▼ Dish Mix Tape National Anthem is a catalog of Nick Badovinus’ greatest hits. BY CHRIS WOLFGANG O f course there’s a motorcycle. With Nick Badovinus’ knack for transforming din- ing rooms into feasts for the eyes, we were anxious to see what was in store at National Anthem, his newest venture in Dallas’ East Quarter, the city’s new name for the east side of down- town. Inside however, the boisterous and fun attitude of other Badovinus ventures is replaced with something that feels a little more grown-up at first glance. Town Hearth has a dining room that sports a pair of mo- torcycles, an MG sports car and 64 chande- liers. Desert Racer has its own collection of cars and motorcycles while it channels an outdoorsy desert southwest feel. At National Anthem, plants and greenery abound and contribute to a classy but casual vibe. Vintage automobile advertisements are framed and displayed in a nod to the build- ing’s history. And there it is, a 1970s Honda dirt bike perched on a partial wall separating the bar from the dining room, surrounded by plants and straddling busts of Abraham Lincoln and JFK. National Anthem occupies the trapezoid Magnolia Oil building. One hundred years ago, this part of downtown was the epicen- ter of Dallas’ Automobile Row. The building arches swept over a full service fueling sta- tion. In the years since, the building served as the longtime home of KLIF radio, and for a while, the offices of the Dallas Observer. Today, those graceful arches have been en- closed in glass to create National Anthem’s dining room. Bright light abounds during the day. Inside, white oak floors and white walls team up with the massive arched windows to Alison McLean make the space feel open and airy, even on the narrow end that’s home to National An- them’s wedge-shaped bar. Fresh seafood pops up often on the menu; Badovinus hails from Washington state, and his Montlake Cut restaurant in the Park Cities pays homage to his Seattle up- bringing, which is easy to see here too. For openers, there’s a daily ceviche or crudo, lightheartedly described on the menu as “wyd? just keeping it chill and tasty.” On one of our visits, the daily was a salmon belly from Alaska, and another visit featured oys- ters from Prince Edward Island. You can also find half-shelled oysters or chilled shrimp under the Rawish Bar section of the menu, but if you like your seafood appetiz- ers cooked, then Bar Harbor Mussels Diablo ($19) will be right up your alley. An order comes in a heaping bowl and could easily make a meal on its own. The mussels are served in a buttery white wine broth with just enough red pepper to give a touch of heat, and a fist-sized wedge of but- tered bread that you’ll be using to soak up ex- tra broth. Should you run out of the light and buttery bread, you can order a bread service ($5) with two more large chunks of bread, along with whipped and lightly salted butter. On another visit, we started our meal with an order of Meaty Smalls ($13), which are the ground chuck meatballs served in voodoo sauce from another one of Badovi- nus’ restaurants, Neighborhood Services. The goodness from the NS standby carries The bright and lush space of National Anthem. over here, and an order of six savory globes of beef is perfect to share. The bread service pairs well here, too, if you’ve any leftover voodoo sauce in need of a good sopping up. Entrées continue the mix tape of Badovi- nus’ greatest hits. There are a trio steak frites dishes that would feel at home at Town Hearth, except National Anthem brings them to a more affordable realm. The most expensive here, a 14-ounce Delmonico rib-eye for $54, is the lowest price of admis- sion for something similar at Town Hearth. The rest of the main plates lean more ac- cessible and casual. Naturally, the man who brought us Off-Site Kitchen includes a burger on the menu. As much as we miss Off-Site, which closed in 2020, we yearned to try the Reuben Riff ($21), stacked with thick slices of pastrami, sauerkraut and a Russian-dressed slaw, along with white cheddar cheese and Creole mustard between two slabs of toasted sourdough. It’s a delicious, messy interpreta- tion, and the only thing that could make it better is the inclusion of an extra napkin. On the same visit, our dining companion ordered the vodka rigatoni ($27). The thick- ribbed pasta was an engaging entrée, and our only real complaint is that the vodka to- mato sauce erred on the side of caution rather than flavor. Our waiter suggested we add chicken or shrimp, and we went with the bird. It was a decision that was wholly unnecessary; a thin seasoned breast was sliced and laid on top of our dish almost as an afterthought. For an extra $10, we ex- pected chicken that wasn’t quite so rubbery, and it’s perhaps fitting that chicken breast appears nowhere else on NA’s menu. We fared much better with the other pro- teins. The low country pork chop ($34) is a visual and gustatory stunner, sliced and served with a tangy honey mustard slaw and a sweet-corn succotash that would make your meemaw proud. On both nights we visited, a duo of fresh fish dishes were specials (the menu promises “flown in earlier / cooked right now / appro- priate sauce”). We picked a halibut almon- dine ($36) on one visit, with the halibut fillet sourced from Newfoundland. The flaky fish was delicately fried to a golden hue and topped with just the right amount of buttery almondine sauce. Bonavidus’ skill with sea- food via Montlake Cut is a boon to the ocean- based fare on National Anthem’s menu. A trio of options wraps up the dessert menu. Your inner 8-year-old may be tempted to order the chocolate chip sea salt cookies with a glass of Yoo-hoo, and there’s a pineapple upside-down bundt cake for more mature palettes. We opted for the butter- scotch creme brûlée ($15); it’s described on the menu as enough to share (and also, not available to go), so we seized our moment. The creme brûlée sported a perfect crunchy top of caramelized sugar, and the dollop of cinnamon whipped cream alongside tart raspberries made it an ideal end to our meal. Under a more critical eye, one might fault National Anthem as a restaurant without a single focus, as if Tom Hank’s man-child character from Big opened a restaurant styled after the loft apartment from the movie, with chocolate chip cookies and mo- torcycles in place of trampolines and pinball machines. But to take National Anthem seri- ously is to miss the point. The food is seri- ously good, and Badovinus’ newest venture is a hodgepodge of greatest hits from all of his restaurants. But National Anthem serves them up with a playful smirk for those who are in on the joke. Yes, the menu offers both steak and Yoo-hoo. So what? National An- them is a reminder of the joy that we’re sup- posed to feel when we eat our favorite dishes, and that’s a reminder we can all use now and again. National Anthem, 2130 Commerce St. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. Monday - Thursday; 11 a.m.- 11 p.m, Friday; 4 - 11 p.m. Saturday, 4 - 9 p.m. Sunday. $1 OFF PER POUND MONDAY & TUESDAY CRAWFISH 7224 Independence Parkway • Plano 972.618.4542 • litasdallas.com 13 13 dallasobserver.com dallasobserver.com | CONTENTS | UNFAIR PARK | SCHUTZE | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | MOVIES | DISH | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 JULY 14–20, 2022
