20 February 9-15, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents ▼ FIRST LOOK SHAKIN’ AND SLIDIN’ NITRO BURGER AT TRINITY GROVES RECENTLY OPENED UP PROMISING BOOZIFIED MILKSHAKES AND SEVERAL HAMBURGER OPTIONS. BY HANK VAUGHN N itro Burger opened last November in Trinity Groves, providing the oppor- tunity to get tableside-created alco- holic milkshakes along with several quasi-slider burgers for those willing to trek across the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. This is another spot from restaurateur Julian Ro- darte, who also owns Lexy’s and Beto and Sons in the same complex. Always on the lookout for another burger option and intrigued by the liquid nitrogen shakes, we paid the place a visit. Upon ar- rival, we were warmly greeted and asked to select a table. You can place your order and pay via a QR code or you can order the tradi- tional way. The menu states, “Our burgers are a little smaller and we recommend ordering 2 per person,” which usually would be irksome, coming across as some adspeak intended to increase sales. However, the burgers were priced between $6 and $8, so we gave in and ordered four. The burgers are on the small side, but larger than the traditional slider, so $6 seems just right. We settled on a Nitro burger, a Meltdown, a Nitro chicken and a birria burger. The Nitro burger comes with two beef- brisket blended patties served on a potato bun with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion and Nitro sauce, a sweet and spicy in-house creation. Crispy lettuce, firm tomatoes, nicely melted cheese and flavorful beef made for the perfect bite(s). The birria burger had shredded stewed beef piled high on the bun with diced onions and cilantro, all covered with a copious amount of melted jack cheese. It comes with a side of birria consommé for dipping. The chicken sandwich was a bit over- cooked, but the Meltdown was an interest- ing creation: grilled cheese served as the buns for the beef patties, which were topped with caramelized onions and more Ameri- can cheese. Then there was the milkshake. You can order non-alcoholic versions, but we went with the Nitro Vanilla: Nitro vanilla base, vanilla vodka, vanilla frosting, white choco- late sprinkles, whipped cream, dulce de leche, white chocolate chips, chocolate straws and Hershey’s chocolate sauce, all created tableside with liquid nitrogen and several bowls, pitchers and utensils by staff who described the entire process in what seemed like a science lab demonstration from Mr. Wizard. After the smoke cleared, we shared the creation, which was worthy of the performance. 3011 Gulden Lane (Trinity Groves). Mon- day – Thursday and Sunday, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. ▼ OPENINGS RETURN FLIGHT THE OWNERS OF THE FLYING TOMATO IN DENTON ARE PLANNING TO BRING THEIR SPECIAL PIZZA JOINT BACK TO LIFE. BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS F or more than two decades The Flying Tomato — later just The Tomato — was a quintessential college pizza hangout across from the University of North Texas in Denton. Becky and Robert Slusar- ski opened the restaurant in 1984, and it was part of a special Fry Street era, uniquely weird and perfect. The space burned down in 2007 in the Fry Street Fire, an act of arson to protest the redevelopment of the area. The Tomato never reopened in that location after the fire; a spot opened in Sanger in 2011 but closed the next year. Now, the original owners’ son, Michael Slusarski, is bringing The Tomato back as a food truck. We’d heard that The Tomato actually lived on for years as a small side hustle busi- ness for a few people who were in the know. The Slusarskis would bake pizzas for pickup, sometimes making the exchange in a Dairy Queen parking lot. Soon, though, ev- eryone will be able to have another slice of The Tomato. Michael Slusarski confirms that the pizza will be the same. “The plan is to do pizza by the slice like we used to at the store on Fry Street, per- sonal-sized Chicago style, sandwiches and more,” he says. There’s no timeline or location yet, but Slusarski says they’ll have a better idea about all that in the coming weeks. Hank Vaughn The Meltdown, a grilled cheese sandwich and hamburger combo at Nitro Burger.
