​Out on the eastern edge of Dallas yesterday, I punched my location into my Dive-Burger Finder App and Bell's Better Burger popped up. Bless those satellites orbiting the Earth finding burgers for me.

Bell's Better Burger, at 2610 Peachtree Road in Mesquite, is strictly a drive-in. There are two large menus on each side of a small burger stand, and within a minute of putting it in park, someone comes out to your car to take your order. In my case it was Mrs. Lynne Bell, who arrived with a big smile.

From the picture, you can see that I found a humdinger. That big, fat patty evoked a "dang" when I unwrapped it.

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​Back in August, I posted about the perils of brunch and proclaimed breakfast the superior morning meal. I'd just had a croissant at Zaguan Bakery and thought the black coffee and newspaper culture of the breakfast crowd was infinitely more appealing than the mimosa-drenched brunch set.

The croissant I had that morning was less than perfect, though. It lacked the airy, flaky layers found in a masterfully made pastry. I wanted something a little more delicate, and I wrote that a light, airy, crusty croissant that drops shards of golden pastry with every bite would make for an excellent morning.

I recently found that masterfully made pastry at Urban Acres. They carry croissants baked at nearby Rush Patisserie, in Oak Cliff. Check out the inside of this baby ...

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Front to back: Toro, Mackerel, Squid, and Uni

​When I stumbled into Yutaka on Friday night without a reservation and was told I'd have to wait an hour to sit at the sushi bar, I wasn't disappointed. I left my name at the stand and walked two doors down to Sharaku, the Izakaya owned by the same folks who offered the sushi I was craving.

I sat at the bar of the Izakaya, drank Sapporo and ordered grilled slivers of beef tongue, chicken gizzards and charred smoky green chilies. The meats were served with juicy lemon slices and everything was impaled on little bamboo sticks. They were salty and fresh and great with cold beer. It made for happy snacking, and it took me about an hour order, eat, and nurse my beer. My table back at Yutaka was ready just as I finished paying my tab.

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Whitney Filloon

Bacon. Doughnut. Need we say more?

​When a friend in Oak Cliff mentioned that a doughnut shop down the street from her place had delicious bacon donuts, I figured it was worth setting an alarm for. I dragged myself out of bed at 9:45 this morning (the horror!) and pointed myself toward Lone Star Donuts.

Lone Star is a doughnut factory that wholesales to various outfits, but they also have a small retail outlet where you can stop in and buy freshly baked donuts, as well as savory breakfast sandwiches. I was there for one thing only though: the 85-cent "Maple Bacon Fancy," a classic maple-glazed doughnut topped with a generous amount of perfectly crunchy bacon pieces.

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SoCal Tacos

​Lately we've talked a lot about how the Dallas food scene is moving past plates of melted cheese. But let this stand as a warning to the fancy-pants chefs in this town: Melted cheese will always have a place here. You hear that? Always.

And that's how I justify the nachos I shared at lunch yesterday.

Let's work from the bottom up on these nachos so you'll understand everything that's happening. They start with fresh, thick chips (made at an Arlington tortilleria), black beans, rice, shredded chicken, cheese, grilled jalapeños, salsa verde and then cilantro aioli.

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Lauren Drewes Daniels

​Vietnam in East Dallas is the quintessential hole-in-the-wall spot that serves up amazing, traditional pho. And when Chef Matt McCallister mentioned this 16-year-old eatery as one of his favorites in a recent interview, it was time to revisit.

The particular pho in the photo above is No. 79 from Vietnam's lengthy menu, the thin-eye round beef brisket. When I visited recently, I was feeling more determined than hungry and gave a solid shot at finishing the entire bowl. It didn't happen, but my attempt still left me pretty much miserable for the next four hours. It was glorious.

Micheal Nguyen, whose family owns Vietnam, shared a couple of his secrets with me.

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Yes, I realize it would be better with a steak on it.

​I think I'm getting into the groove. My first hurdle with meatless Monday was just remembering that today was Monday, and I wasn't supposed to eat meat on Mondays. (What day is it again?) I solved that with a calendar reminder that goes off every Monday morning and says, "It's Meatless Monday, Dipshit."

Now that I don't forget about the pledge I'm spending my time learning how to pick dishes that don't suck. I had a Margherita Pizza from Cane Rosso last week that was good, and today I went to Eatzi's to construct a meatless sandwich that would quell my inner carnivore.

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​When I first read the menu description for NHS Tavern's Reuben, I was smitten. In-house corned beef, gruyere cheese, jalapeño and onion kraut on marble rye and Russian dressing? I'll take two, please. But that anticipation was quickly replaced with disappointment when I took a first bite from the sandwich.

The corned beef was woefully undercooked, and hard, white fat was visible throughout the slices. The meat was tough and pulled from between the bread. I wasn't happy, and used my heartbreak to fuel a search for Dallas' best Reuben elsewhere.

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​Chocolate Secrets is at the corner of 3926 Oak Lawn and Avondale. It serves organic candied Black Forest bacon nestled in a sea of dark chocolate ganache (see more photos below). They're among the most magnificent things I've ever eaten.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled bacon programming.

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Note: Three of her badges are for STDs.

​It's Girl Scout Cookie Time, bitches! I heard them say it on the radio, so it must be true. And it is! If you go to the Girl Scout cookies website, you can type in your ZIP code and they will tell you exactly how many minutes and miles you are away from shoving two sleeves of Thin Mints into your face hole.

You can organize your search by date and time or by distance. Obviously if you truly love Girl Scout cookies, you don't give a shit about the distance and you always organize that search by date.

"Date: NOW! Distance: WHO GIVES A FLYING FUCKING SAMOA!"

If their website is telling me the truth, this weekend is when the shit's going down. This Saturday, it looks like the Girl Scouts will have a stand fulla Do-Si-Dos at every Tom Thumb, Kroger and Walmart in Dallas that I've ever heard of. They're even at Lowe's. LOWE'S, PEOPLE!!

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