This week in gluttony

These are the 7 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

It's luau time.

Photo courtesy of Blue Owl Brewing

This week brings the Labor Day holiday — considered the unofficial end of summer — and there are several soirees to celebrate. Plan for a poolside party with live music, a Labor Day family-style brunch (with more live music), and a Hawaiian-style luau to send off summer in tropical fashion. Soak up the last of summer shindigs while they last.

Saturday, September 4

The Bacon Tour
The bacon craze carries on through this savory tour, which will include stops for bacon pizza, bacon doughnuts, BLTs, bacon-covered chocolate, and bacon-wrapped quail. (Save room for something called the bacon “Bucket of Love,” too.) Board the motor coach — which is BYOB — at 12:30 pm for a four-hour excursion. Tickets are $59 for adults and $49 for children ages 5-10.

Sunday, September 5

Spanish Latin American Duo Boards with Amor y Queso
Grab a friend and head to this Latin-inspired charcuterie class at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, where each duo will create their own board to share. The class will be led by the experts from Amor y Queso cheese shop. Some ingredients will be harvested from the gardens. The class will run from 11 am-1 pm and is $75 per pair for members and $80 for a guest couple.

Life at the Lakehouse Outdoor Party
It’s an end-of-summer soiree at the Omni Las Colinas lakeside hotel, where The Lakehouse Waterfront Lounge will host a poolside party. The event will feature live music, lawn games, and menu items fresh off the grill. Go Instagram-ready, as there will be photo ops situated throughout the property by Corona Premiere, Chandon Garden Spritz, Belvedere Organic Infusions, and Aperol liqueur. The event will take place all day from 11 am-8 pm and is free to attend; however, pool access requires a $25 resort pass for non-hotel guests. Food and cocktails will be available for purchase.

Chef Wars Food Festival at Grow DeSoto Marketplace
Family-friendly event includes food, music, bounce house, face painting, vendors, and games. A mix of foods will include barbecue, funnel cake, turkey legs, tacos, vegan, and keto. Chefs will compete to win a $200 gift card to Flobinna House of Fashion, and it will be up to the audience to vote for their favorite. It takes place 1-7 pm at 324 E. Belt Line Rd. Tickets are $5 in advance or $10 at the door and cover entry; food requires separate purchase.

Labor Day Weekend Luau at Legacy Hall
Wrap up summer Hawaiian-style with a taste of the tropics at Legacy Hall. There’ll be hula and live fire dancers, a limbo competition, and live music by Jimmy Buffett and Kenney Chesney tribute bands. Tickets start at $15 for general admission. The $60 ticket comes with VIP seating, a Hawaiian dinner of pulled pork, teriyaki chicken, slaw, potato salad and sweet rolls, and one tiki cocktail in a collectable coconut cup. The event will run from 2-10 pm.

Monday, September 6

Labor Day Jam and Toast Brunch at The Rustic
The Rustic’s popular Sunday brunch will be served Monday this week, paired with jamming live music. The generous menu is served family-style ($16.95 per person) and includes local cheeses and fruit, avocado toast, country baked eggs, bacon, sausage, Nashville-style spicy fried chicken, smoked cheddar grits, and small-batch doughnuts baked in-house. Wash it all down with mimosas or bloody marys sold by the carafe and pitcher. Brunch begins at 10 am and ends at 2 pm.

Labor Day Brunch at City Works Eatery and Pour House
Both locations, in Frisco and Fort Worth, will extend the usual weekend brunch to a Labor Day Monday "Funday" rock 'n' roll-themed event. Menu includes the Jon Bun Jovi (warm jumbo cinnamon roll), Johnny Hash (hardwood-smoked pulled pork shoulder over sunny side up eggs), Chimi Hendrix (breakfast chimichanga), and more. Brunch is offered from 10 am-3 pm; reservations are recommended and can be made online or by calling the restaurants.

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Burger News

Fun family-owned Big Mike's Bar and Grill from TV star debuts in Plano

Tommy LeBeouf

Big burger from Big Mike's in Plano

A charming family-owned restaurant from a TV star has debuted in Plano. Called Big Mike’s Bar and Grill, it's an elevated sports bar that just opened at 3200 Alma Dr., in a former Pancho's Mexican Buffet where it's serving tasty Angus burgers and beer-battered onion rings, hand-battered in-house.

Big Mike's is from husband-and-wife Mike Cancelmi and Jennie Marie; she gained fame as the star of the 2018 TLC show Mama Medium. The couple is from Rochester, New York, but fell in love with the Dallas area with their four sons after visiting a friend in 2021.

Their signature Big Mike's burger is a biggie: a half-pound patty with cheddar, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a fried egg on a brioche bun, served with choice of hand-cut fries, tater tots, or sweet potato fries, for $18.

They bring their Northeast influence with dishes such as a Reuben sandwich with corned beef on marble rye, and their own version of poutine, the Canadian specialty, which they make with fries, cheese curds, brown gravy, and thick-cut crumbled bacon.

One dish reflect their hometown pride: Called the Trash Plate, it's inspired by the Garbage Plate, a sloppy comfort food dish created in 1918 at Rochester restaurant Nick Tahou Hots which has become the unofficial signature dish of the city of Rochester.

The traditional Garbage Plate consists of a choice of burger or hot dog from Rochester-based Zweigle’s, Italian sausage, chicken, or grilled cheese, served on top of any combination of starchy items like home fries, french fries, baked beans, or macaroni salad.

Big Mike's Trash Plate features macaroni salad, home fries, and choice of two Zweigle’s hot dogs which they fly from New York, or two smash patties with hot sauce, mustard, and onions.

They also do a few entree items like a NY strip steak, their priciest item at $35, served with garlic mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts; and a chicken-fried steak with mashed potatoes and green beans for $24. Portions are abundant.

Big Mike'sBig Mike's

“I created the menu based on things I like to eat," Mike says. "Everything we make is made from scratch, the way I would do it if I was cooking for my friends."

They host weekend brunch on Saturday and Sunday until 2 pm with a cinnamon roll skillet, frittatas, avocado toast, and a hash version of the Garbage Plate with home fries, mac salad, onions, diced Zweigle's hot dogs, eggs, and meat hot sauce. There are mimosas — they have a full bar — and they also do a daily happy hour from 3-6 pm with appetizer specials and domestic beers for $3.50.

Mike's background as a former contractor can be seen in the restaurant's spiffy remodel. The space sits 270, with enough room to host events that include karaoke every Wednesday, live music during brunch, and a ticketed group psychic event where Jennie Marie draws from her TV show days, performing readings and mediumship, with food and drink.

The restaurant has a wonderful family-oriented atmosphere. Many of their employees are friends of their sons from school or ice hockey, giving the restaurant a comfortable, homey vibe.

“We try to visit every table — that personal touch is important to us," Jennie Marie says. "We want that hometown feel, get people what they want so they come back."

openings burgers

This week in gluttony

These are the 7 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

Burger News

Fun family-owned Big Mike's Bar and Grill from TV star debuts in Plano

Dallas bar High Fives will close on Henderson Avenue after 10 years

Dallas diner & music venue will open in former Ferris Wheeler space

Revered family-owned Mediterranean restaurant debuts in North Dallas