FOOD & Drink Best Asian Fusion Cris and John Looking for some great Vietnamese food with a Mexican twist? Cris and John serve traditional Vietnamese dishes like pho and spring rolls, and they also offer unique fusion creations like phorrito (think pho and a burrito) and ramenrritos (you get that one, right?). With their weekly specials, for $30, you can get a tray of some of their most popular items, like angry pho, birria tacos, chicken wings, and baos. The menu changes each week, so you’ll always have something new to try. 5555 Preston Oaks Road, No. 5 972-803-4750, crisandjohn.com Best Asian Bakery Sweet Hut Cases filled with croissants, pastries and fluffy buns line the interior of this Plano bakery, known for its Asian-inspired baked goods. Whether you’re looking for sweet, savory or a mix of both, chances are you’ll find it within Sweet Hut’s walls. The bakery is self-serve. Just grab a tray at the front and pile on whatever you’d like. From buns filled with mango pudding to cupcakes infused with pandan coconut, it’s hard to resist the urge to overfill your plate. 2001 Coit Road, No. 301 972-905-5337, sweethutbakery.com Best Beignets Le Bon Temps Fans of The Big Easy will find comfort in this New Orleans-inspired treat. Le Bon Temps is a beignet boutique that brings the Big Easy to Big D. This spot’s mouthwatering fried dough makes for one sinful treat. Le Bon Temps’ menu also offers an out-of-this-world café au lait, the perfect pairing for your puffy confection. Make sure to snag some of these bad boys the next time you’re killing time in Deep Ellum. Pro-tip: The shop’s website advises against wearing black because their beignets aren’t stingy on the powdered sugar. 2932 Main St., No. 103 214-444-3215, lebontempsbeignets.com 68 70 BEST BARTENDER> PATIENCE NDZIMANDZE Kathy Tran Best Beer Selection Strangeways People from out of town — or just new to the neighborhood that is North Texas — think they’ve stumbled across a cool hole in the wall when they find Strangeways. It’s got that low-key energy. The draft beer selection is as unique as it is stellar, and the bottle offerings are perhaps even better. Watch for Barrel Week, an annual event with 40 barrel-aged beers on draft. And if your date doesn’t like beer, they have a full bar and cocktail menu. 2429 N. Fitzhugh Ave. 214-823-7800, strangewaysdallas.com Best Barbecue Slow Bone In the Design District, Slow Bone serves up some of Dallas’ most consistently great barbecue for lunch seven days a week. Of course, the barbecue mainstays like succulent brisket, savory sausage and tender pork ribs are well represented, and Slow Bone’s sides are some of the best in the game. But what truly sets Slow Bone apart are specials like a ridiculously slow-smoked pork chop on Sundays and Mondays and a smoky fried chicken available daily that might be among the city’s best. 2234 Irving Blvd. 214-377-7727, slowbone.com Best Bartender Patience Ndzimandze It’s bold to work behind a bar with no menu. It means every customer who walks up is either very set on what they want or you’ve got a small therapy session on your hands: “Well, what do you feel like?” A pony. But Patience Ndzimandze is all in. We found her late one night at the speakeasy Atwater Alley making her own spins on classic cocktails, all ears with a big smile, pouring subtle and smooth drinks. Just three quick questions and it’s like she knows your dark little parched soul better than you do. So much cheaper than therapy. Atwater Alley, 4900 McKinney Ave. 469-893-9400, atwateralley.com Best Biscuits Biscuit Bar When it comes to breakfast sandwiches, everything is better on a biscuit. The Biscuit Bar hit the Dallas dining scene in 2017, and they now have five locations in the area and one lone ranger in Abilene. Their menu offers options as simple as a plain buttermilk biscuit ($3.20) to the Rough Night ($13.80), which has Southern fried chicken, a burger patty, ham, turkey, pulled pork, crispy bacon, tots, cheddar and house-made sausage gravy in between buttermilk biscuits. They also offer a variety of tots, including breakfast, fully loaded, taco and Southern style. Various Locations thebiscuitbar.com Best Bloody Mary Meddlesome Moth If Dallas has 99 problems, a brunch cocktail is not one. Brunch is Dallas’ quintessential meal, so this is not an easy city in which to be a standout bloody Mary. When we’re looking to get healthy and buzzed all at once we are partial to the Moth’s because of the beer chaser that comes with it soothes out some of the briny edges. And it doesn’t hurt that the Moth has a superior craft beer selection. 1621 Oak Lawn Ave. 214-628-7900, mothinthe.net Best Boba OneZo A bubble tea brand hailing from Taiwan, OneZo now serves its award-winning tea in Carrollton. OneZo isn’t your ordinary bubble tea shop, though. The brand is the first in the world to make all of its boba fresh in-store. OneZo’s boba pearls encompass flavors ranging from your typical honey boba to the more unusual black sesame boba. Whether you try a mango smoothie or the flaming tiramisu milk tea, the boba pearls are the star of the show. Don’t be afraid to wander outside your typical boba order here; that’s exactly what the menu was made for. 4060 Highway 121, No. 128, Carrollton 469-900-8049, onezotexas.com Best Bone Marrow Boulevardier Boulevardier is the cozy French-inspired bistro brought to you by the brothers responsible for Veritas, Hillside Tavern and the defunct Rapscallion. While many delectable treats and drinks await one at Boulevardier, the bone marrow is especially good, arriving on the plate as two sections of roasted marrow topped MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 SEPTEMBER 22-28, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | MOVIES | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | SCHUTZE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | DALLAS OBSERVER CONTENTS | SHOPPING & SERVICES | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | FOOD & DRINK | SPORTS & RECREATION dallasobserver.comdallasobserver.com
