Bookmarking that. Thanks

Just had a beer. New menu was already in effect and to be honest, nothing sounded particularly interesting since it's ubiquitous southern comfort food. Quite unfortunate that the interesting menu discussed here lasted less than a month.

FYI - I went last Friday and saw that they're doing free food from the new menu today and tomorrow.

Glad I saw this thread - have a more specific query. Can you recommend some places within walking distance of Renaissance Center/Hart Plaza?

I am going for Movement/DEMF. I do have a car and I am staying at the MGM Grand. Huge plus if open 24/7 or late! Prefer more casual grab and go style food.

The Thai temple on suggested on another thread sounded really cool, but I'm not gonna get much sleep and I doubt I can get up by then on Sunday...

If you'd be willing to do Denton, Queenie's would probably be good. New Tim Love place and the menu is pretty much identical to Woodshed in FW.

Tei An and Samar are your best bets overall. Chop House Burger isn't bad.

As much as I like their BBQ, I tend to hesitate recommending them because I know what it's like to travel and have limited time. The waits there can be pretty ridiculous and you have to find a happy balance between using your time wisely vs good food.

FT33 has Swine and Dine on Tuesday nights too. Correct me if I am wrong; it sounds like they have certain pork dishes that are only on Tuesday nights? Ascension Coffee would be a good stop in that area as well.

If you are interested in modernist cuisine a la FT33, you should take a look at this thread about the "new" Private Social as well. I haven't heard much other feedback about it, but think it'd be worthwhile to have on your list.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/898442

To be honest, I actually haven't been in a rush to go check out Slow Bone: the two posts here are the first (and only) positive comments I've ever seen on it. Most others I've read have called their quality along the line of middling places (Spring Creek, Rudy's etc).

Also admit that initial comments about the sides being better than the actual meat gave me a poor first impression without even having been; guess I'll give it a shot soon. Perhaps may have been opening kinks.

I knew I was forgetting something - strongly recommend TJ's as well for the seafood.

I have to disagree with Cane Rosso's Deep Ellum location. Convenient for the OP to get to via DART, but I can't recommend going there since I've had too many issues with service there (even when Jay is around). The overall experience is a lot better at White Rock.

First thing we should know is where you're coming from to get a point of reference.

Nothing in particular to note near the Hyatt Regency. You could try 560, but I haven't seen any recent feedback about them.

Cab ride needed:
Lockhart Smokehouse - consistently good BBQ and you can wander around Bishop Arts. Tons of good places around there as well (Oddfellows, Enos, Hattie's, etc)
Mesa - Veracruzan Mexican cuisine. Lot of great items on their menu as well (definitely get mole)

Within downtown (via DART/walking):
Stampede 66 - New restaurant by Stephan Pyles. And of course you can check out his signature restaurant (Stephan Pyles) or Samar (half off on nearly the entire menu on Mon/Tues FYI)
Wild Salsa - One of the better Mexican places in Downtown.
Tei An - high end Japanese, specializing in soba noodles and there's a ton of interesting menu items.

I'd also like to check it out. One thing on my mind right away: what can we expect as far as price point for this kind of meal?

I'm thinking of doing just the bar menu first, and then coming back later for the dining room if I like it.

You could go with Common Table and ask for the table with a private TV. It's a 6 top that has it's own TV, and they'll more than likely have the game tuned in as well. Downer is it's kinda a small table and a small TV.

Other places you can try: Libertine, Vickery Park, Old Monk. These are all craft beer-focused bars with TV's, and they also happen to have good food.

If you're looking for something kaiten style that was all you can eat, Genki would have been the place but they've gone out of business. As far as I know, what you're looking for doesn't exist in that area.

Lockhart Smokehouse in Bishop Arts for the BBQ, also have dinner at Mesa which is also in Oak Cliff.

Twisted Root doesn't stand up to the (many) other burger places in the area, but the locations are all pretty much the same. I personally don't care for them, but wouldn't mind eating there if I'm craving something like buffalo or ostrich.

Taxi would be best for those places in Oak Cliff like Lockhart and Smoke. If you need to stay downtown and have the time to spare, you could try Pecan Lodge at the Farmer's Market.

Shojimoto in Arlington has awesome Filipino food. Also check out Beirut Rock Cafe across the street.

Tei An would fit all of these. The vibe is really nice, but it's not pretentious at all. You can walk in there wearing casual attire with no issue.

Mustard greens is one of the better vegetable dishes at First Chinese.

One of my friends actually feels that water spinach is a good benchmark to order for testing the waters on how adventurous you should order at a Chinese place. I'm not sure if I agree/disagree on that opinion, just thought it was worth mentioning.

I think nduja is almost always on the salumi platter, but either way, the salumi platter would be a must have if you've never been. I'm not sure how much of the menu is the same compared to the last time I ate there.

Hope that didn't come off as me disliking it, more that I wanna try other stuff that might be good. I didn't see your post until today unfortunately.

And it was actually soup plus four dishes, then a taro/tapioca porridge dessert. Absurd amount of food for $30. The menu detailing that special is in Chinese and I had a friend with me who noticed that it's a pretty good deal. I imagine the white boards have some good stuff too.

Egg drop soup with chicken - lots of egg, but the soup itself was really thin and watery. I'll try your suggestion next time.
Fried chicken - holy msg overload. Did not like this.
Roasted duck - this was a little too salty for me but I did like the crispy skin and the juicy meat. If it wasn't so salty I'd call this better than First Chinese. Retrospect says we probably should've ordered the pork bbq.
Broccoli beef - I did like that they asked if you want Chinese broccoli. I've typically only had Chinese broccoli by itself at dim sum, so this was new to me.
Sprouts stir fry with beef - this was probably my favorite dish. Glad the sauce wasn't in-your-face on the flavor unlike the fried stuff.

Went last night and did the 4 for $30 option (3 entrees and a soup IIRC). Nothing really stood out but I was still pretty happy with the meal. I'll come back to try the stuff you suggested.

Avoid Pho Que Huong.

Palayok in the food court is solid Filipino food, and I also recommend the hot pot place on the opposite side of the shopping center.

JS Chen is not on the level of Maxim or Kirin.

Little Sichuan and Royal Sichuan are pretty close, both are good in different ways.

1. Pate Banh Mi with butter - La Me
2. Luscher's Post Oak Red Hot
3. KBBQ Banh Mi - Pho is for Lovers
4. Just about anything from Jimmy's. Favorite for me is Prosciutto Panino
5. Pastrami - Gandolfo's Food Truck

I also need to try Capriotti's now that I work downtown.

Have you also been to Scardello? Better bump that up on your to-do list if not; you'll love it there.

Right on, just wanted to keep you up to date.

FYI, laws have changed for the better, so chunks of this don't apply anymore.

http://beerpulse.com/2011/10/read-the-jester-king-v-tabc-filings/
http://jesterkingbrewery.com/no-more-beer-in-tx-
http://austin.culturemap.com/newsdeta...

Don't disagree that ribs are one of the weaker items there - pretty much don't recommend the ones at Lockhart. I was just in this weekend and had prime rib and a "better than the fair" turkey leg (and indeed it was). Odd to hear that about the brisket though. Usually they'll show you how moist the cut is as it's being sliced, and ask if you're happy with it.

When was the last time you've eaten at the Grape? Also have you tried Luscher's Red Hots? I will be honest that I haven't had a full on sit down meal there lately, but I've run into Chef Luscher many times at food events around town and they are still making stellar food. For a "historic"/quintessential or whatever word you want to use for the restaurant, they are being innovative and do deserve the reputation and praise. Hardly mediocre.

Very cool. " I honestly think that you could visit one independently-owned cafe or restaurant in Katy each day, ranging from good to excellent to outstanding, and from small taquerias to fine dining, and never run out of places to try." - that's quite a HUGE departure from when I was growing up there over 10 years ago...

Dekker's sounded somewhere I'd wanna bring my family that's a little more interesting than the typical places off Mason Rd, but whoa it's out there! What about the Malay/Singaporean food?

The bakery sounds great. I used to live down the street from a Colombian bakery in Carrollton (El Portal) that's got similar sounding pastries like arepas, milhojas, almojabanas, etc. Indifferent is a good word for the service and I think it's just a cultural difference in dining out.