This week in gluttony

These are the 8 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

Dine out cheaper at some of Dallas' priciest restaurants, like Nobu, during DFW Restaurant Week.

Courtesy of Nobu

This week marks the beginning of DFW Restaurant Week, where more than 100 area eateries will offer specials to benefit a good cause. August also means Hatch chile season is here, and one gourmet grocery chain is ready to celebrate the piquant pepper with a month-long festival. Also on the schedule: a wine dinner, taco and margarita tour, and a hangover brunch to end the week.

Tuesday, August 3

Evil Cooks & Metalachi at José
It's an exclusive night of tacos with Evil Cooks, the dynamic husband-and-wife duo of Chef Alex and Chef Huerta, known for their trompo style tacos and flan dessert tacos. They don't do set menus, so you won't know what's being served till they arrive at José and plan the night with Chef AQ. Margaritas, cocktails, beer, and wine available for purchase at the outside bar or inside at the main bar. Metalachi, a metal, fiddle-swinging, trumpet-blasting, guitar-strumming Mariachi band, will also perform. It's from 7-10 pm, and tickets are $75, available here.

Wednesday, August 4

Annual Hatch Chile Fest at Central Market
Hatch peppers are here, and the gourmet grocer will feature the popular pepper in everything from crab cakes and brioche to mac and cheese and tortillas. Named for their origin of Hatch, New Mexico, the pepper is harvested only a few weeks out of the year and more 250,000 pounds will make their way to Central Market stores across Texas. The festival will run through August 26 at all locations.

Thursday, August 5

Prisoner Wine Dinner at The Ranch at Las Colinas
The four-course dinner will be paired with wine from the popular Napa Valley label. Menu items include grilled and chilled peach soup with goat cheese and basil, yellow tuna tartare, coffee-infused filet, and peach mousse with Italian meringue. Dinner is $95 per person, plus tax and gratuity, and begins at 6 pm.

Friday, August 6

DFW Restaurant Week
The 2021 edition of the annual dine-out fundraiser kicks off its preview weekend on Friday, with the official “week” running August 9-15. Patrons can indulge in a pre-set, multicourse dinner for either $39 or $49 per person — a bargain for some of Dallas’ priciest establishments like Nobu, Al Biernat’s, and Mansion on Turtle Creek. A two-course lunch option is available for $19. There are dozens of restaurants in Dallas and surrounding areas participating in the 24th annual event, which benefits the North Texas Food Bank and Lena Pope Home. Note that some restaurants are extending their specials through September 5.

Saturday, August 7

La Cruda Brunch at Four Corners Brewing Company
The Dallas brewery and taproom will launch brunch this week, set for the first Saturday of every month. La Cruda means “hangover” in Spanish, and menu items follow the theme. Go for hangover-curing dishes like breakfast tacos with fillings including migas, beef fajitas, or chorizo; and burritos with eggs, queso, avocado, and potatoes. There’ll also be coffee, micheladas, and boozy kombucha seltzer. Brunch will be served from 10 am-1 pm.

Dallas’ Best Tacos & Margaritas Tour
Hop aboard a motorcoach for a four-stop tour of tacos and margs around Dallas. There’ll be street tacos and gourmet tacos (four total) along with two margaritas and some taco trivia along the way. (More margaritas available at additional cost. Participants may also BYOB on the motorcoach.) Tickets are $70 per person and the tour begins at 12:30 pm.

Black Bourbon Society Bourbon-Q Paired Tasting at Sandaga 813
Black Bourbon Society, in partnership with Jim Beam, is bringing The Open Door Tour to Dallas, and the featured event is a family barbecue that allows adults to sample the Beam portfolio paired with BBQ small bites. The tour spotlights Black-owned bars and restaurants in the community; the barbecue will take place 3-4:30 pm at Sandaga 813 (813 Exposition Ave., Dallas). For more information and other events through the weekend, visit the tour's website.

Sunday, August 8

Bubbles & Brunch at The Whiskey Spot
In addition to a brunch buffet that includes bottomless bubbly and mimosas, there’ll be a local vendor market and even DIY crafting at this Sunday brunch event. Menu highlights include house-cured smoked salmon and fig balsamic-glazed chicken. Tickets are $50 per persona and brunch begins at 11 am.

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Skewer News

Vila Brazil to bring affordable Brazilian steakhouse to Cedar Hill

Photo courtesy of Vila Brazil

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A Brazilian steakhouse known for its low-for-steak prices is coming to Garland: Called Vila Brazil, it's part of a small local chain and will open in Cedar Hill, at 305 W. RM Rd. 1382 #316, in the former Crab & Bar space, in late 2025.

Vila Brazil was founded by restaurateur Roberto de Sa, who opened the first location in Irving in 2011, as a home-grown rendition of churrascaria-type restaurants such as Fogo de Chao. A second location opened in Garland in 2024.

According to co-owner Gabriel de Sa, the Cedar Hill location will feature the same menu, including rotating chef specials at the buffet.

Vila Brazil features a lower-cost version of churrascaria, a Brazilian style of serving cuts of grilled meat from giant skewers onto diners’ plates. They offer eight cuts of meat including picanha steak, sirloin, chicken, lamb, and pork.

There’s also a salad bar buffet featuring rice, salads, vegetables, and Brazilian-inspired dishes such as cheese bread rolls and cinnamon-grilled pineapple.

Weekday lunch is $25 and dinner is $40 daily. For the buffet only, it’s $18-$21.

They own other restaurants including VB's steakhouse in Arlington and Casa Pollastro, a Brazilian-Italian concept in North Dallas. But Gabriel says they take a different approach with Vila Brazil than some of the other more expensive churrascaria restaurants in town.

"Instead we offer homemade food at an affordable price with great quality and flavor,” he says. "Our guests on average visit our store three times a month — much more frequently than your typical churrascaria."

The Cedar Hill location will be fairly large, in a 6,528 square-foot space, with an approachable casual dining atmosphere.

“We choose the Cedar Hill community for the same reason we opened in Garland, to serve an underserved community,” Gabriel says. “A fusion between a fast casual buffet and a Brazilian Churrascaria Vila Brazil is accessible to all members of the community with high value.”

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