Addison-based Razzoo's, which is kind of a Cajun-food theme park, is on the hook for $1 million to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission -- because the chain's got a thing against the mens. The EEOC filed a lawsuit against the eatery claiming it discriminated against male applicants and employees, because Razzoo's wouldn't hire or promote men to tend bar. The EEOC, which is splitting about $750,000 of the settlement with gents who cried foul, was not amused: "Some may think that sex sells drinks," says the lead EEOC attorney working the case, "but gender ratios are illegal." So too is Razzoo's Seafood Combo Platter, which is guilty of being too fried. --Robert Wilonsky
The June issue of Esquire contains its annual rundown of the Best Bars in America -- and it probably comes as no surprise to D's Adam McGill that the Lakewood Landing makes the list. But that's only because Adam wrote the item, which goes a little something like this: "The place breathes history but with a hacker's cough. It's dark and smoky, even when it's light out and no one's lit up." Read the rest in coming days, preferably with a smoldering Red dangling from your lips, which, I guarantee, is not how Adam wrote it. Also note: We've already given the joint, what, eight Best of Dallas awards? And, of course, this in no way means the Inwood Lounge isn't still one of "the most inviting [bars] in the city." Though it's not the same without Harry behind the bar. --Robert Wilonsky
Chili's Chicken Crispers® just got extra yummy! More sauce please.
And you thought Chili's had trouble before. Next time you bite into that juicy Guiltless Chicken Sandwich at Chili’s, you may want to know that, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals today, you should probably feel at least a little bit guilty. A shareholder in Dallas-based Brinker International, PETA submitted a resolution that the company steer its suppliers away from its current method of killing and toward the less cruel "controlled-atmosphere killing."
Using the CAK method the hens’ oxygen is slowly replaced with nonpoisonous gasses. The chickens suffocatego to sleep painlessly. And that’s the less cruel option. So how exactly are they killing those chickens that go into that Chicken Salsa Fresca at On the Border's? Well, according to PETA ... You know what, just read it for yourself, because it's damned near dinner time, and phrases like "birds' heads are run through electrified baths that painfully shock and paralyze them" are close to putting us off tonight's serving of yardbird. Almost, but not quite. --Daniel Rodrigue
Press release or public service announcement? Again, hard to tell. Nonetheless, here's a fiscal win-win for those who not only like the Chick-fil-A but also like it free: On Thursday, the chicken eatery that seasons its meat with a touch of Jesus will offer a year's worth of Chick-fil-A Combo Meal coupons to the first 100 growed-ups willing to stand in line at the chain's newest stand-alone location at 9386 LBJ Freeway. Says the media release, "The line can begin forming up to 24 hours prior to the opening, with the prizes being given away on May 8 sometime between 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m." Not included in the prize pack: a gratis trip to the cardiologist. --Robert Wilonsky
Besides, she's not really a fan of a few of the cheftestants currently slicing and dicing their way through the show that made her famous: "I was a little disgusted by their behavior," she says. "There are some really strong chefs, but I also think there is a lot of riff-raff that they need to get through. ... They may have worked for some restaurant in New York City, but it may not have even been good. For some, I can't believe what they came up with, and I can't believe they haven't been eliminated yet." For the record, Richard's her current fave. --Robert Wilonsky
We just got very interested in who's gonna become The Next Food Network Star. Local connections and all.
A Friend of Unfair Park wonders: Is the Lisa Garza mentioned below, as the Dallas contestant on the forthcoming season of The Next Food Network Star, the same Lisa Garza who cooks at (and, ya know, co-owns with husband Gilbert Garza) the beloved Suze on Northwest Highway and Midway Road. And, yes, it is: "You're correct," Lisa Krueger, the network's manager of public relations, told Unfair Park after the official announcement today. "We never really limited the show to just professional chefs or just home chefs. The only caveat was they couldn't have had previous national shows." The fourth season debuts June 1. --Robert Wilonsky
Breaking news for the Liz Lemons of the world, or at least the 30 Rock viewers who get the headline: Food Network today announced the 10 peeps competing for the title of The Next Food Network Star, and one of them's a local -- name of Lisa Garza. The series -- now in its fourth season, really? -- bows June 1, with the winner revealed on July 27. I seem to recall last season's "star" looked a lot like Margot Kidder; did she actually get a show, or were those ads just a fake-out? No doubt, the fact I have to ask is why Food Network's planning on giving this season's winner a six-episode series debuting in August. So, ya know, get to work, Lisa Garza. --Robert Wilonsky
Since October, we've been ever-so-anxiously awaiting the winner of the 43rd Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest, which just wrapped at the Fairmont Hotel downtown. And we need wait no more: A hearty mazel tov goes to Carolyn Gurtz of Gaithersburg, Md., whose six-ingredient Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies, pictured at right, are worth a million bucks. But a local did rake in the title of America's Favorite Recipe, which is worth $5,000: Lancaster's Gwen Beauchamp, who served up her Toffee-Banana Brownies. The rest of the contest's winners can be found here -- though, really, I'm gonna have to pass on the Blue Cheese and Red Onion Jam Crescent Thumbprints. --Robert Wilonsky
Public-relations move or public service -- there is a very fine line, especially when it comes to so-so dining conducted amongst pieces of flair. Nevertheless. Last week it was free coffee; today through June 16, it's a mere five bucks for lunch at Bennigan's -- drink included, if you order among the 10 items including the unfortunately monikered Turkey O’Toole, the Monte Cristo (which, if memory serves, was awesome-terrible) and the dynamic duo of Irish Grilled Cheese & Tomato Basil Soup. It's the Plano-based chain's latest attempt to jump-start its struggling fast-casual business -- and, say, whatever became of the Quick Grill prototype, come to think of it? Says Metromedia Restaurant Group's director of marketing, she expects other fast-casuals to follow suit: "In this economy, they'll have to [lower their prices]." Which might get me back to Chili's yet. --Robert Wilonsky
I cannot comment on the quality of Cappulido Coffee, the Denton-based seller of beans that "believes that a fair wage, a quality bean, and a choice roasting technique make for the finest cup of coffee." I can, however, tell you that, far as I know, it's the only cup of joe currently available on the mail-order market from the guitarist in Midlake -- ya know, Eric Pulido -- which has to count for something, especially if you like your coffee flavored Indie-Rock. It's a subscription service, with a bag of beans dropping on your doorstep 'round the end of every month. --Robert Wilonsky
Also known as the only thing I've ever ordered at a Chili's.
Dallas-based Brinker International's stock is down today -- 55 cents, at last look, to $18.48 -- after an analyst gave it a "neutral" rating. And why's Christopher O'Cull of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey so so-so on Doug Brooks' chain of eateries? 'Cause, says the Associated Press, "Chili's has been unable to stand out from the pack of casual dining restaurants and faces increased competition from quick-service chains." Come to think of it, I can't recall the last time I went to Chili's. But right now, I could totally go for an Oldtimer®. How 'bout you, Rhett Miller? --Robert Wilonsky
A public-service announcement, courtesy a press release: Beginning at 11 a.m., Starbucks will be giving away 8-ounce cups of coffee -- which is awesome, if you love your coffee just the wrong side of burnt. Alas, it's the company's new Pike Place Roast, so named for the company's original Seattle location -- which was about 15,999 stores ago, give or take. In related news, this curious note from the Dallas Business Journal: "Starbucks is erecting Pike's Place Cafés in some cities, including one in Dallas' West Village on McKinney and Lemmon. The café will be a replica of the original Starbucks store in Seattle." --Robert Wilonsky
Spring has sprung at Dallas Farmers Market, which means, for those planning an Easter weekend shopping spree, plentiful amounts of tomato and herb plants, greenhouse-grown tomatoes, barnyard eggs and fresh-from-the-sea salmon, the latter courtesy an Alaskan family in the area for just a short time. Also, in Shed 2, you'll find three ranchers from Hunt County offering grass-fed beef, poultry, lamb and pork -- and butter and cheese, if that ain't enough to both start and stop your heart.
But, sad truth be told, local farmers offering homegrown product -- like the items mentioned on the menu offered above -- are getting harder to find at Dallas Farmers Market. At its inception in 1941, the city's downtown market served as a hub for local farmers to hawk their goods. But in recent years, area farmers have turned their sights to more efficient and profitable ways to sell their fruit and veg -- like co-ops and wholesale operations. Which means the local contingent has shrunk to just 10 farmers who sell seasonal crops on an irregular basis out of the market’s yellow shed. Only, that's about to change.
The French Room at the Adolphus, still the best restaurant in Dallas, says Zagat's Texas survey.
The new Zagat Survey's out covering the entirety of Texas' dining choices -- by which they mean "1,505 restaurants in Austin, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston and San Antonio." Tops in Dallas: The French Room at the Adolphus Hotel, nice. Also revealed: Folks in the DFW eat out four times a week, on average -- spending, oh, about $34.61 per meal, or a dollar more than the national average and tops in the state among the cities surveyed. The meat of the round-up: "Big D is as much about cuisine as it is about the Cowboys."
Dean Fearing, clearly not a role model for young chefs
Speaking of The New York Times and Dallas and our city's estimable pleasures, as we were one item down, today critic Frank Bruni releases the names of three more eateries that make his list of "Intriguing New Restaurants Outside of New York." Of course, we already knew Fearing's made the list -- it makes everyone's list -- but now we know at which spot: No. 5, turns out. Why come? Fearing's is a restaurant that "presents a modern parable" -- one topped with a salad of mango and pickled red onion, no doubt. Food's good, sure, but why at the five-spot and not higher? "Short on nuance, Fearing’s can be overwhelming. So can the tab."
But that ain't the big local news outta The Times. Turns out, we're about to get an indoor water park-hotel with "a mango-colored exterior and a tropical theme." It's called KeyLime Cove Water Resort, and, says the owner, “We plan to open one in the Dallas-Houston area in the next 18 months, followed by another one in Connecticut. Our plans are to have 20 across the country in the next 10 years.” Dunno where the "Dallas-Houston area" is exactly -- Teague, maybe? Besides, isn't one Great Wolf Lodge more than enough? --Robert Wilonsky
