This Week's Hot Headlines

Great Christmas Light Fight in Frisco tops this week's 5 hottest Dallas headlines

Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines.

1. Frisco family charged up for $50,000 battle on ABC's Great Christmas Light Fight. A Frisco family well-known locally for their "extreme," 70,000-light holiday displays got to shine in the national spotlight on December 2 as competitors on the hit ABC reality series The Great Christmas Light Fight. While the Burkman family didn't win the $50,000 grand prize, they're winning hearts with their charitable efforts. The lights are now on for the public to enjoy.

2. Where to see the most spectacular Christmas lights dazzling Dallas in 2021. The magic is back. After a dimmer holiday celebration in 2020, the Dallas area is lighting up, merry and bright, for the Christmas season once again — from towering trees that twinkle and shine to dazzling drive-thru displays and immersive walk-thru experiences. Here's our 2021 guide to the biggest, brightest, most spectacular Christmas light displays in the area.

3. Dallas craft beer pioneer Braindead Brewing to shut down in Deep Ellum. A pioneering Dallas craft beer bar shuttered just after Thanksgiving. Braindead Brewing, which had been open in Deep Ellum for nearly seven years, issued last call on Sunday, November 28. Word from staffers began to leak during Thanksgiving week, and the bar finally posted the news on its Facebook page, stating that "this will be our last weekend of business."

4. Buzzy Dallas neighbor crowned best U.S. place to live by New York Times — sort of. So long to that old, unfortunate nickname "Useless." The city of Euless is now officially Dallas-Fort Worth's hottest city, having just been crowned The New York Times' best place to live in the U.S. — well, sort of.

5. Shoppers in this well-to-do Dallas suburb are the biggest holiday spenders in America. If you live in Flower Mound, you may be making a holiday shopping list as long as a Christmas tree garland and checking it more than twice. The Dallas-Fort Worth city wraps up the No. 1 spot on a new national list of U.S. cities with the fattest holiday budgets, published by personal finance website WalletHub.

The Burkman Holiday Home of Frisco competed on ABC's The Great Christmas Light Fight.

Photo courtesy of Burkman family

The Burkman Holiday Home of Frisco competed on ABC's The Great Christmas Light Fight.

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This week's hot headlines

Authentic Argentinian empanada shop tops week's hottest Dallas stories

Belén de la Cruz

empanadas

Editor's note: This week's headlines were dominated by the opening of restaurants specializing in diverse cuisines: empanadas, fajitas, Indian-Tex Mex fusion, and more. Read up on the top five most popular stories of the week, then check out our weekend event planner for ideas on how to spend your free time before Monday.

1. Authentic Argentinian empanada shop opens near Dallas' Park Cities. An empanada concept from Georgia has come to Texas: Called Belén de la Cruz, it's a small chain from Atlanta that has opened its first Texas location across from Dallas' Inwood Village, at 5601 Lovers Ln. #120, in a former massage spot.

2. New private club with sports & dining opens in old T-Bar Dallas space. Dallas tennis and racquet sports facility T Bar M Racquet Club has been transformed into Banner House at T Bar M, a new private club combining sports facilities with hospitality options.

3. Fancy fajitas will sizzle at new El Molino in Dallas' Snider Plaza. A Dallas restaurant group is unveiling a sizzling new concept: Called El Molino, it's a Mexican restaurant opening in Snider Plaza, and it's from Vandelay Hospitality, the group founded in 2012 by restaurateur Hunter Pond.

Party of Five is new in Bishop Arts.Photo courtesy of Party of Five

4. Party of Five brings brunch and wings to Dallas' Bishop Arts. A brunch-and-lunch restaurant has opened in Dallas' Bishop Arts: Called Party of 5, it’s in the former Tacos y Chelas space at 244 W. Davis St., where it opened in early January.

5. BarraCruda serves rare Tex-Mex Indian fusion menu in Little Elm. A restaurant in Little Elm called BarraCruda Tex-Mex is serving an amazing only-in-Texas fusion combining Tex-Mex and Indian cuisines under one roof. The restaurant is at 498 W. Eldorado Pkwy. where it opened in 2021. However, it got a second life after it was taken over by owner Pavan Paladugu and his family in 2023.