This week in gluttony

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

Hattie B's is here for a tease.

Photo by Joseph Woodley

This week includes a celebration of Dia de los Muertos and a celebration of farmers. Save room for Nashville hot chicken pop-ups, a virtual wine and cheese pairing class, a tequila dinner, and an outdoor grilling soiree under the stars.

Tuesday, November 2

Dia de los Muertos at Taqueria La Ventana
Visit the downtown Dallas location of the popular taco spot for free pan de los Muertos (traditional Mexican bread) for the first 150 guests, live DJ music, hot chocolate and churros, tequila tastings, and giveaways. Each Taqueria La Ventana location will create its own altar paying homage to deceased family members and friends in shrine-like fashion.

Thursday, November 4

Central Market Online Class: Cheese & Wine Pairing
Wine and cheese expert Janet Fletcher, who’s written more than 25 books on food and beverage, will lead participants virtually through a tasting of five cheeses paired with wines. Varieties include goat, buttery camembert, and creamy blue cheese, and Fletcher will discuss how to pair wine and cheese. The $70 class includes a tasting kit that serves two to four, and the $20 options provides access to the class only, which will run from 6-7:30 pm.

Azunia Tequila Dinner at Cantina Laredo
The Frisco location of the Mexican restaurant will offer a four-course dinner paired with Azunia tequila cocktails. But first, start with a tequila flight during an opening reception to sample all options. Dinner is $59.99 per person and begins at 7 pm.

Friday, November 5

Hattie B’s Texas Tease
The Nashville-based, family-founded and operated hot chicken spot will open its first Dallas location by spring 2022. Hold over the hunger pangs at three upcoming pop-up events, when Hattie B’s food truck, a 1974 Airstream, will serve a sampling of menu items. On Friday, head to Peticolas Brewing Company (5-9 pm or until sellout) for hot chicken sandwiches and fried pickles. Saturday, visit Klyde Warren Park (1-5 pm or until sellout) for samples of the Dirty Bird Fries topped with pimento mac and cheese and dark meat tender bites. On Sunday, the truck will be BrainDead Brewing (1-5 pm or until sellout) for hot chicken and Belgian waffles and hot chicken and bacon-cheddar grits.

World Food Championships
There’ll be more than 20 tasting experiences at this three-day culinary competition, where more than 1,500 chefs will compete for best in their category. To be held inside Centennial Hall at Fair Park Friday through Sunday, the event will feature bourbon and rib tastings, brunch and bubbly, barbecue sampling, “Grilling Grannies,” and more than 8,000 dishes to be judged. Ticket prices vary per event, but general admission starts at $15 and includes lots of opportunity for sampling.

Saturday, November 6

Chefs for Farmers
Highlighting local and regional farmers over three days with four different events, Chefs for Farmers is back after taking a year off. While Thursday’s Mot Hai Ba Dinner is sold out, tickets are available for two events on Saturday: The Farm Tour ($125, 10 am-4 pm) aboard a bus that will make three stops at area farms for drinks and seasonal dishes; and the Devour Street Food Festival ($85, 3-6 pm) at the AT&T Discovery District, featuring street food from more than a dozen restaurants. The Main Event ($125, 3-6 pm) will cap things off Sunday at Dallas Heritage Village, featuring Dallas chefs and restaurants with bites and drinks throughout the park.

RARE at Bear Creek Golf Club
Dine under the stars at the newly updated Dallas golf club during this dinner event featuring eight culinary action stations. Start with tray-passed oysters and pork belly bites before indulging in grilled specialties, from bison to redfish. The $99 all-inclusive price per person includes wine selections and craft cocktails, too. Doors open at 7 pm.

Sunday November 7

Dot's Hop House Five-Year Anniversary
Craft beer bar and beer garden in Deep Ellum opened in 2016, which feels like a lifetime ago in Deep Ellum years. Their creation of a sprawling outdoor space now feels clairvoyant in these post-pandemic times, and probably helped them survive. They'll celebrate the occasion by tapping some rare beers, with drink specials and giveaways including an anniversary T-shirt to the first 150 people. Party starts at 1 pm, live music starts at 2 pm.

dinner chefs wine

Tex-Mex News

Get Tex-Mex and bargain margs at Alexander's Cantina in North Dallas

A Mexican restaurant with a killer happy hour has debuted in North Dallas: Alexander's Cantina & Cocina, a family-owned restaurant and bar, has opened at 4805 Frankford Rd. #105, a space most recently occupied by Casa Don Luis Tex-Mex and before that, a Corner Bakery.

Alexander's is a bigger-and-better spinoff of Alexander's Mex Cuisine, a restaurant opened in Plano in 2023 by Bernardo Garduño and his family, featuring Tex-Mex and street food from his hometown Mexico City.

Garduño worked for many years in the service industry before coming to Dallas in 2015. He crafted Alexander's menu by drawing on his restaurant experience, along with recipes from his mom.

Signature dishes include:

Pambazo — Mexican bread dipped in chili sauce, filled with potatoes, chorizo, and queso, then fried
Alambre — steak, ham, and bacon with onion, peppers, and cheese
Bistek a la Mexicana — steak tips, onion, and bell pepper simmered in a spicy tomato sauce until it turns into a stew

Other crowd-pleasers include chicken mole, brisket tacos, birria, fajitas, enchiladas, and more. They have a big selection of seafood including tacos with salmon and coconut shrimp, plus vegetarian options such as veggie fajitas and spinach enchiladas. One favorite extra: Their chips come not only with salsa but also black bean dip.

The new location has given them room to grow in a way they were unable to do in Plano, Garduño says.

"Plano is doing very well but that location is small, and there was no room to expand," he says. "We did extensive renovations at the Dallas location that included the addition of a bar, as well as room for parties and entertainment, like salsa on Fridays and Saturdays."

The menu at the two locations is basically the same but Dallas has a few new dishes such as mojarra frita, a whole tilapia fried and served with rice, plus carnitas, and a few more tacos, he says.

One item they recently dropped: soft-serve margaritas. Garduño was quick to jump on that early 2026 trend, and Alexander's made many a "soft-serve margarita" list, but the trend turned out to be short-lived.

"It did well for a month, but people went right back to regular margaritas," he says. "Those drinks are fun but they're very sweet. The mix has to be highly sugared in order to get the texture correct. The ingredients and equipment to make it were expensive, which meant we had to charge more for it — $16 as opposed to $10 for our regular margaritas."

Garduño has kept an eye on the trend. "We're not the only place no longer doing it," he says.

Besides, it was not a good fit with Alexander's generous happy hour, featuring $5.50 house margaritas, $6 flavored margaritas, and $4 beer, available from 11 am-6 pm every day at the Plano location, and Sunday-Thursday at Dallas.

"Our happy hour has become one of our trademarks," he says.

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