10 Cozy Fireplace Restaurants and Bars in Dallas

Since our weather suddenly got cold, I've been thinking about where I can eat or drink next to a warm fireplace— not a fire pit, fire feature, or heat lamp, but a bonafide fireplace. Nothing beats the warmth and light of a real flame while dining or sipping a beverage. Many of these are even real wood-burning fireplaces, so you get that great crackling sound. Roaring fireplaces also create the perfect ambiance for a romantic winter date night idea.

I went around town in the 30º weather last night taking photos of a few of my favorite fireplaces. I was surprised by how few people were enjoying them, and that one was not even lit! The unlit fireplace still had a crowd of people around it, showing that a stone fireplace is a nice feature to gather around, even without a fire.

This is not a comprehensive list of every fireplace in Dallas; these are the restaurants and bars where I have enjoyed their fireplace atmosphere. I have grouped them by neighborhood. If you have a favorite fireplace restaurant in Dallas that isn't included here, please let me know in the comments, below. Now go get cozy!

On Henderson Ave:

Hibiscus

Hibiscus' Fireplace. Photo Credit: EventUp.

A fireplace sits in the front bar/waiting room with a few dimly-lit, intimate tables situated around the stone hearth. This room has the feel of an old mansion's drawing room, where men in suits are drinking Scotch and the only thing missing is cigars.

Pocket Guide to the Best Tasting 2014 State Fair of Texas Fried Foods

If you're going to take the calorie hit to try several fried foods at the State Fair of Texas, you don't want to waste those calories on something that tastes just okay. You want to be wowed! You also don't want to spend a whole fair coupon sheet on food that tastes too funky to finish (anyone remember Fried Beer?)

Lucky for you (and me), I tasted all eight fried food finalists at the Big Tex Choice Awards official judging event. I photographed, reviewed, and ranked them all into this handy, single-image pocket guide, the "2014 Best Tasting Fried Foods at the 2014 State Fair of Texas":

D Magazine to Reveal "Best of Big D" Issue at a Big Party (and I Have Tickets to Giveaway!)

Be the first to experience D magazine's "Best of Big D" August 2014 issue, before it even hits newsstands. Enjoy a summer night out this Wednesday at The Rustic and kick back with a beverage and food samples from some of their 2014 winners— including Abacus, Mr. Mesero, Nick & Sam's, Bolsa, Stampede 66 and more. Tunes will be provided by DJ Sober and Sam Lao, and there's a concert after the event at 9:30pm featuring Jackopierce for an additional $15 ticket.

The $50 ticket includes food and drink for three hours, plus the DJs "and lots of surprises". You can buy tickets online at http://d-m.ag/U21YRB.

Savor Dallas: My Favorite Food Festival + Free Ticket Giveaway!

2015 Post-Event Update: I no longer recommend attending this event. It has been steadily declining for the past the three years to the point where the 2015 event was not worth going to. Here's why: None of the media reviewers I see there every year or strangers I talked to in line were wowed by the creativity and flavor in any of the dishes this year. This downhill trend started at the 2013 event and has culminated in zero "wows" in 2015. It's nearly the same vendors every year. It seems more of them have figured out they need to make the food ahead of time. Perhaps that explains why taste and creativity has suffered. Although I don't understand why they haven't also learned to bring more food because every year a quarter of the booths run out of food one hour before the event ends and almost no one has food with 30 minutes left. The ticket price used to be cheaper and a good value with several really creative and delicious dishes to try, but $120 ticket price per person is not even remotely worth what you get now. I recommend spending that money on the much tastier and more creative food at any of the reputable restaurants in Dallas.
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You know I attend most of the food and drink festivals and events in DFW, but the one I look forward to the most is this Saturday's annual Savor Dallas International Grand Tasting. I like this event best because it offers the biggest variety of food from so many of the top restaurants in DFW—plus wine, beer, and spirits—and all of it is all-you-can-eat/drink. Also, there are no stupid food coupons needed to buy each item. In the words of comedian, John Pinette, you can just, "grab and move, grab and move!" The only thing you need to bring is a very empty stomach because you can't possibly taste everything at this event!

My favorite chocolatier, Kate Weiser Chocolates, will be there!

2013 Dallas Foodie Gift Ideas

For the Dallas foodie on your gift list, I present my favorite locally-made food products in 2013. Any one of these gifts could stand on it's own (if you're looking for a cheap gift), or you could create a Dallas foodie gift basket by combining several of these items. It feels good to give people unique gifts they might actually enjoy, and you can feel extra good knowing you're supporting local small businesses.

The Best Chocolate Day of Your Life – 2013 Dallas Chocolate Conference

Do you LOVE chocolate? Do you love chocolate enough to be sober at 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning in Addison for the best chocolate tasting day of your life? Because the Dallas Chocolate Conference has been the best chocolate day of my life every year for the past few years, and this year, I want to share the experience with another true chocolate lover.

Preview tasting with chocolates by Sublime Chocolate and Kate Weiser Chocolates

Review: Fried Foods at 2013 State Fair of Texas

Almost every fried food I ate this year ranged from quite tasty to downright outstanding! With so many award-winning fried foods and so-so fried foods from past years still available, plus 23 new fried foods in 2013, deciding which fried foods to eat can be overwhelming. That's where experience comes in—not just my own years of fair food tasting experiences, but everything I hear and read about other people's opinions. With all those things considered, I scouted out the fried foods I felt might be the best tasting this year and complied the lists and commentary below, plus this heavenly collage:

The 9 best fried foods I ate at the State Fair of Texas in 2013.

Dallas Foodie Mystery Excursion

10:00AM – 1:00PM on Wednesday, July 24, 2013 

SECRET LOCATION (will be sent to those who RSVP)

In Dallas we have a ridiculous foodie experience that only happens during this time period, and it would be a lot more fun if a small group of Dallas foodies would like to join me. I can practically guarantee you that we will eat some of the best foods you've ever eatten in your entire life. Bring a camera because your friends will be so jealous they'll be drooling on their screens and asking you to bring them some. This is partly why I can't reveal exactly where we are going, so our meeting location will only be sent to the 10 people who RSVP at this link.

What Are the Best Things to Do, See, Eat, Drink, and Shop in Dallas?

I am excited and honored to announce that the Dallas Convention Center & Visitor's Bureau has asked me to write several parts of the 2013 edition of the "Visit Dallas" guide book, and I am eager to hear your suggestions of the must-include places! This is your opportunity to have a voice in guiding Dallas visitors to experience the best of our city!

Quest for the Best Salads in Dallas

It probably wasn't a good idea to eat the five Best Burgers in Dallas in four days—right before my holidays full of homemade cookies and western European starch foods—but it does seem like a good idea to follow that up with a weeklong quest to find the best salads in Dallas. I'll be revisiting the most delicious salads I've eaten in the past, plus trying a few new salads, as suggested by fans in my call for suggestions last week.

The Summer Burrata Salad at Fireside Pies is only available in summer,
but it is one of the most unique and delicious salads in Dallas.

Best Burgers in Dallas 2012

2012 marks my third annual Best Burgers in Dallas list. Each year, I am surprised how many more great burgers are added to the DFW area, but I am certainly not complaining about that! I am constantly seeking the best burger in Dallas and listening to other people's opinions on the best burger in Dallas, so I welcome your feedback in the comments section.

The best burger in Dallas has become so competitive that I've decided to split burgers into two classes: Diner Burgers and Restaurant Burgers. Roughly classified, restaurant burgers are more expensive (around $10) and are made from higher quality ingredients, like actual steak and local farm tomatoes. I find it difficult to compare a delicious, $3 greasy diner burger to a $14 steakhouse burger. This means a list of greasy burger deliciousness is slated for 2013. For now I give you the best Dallas restaurant burgers of 2012.

Belmont Burger (with goat cheese) at Company Cafe

2012 Guide to the Best Fried Foods at State Fair of Texas

I've tried at least 21 fried foods at the State Fair of Texas, including all eight of the 2012 Big Tex Choice Awards fried food finalists. I've posted my photos and commentary in real-time all over the socialsphere, but I thought I'd pull all the links and comments together in one detailed page so you can choose which social site to drool, read, and share your favorites or create your own list of fried foods to try. Scroll down for Facebook, Foursquare, and Pinterest photo links. Up first are descriptions of this compilation photo…

30 Days of the Best Foods in Dallas

If you follow one of my daily food photo social media networks, you may have noticed I've been eating amazing food more often than normal. It was all in the name of research! I couldn't just write a list of 30 of the best foods I've eaten in Dallas without double-checking the worthiness of some items or getting a better photo that more accurately portrayed its extreme deliciousness. This list took weeks of re-evaluating, polling trusted foodie friends, and reviewing my food photo archives, and now my list of 30 of the best foods in Dallas is complete.

For each day in September I will add one dish with a review and photo below. I will also make it easy for you to find these foods and follow the daily updates by adding the hashtag "#BestFoodDallas" to my original Instagram post of that food and every tweet update, plus I have created a Foursquare list, Foodspotting guide, Facebook photo album, and Pinterest board that you can follow.

Savor Dallas: Best Food & Wine Event of the Year

2015 Post-Event Update: I no longer recommend attending this event. It has been steadily declining for the past the three years to the point where the 2015 event was not worth going to. Here's why: None of the media reviewers I see there every year or strangers I talked to in line were wowed by the creativity and flavor in any of the dishes this year. This downhill trend started at the 2013 event and has culminated in zero "wows" in 2015. It's nearly the same vendors every year. It seems more of them have figured out they need to make the food ahead of time. Perhaps that explains why taste and creativity has suffered. Although I don't understand why they haven't also learned to bring more food because every year a quarter of the booths run out of food one hour before the event ends and almost no one has food with 30 minutes left. The ticket price used to be cheaper and a good value with several really creative and delicious dishes to try, but $120 ticket price per person is not even remotely worth what you get now. I recommend spending that money on the much tastier and more creative food at any of the reputable restaurants in Dallas.
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From a Dallas Foodie perspective, Savor Dallas is my favorite weekend of the year, and it's coming up at the end of this month. What sets it apart from other Dallas food and drink events is the sheer number and quality of items to be sampled at multiple events over the course of two days.

Photo courtesy of Savor Dallas

The Best Hot Chocolate in Dallas

I wrote a new feature article for ILiveinDallas.com today!

"As the weather gets colder and coffee shops get warmer, there is one drink on the beverage menu that doesn't get as much attention as it deserves— hot chocolate. As someone who has never liked coffee and didn't become a tea drinker until several years ago, I've drank a lot of hot chocolate in my life. The richness, viscosity, and presentation can vary greatly, so first, let's take a look at what makes a good cup."

Read the full article on ILiveinDallas.com.

How to Eat Free Food in Dallas Every Day of the Week

Dallas is a restaurant mecca. We have some great food here, and there are some times when this food is actually FREE. I want to know if it is possible to eat free in Dallas at least once a day for a whole week. Starting Sunday, July 24, 2011, I will investigate what you need to do to get the free food and let you know how good it tastes. Every day I'll update the list below with a link to the daily report on where I went, but I'm keeping the spots a secret until I go!

Let me first establish what qualifies for this "free food". Mainly, I want you to be able to follow in my footsteps, so although it'd be fairly easy to eat free for a week with one-time deals like coupons, contests, and events, I'm not going be taking advantage of them unless they occur on a regular repeating basis. Also, I'm not going to be wearing the T-shirt I use to do yard work to get served at a soup kitchen or church function, and I won't be buying a SMU hoodie to sneak into a club meeting with free pizza. I'm just going to be an average person, walking into the right restaurant, bar, or food venue at the right time, and I'm going to eat real, free food.

The Best, Worst and Most Missed Dallas Restaurants in Social Media

Well folks, it's mid-2011 and by now everyone knows what social media is. Yelp hit 20 million reviews this month, Twitter is still growing, and everyone plus half of their grandmothers are on Facebook now. Social media is the easiest and cheapest way for a local restaurant to keep customers connected. Dallas is said to have more restaurants per capita than any other city in the U.S., so how do you think Dallas restaurants are doing with their social media marketing?

If you found this blog, then you're probably already a foodie using social media, so I want to hear your nominations in the comments section below. As a foodie and social media strategist, I am frequently searching for and tagging restaurants in my tweets and Facebook posts, so let me get the nominations going with my best, worst, and most missed Dallas restaurants in social media…

2011 Dallas Dessert Trends

This video is a must watch for dessert lovers! The Food Network did research to determine the top ten dessert trends for 2011. Watch the video and read below to see how these trends compare to what I've seen going on in the Dallas dessert scene...

Top Ten Dessert Trends for 2011 from The Food Channel on Vimeo.

Best Burgers in Dallas 2011

I am constantly searching for the best burger in Dallas—tasting new and unranked burgers, evaluating everyone else's bests lists, and re-tasting my own best list to make sure each burger is holding its rank. When I re-tasted my (formerly) No. 2 Meddlesome Moth burger this week I realized some other burgers haven't been holding their rank, and it was time for a total re-ranking of my list. See if any of my favorites match yours.

Bread Winner's burger did not make the rankings.

25 Top Dallas Restaurants According to Five Local Foodies, Like Me

I was recently invited to be a guest writer for ILiveinDallas.com in what turned out to be their most popular article of the year, "25 of the Best Dallas Restaurants According to Five Local Foodies". Each of five Dallas foodies, such as myself, got to pick their top 5 favorite restaurants in Dallas and explain they picked it.

Here is an excerpt about my picks:

My philosophy on a "best restaurant" is if it's too pricey or fancy to go there without a special occasion excuse, then it's not really that great. My list of Best Restaurants in Dallas are ones where you can feel comfortable going whenever you like, and you can count on getting exceptional flavors, creative food, a unique atmosphere, and service that's at least good enough to not ruin the rest of your dining experience.

Can you guess which restaurants I picked? Find out at 25 top restaurants in Dallas, Texas.