Mr. Mesero

Salsa served with fresh chips

Compliments of the Chef: pickled vegetables. These guys were H-O-T!!!

In the spot where Burger Girl used to be (on McKinney) resides a new hotspot: Mr. Mesero. The owner has some some idea of what works - he was the former creator/owner of the M Crowd group. On the day we visited, he cordially visited and sat tables.

The inside has been redone, the outside still has it's decent wrap around patio. The staff is very attentive, super polite, and knowledgeable. We loved our dining experience and can't wait to do a revisit. 

Our server, Marisol, enhanced our experience; she was a straight shooter about menu items, making sure to put warning labels on things that were too hot. 

We started out with the Queso Mesero. It is listed as a House Favorite, and we understand why. Spinach, artichoke, Poblano pepper, and queso make up this dish. It is served, with much fanfare, atop a crunchy chip. The flavors combination is delicate. The pepper is very mild. The queso itself is buttery. We loved it and would order it again. 

Marisol dressed our chip for us. It was a unique experience.

From there, we moved on to the Guacamole Tipico. Nothing too spicy - thanks to Marisol's warning. This was a huge serving of guacamole and we ate every bite. It was a real treat; small chunks of avocado were mixed in among the normal guacamole smoothness, no surprise tomatoes or peppers. Fresh onions sat atop our guacamole stack. All of it was amazingly fresh. 

Nothing "tipico" about it...

We split the Nachos Conocidos for our entree. Slices of avocado, black beans, and brisket made up these crunchy, hearty nachos. The brisket was unique, despite brisket being a staple on the M Crowd menus. We enjoyed it - another dish we would order again.

The server was nice enough to split our order of nachos. These babies were huge.

Our dining companion ordered the tacos. Again, we asked Marisol if the barbacoa tacos or the carnitas were worth a try - she was kind enough to plate up both. We only sampled a bite of the carnitas, very rich, but they were darn good. 

Margaritas were no slouch either! One on the rocks and one frozen, we were pleased with the outcome of our frosty beverages. 

Mr. Mesero has something going on that is worth checking out!

The Dish: Try that queso!

Sissy's Southern Kitchen & Bar

Sissy's Southern Kitchen and Bar is now open on Henderson, and we recommend getting a reservation. We are so glad that they even offer them! Sissy's was crowded when we arrived and we heard the hostess politely direct the couple in front of us to the bar for dinner, as the restaurant was full.

Sissy's has a bar with a big tv that, kindly, does not interfere with the ambiance of the restaurant. Decor is precious - very southern. The whole place feels comfortable, even down to the flatware and plates.

We started off with the squash puppies. These hush puppy-cornmeal-squash concoctions are served with jalapeno jelly or honey butter. You can't go wrong with a hush puppy. Ever. That's all we will say about that. Our waiter, Thomas, was fantastic at his job. He was personable without interfering. He answered our questions. He was a wonderful food salesman. We really loved him as part of our dinner experience. It's true that the staff can influence the dinner experience. Ours was great because of Thomas.

When he started talking about the fried chicken, we were sold. This is a big deal because neither of us Dishers really eat meat off of the bone. You can get the fried chicken as two pieces or you can purchase a bucket - and I mean to tell you that a bucket might be the way to go! There is some special process that is involved in prepping this chicken: buttermilk soak, pressure cooking, I don't really know or understand the intricacies. All I can tell you is that the chicken will blow you away. The breading is crisp with a touch of spice. The chicken is definitely succulent. Served on top of some whipped mashed potatoes, this dish definitely makes you think of home - IF your home was something featured in a Southern Living Magazine, complete with glamorous Spode serving pieces. We also tried the mac and cheese. Made with three cheeses and topped with bread crumbs, this should have blown us away...but it was missing a little something. Perhaps the cheese choices were too bland to really give this dish the punch it needed? Or maybe a more generous serving of salt would have punched up the flavor (salt and pepper were not table side, so we couldn't adjust)? Regardless, this wasn't our favorite.
The cream biscuits also disappointed us a little. The recipe had a slightly bitter taste to it and the biscuits were very dry. Even the delicious crock of honey butter couldn't salvage these biscuits. It was a generous serving of biscuits, too, and we hated to leave them. Corn bread muffins might be a better choice next time.
Dessert was great - Bourbon bread pudding with salted caramel and pecans. We were torn between their amazing dessert selections, but this bread pudding was a solid choice. It was served warm. The bourbon was present without being overwhelming, there was even a hint of orange involved in the ingredient list somewhere.

Sissy's has some hit or miss dishes, but that won't keep us from returning: the fried chicken is solid enough to base the whole menu around. Next time, fried okra, corn muffins, and pecan pie will be on our "to try" list.

Chop House Burger

Chop House Burger is finally open downtown and we were very excited to try it! We arrived close to 12:3o on a Tuesday afternoon, and the line was already out of the door. The manager came through the line and made sure that everyone had a menu while we waited. This new eatery has picnic style tables inside and outside and bar seating along two walls. You order at the counter and get a number for your table. We kept it simple this first go around and were very pleased. We both ordered the Chop House Burger which usually comes with black summer truffle sauce, red onion, lettuce, and tomato. We ordered one with cheddar cheese lettuce and mayo and the other one with onions, tomato and lettuce. The burgers are cooked medium unless you specify otherwise. Were both very pleased with the overall flavor and juiciness of this burger.





Alongside the burgers, we had to try the fries! We ordered a regular batch ($1.95) and a truffle parmesan batch ($2.95). They were served piping hot in a mini cardboard box. They were both very good, but the truffle fries definitely won out on flavor.


We'll be back and we will make sure to order one of their signature shakes when we return. We gladly welcome another lunch spot downtown Dallas!

Better Burger

We found ourselves in Better Burger's neighborhood this week: the corner of Inwood and Lemmon Avenue.
Better Burger's two sided paper menu lets you choose burger options and non burger options. If you aren't hungry enough for a burger, you even have a slider option.
The nice thing about BB is that you can order your choice of bun (we went with pretzel and were not disappointed), yummy condiments (we chose rosemary mayo), a cheese that suits you (we went with white cheddar), and any number of toppings from guacamole to a fried egg.

In addition to main courses, BB offers up three French fry choices: Idaho Russets, Idaho Purples, or Sweet Potatoes. You can choose one dipping sauce to accompany your fries - anything from chipotle ketchup to honey mustard with a kick.

For the sweet side - milkshakes and floats round out your meal,
all made with Blue Bell ice cream.

All in all, we enjoyed our burger. It had a fresh and unique taste that we liked. The fries could stand some improvement. The root beer float was delicious.
If we found ourselves in the neighborhood, it's a fair bet that we would stop by again.

Union Bear

A favorite colleague of mine and I tried Union Bear on Friday. This new hot spot is located inside of the old Social House spot in West Village. They have totally redone the entire space and it has an open market feel. We were both on a "light" diet, so we started with the homemade bread and butter. This was served no frills- in a basket with a plastic container of butter. We devoured it all, so we were definitely pleased with the warm carbs.

Next, we both ordered the tomato bisque soup which was was served with a rosemary crostini. It was a bisque, but wasn't too rich and it had a light fennel flavor. The soup was very hearty and perfect for a rainy cold afternoon in Dallas.

I ordered the Habanero Asian pear salad. It consisted of seasonal greens tossed with thinly sliced Asian pears, Manchego cheese, and a champagne-mint vinaigrette. Overall, it was a bit too spicy for my taste, but the flavors went well together. This place was a great low key spot for lunch . We had wonderful service and I would love to come back and try one of their pizzas!

Campo Modern Country Bistro

Thursday night we tried out Campo Modern Country Bistro in Oak Cliff. We have heard so much about this restaurant; we were excited to see what all of the hype was about. The restaurant is located inside of a remodeled home: the colors are light and bright, the furniture is modern and the entire space is sparkling clean. We loved the kitschy assortment of dishes, flatware, and dishes. We loved a lot about this place.

We were immediately greeted by our server, Kevin, who was knowledgeable and friendly. He brought us the house made bread, brushed with duck fat and sprinkled with gray sea salt, and a generous heap of butter. We would have been beyond thrilled if that was the only thing we had because it was pretty amazing.

We started with the cauliflower gratin served with grilled toast. This dip was creamy, topped with toasted buttery bread crumbs and was good with or without the toast. We definitely polished off the whole ramekin without shame.

Next, we moved onto the entree! We chose the English pea stuffed agnoletti. Served in a butter and mint sauce with a few petite slices of Speck and citrus shavings on top, this was a light dish that packed quite a taste punch. All of Campo's pasta is made in house and this particular dish was served al dente. The serving portion was perfect and the presentation was very pleasing.

We also ordered the sweet potato side dish topped with candied apricots and a brown butter sauce. The potatoes were silky smooth and the fruit topping made the dish flavors pop.

Everything that we had was so good, we had try the dessert. The white chocolate pound cake topped with milk chocolate and served with dark chocolate cookie sprinkles won our vote. Three dainty cakes were served on the platter with a few tarragon sprigs mixed in. The flavors all worked wonderfully, and we couldn't have been more pleased.

This new spot moves to the TOP of our list! The atmosphere was great, the food was top notch with their flavor melds, preparation, and presentation, and the wait staff could not have offered better service. We were blown away by our experience and look forward to many happy returns - including a try of their newly minted brunch menu. Thanks, Campo!

Hypnotic Donuts

Who can turn down a doughnut? Last Sunday, when Hypnotic Donuts had their Grand Opening, it was apparent that no one could turn down a doughnut. The line was out the door and down the sidewalk. We waited, but when the proprietor announced they were running out of their fried fare, we departed.
I returned recently on a weekday for a re-visit and found the line much more to my liking.

Hypnotic is a donut store, but it is absolutely nothing like what you would expect.
I did try the glazed donut, just to have a starting point.
It was heavy on the donut and light on the glaze - but a pleasant combo.
I will just say that if you come to Hypnotic, don't waste your calories on the glazed. Go all out.

From there, I moved on to the lemon glazed. It was another yeast donut covered with a nice lemon icing. It had a very fresh flavor - a summer donut, if you will.
Again - a decent enough donut, but not one of their show stoppers.

The Zoo Ropa really got down to business. This cake donut was topped with a ridiculously good amount of vanilla icing, sprinkles, and frosted animal crackers.
Lordy! I couldn't finish it, but it was amazing.

The donut that sealed the deal, however, was the Hypnotic Donut - a chocolate cake donut, glazed with chocolate, caramel, and peanut butter- then topped with peanut butter Captain Crunch and pretzels.

I am glad to report that I did recover from my sugar coma in a timely manner. These donuts are amazing and unique - a nice treat. Take a look at their menu and you'll find that S'mores, Poptarts, and Chicken Biscuits are also some of the treasures on their menu.

It's worth stopping by. The folks were friendly. The donuts are super fresh. You won't find anything like it around these parts.