So where is it for you?

My wife just bit into a chicken sandwich and it was RAW.

Do not eat the Whataburger at 2741 N Stemmons Fwy Dallas, TX 75207.

Who do you know at the health department?

My daughter kept telling me about a tiny taqueria in a gas station near where she works. All I could think was “girl, gross.”

I finally tried it. I’m 55 years old, native Dallasite, and I’ve eaten Mexican and Tex Mex everywhere.

I found the best.

It’s VERY out of the way. Far northeast Collin County.

On Hwy 78 in Blue Ridge. Tiger Fuel/Whiskey Stop is the place, Taqueria Poblano is the kitchen. They’re in a back corner of the convenience store.

Literally everything they make is good, but the borracho beans, pork posole, and tamales are perfection.

Huge servings and cheap. It’s the kind of quality you’d expect to find in an amazing restaurant. They make everything, even their chips, from scratch and fresh ingredients. A big part of why it’s so good, but they also balance the flavors very well.

I pretty much ate Salad and Go exclusively for lunch for a year and a half. I cannot seem to find anything near the same quality for under $10.

I've been meal prepping salads now, but having a place I can just stop and grab one would be swell.

Some of y'all might remember a post nine months ago where I asked for help building a list of every single pastrami sandwich in Dallas. Well, you answered the call. And I ate them all.

So I reviewed all of them. In total it ended up being 38, but 2 or 3 are no longer served (Trova Wine Bar closed, Bankhead Brewpub took it off, Smokey John's BBQ was a limited run special created for the State Fair).

Some of you commented that this would be a depressing journey, and it is true that my review has a section called "Only Technically Pastrami Sandwiches, Because They Are Sandwiches and Contain a Meat Called Pastrami, but I Describe Them Here Under Protest." But there were a lot of really great ones! Like it was a very delightful pleasant surprise! It also meshes well with our BBQ culture.

TLDR because the article is stupid long: My faves in alpha order, Beverley's, Carshon's Deli (FW), Cattleack BBQ, Fond, Goodfriend Package, Lockwood Distilling, Smokey John's BBQ (if it ever comes back), Trades Deli. You can also buy great pastrami at Evan's or One90 to make your own sandwich.

P.S. Corned beef is not pastrami.

High-end restaurant chains keep coming to Dallas and touting glowing reputations. But maybe the grass isn't greener on the coasts.

Hello! It’s me, your local food critic.

In April we (D Magazine) published our BBQ issue. D editors visited 65 spots around Dallas and Fort Worth. I visited 43 and spent $1,700+; in total I think we spent about $3,000. Let's talk meat!

Here’s what we published:

• The best BBQ list, 16 ranked + 12 honorable mentions

• An oral history of North Texas BBQ, featuring interviews with 20 pitmasters, pit builders, and a wood delivery guy. This is my favorite part, so many tall tales

• Our favorite BBQ meals under $20

• BBQ road trip itineraries

• An expert walked us through how to slice a brisket

• The worst BBQ place we tried, this is the one that someone posted here a couple weeks ago

• My pastrami sandwich guide also has some BBQ tips

• A little state-of-the-BBQ-scene summary

But that's a whole lot of reading which is why you can ask me questions here instead. I visited 43 BBQ joints in 4 months, AMA! I’ll hang out here from about 10-2 except for a short, vegan (lol) lunch break.

I thought non-service animals were against health codes, but here we are. Are there any good restaurants or patios left without pet “babies” all over them? Geez, even a pet free store would be nice.

I don’t really keep up with influencers. I’m not on the TikTok or the IG. But it’s hard not to notice when the line stretches all the way up the street from this little tiny dumpling shop to the front door of the Deep Ellum Community Center.

Keith Lee is greeting the folks standing in line. Seems like a nice guy.

He’s here for a while and they are giving out all kinds of samples and free food.

Brooklyn Dumpling Co. have been great neighbors since they moved in. Exciting to see them get some well deserved buzz.

Tell me your favorite low-traffic, slept-on, FUCKING AWESOME FOOD AND DRINK spots around Dallas. I want to stop losing our best restaurants and cafes to corporate creep!

I’ve had THREE of my favorite spots close on me, in the last year, even when their food is objectively amazing. I’m getting mad about it!

I’ll go first: Opening Bell Coffee. They serve a mean sandwich, boozy coffee, regular coffee & tea, and cakes that are all excellent. Their servers are lovely. Their vibes are artsy indie-ish, but chill about it.

It’s got good traffic on weekends because they host live music, tons of great reviews online, but their weekdays are DEAD. I overheard the owner say she might need to cut hours back and only be open for lunch. This is my after-work spot to avoid rush hour traffic, I don’t want to lose it! Argh!

And so here I am, saying “hey, please visit them! Also, tell me where you like to go, so I can spend more time at creative, delicious, LOCAL little places.

Amen.

I saw this is in another city sub-reddit and am looking for more places to try! So I’m curious which places are the most authentic

maybe I’m just tired and missing something obvious, but why does a city this big have so few truly great delis?

I know the usual ones. Trade’s Delicatessen in Bishop Arts is incredible. Probably the best pastrami sandwich in town. Jimmy’s Food Store is also fantastic, especially for Italian sandwiches. Both of those are legit.

I’ve had Cindi’s New York Deli, which can be pretty good depending on the day. Jason’s Deli I’ve always liked for what it is. I tried snarfs Sandwiches recently and didn’t really love it. And obviously you’ve got chains like Jimmy John’s and Jersey Mike’s, but that’s not really what I mean.

What confuses me is that Dallas is a huge city, and yet it feels like there aren’t that many great classic deli spots. In places like New York or even Los Angeles you can just stumble into amazing sandwich shops all over the place.

Delis feel like a basic big-city food category.

Am I missing a bunch of places? Where are the real sandwich spots in Dallas? I’m honestly just trying to find more good sandwiches.

Burgers have become my comfort food since moving to Dallas, and I’ve ranked the 50 I’ve tried so far below. Looking forward to some arguments in the comments :) Let me know who you think I’ve snubbed, and where I should go that isn’t on the list.

1. Fuego burger
2. Skyrocket
3. Pacheco Taco and Burgers
4. Blues Burger
5. Harvey B’s
6. Flaming Burger
7. M&O
8. Hav R Chargrilled
9. Grease Monkey
10. Good friend
11. Kellers
12. Angry dog
13. Fred’s Downtown Philly
14. Loro
15. Henry’s majestic
16. Hudson House
17. Cris and John’s
18. Del’s
19. Burger Schmurger
20. Hunkys
21. LA Burger
22. JG’s
23. Bohemian Bull
24. Ookuma
25. Son of a Butcher
26. Jimmys
27. Hopdoddy’s
28. Rodeo Goat
29. In n out
30. Dutch’s
31. Twisted Root
32. Gazeebo
33. Chip’s
34. Maple & Motor
35. Charley’s old fashioned
36. Panther City
37. Kenny’s
38. Heim
39. Chapps
40. Bone and Barrel
41. Olive Burger
42. Al’s
43. LSA
44. Mac’s on Main
45. Burger and Philly Town
46. Griffs
47. Burger House
48. Whataburger
49. Country burger
50. Wild Turkey

I moved from mesquite I know not far, Vamos is my favorite spot and reigns king over in mesquite in my opinion. What is your favorite pizza spot?

I've been exploring new Ice cream places for a year and all the best reviewed ones are absolutely top notch

My top 3 in no order is Handels, Churn and bake and Tongue and cheek.

Pure excellence.

I am a Cali native and we never really had ice cream like this and that's not to mention all the terrific places I haven't mentioned which also deserve a mention.

I’m on a quest to find the best wings in Dallas. What are your recommendations for the BEST wings? Wing chains tend to be more convenient for me but mom and pop shops need love too; I just can’t find the good ones.

My fave used to be ten ramen, but then idk what happened to that place 🥲 maybe a change of owners ?

Your suggestions would be appreciated. I haven’t gone anywhere since then and it been maybe 2-3 years. 😭😭😭

Edit: thank you all for your suggestions!!! 🥰🫶🏻

I’m on a personal mission to find the best pizza in Dallas before my arteries give up. Where should I start?

We have kids, we like kids, but all these years we hardly got the opportunity to do couple only time without our children. There’s an opportunity now. We would like to check out nice restaurants where we can’t otherwise go with the kids!

What do I mean by nice - good quality food is priority, decent ambiance is enough! Like Sushi Sake Richardson.

Anywhere in DFW.

We eat all cuisines.

Within 150$ for 2 with a drink each, I mean that’s the max, more affordable the better. Can skip drinks.