Dining in Dallas.com …now in blogs!
We are a small group of dining enthusiasts dedicated to bringing you the latest in restaurant reviews, food pictures, news, links, and more! We focus on restaurants in the Dallas area–from the quick and casual eating spots to the more upscale, “fine dining” establishments–but occasionally venture to other parts of the world as well.
We started this blog because we were tired of reading all the sugarcoated, toned down, politically correct magazine and newspaper reviews. Our mission at DiningInDallas.com is to bring you quality reviews from a common person’s perspective. While there are certainly those who feast on “Lamb Cassoulet” and “Osetra Caviar” every day, we know there are others out there who, like us, would need a dictionary just to figure out what those dishes mean. We lay it all out on the table and won’t hesitate to dish out praise where it’s due. But if anything’s amiss, we will be sure to rant about it with no end. What other reviewers will go to a restaurant and check how clean the restrooms are? Don’t you want a sterile environment? Granted, it’s unfair to expect a spotless, bubble-like restroom but a clean and tidy one? I’d expect that at least. How clean a restroom is.. reflects the kind of ethic they show when it comes to cleanliness in the kitchen and other aspects of the business.
Make no mistake: we expect superior quality food and service at all the restaurants we visit, and only the best will earn our recommendation. But at the same time, we understand that other criteria such as price, convenience, and atmosphere are just as important to many of you diners, so these values are included in each of our reviews.
Specifics aside, we really do enjoy the dining experience. We’ve been on both sides of the industry and have touched many facets of the restaurant business, so it’s certainly not something that we consider trivial.
The Fantastic Four (dubbed by others.. not necessarily our own invention)
Jason
Jason is one of our biggest food fanatics and a true connoisseur of all things food related. Even as a child, his favorite pastime was “snack shop,” a game where he played the chef and we — the rest of the group — were the satisfied customers (we will always remember the joyous look on his face as he meticulously prepared his ultimate Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich). He no longer plays snack shop today, but he has retained his genuine love and passion for food. On any given day, you might see him in the kitchen testing out his latest beef noodle soup recipe or refining his homemade croutons to achieve that perfect level of crunchiness. And if you ever catch him sprinting towards the television, it’s not because his lottery number was the winner, it’s because the latest cooking show is on. But it is precisely this passion and enthusiasm that has kept our group alive through the good times and the bad. He keeps us motivated and inspires us to try new and out-of-the-ordinary types of food and cuisines. His love of food has definitely been an inspiration for us over the years, and we hope that it will be an inspiration for our readers as well.
Daniel
Although he’s the youngest of the quartet, he certainly doesn’t lag in experience. He started working in the restaurant business around the same time as the others and established his love of food early on in his dining life. So much so that his love of food became excessive at one point, which introduced some major changes in his life, only to resurge stronger years later. And by stronger.. I meant it enstilled a drastic change in his lifestyle. However one constant has remained.. the constant being his love for food.. just at different levels. His unique experiences have made his input invaluable. He brings to the table a keen sense of brutal honesty tempered only by the letter of the law. Observation is key in what we do so that’s something he’s grown to excel in with certain influences he has in his life. Given a question as to what his favorite meal would be, he would answer “dessert” without hesitation. Ask him to be more specific, nine times out of ten.. he’ll respond with some form of cheesecake dish.
John (aka Joe)
Being a conservative at heart, John displays a surprisingly liberal take on cuisine as he has demonstrated on many occasions that he can introduce us to unique and often memorable restaurants that we have never tried before. The best example would be Soupcon at Crested Butte, Colorado, which had a part in being the catalyst in our creation of DiningInDallas.com. If not for him, we would never have had the unforgettable experience at Soupcon, and DiningInDallas.com would probably not have been what it is today. We were also able to harness his uncanny passion for taking pictures of just about anything interesting or unique. This gives our reviews some visuals for our readers to experience the actual food that we eat and just about anything else his camera lens can snap up, usually uncensored and unedited. However, this passion for taking pictures is arguably a close second to his passion for dessert, most notably his unbridled infatuation with cheesecakes. Separating him and his cheesecake would be equivalent of separating a mother bear and her cub…you don’t want to be caught between either. Incidentally, this affinity for cheesecake is shared by another member of our group… see if you can find which one.
George
George is the most interesting character of the bunch. Since he was 13 years old, he’s developed quite a large appetite; and not just for any type of food, mind you, but in particular Chinese food; and not just any Chinese food, but in particular Cashew Chicken and Pork Chop Rice. However, over the years, he’s broadened his taste and has added ice cream as one of his staples (more specifically, cappuccino with chocolate chip ice cream). His other preferences include Chicken Fried Steak, Fried Rice, and all types of alcholic beverages, but Cashew Chicken and Pork Chop Rice are still his bread and butter. As such, he’s our expert when it comes to Chinese cuisine. In any case, he has an amazing tolerance for alcohol which makes him a vital part of our group. For the rest of us, one or two glasses will leave us a little out of our norms. And while most of us tend to overlook the “price vs quantity” rule, George’s contribution to our value ratings remain invaluable.