, like pot roast and chopped steak, come with cornbread and luscious rolls, and sides run the gamut from french fries and yellow squash to applesauce and cottage cheese. We can especially recom-mend the meat loaf with tomato sauce and the pork roast with mandarin oranges. And the Bean is justly famous for its coconut cream pie. Bar.

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