Where to Eat

Where to eat in Dallas right now: mini-holiday feasts to go for November

For when you just want a taste.

Photo by Kathy Tran

COVID-19 is a wet blanket on all our fun, and that includes putting the kibosh on big crowds for the holidays. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, large gatherings — even at your home — will increase your odds of getting or spreading the coronavirus. Boo.

And yet this time of the year still brings cravings for those quintessential flavors: parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Not to mention cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and clove.

If you're looking for a big spread, check out our master list of Thanksgiving options, with options for dining-in or getting family-size feasts to go.

This list is something else. It's for when you just want a taste, whether that's a turkey sandwich with stuffing or a turkey plate-for-one to go.

For our November installment of Where to Eat, here's our list of mini-Thanksgiving feasts:

Bread Winners Cafe and Bakery
Cafe-bakery chain has a full catering menu with all kinds of options, but they also have the perfect single-person plate for a solo meal. For $23, you get choice of sliced turkey or cider-glazed ham, with choice of pecan-cornbread stuffing or butternut squash stuffing, plus leek-mashed potatoes, sage turkey gravy, cranberry-orange sauce, and two rolls. Locations include Uptown, Lovers Lane, NorthPark Center, and Plano. 214-754-0099.

Celebration
Home cooking institution has a new "mini feast" which serves 4 people but is smaller than the usual mega-spread. It comes with sliced turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cornbread-sausage stuffing, gravy, cranberry relish, and yeast rolls, and is $90. Who's to say you can't just order it and have it in the fridge for noshing all weekend long. Note: You must order by November 19, and pickup November 24-25. 214-352-0031.

Easy Slider
Deep Ellum food truck-turned-restaurant has an irresistible seasonal item called The Gobbler, that really is a Thanksgiving meal in a single slider. It features a ground turkey patty, topped with cornbread dressing, gravy, and cranberry-jalapeño-pecan relish, on a petite slider bun. Oops, forgot the piece de resistance: a teeny slice of pecan pie on top. It's $6, and you can order it online. Get 'em in multiples!

Hyatt Regency Frisco-Dallas
Hotel located at Frisco's Stonebriar Centre is doing a selection of limited-edition holiday menu items that include a Merry Mistletoe Margarita (secret ingredient: cranberry juice) and pumpkin creme brulee. But we're here for the "Holidays in a Sandwich" featuring smoked turkey, gravy, cornbread stuffing, a fried potato pancake, and cranberry aioli on ciabatta bread. The sandwich is $13, and is available through November 30 at the hotel's in-house restaurant, Copper & Steel. To place an order for pickup, call 469-598-1235 and press 4.

Mendocino Farms
Chic sandwich market-cafe chain from California has the perfect Thanksgiving bite. Called "November to Remember," it's a warm turkey sandwich with kale-mushroom-turkey sausage stuffing, ancho chile-cranberry chutney, havarti cheese, herb aioli, and shredded romaine on rustic white bread. It's $12.95, and for each sandwich sold through Dec 1, 25 cents gets donated to Share our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign.

Saltgrass Steakhouse
Thanksgiving plate for one comes with with turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, soup or salad, and bread. $20. Order online by November 24. Pick up November 24 after 3 pm to November 26 at 11 am.

Spiral Diner
For the first time, DFW's No. 1 vegan restaurant chain is offering "Plate For One," a complete holiday vegan meal designed for one person. It includes two slices of their house-made roast, served with sides of green bean casserole, cornbread stuffing, brown gravy, a dinner roll, and a slice of sweet potato pie. It's $26.99, and you can order it online.

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Coffee News

East Dallas coffee shop Killer Joe crackles with sharp New York style

Killer Joe

Killer Joe Coffee

A hip new coffee shop is energizing a busy corner in East Dallas: Called Killer Joe, it's a new shop at 108 N. Fitzhugh Ave. right on the northeast corner of Columbia Avenue, next to (and in the same building as) Pupusas To Go.

Killer Joe is from Christine Sweet and Christian Napolitano, who moved from New York to Dallas in 2022 in search of entrepreneurial opportunity.

"We had been wanting to open up a business in New York for a long time," Christine says. “After the pandemic, it was really hard doing business there. We were looking for a good place to move that offered an opportunity to open our business."

Christine previously worked in travel/destination marketing, living in different places around the world. Christian was in hospitality, having worked in high-end restaurants in Manhattan, most recently at Bond Street Sushi in Soho.

Their goal: to bring a little New York culture to Dallas.

“We are more than a coffee shop — we're a place for foodies and musicophiles, we are really into music and rock & roll. Our shop is not a sleepy, quiet coffee shop," Christine says.

They serve notice of their intentions on the exterior with a quirky, personal mural by Anthony Z. Padilla, rendered in taxicab yellow, with elegant line drawings of the Statue of Liberty and highway-style signs that say "Now leaving New York" and "Welcome to Texas."

The interior is casual-chic, with pale wood furniture and an original cement floor that still sports intentional patches of old paint. The walls have a mix of B&W vintage photos and the occasional cowboy hat. The space was for many years a closed-in bar called Los Dos Reales; but now, the building boasts expansive windows that look out on Fitzhugh and create a bright and sunny space.

For their coffee program, they use organic espresso beans and make their drinks in an Italian Sanremo machine. They serve all the classics plus signature drinks such as French Toast Latte, Sea Salt Caramel de Leche, and Caliente Mocha with a hint of cayenne pepper.

Seasonal drinks include a pistachio caramel matcha latte — featuring toasted pistachios like a baklava, but balanced by the earthiness of the matcha. Other specialty drinks include rose water matcha, orange blossom matcha spritz, and cucumber lemonade.

Panini at Killer JoeKiller Joe

They also serve food, including breakfast all day: steak & eggs, avocado toast, and bagels with plain, scallion or vegan cream cheese. The "Spaghetti Western" is a twist on the traditional ham & cheese sandwich with spicy capicola, roasted tomato, Calabrian pepper sauce, and chimichurri on toasted ciabatta.

Bread is from Empire Baking Company and the bagels are from Shug's.

At lunch, they serve an umami tuna melt; a "K-Pop Cuban" with ham and cheese, plus kimchi pickles and wasabi mayo; and The Texican, with soyrizo spicy sausage, cheddar roasted poblano peppers, tomato, and avocado.

Reeves Family Farm in Princeton provides fruits and vegetables, and DiveDWN brings their microgreens. Pastries are baked in house and sauces such as black olive pesto and Killer chipotle sauce are made from scratch.

“We are trying to blend our edgy New York style with a Southern Texas flair," Christine says.

They're open daily from 7am-3 pm, with a late-hour program every second Saturday featuring live DJs; people gather inside and outside the shop for music, food, and drinks.

"This community is just so great, very eclectic, and has really embraced our style," Christine says. In fact, a few customers had a tattoo made at neighbor Franklins Tattoo and Supply with the coffee shop's skull logo.

"I had to follow and get one done too," she says.

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