This Week In Gluttony

Outsource your holiday: Where to eat, drink and be merry in Dallas thisChristmas

Cook Hall at the W Dallas Victory is serving a family-style dinner Christmas Eveand Christmas Day beginning at 11:30 am.
Cook Hall/Facebook
We're not sure what Boxing Day is and we refuse to look it up, but the Gin Millis serving brunch items like these potato pancakes with smoked salmon the dayafter Christmas, beginning at 11 am.
Photo courtesy of The Gin Mill
Enjoy French extravagance at Toulouse on Knox where they will be serving their"White Christmas Truffle Dinner" throughout the day on both Christmas Eve andChristmas Day.
Toulouse Cafe & Bar/Facebook
Blue Goose Cantina makes it easy on you with tamales for $20 per dozen.
Photo courtesy of Blue Goose Cantina
T/X Restaurant & Bar is doing a three-course Christmas Day lunch.
T/X Restaurant & Bar/Facebook
Sure, some people look at this with pure lust in their eyes, but some of youjust broke out in a cold sweat thinking about how much preparation a meal likethis takes.

As great a day as Christmas can be, it also tends to be stressful, particularly for anyone hosting three times as many people as a house is made for. And if you’re not an especially adept cook, a Christmas meal can bring on panic attacks as you attempt to juggle five dishes like a Top Chef.

We’ve rounded up some restaurants that are serving meals — pretty nice ones, in fact — for December 24 and 25. Now the only thing you need to worry about is a carpool arrangement.

The Grape is having its traditional Christmas Eve dinner with holiday-inspired food to complement the normal à la carte menu. Reservations highly recommended beginning at 5 pm. Visit the website or call 214-828-1981.

Our readers recently named Spoon the hottest opening in 2012, so it might be worth checking out for its Feast of the Seven Fishes tasting menu from 5-10 pm on Christmas Eve. Price is $125 per person with optional wine pairings for $75. For reservations, call 214-368-8220.

Highland Park Cafeteria is keeping things festive with your choice of prime rib, carved ham, pork loin or roast turkey and dressing, plus two holiday sides and a zucchini roll for $10.99-$15.99. The restaurant is open December 24, 11 am -3 pm, and closed Christmas Day.

Tamales are an easy option for a big holiday dinner. And senior editor Teresa Gubbins did all the tamale to-go research for you (and me). Feast on the fruit of her labor.

Fearing's at the Ritz-Carlton is serving Christmas Eve dinner from 5-10 pm. The three-course holiday menu is $100 for adults and $35 for children 12 and under. Chef Fearing's recipes call back to his grandmother's cooking. Call 214-922-4848 for reservations.

If you’re in the mood for French, Toulouse Cafe and Bar is open for lunch and dinner both days from 11 am-11 pm. You can go with the normal menu, or try the three-course “White Christmas Truffle Dinner” with creamy mushroom risotto, halved white truffles and filet mignon a la perigourdin for $75. They can also be ordered à la carte. Call 214-520-8999 for reservations.

If you just want to go nuts, the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek is serving three-course dinners both days, plus Christmas Day brunch. All three meals are $105. That might seem a bit steep for brunch, but look at this menu. For reservations call 214-443-4747.

Nothing too out of the ordinary here, but Village Marquee is open and taking reservations until 9 pm on Christmas Eve. It’s the normal dinner menu, but that’s generally a good thing. Call 214-522-6035 or email reservations@marqueegrill.com.

The W’s Cook Hall is serving a family-style dinner both days beginning at 11:30 am. For $42 per person and $21 per child, diners get a family-style first course of deviled eggs with Gulf blue crab, charcuterie board and mixed green salad. For the main course, choose from prime rib, roasted farm chicken or pan-seared salmon. Family-style desserts if you’ve still got room. The restaurant is open until 9 pm Christmas Eve and until 8 pm Christmas Day. Call 214-397-4111 or visit the website for reservations.

The InterContinental Hotel is going all out with a Christmas Day brunch menu that’s wayyy too long to list here, but for $65 per adult and $25 per kid ages 6-12, you get a salad and seafood station, a carving station and hot entrees, a risotto station, and omelet station. Oh, and desserts, of course. Open 10:30 am-2 pm. Call 972-386-6000 for reservations.

There aren’t many Boxing Day events, but The Gin Mill opens early on December 26 for brunch from 11 am-3 pm. Feast on potato pancakes with smoked salmon, brioche French toast, house-made crepes and eggs Norwegian. Wash it down with plenty of mimosas and Bloody Marys. The restaurant/bar also opens at 8 pm Christmas Day.

The Stoneleigh’s T/X Restaurant is hosting Christmas Day lunch for $70 per adult and $25 per kid ages 6-12. The three-course meal includes plates like slow-roasted beef brisket and sweet potato pancake, molasses braised pork belly, and golden barbecue grilled corvine. Call 214-871-7111 for reservations.

There’s that old stereotype about Chinese restaurants and Jewish people on Christmas, but anyone can get Asian fusion at Steel with its $45 holiday prix fixe from 5-9 pm on December 25.

This last one is a doozy, but The Pyramid Restaurant & Bar is serving seasonal favorites for Christmas brunch and Christmas dinner, plus complete to-go meals for entertaining at home. Christmas brunch includes an abundance of seasonally inspired breakfast items, carved meats, soups and salads, seafood, and a decadent dessert display. Brunch is for $61.95 for adults, $53.95 for seniors, $27.95 for 8-12 years old and no charge for kids up to 7 years old.

With four courses, Christmas dinner is a robust culinary experience, with a main course of lamb loin with roasted winter vegetables. Dinner is $49.95 per person, including complimentary valet parking and a glass of Champagne.

To-go meals — for four, eight or 12 — can be pre-ordered. Meals include soup, salad, sides, entrée and dessert; turkey and stuffing may be ordered separately. Pricing varies according to order size. For more information or to view Christmas dining menus, please visit the website. For reservations, call 214-720-5249.

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There Goes the Biscuits

Mom-and-pop restaurant chain Biscuit Bar closes all Dallas locations

Photo courtesy of Biscuit Bar

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A Dallas-Fort Worth restaurant chain dedicated to biscuits is shutting down: The Biscuit Bar, a chain with six locations including five in the Dallas area, is closing them all. According to the owners, the closures are effective immediately.

Owners Jake and Janie Burkett say they were poised to sell off the chain to keep it afloat, but the sale fell through at the last minute — forcing them to shutter the business entirely.

The chain has five locations in the DFW area and one in Abilene. All locations are closed including these five in DFW:

Deep Ellum, at The Epic, the mixed-use project at 2550 Pacific Ave.
Plano, at The Boardwalk in Granite Park, at 5880 TX-121 #102B
Arlington, at Champions Park, at 1707 N. Collins St.
Fort Worth Stockyards, at Mule Alley, at 122 E. Exchange Ave.
Coppell, at 104 S Denton Tap Rd. #102

The couple blamed a variety of factors, including "rising costs, supply chain instability, and a commercial environment increasingly shaped by large institutional interests" which "created pressures no small business was prepared to endure."

The concept made its debut in April 2018 at The Boardwalk in Granite Park in Plano, before expanding in 2019 with a bang, targeting five locations all at once — a bold move for a new concept, especially one dedicated entirely to one food group. (They also opened a short-lived location on Hillcrest near SMU which is now home to D.L. Mack's.)

They were open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week, offering biscuits, tots, and beer on tap — very ambitious — with a menu featuring both savory and sweet biscuit sandwiches made in house; tots, which could be customized; plus a bar with cocktails, local beer, cold brew coffee, and kombucha, all offered on tap.

Its most popular menu item, The Hoss, featured Southern fried chicken, bacon, Jack cheese, sausage gravy, and honey butter.

Their post says that by early 2025, they entered Chapter 11 — "not to walk away but to rebuild and secure a future for our employees," they say. "And for a time, it looked like that future was within reach. A respect restaurant group stepped forward, committed to acquiring and growing Biscuit Bar. The sale was structured, terms were agreed upon, and the closing was set for December."

Unfortunately, not everyone was on board.

"While many partners supported a workable plan, several key financial stakeholders did not," their post says. "This included a few landlords whose participation was essential. Their refusal to compromise or support a path forward ultimately made the sale impossible, leaving us with no legal or financil ability continue operating. And so just days before Christmas, we were forced into the most painful decision of our lives."

They've launched a GoFundMe for their employees and are encouraging their fans to contribute.

"If The Biscuit Bar ever served you a meal, became part of your routine, or gave you a place to gather with family and friends, we humbly ask you to consider donating or sharing this campaign," they say.

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