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Oncor grants Dallas a major parkland donation for city trails system

Trail News

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Oncor Electric Delivery has made a major donation of parkland to Dallas that promises to connect the city in new ways: According to a release, it's the largest parkland dedication in Dallas since 1938 and will help bring a huge trail project to completion.

The donation is the result of a joint effort between Oncor, the city of Dallas, and the Circuit Trail Conservancy (CTC), a nonprofit that's overseeing The Loop, a 50-mile walk and bike trail project.

Once built, the Loop will unite Dallas with a city-wide bike and pedestrian active transportation system that joins 39 miles of existing trails in Dallas with 11 miles of newly built trails — connecting neighborhoods and destinations in north, south, east and west Dallas.

A critical portion is the Trinity Forest Spine Trail, a nine-mile connection from White Rock Lake to the Great Trinity Forest, and that's part of Oncor's gift.

"With this donation, the Circuit Trail Conservancy can complete the Trinity Forest Spine Trail, and The Loop, in its entirety, bringing together neighborhoods that have long been disconnected and make walkable, bikeable green space a strong part of Dallas' identity," says Philip Hiatt Haigh, Circuit Trail Conservancy executive director.

The North Phase of the Trinity Forest Spine Trail will be completed in two phases:

  • The first phase, which broke ground in July, extends from just below the White Rock Lake spillway to Samuell Road
  • The second phase will extend to the Lawnview DART Station in the Parkdale/Lawnview neighborhood of southeast Dallas

The Southern phase will extend from Scyene Road to Pemberton Hill Road, passing through Roosevelt Heights, down to U.S. 175, with construction expected to begin in 2022.

The donation comprises 110 acres, including Parkdale Lake and surrounding land west of White Rock Creek — part of a 280-acre parcel Oncor Electric Delivery has owned since 2010.

Parkdale Lake is in Southeast Dallas along White Rock Creek. It was built in 1953 as a water storage site for the Parkdale Steam Electric Station, which was decommissioned in 2005. Prior to that, the area was farmland in the 1930s, but abandoned in the early 1950s because of flooding.

Most of the Trinity Forest Spine Trail lies within the White Rock Creek floodplain. Parkdale Lake is valuable because it can play an important role in managing runoff and preventing flooding, as well as serve as future park land.

The land is considered critical to deliver the Trinity Forest Spine Trail and The Loop.

Once complete, the Loop has the potential to unite Dallas in many ways.

"We know there is an infrastructure disparity between North and South Dallas that has left neighborhoods like Parkdale without dedicated, safe pedestrian connections to surrounding neighborhoods or the rest of Dallas," says Hiatt Haigh.

"It will help the City of Dallas, and specifically Southern Dallas as this donation is south of 30, grow in a healthy way," says President of the City of Dallas Park Board Arun Agarwal.

Oncor CEO Allen Nye calls it a big win.

"The initiative by the City of Dallas and the Circuit Trail Conservancy to unite Dallas' neighborhoods is a big win for our entire community," Nye says. "The Loop will connect Dallas in a way that increases access for all residents to our city’s economic resources, enhances green space and improves overall quality of life. We’re so proud to be a part of making this project a reality."

In November, the Circuit Trail Conservancy received a $12 million federal grant from the Department of Transportation. The RAISE (Rebuilding America Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) Grant will be used to construct phase III of the Trinity Forest Spine Trail, a 4-mile shared use path that will connect the Lawnview DART Station to the Lake June DART Station and Pemberton Hill Road, connecting White Rock Lake and East Dallas to Southeast Dallas and the Great Trinity Forest trail system.

Courtesy photo

Historic downtown Dallas theatre celebrates the big 100 with hoopla

Downtown News

The hoopla surrounding the 100-year anniversary of the marvelous and historic Majestic Theatre in downtown Dallas will include a new series of events programmed for theater season in the fall, when all the la-dee-das return from Aspen.

It began in April 2021, when the Office of Arts and Culture (OAC) launched the Majestic Centennial Celebration, marking the theaer's 100th anniversary.

The Majestic Theatre first opened its doors in 1921 and is the last standing theater of Theatre Row, Dallas' historic Elm Street entertainment center.

The theater was designed by John Eberson, whom a release says was one of the foremost designers of theaters in the early 20th century. The Majestic served as the crown jewel of Karl Hoblitzelle's Interstate Theater Company, and the Hoblitzelle Foundation gifted The Majestic Theatre to the City of Dallas in January 1976.

After a restoration, the theater reopened in 1983 as a performing arts venue.

A documentary aptly called Majestic 100: Celebrating 100 Yearspremiered on KERA Channel 13, who will rebroadcast it on Saturday August 7 at 6 pm, and again throughout the year, as well as at upcoming, special, in-person events. It's also on YouTube if you are so inclined. You'd practically have to be a hermit to miss a screening.

Now, with in-person events back on, Centennial Chairman Lynn McBee is planning more ways to celebrate this milestone:

Saturday, September 18, a gala dinner will be held onstage. The evening will be chaired by Kim Hext and will celebrate the legacy and impact of the theater's owner Karl Hoblitzelle and Hoblitzelle Foundation. A Majestic Centennial Award will be presented to Deedie Rose for her dedication and service to preservation, the performing arts, and Dallas. The dinner is already sold out. Proceeds will go towards the Friends of the Majestic Fund, an accessibility fund for Dallas education and arts organizations to utilize the theater who otherwise may not have the ability to rent it on their own.

Sunday September 19 from 1-3pm, the Majestic is hosting a Community Open House co-chaired by Elizabeth Wattley and Marissa Horne at the theater and the adjacent Pacific Plaza Park. This Open House will be an indoor-outdoor experience with music by Herbie Johnson, performances by Dallas Black Dance Theatre, a family movie screening of Charlie Chaplin’s 1921 silent film The Kid with accompaniment by pianist Paul Slavens. There'll be tours of the theater, food trucks, and performances at Pacific Park Plaza.

April 2022, the Majestic Theatre will close out its 100th year with a third major event, a special concert still TBA to launch the Majestic into a new century.

To learn more or perchance to donate, visit majestic.dallasculture.org/centennial.

Courtesy rendering

New report on Dallas' Preston Center parking garage offers some slim hope

Preston Center News

Preston Center is as out of place in Preston Hollow as a Hershey's Kiss on a Ritz-Carlton pillow.

The Preston Center parking garage, which sits on land owned by the city of Dallas, is the city's biggest chance to fix that. A 2016 plan recommended an underground garage with a park on top, and Dallas City Council member Jennifer Gates has been working with the neighborhood, North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), and local landowners to move that vision forward.

But any momentum has been dashed due to the Preston Center West Corporation (PCWC), made up of the landowners who own the neighboring businesses and property.

To refresh, the garage is a textbook bad agreement worked out decades ago and reaffirmed by legal battles between the city and PCWC, who have veto power on everything. Any plan put forth by either party requires 100 percent buy-in – so it always ends in a stalemate.

In March, NCTCOG and Walker Consultants put together a new 145-page report for the city on the existing (deteriorating) conditions, with two options for redevelopment.

Two options
Option one is what everyone but PCWC wants – a fully underground garage with a park on top.

Option two is sorta what PCWC wants – an apartment tower on part of the land with a smaller park on top.

I say sorta, because the last time we saw Robert Dozier, PCWC representative and presumed developer of the apartment tower, he wanted to cover the entire lot with parking and a high-rise with zero green space outside a pair of earmuff parkettes on two corners of the 3.15-acre parcel.

The PCWC plan was developed by people who think trees are useless without actual cash falling from them. That is, unless it's their own home. Dozier’s 7,700-square-foot home on a half-acre lot in University Park has five mature trees in the front yard.

New concessions
The new plan offers a possible compromise by conceding half the block for an apartment building. I think that's a mistake. As we saw two weeks ago, there are two residential high-rises, by Leland Burk and by Rosebriar, proposed for the Hopdoddy corner of the garage. Combined, they will bring 360 housing units and 245 hotel rooms to Preston Center – and 39 trees.

Should they face Dozier's high-rise or overlook a park? Mercurially, the garage tower is competition to Leland Burk's apartment tower, while Rosebriar's hotel and condos on the corner get blocked views and no benefit from more apartments.

Were I Burk or Rosebriar and members of the PCWC, I'd vote against the garage high-rise, killing it cold. Did Burk, a Preston Center task force representative for Preston Center's Zone One, know that the park written into the plan didn't have the support of PCWC?

Interesting tidbits
Most of the information in the 145-page report has been hashed before, but there were some interesting tidbits:

  • Regardless of whether option one or two is selected, the construction time is the same: 23 months.
  • Both options require the entire parking garage be closed for the duration of construction. They'll need to find alternate parking.

Whether it's a full-park or half-park, it'll require the same timetable and the same inconvenience.

Money
The other big consideration is money.

  • The estimated cost for the full park is between $38.5 and $41.2 million.
  • The estimated cost for the half park is between $38.1 and $39.7 million.

The potential savings by building a half-park are between $400,000 and 1.5 million (less for the half-park). Opperations and maintenance costs are identical.

With no time savings, no inconvenience savings, and virtually no money savings, why not be bold and go for the fully underground option with its full park?

The PCWC’s veto, that’s why.

City should wait it out
The PCWC doesn't seem to have ever wanted the full park – they're probably squeamish about the half-park. But the city is not on the hook for the crumbling garage's maintenance. PCWC is. Sitting on the land and waiting for the garage to die doesn't hurt the city, except for any insurance needed in case a chunk falls off.

Those wanting to breathe life into moldering Preston Center feel cursed by the PCWC's veto, but the option to do nothing is just as powerful. If those landowners are okay with their lower-rent tenants operating in a slum, so be it. Time is on their side. What can't be controlled is whatever the next D13 council person does. Gates is on her final term.

Her successor may believe in the PCWC's aesthetic wasteland vision. But I remind City Hall, nowhere on earth is there a city complaining about too much green space.

This assumes Dozier still wants that original plan of a single high-rise. But as we'll share in part 2 tomorrow, he's been hard at work to fully develop an ugliness that lines pockets at the neighborhood’s expense and the city’s dime.

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A version of this story appeared on Candy's Dirt.

Photo courtesy of Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation

New York design firm is hired to redo Dallas' Kalita Humphreys Theater

Architecture News

There's promising progress on a Dallas landmark that's been in distress: The Kalita Humphreys Theater in Dallas' Turtle Creek, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, has a New York design studio on board to begin a renovation.

The firm is Diller Scofidio + Renfro, whose work includes the redesign of the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts Campus and the Museum of Modern Art.

Kalita Humphreys Theater been home to the Dallas Theater Center (DTC) since it opened in 1959. Uptown Players, the city's foremost LGBTQ theater company, also regularly performs there.

According to a release, a steering committee made up of diverse community stakeholders selected Diller Scofidio + Renfro. They'll develop a master plan with DTC for the theater and the nine-acre site. It will include new theater spaces and will connect the Katy Trail, Dean Park, and the surrounding neighborhoods of Uptown, Turtle Creek and Oak Lawn to the Kalita Humphreys campus, making the site accessible to the public.

The Kalita Humphreys Theater was the only free-standing theater that Wright designed that was built during his lifetime. Like all of his projects, the design was considered bold and innovative, and integrated with nature, as it was built into a limestone bluff overlooking Turtle Creek.

The release notes its unique revolving stage, one that it says exemplifies Wright's Organic Theory of architecture, stressing the unification of the building's form and function, the harmony of the building's structure with its natural setting, and the aesthetically pleasing manipulation of space.

Jennifer Altabef, chair of the DTC’s board, says in a statement that the creation of two smaller theaters allow DTC and other local companies to perform regularly on the site, "in harmony with the goals of the new Dallas Cultural Plan. We will work with Dallas' Office of Arts and Culture and the theater community to make this incredible asset available to more theater companies and audiences,” she says.

Charles Renfro will lead the development of the master plan in collaboration with his partners at Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Raised in Baytown, Renfro graduated from Rice University in Houston and Columbia University in New York and has worked on the redesign of the MoMA, the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts and the High Line.

He notes in a statement that the theater's "bucolic setting" between Turtle Creek and the Katy Trail has been overwhelmed by parking lots and roadways.

"Our approach will seek to slow the site down and add new architecturally significant programs grown out of the surrounding urban green," he says.

DTC and its partners intend to present a plan to the city’s Office of Arts and Culture by the end of 2020. The Dallas City Council will be asked to give final approval of the plan.

While no specific decisions have been made on any individual aspect of the project, DTC looks forward to hearing from the public and various stakeholders in order to inform the design process.

There'll be a public information session on March 4, from 5:30-7 pm at the Kalita Humphreys Theater. Diller Scofidio + Renfro will present their relevant past works. Attendees will be invited to provide written feedback.

The Kalita Humphreys Steering Committee members include:

  • Andy Smith, executive director, Texas Instruments Foundation
  • Carol Glendenning, member, Clark Hill Strasburger
  • Guinea Bennett-Price: co-artistic director, co-founder, Soul Rep Theatre
  • Harrison Blair, president, Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce
  • Hilda Rodriguez, principal architect
  • Jeff Rane, artistic producer, Uptown Players
  • Jennifer Scripps, director, city of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture
  • Katherine Seale, architectural historian
  • Linda Perryman Evans, past president and CEO, The Meadows Foundation
  • Marshall Payne, founding partner and chairman of the board, CIC Partners
  • Peer Chacko, director, city of Dallas Office of Planning & Urban Design
  • Ramon Miguez, vice president, HDR
  • Rob Little, partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
  • Willis Winters, former director, Dallas Parks and Recreation Department
  • Zaida Basora, vice president, AIA Dallas
Local Hub Bicycle Company/Facebook

Brave bicycle shop in Dallas' Deep Ellum closes after four years

Bicycle News

After four years of helping to make Dallas a more sustainable place, Local Hub Bicycle Company, the bike shop in Deep Ellum, has decided it's time to close.

Owner Kristie Holt confirmed that the shop will close in December, exactly four years after opening in December 2015.

"I opened Local Hub because of my passion for getting more people on bikes and making Dallas a better city for riding bikes," Holt says. "I'm proud of what we have accomplished and the permanent positive impact it's made on Dallas."

Local Hub really has been a true community endeavor that has gotten thousands of people on bikes and helped make Dallas a more-bike friendly city, against the odds of a populace that often seems resistant to the idea of alternate transportation.

"The bike industry is tumultuous and we just haven't been profitable enough for it to be sustainable," Holt says.

One major factor affecting Local Hub's survival was the bikesharing phenomenon which entered Dallas in 2017.

"Bikesharing really hurt us," she says. "We were actually growing — but once they came in, we saw our business drop by 40 percent. And despite the fact that bike share went away, we never got our customers back."

Dallas remains a work in progress when it comes to sustainability issues, with many people still entrenched in a car-centric mentality — one that can be seen in their ungrateful, petulant, tiny-baby reactions to alternative transportation modes such as bike-sharing and scooters, evident in behavior such as dismantling them and throwing them into the Trinity River.

"I can't tell you that one thing caused it," Holt says. "It was a combination of a few things. I tried to make it work in any possible way I could, because I care about people and getting my community on bikes."

Meanwhile, it's sale sale sale, and everything must go.

Bikes in stock are 15 percent off. Accessories, parts, and clothing are 25 percent off. Tools, fixtures, and furniture are priced accordingly.

They also have two Kona Rove Gravel rental bikes for sale, $650 a pop.

Discounts will get deeper as they approach their last day, currently estimated to be December 22, although it could be sooner, depending on what's left. They're also selling fixtures including shelving, computers, and display tables.

Beginning December 2, they'll change their hours to Wednesday-Saturday 10 am-7 pm, and Sunday 12 pm-6 pm.

Beginning December 15, they'll stop taking in bikes for tune-ups and repair work, although they'll do quick fixes until their last day - "as long as we have tools and parts in the store," Holt says.

She counts off some of things she feels most proud about, including building a book bike for the Dallas Public Library.

"It lets the library go out and set up events for people who wouldn't otherwise have access," she says. "We sold 16 bikes to the city of Austin for their mountain bike program for young adults. And something else cool we've done is help an entrepreneur in Dallas who donates bikes to the Dallas Police Department."

"If we can make people's day a little brighter, that's what kept me coming here — knowing we are making difference," she says.

Photo courtesy of Downtown Dallas, Inc.

How you fit into downtown Dallas' plan for success

Live Like a Local

Behind every great downtown is an even greater advocate, champion, and steward, and in Dallas' case that means Downtown Dallas, Inc.

The dedicated nonprofit touches anything and everything that has to do with downtown, from public safety to maintenance to economic development. But the residents, workers, and visitors of downtown Dallas help make a difference too.

As Downtown Dallas, Inc. president and CEO Kourtny Garrett outlines in the video, here are four ways you can get involved.

1. Get involved with committees and volunteer groups
When you join DDI, your membership dues are invested in the area's growth and success. From Main Street District and Victory Park to Dallas Arts District, Dallas Farmers Market, and Deep Ellum, downtown is evolving faster than ever, and you can have a say in how it grows.

2. Support local businesses
This is the fun part (that you're probably already doing). Eat at downtown restaurants and shop at local boutiques, knowing that each choice you make to support downtown businesses helps strengthen the area. Need tips on how to live like a local? Don't worry, we got you.

3. Enjoy parks and festivals
Green space in the urban core is a priority for DDI, and it maintains most of them: Main Street Garden, Belo Garden, Pegasus Plaza, Browder Plaza, and many more. In addition, three new signature parks are being built in the city center in the next few years, with the newest, Pacific Plaza, having just opened. And there's no shortage of events to attend, from family movie nights to pop-up markets to holiday parades and parties. You'll find a complete list of upcoming events here.

4. Be an advocate for urban issues
The Dallas Downtown Improvement District (DID) was created by Downtown Dallas, Inc. in 1992 to fund services and improvements to the area. It's what helps keep downtown Dallas clean, safe, and fun for the entire community. The DID is currently petitioning to be renewed for the 2021-2027 term, and you can read more about that here.

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Property Showcase

DFW's dismal ranking among best places to live leads this week's 5 most-read headlines

This week's hot headlines

Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines. Looking for the best things to do this weekend? Find that list here.

1. Dallas-Fort Worth no longer a top 100 place to live, declares U.S. News & World Report. Dallas-Fort Worth has fallen from grace in a closely watched annual report of the best places to live in the U.S. The Metroplex appears at a dismal No. 113 (out of 150) in U.S. News & World Report's Best Places to Live ranking for 2023-2024. Last year, DFW landed at No. 32; it was No. 37 in 2021. Here's (sort of) why it plummeted in the rankings.

2. Sliders restaurant from Detroit shimmies onto Dallas' Greenville Ave. A slider concept from the Great Lakes State is expanding to Texas, and that includes a high-profile location in Dallas: Called Savvy Sliders, it's a young fast-casual concept founded in Flint, Michigan, and it will open its first Dallas restaurant at 4818 Greenville Ave., in the space recently vacated by vegan chicken restaurant Project Pollo.

3. New lagoon-waterpark with lazy river dives into Dallas-Fort Worth. A long-awaited waterpark in Cedar Hill is debuting Memorial Day weekend with two of Texas' favorite splashy attractions: a lagoon and lazy river. The Lagoon at Virginia Weaver Park will open Saturday, May 27 after more than a year in development.

4. Happy Hippie Brewing to bring peace, love, and beer to new HQ in Richardson. A craft beer brewery is opening a splendid new facility in Richardson: Happy Hippie Brewing Company, a small brewery specializing in Belgian-style beers, is opening an an 11,000-square-foot brewery and taproom at 500 Lockwood Dr., in the Lockwood area within the city's evolving CORE District.

5. Asian restaurant Howard Wang's shutters location in Uptown Dallas. A Chinese restaurant in Uptown Dallas closed: Howard Wang's Uptown Grill, one in a family-owned chain, closed its location at 3223 Lemmon Ave. #103, with the final day of service on May 21. The restaurant had been at that location for 12 years.

21 North Texas museums offer free admission to military families this summer

Giving Back

Nearly two dozen Dallas-Fort Worth museums are honoring active duty military personnel and their families with free admission through the Blue Star Museums initiative, May 20-September 4, 2023.

Established by the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, and the U.S. Department of Defense, the Blue Star Museums program annually provides military families free access to 2,000 museums nationwide throughout the summer. The program begins yearly on Armed Forces Day in May and ends on Labor Day.

Free admission is extended to personnel currently serving in the U.S Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard (including those in the Reserve), and all National Guardsman. Members of the U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps and NOAA Commissioned Corps are also included in the program.

Those who qualify can use their military ID to bring up to five family members - including relatives of those currently deployed. More information about qualifications can be found here.

There is no limit on the number of participating museums that qualifying families may visit. Admission for non-active military veterans, however, is not included.

According to the National Endowment for the Arts website, the initiative was created to help "improve the quality of life for active duty military families" with a specific focus on children. The site states 2 million have had a parent deployed since 2001.

"Blue Star Museums was created to show support for military families who have faced multiple deployments and the challenges of reintegration," the organizers say. "This program offers these families a chance to visit museums this summer when many will have limited resources and limited time to be together."

In Dallas-Fort Worth, participating institutions include well-known art, science, and history museums, as well as smaller museums outside the city limits. Here's a look at all the museums in North Texas that are participating in the Blue Star Museums initiative this year.

In Dallas:

In Fort Worth:

In Garland:

In Irving:

In Mesquite:

In Cleburne:

In Krum:

In Sanger:

More information about Blue Star Museums and a full list of participants can be found on arts.gov.

These are the 7 best most intriguing hot dogs in Dallas right now

Hot Dog News

Editor's Note: In prior stories, CultureMap contributor Lila Levy has sussed out the top bagels in Dallas, and tried pretty much every lavender latte in town. Now she's ready to offer her take on that summertime classic: hot dogs.

Portillo's hot dogs
Portillo's
portillo's hot dogs

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Hot dogs are the quintessential summer food and an item that nearly everyone loves. They're simple, flavorful, easy to make at home, and affordable if you dine out.

Some cities like Chicago have a long-standing tradition with hot dogs, and while Dallas is not Windy-City-level quiet yet, we've seen an influx of some exciting new hot dog concepts come to town, joining a few locals who've been dishing out memorable hot dogs all along.

Here's the 7 most interesting hot dogs you can find in Dallas-Fort Worth:

Portillo’s in the Colony, Chicago-style hot dog, $4.50
Chicago-based fast casual brand known for its hot dogs and other favorite Chicago fare, has expanded to Texas, with its first restaurant in The Colony, which opened in January 2023. Chicago-style hot dogs are my favorite kind, and Portillo's does it right. Their basic hot dog comes with "everything": mustard, relish, celery salt, chopped onions, sliced tomato, pickle, and sport peppers on a steamed poppy seed bun. I loved the condiments, especially the peppers and relish. My companion thought the bun was too soft, but it was fine for me. Their hot dogs have a snappy casing with a robust tangy flavor.

Hunky'sHunky Dog, $4.25
Cedar Springs pioneer has been serving hamburgers, fries, and malts, since 1984. They're known for their burgers but they also do a trio of hot dogs including the classic "Hunky Dog," a hefty quarter-pounder with relish, onions, and mustard. I've been here before and know it's best to ask for the hot dog to be grilled extra, to give it that additional "burnt hot dog" cookout flavor. At $4.25, it's a bargain and their presentation is cool: They split the hot dog down the middle and place the onions and relish on top, and they toast the edges of their bun.

Fletcher's Original Corny DogsMake Mine Texan, $10
No story on hot dogs is complete without Fletcher's, famed purveyor of the classic corny dog. You used to have to wait for the State Fair of Texas to get them, but now that they have a food truck, you can find them camped at venues such as the Dallas Arboretum, and they're also at Klyde Warren Park Tuesdays-Sundays. They've expanded their lineup of flavors so I ordered their most recent invention: Called Make Mine Texan, it's a hot dog made of beef and brisket, with smoke seasoning that adds a heartier Texas flavor.

Dog Haus in RichardsonTooo Chi, $8
California hot dog chain takes a gourmet approach with jumbo hot dogs, veggie dogs, vegan sausages, and 40+ toppings including some you might not expect, such as arugula. I ordered the Tooo Chi, their version of the Chicago hot dog, which they brag is a hormone- and antibiotic-free beef hot dog, with tomato, pickle, neon-green pickle relish, mustard, diced onions, sport peppers, and celery salt. Their cooking added a nice char that emphasized the grilled flavor. It made me nostalgic to the days when my parents would grill hot dogs in the summer outside. Their point of distinction is their bread: sweet rich King's Hawaiian rolls, which they butter and grill, for a nice contrast of soft roll and crisp edges.

Angry DogAngry Dog, $8.95
Deep Ellum staple had hot dogs on the menu long before hot dogs became the foodie sensation they are today, and they offer a simple plain hot dog on a bun as a nod to those humble days. But everyone gets the signature Angry Dog: a kosher dog, split in half and grilled, placed on a toasted open-faced bun, then topped with chili, grilled red onions, mustard, and shredded cheddar cheese. It's more of a chili casserole than a hot dog, a knife-and-fork kind of deal where the bun gets soggy underneath the mountain of toppings, and you almost lose track of the hot dog. But unbeatable for a hangover cure or a big cheat meal.

Globe Life Field, Ballpark hot dog, $7
In recent years, the Texas Rangers' food service division has been jazzing up its ballpark menu, introducing new items, some of them crazy like the Boomstick 2-foot-long hot dog. I stick to the basic ballpark hot dog, with the only option being that you can get grilled onions at no additional charge. It's a standard six-inch hot dog, with self-serve mustard, ketchup, and relish, on a soft, nondescript bun, with a nice snap, the prototypical hot dog you eat while cheering on the hometown team.

Frank Seoul, Potato hot dog, $5.49
Korean hot dogs, also known as Korean corn dogs, are a Korean street food that started showing up in Dallas a few years ago, via Korean-born chains such as Two Hands and K-Town. Frank Seoul was one of the first and has locations in Carrollton and Frisco. Their specialty is hot dogs coated in a batter and deep-fried, like a corny dog but with a batter made from flour or rice flour, and additional ingredients such as the coating of diced potatoes in the potato hot dog that I ordered. They have a wild variety like a "cream cheese dog" — literally cream cheese on a stick &mdash and prices are all $6 or less.

This is not the place for a hot dog purist. The hot dog itself was lackluster, but the "shell" of crispy fried potatoes was magnificent, like a wonderful hash brown, and great on its own, didn't need the mustard I added a bit.

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