11 January 2 - 8, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Day Tripping We revisit Hillsboro for a proper Texas lunch of chicken-fried steak, pepper gravy and a Willie Nelson mural at R&K Cafe. BY NICK REYNOLDS A fter receiving a tip about a café in Hillsboro (and specif- ically a must-try chicken- fried steak), we had to go. After all, we love an excuse for a day trip. When I was in high school in the mid- ’90s, the Hillsboro Outlets were a one-stop shop shopping mecca. The Nike Factory Store, Eddie Bauer, Guess – seemingly every flagship brand under the sun had a store in Hillsboro. All with discount prices. And for someone on a shoestring budget like me, scoring a few name brands for the new school year was imperative. We took a drive through the old outlets, which now sit eerily desolate outside a lone Bath & Body Works. Everything else we saw was abandoned and vacant — a modern-day ghost town of a once thriving and bustling shopping playground that, at its peak, housed more than 100 stores. After reminiscing about annual family shopping trips from three decades ago, it was time for lunch. R&K Café, away from the outlet strips and near the old town square, came highly recommended. It’s a quaint small-town eatery with a distinct Southern charm that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The space spans two levels (the servers get a hell of a workout here going up and down the stairs all day), and on a mid- day weekday, it was busy. From all accounts, R&K serves an excel- lent breakfast. Dinner favorites include rib- eye steaks, all-you-can-eat signature fried catfish and chicken breasts smothered in bell peppers, onions, mushrooms and a melted colby jack blend. But we were here for lunch, and specifi- cally, a strongly vouched-for chicken-fried steak. R&K’s “famous” chicken-fried steak ($13.99) is fresh cut, hand-breaded, fried to perfection and smothered in pepper gravy. If you sift through R&K’s Google reviews (which scores a healthy 4.6 on 1,500-plus re- views), it’s clear the most popular dish is the chicken-fried steak. And we see why. R&K’s chicken-fried steak game is strong. We also tried R&K’s fried pork chops ($13.99). You get two portly-sized battered and fried pork chops (which also come pan- grilled if you prefer) that remain tender and juicy beneath their cloak of crispy deep- fried breading. Side choices are abundant: two (sometimes three) sides come with en- trees. There was a chalkboard with all the sides listed: fried okra, sweet corn, seasoned green beans, mac and cheese, Brussels sprouts, roasted potatoes, a full salad bar and more. Appetizers include fried pickles and jala- peños, homemade onion rings, loaded fries and fried green tomatoes. We shared an or- der of the latter, and they were fantastic. Even with the outlets long gone (though there is talk of a long-term plan to revive them), Hillsboro is well worth the trip. Sev- eral museums (like the Texas Heritage and Roadside America museums) are worth vis- iting and making a pit stop by R&K Café for breakfast or lunch is well advised. The Texas Through Time fossil museum, featured on The Texas Bucket List and FOX 4, is also a must-visit. And save some room for dessert: R&K of- fers a rotating selection of by-the-slice pies (including whole take-home pies). R&K Café, 103 N. Waco St., Hillsboro. Monday – Thursday, 6 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Friday, 6 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Saturday, 6 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Sun- day, 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. ▼ FIRST LOOK HAVE A GOOD DAY ONE DON IS A STAPLE FOR AUTHENTIC KOREAN FOOD IN DALLAS SPECIALIZING IN K-STYLE KATSU. BY AAREN PRODY O ne Don, which means today’s meal, is a favorite destination for cozy, Ko- rean comfort food in Dallas. The restaurant specializes in Korean- style katsu made in a variety of ways: plain, with curry or stuffed with cheese. You can also get some fun things here like omurice (Korean version of a viral egg dish), a few pasta dishes, udon and soba. Big portions at a reasonable price point are the two common denominators of the menu. If it’s your first time having Korean food, a lot of choices will be unfamiliar. But all the options are classics, so you’re guaran- teed to find something you’ll enjoy. We were recommended the two most pop- ular dishes: the No. 5, hamburger steak and the No. 8 donkatsu (deep-fried pork cutlet). Most people come here for the katsu, so we went with the chicken version of the donkatsu, No. 4 on the menu. We grabbed a plate of shrimp tempura to start things off. It hits the spot every time, and One Don’s tar- tar sauce is made in-house. Katsu is technically a Japanese dish that is usually a cutlet of some kind (chicken, pork or vegetable), breaded with panko, deep fried, then cut into strips and served with a sauce. The Korean version of Japanese katsu is similar but differs because it’s served whole and not sliced. We asked the proper way to eat it and learned how to navigate a chicken cutlet that’s bigger than your face: cut the end piece off first, eat it plain, then slice each piece one by one and dip it into the sauce. Voila. Asking if you pour the sauce over the cutlet was simi- lar to asking an Ital- ian if you break pasta before putting it in the boiling pot of water — abso- lutely not. “You’ll lose the crispiness,” the owner told us. Aye aye. The chicken cut- let is surprisingly thin and juicy. It came right out of the fryer, so the breading was piping hot and perfectly crisp. It’s obvi- ous why this dish is the talk of the restau- rant. The homemade sauce was similar to rich Japanese-style curry: think of a thicker beef stew that’s slightly sweet. All of the sides were on the simpler side: white rice, cabbage salad and Korean maca- roni salad (pasta noodles with mayonnaise). On their own, they’re pretty simple, but with how rich the curry is, you don’t need them to be anything more. The orange and jalapeños on the plate came out of left field. Those were left off our instructions but we freestyled it and just squeezed the orange over the chicken and sides and incorporated the jalapeños into our bites of katsu. The dining experience — with K-pop on the TV — is perfect for solo diners or groups, and the service is right on the mark, leaving you alone but ensuring you have everything you need. One Don is just across the street from a micro Koreatown that has a Korean BBQ, karaoke lounges and a few other places we’re keen to pop into as well. During our dinner, we were one of only three diners, which was a shame. Get out there and try some katsu. One Don, 11434 Emerald St. Daily, 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. ▼ TASTE TEST EAT LESS CHICKEN FOR A LIMITED TIME, YOU CAN SWAP YOUR MEXICAN PIZZA RUN FOR CHICKEN NUGGETS. BUT SHOULD YOU? BY NICK REYNOLDS W endy’s, Chick-fil-A and McDon- ald’s have long dominated the fast-food chicken nugget scene. There’s also Whataburger’s Whatabites, but we’re not talking about their sad demise right now. Now, an unlikely fast-food brand is tossing its hat into the nugget ring: Taco Bell. “In a world dominated by chicken crav- ings, it was time to show the world how Taco Bell does chicken nuggets – unex- pected and undeniably bold,” Taylor Mont- gomery, Taco Bell’s chief marketing officer, told Food & Wine last week. “Our Crispy Chicken Nuggets deliver a crispier, more fla- vorful nugget experience.” “Experience?” We didn’t realize chicken nuggets were that deep. Look, we all have adolescent-ingrained soft spots for chicken nuggets. Toss in a cou- ple of requisite dipping sauce packets (Mc- Donald’s Sweet ‘n’ Sour or Chic-fil-A’s Polynesian), and we’re good to go. Many of us have outgrown fast-food chain chicken nuggets as a dietary staple, but still, if you handed us any of those right now, we wouldn’t say no. And although it’s fashionable to diss Taco Bell, we’re still not above the occasional Taco Bell Mexican pizza run. But Taco Bell nuggets? That feels like going to KFC and ordering a burger. Taco Bell says their nuggets have a “zesty jalapeno buttermilk” flavor. And to properly Taco-Bell these nuggets up, the | CITY OF ATE | ▼ Dish Nick Reynolds The “famous” chicken-fried steak. Nick Reynolds Taco Bell’s chicken nuggets >> p12 THE DINING EXPERIENCE — WITH K-POP ON THE TV — IS PERFECT FOR SOLO DINERS OR GROUPS, AND THE SERVICE IS RIGHT ON MARK...”
