Seven Mile Cafe

Seven Mile Cafe opened on the corner of Bolivar and Congress last week. We talked to the owners a week or two before and finally ate there this past weekend. Get caught up below. 

We had originally intended for our interview with Kevin and Josi of the Seven Mile Cafe to run before the restaurant actually opened; however, busyness on our part prevented that from happening. That said, at this point we have already eaten at Seven Mile Cafe and thought it pertinent to write a review to accompany the video above.

Actually, read the last sentence in the above paragraph again and replace the word “pertinent” with “necessary.” Our experience at the new partially-vegan cafe was less than stellar to say the least. We arrived mid-morning on a Saturday (the first Saturday they happened to be open) and were promptly seated in the half-filled space. The waitress was nice enough, the menu read well (although it was missing a few choice items that were mentioned in our interview above) and the smell from the coffee bar was pleasant. Everything from that point on, however, was like the first half of any show with Gordon Ramsay’s name in the title.

Looking around the restaurant, we started to notice frowns on people’s faces. “Maybe those are Brave-Combo-polka-dancing-hangover frowns and they just need caffeine,” we thought to ourselves. We were wrong.

About fifteen minutes after ordering, our waitress stopped by our table to inform us that our food was almost ready and would be right out. We quickly figured out that this was the beginning of a pattern. She stopped by every ten to fifteen minutes to tell us the same thing for the next hour or so. Once we caught on to the pattern and the rumbling in our bellies got down to a D-flat, we decided it was time to leave. We put enough cash on the table to cover the cost of our coffee and made our way to the door.

Now hold on. Let me assure you, we aren’t a bunch of jerks. This is not a common occurrence. I checked at our table and none of us had ever left a restaurant before. In fact, I was most likely the biggest jerk of the table and the only thing I’ve ever walked out of was the Carrot Top movie, Chairman of the Board, when I was 12.

On our way to the door, Kevin, the co-owner of Seven Mile Cafe, stopped to ask us how our food was. We informed him that we had waited a long time for our food and that our younger counterpart needed sustenance promptly (he was fine, I was the hungry one, but he will forever be my excuse). He ensured us that the food was soon-to-come, that some of the meal would be comped and went to check in the back things out. We heard some arguing in the kitchen and then our waitress arrived with about 2/3rds of our meals in hand and convinced us to sit back down. If you’ve ever wondered what the most-awkward thing you can do in a restaurant is, let me assure you that it isn’t breaking up with your significant other. Nor is it falling out of your chair and spilling soup on an elderly woman. No, the most awkward thing that can happen to you in a restaurant is attempting to leave when you’ve had a bad experience and then be convinced to sit back down and eat what you had originally ordered.

Eventually the rest of the meals came out, and lo-and-behold the food was good. Not necessarily worth the wait, mind you, but what would be? The scramble was well thought out and the raspberry cake that accompanied it was muffin like in a good way. The fruit was fresh, the eggs were cooked just as requested and the order-er of the blueberry pancakes enjoyed them enough to not want to share with the rest of the table (either that or they might be an avid Miss Manners follower). A few small things were wrong with our order, but at this point, causing any more of a scene was out of the question.

At some point during our meal, a popular local band came in with a local coffee roaster. They ordered their food, sat down and eventually got frowns and caught on to the patten. They managed to successfully leave the restaurant upon realization that they wouldn’t be eating anytime soon. They’re a nice bunch of dudes, so that’s saying something.

Our awkwardness must have been palpable because the check arrived long before we had finished eating. And low-and-behold, nothing was comped even after being assured two times that it would be. We ended up paying full price and promptly exiting to our cars.

I really want Seven Mile Cafe to succeed. In two or three months Kevin and Josi should have this down and I will don a disguise and give them another shot. We need more interesting, local eateries in town and the ambition this duo has shouldn’t be written off easily. That said, give these guys a while to work out the kinks before giving this place a shot. In the meantime, let the people who don’t read scantily updated blogs go and wait a long time to be fed while Kevin and Josi figure things out.

All Hallow's Eve for Dentonites-only

The clock is ticking closer and closer to Halloween town and whether you're thinking that this is the year you finally stop being the Popeye to your spouse's Olive Oil costume or you're just tired of being a sexy whatever, here's a list of possible costumes for you to blow the lid off of whichever local costume party you plan on attending (it's not Lou's, is it?). These are Dentonite costumes, only, people. So all you out-of-towners can make your own costume ideas. If you have others, list 'em in the comments!
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David Pierce of Cirque du Horror

A few weeks ago we told you about Cirque du Horror, the Halloween-themed production occuring during this year's Day of the Dead Festival on Saturday, October 29th. Recently, we got to throw a few questions at David Pierce, the mastermind of the whole thing, about his inspiration and the past and present of the DotD Festival. 

WDDI: Tell us about the inspiration behind Cirque du Horror and the Day of the Dead Festival.

David: Two years ago, I was spinning my creative wheels and not coming up with much for my own writing. I have a very creative uncle who sent me a list of about 50 topics that he thought would be good ideas for writing and composing music. Two were dark, more sinister and macabre ideas—some lines of poetry—and those ideas spoke to me the most out of all the many others. I thought, “Why don’t I do a Halloween show?” I mean, it was literally that leap—from seeing those few lines of poetry, to thinking how about a Halloween talent show. So those two ideas from my uncle have evolved now into this festival. I was also considering how much I love this time of the year, that a fall festival didn’t really exist in Denton, and that this sort of a show—one that is edgy enough for adults, but kind enough for kids— would bring the best of both worlds and seemed like, if anything, it could reenergize the Halloween I remember having as a kid. Not just a church harvest fest, and not just a haunted house off the side of the road. It’s that missing link.

WDDI: Growing up, did you consider Halloween to be one of your favorite celebrations?

David: In many ways, yes. I tie it to the memories of my childhood of the paper cutout scarecrows and pumpkins my mom would put all over the house as a symbol to the holiday time of year. Halloween is nice because it’s the relaxed holiday- you don’t stress about it- you just make or buy a costume and have some fun and party.

WDDI: Where do you draw the inspiration for your stories?

David: The first year, I took a few short lines of poetry my uncle gave me and created bigger songs with them-- created songs with visual imagery along with them. I read a poem about a demon type creature that had a softer side to him and took it made this funny ballad where a demon is singing about why he doesn’t have any friends. So a lot of it was feeding off of my uncle’s ideas. The second year, as the show evolved, I thought I would create a circus. I thought about a traveller who pops into different circus tents, and in each one there’s a different story.

This year has been more of an evolution into a truer sense of music theatre. The show has always been kind of vaudeville in that every number has been very different and it’s been one or two people acting or pantomiming with a band playing, or it’s been a band playing with some dancers. This year we integrated a lot more choreography. Visually, it’s a lot slicker and there’s a lot more eye candy.

WDDI: Do you write different stories each year?

David: So, the first year, we had this once batch of music and performance and the second year was completely different. This year, since we’re taking it to such a bigger stage, I thought I would mix and match my favorites from year 1 and 2. I added 2-3 new acts, but the goal for each year to come is to keep it new. It’s never the same from year to year. I know that if any of the set designers and artists hear this, they’re going to cringe. But changing it up is a big motivator, and it would be a big success to me to be able to write something that’s this fun and actually be successful enough to have it provide income so I can write something new each year. I hope at some point I’ll be able to license the shows to community theatres and schools. I constantly want to do something new.

WDDI: Why do you call it the Day of the Dead Festival?

David: Good question. Matter of fact- it’s almost the jokingly controversial question of this whole thing. I have always been very aware of what Day of the Dead is. I mean, I grew up in a Hispanic household-- my mother’s Hispanic-- and I grew up in south Texas in a predominantly Hispanic town,  but I’ve had that question asked a lot.

I think a lot of the reason I called it that is because Denton’s Day of the Dead rolled off the tongue very well. It sounded neat. In my mind, I always wanted it to be about everything- the fall harvest, about Halloween, and about el Dia de los Muertos. I wanted it to be all of that.

I had spoken to a couple different professors and UNT specifically in Mexican Culture that had put on their own Dia de los Muertos festivals, celebrations, and parades.  I want to have a section of the festival dedicated to the alteros and the Dia cultural event so there’s a true homage for that, and that it doesn’t seem like I’m trying to hang on the coattails of that title, but to actually tribute the dead. I want everyone to be aware of that. I think in a lot of ways that Denton is a big cultural mixing pot for artists – it’s a different vibe up here and I think a festival like this makes a lot more sense to do here than anywhere else. For next year I want a legit parade for the festival. I mean, we’re well on our way: Mariachi Quetzal will be playing this year in calavera makeup.

For the production last year, my uncle wrote a piece specifically about Dia and he ran with it, wrote a beautiful piece called “Must I Go?” and it was a big dance number so we have a bunch of sugar skulls and lots of dancers. We made a special tribute to it.

WDDI: What has changed over last 3 years of Cirque du Horror?

David: It’s bigger and better. That first year was duct tape and chewing gum and a lot of prayers- extremely low budget. So we went from that to the second year, moderately low budget, to now this year, where we have something of a substantial budget to work with. The first year we had maybe 5 dancers. This year we have a troupe of 13 from Karen’s Green Space and 10 others from a friend of mine’s studio in Ft. Worth. At times, they’ll all be on stage, so visually, it’s just huge.

WDDI: What do you see for the future of Cirque and the Day of the Dead Festival?

David: Definitely keeping the big night and the big production here in Denton and specifically at that location, what has now become such a hub of Denton- that Industrial/Hickory block. It’s like a corridor.  My vision is big, like the circus comes to town-- a big tent right in the middle of Industrial street and with a stage inside so whatever happens with the weather, people can always see the show. I’d like for it to expand to Hickory, to multiple days, to start on Friday night and carry throughout the weekend. I want it to become a legit fall festival for Denton.

You know how nostalgic the holiday lighting is: whether its 20 degrees out, everyone’s going to come out and they’re going to love it. This is a time of year here you would want to come out whether it’s for the entertainment or not, just because it’s a beautiful time of year. So I think it’d be fun to decorate the street to be as old-worldly as possible with lots of décor. Imagine lanterns strung from building to building- the bigger the better.

All the people in the guild have the same sort of day-dreamer vision; I got pretty lucky with that- there are not may areas where you could go to a bunch of businessmen and they’d be behind you 100% like it has been here. It’s amazing, and Denton is in such a wonderful time right now. Denton’s always had this nucleus of talent- and it’s a huge inspiration. It’s easy to get excited to do a production like this.

(NOTE: David is still looking for craft and food vendors for the festival, so if you’re interested, click here to get registered:)

Can’t make it to the free Saturday night performances of this year’s Cirque du Horror? Or maybe you loved the Saturday night performances so much that you want to see it again? Either way, there’s a Sunday matinee at Dan’s. This performance will be $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and kids. Tickets are on sale now at Dansilverleaf.com or cirqueduhorror.com. There will be reserved seating for children and seniors, but space is limited.

When:

Saturday, October 29, 2011 from 11 am to 11 pm

Special Matinee Performance of Cirque du Horror

on Sunday, October 30, 2011 from 4-6 pm

Where:

103 Industrial St. 

Denton, TX 76201

Joe Paul Gallo of the Gallo Family Farm

A while back, we got the chance to go on a tour of the Gallo Family Farm. Joe Paul Gallo walked us around and showed us his method of bug prevention and talked with us a little about the Denton Community Market. Watch below: 

You can read more from our farm series here and here. The Denton Community Market is open every Saturday from May - October, so you've only got a few Saturdays left to get down there and support all of the different local vendors. 

Gallo Farm Twitter

The Ascension of The Angelus

A drone oscillates into life; quivering and incandescent, maybe an organ of some description? The tone shimmers for a bit, bells are intoned in the distance. The certain urgency of ceremony. Voices enter, benedictine harmonies sounding with not a small amount of friction and tension between the singers. A creeping dread takes hold as one cries the words“All is well,” followed by a scraping dissonance of voice doubling the line. Cymbals rise to meet an eerie whine issued forth from a place lonely and forboding.

Steeped in the Southern Gothic tradition, and combining the bombast of post-rock, the tenor of Appalachian folk, and vernacular of gospel song-craft, The Angelus stands apart and unique among its peers in the North Texas music scene. With its new album On A Dark And Barren Land, the band has constructed a narrative of loss and redemption balanced on the edge of the metaphysical and nakedly emotional. This is the sound of our cancer year, our decay of self and spirit, and ultimately, the sound of our ascension beyond the struggle of human experience.

Built around the core duo of Emil Rapstine and Justin Evans, The Angelus has spent the better part of six years working toward this album, often in a regularly-fluctuating group of backing musicians. It is to their credit that their sound has maintained consistency and been focused, even if out of necessity, owing to the group dynamic.

Rapstine: “The songs have always been really important to me and Justin. We’ve released one EP in six years, all this stuff has happened in our lives that kept pushing the band to the side. It’s kind of miraculous in a way. Justin and I started together and that we’re finally getting this record out ... a lot of people would have just done something else.”

The uncommon chemistry between the two is particularly evident in the vocal harmonies they create. An amalgamation of pentatonic, eastern-tinged melodies slide into place alongside ordinarily staid, evangelistic harmonies creating an incredibly rich sonic framework for Rapstine’s sturm und drang lyricism. Recent San Francisco transplant Ryan Wasterlain fits neatly as the group’s new bassist. His solo project, Summer of Glaciers, shares a mutual aural ideology with The Angelus.

Rapstine: “I really love the structuring and layering he does in Summer of Glaciers, I think it shares a little bit of common space with what we do, and it hopefully will lend itself to our new stuff.”

While the band claims Land was not written with a unifying concept in mind, it’s difficult for my ears to hear anything other than a deftly realized song cycle rooted in the grieving process. Whether by accident or design, the album is also structured in an operatic manner. To be clear, we’re not talking Tommy or Operation: Mindcrime. Progressively theatrical, the opening triptych of songs “All Is Well,” “Latin I” and “Turned To Stone” form an overture, fading from one track to the next, and providing a thematic backbone for the record. An emotional arc in miniature, these songs are the Rosetta stone to understanding the intentions of Rapstine and company. Uncertainty and dread give way to anxiety and rage, culminating a release of tension that reassures only slightly before an ambiguous resolution.

Stemming from his Catholic upbringing, Rapstine’s lyrics are full of phraseology biblical both in reference as well as scope. In “Gone Country,” he uses the story of Abraham’s sacrifice as a metaphor for human loss. Lyrics such as “With an ear to the ground/it will come without a sound/the bells ring, the birds sing, it won’t be long now/so sing like a lark/into that dark and empty heart/there’s no one to hear you any how,” showcase the sinister creep of fatalism inherent in these songs, almost a devil on your shoulder whispering in your ear. Elemental language and references to transubstantiation, both as a physical metaphor and as an emotional transformation play a significant role as well. In “Turned To Stone,” the refrain pronounces “As we wither we turn to stone,” inferring that though our earthly vessel may perish, our souls remain immortal in hearts and memories.

The instrumentation built around the songs reinforces these themes. Evans’ restrained percussion and the propulsive, post-punk bass lines add distinctive color and shape to what could otherwise easily pass for Burzum lyrics. Piano and strings are strategically placed throughout, lending an almost regal feel to the proceedings.

Make no mistake, The Angelus is assuredly a rock band, and are fully capable of summoning a clamorous wall of guitars when necessary. But in a song such as “Let Me Be Gone,” the band wisely chooses to step back a bit in order to create a spare and stark canvas to provide a stage for the heart-rending vocal interplay. It’s in this song that we get another taste of operatic engineering, as the listener is introduced to an aching minor-key melody that returns later in a recognizable, yet altogether different context.

“Let Me Be Gone” stands as the centerpiece of the record – both the most emotionally devastating and tragically beautiful. The pleading refrain, “release me/of my body/let me be gone” illustrates Rapstine’s grasp of the sublime. Who has never pined for escape — from sickness, from sadness, from yourself?

The album concludes with “Sudden Burst Of Hope,” a flat-out triumphant and joyous affair. Echoing the introductory drone, we’re instead shown the converse path. Sweeping and ornate in its arrangement, it concludes the narrative with, if not exactly a happy ending, at least a resolution of having survived the worst and come out the other side. Interestingly, “Hope” has a singular status among the other songs present.

Rapstine: “(‘Hope’) ... was one of the first songs I wrote with The Angelus in mind. I’m glad that we finally got a recording. Some of the songs are really old, and some are comparatively new. Hopefully they don’t sound like two different bands.”

The band looked to longtime supporters and local scene promoters/advocates Michael Briggs and Brent Frishman of Gutterth Records to help with the release of the album.

Briggs: “We've been wanting to release this record for years now. We love The Angelus and are very proud to be able to work with them.”

Wasterlain: “I think their enthusiasm and the way they help the Denton scene is awesome ... in other cities, you don’t see that. To see those guys really try to champion the stuff they enjoy and Denton, it’s hard not to want to be associated with them.”

Evans: “They’re just good friends to have, and they’ve supported us since the beginning. It’s good to have them on our side.”

On A Dark And Barren Land stands as a powerful statement of purpose, confident and sophisticated well beyond what any ‘local’ band has any right to claim. To not be affected by their music is surely the sign of a heartless cur, or at the very least, terrible taste.

Gutterth Live presents the Angelus’ record release show with special guests Sans Soleil, Diamond Age, and Summer of Glaciers at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios on Saturday, October 8th.

On A Dark And Barren Land is available here through Gutterth Records

-David Willerton

YALL

We recently had the chance to get slightly deafened by local/kinda-local noise-pop band, YALL. We talked with them about what it's like to be 19 years old and playing clubs in Texas, what bands they like to play with and fast food tacos. If you'd like to listen to a recorded version of the song Gum that is played at the end of the video you can download a single from YALL below, or click on the Soundcloud embed below. 

YALL - GUM by wedentondoit

Lyric Leak: Hares on the Mountain

 

Last Sunday I went to see the resident band Hares on the Mountain play at Dan’s Silverleaf and I was impressed with the band’s energy and sound. But more than that, being the total literature nerd that I am, I was blown away by the lyrics they sang. Storytelling seemed to be at the core of their music and they brought the bard tradition to life. So I sat down with front man George Neal to talk about lyrics—about the musician as a poet. We talked about lyrics in general, but focused in on one song, Matilda Jones, and here’s what the troubadour had to say:

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Ghosts of Denton Past: Brutal Juice

Editor's Note: 

This is the first of our monthly Ghosts of Denton Past column. In this column, we will look at different Denton bands of yore. If you have a specific old band that you'd like for us to cover, send us an email. Also, if you have a great story on any band that we have covered, please tell us in the comments!

Brutal Juice

It’s sometime in the fall of 1996. I’m a junior in high school in the middle of nowhere, halfway between Dallas and Waco. I’ve really only been listening to decent music for about two years; I was way into … And Justice for All coming into my freshman year, mostly on the recommendation of my best friend, who was way into Lars Ulrich at the time. I also briefly fooled myself into believing that big band music held some intrinsic value in anticipation of joining the school jazz ensemble. Beyond that, I was as interested in grunge and the burgeoning ‘alternative rock’ scene as anyone else in the ’90s, but I was only beginning to explore music at large. 

Locally, my knowledge of area bands consisted of Pantera and the Toadies, who I only knew about thanks to sitting next to a faux-bisexual pothead skate rat in algebra who decorated his notebook with “Fuck the Toadies” stickers. They had just started to get some heat off of ‘Possum Kingdom’ on the radio, and before not too long, they were a big deal, even among people who didn’t abuse spray paint. I was invited by a friend who had an extra ticket to go see them in Dallas one night, and I was psyched like a mug-until we got there. 

Being sixteen, going on seventeen, I was fully immersed in my awful antisocial/misanthropic phase, and was super bummed to arrive at the venue to see the collected student councils of the greater North Texas area, people who were only there because their parents owned lakefront property name-checked in a song. My spleen went into overdrive. 

We arrived a little late, but just in time to see opener Brutal Juice take the stage, and I watched in a state of euphoria as they proceeded to hate-fuck this audience of shirt-tuckers for what seemed like an impossibly long set. Writhing and shrieking onstage, this was my first live taste of a truly dangerous band. Almost immediately after they finished and the house music came up, some intern from Interscope wove his way through the crowd of horrified children with a bag of cassette tapes and shoved one in my greedy little fist. It was a promo single of ‘Nationwide’ backed with ‘The Vulgarians’ aka ‘The Vaginals’. We went home after the show, I popped that tape into my stereo, and completely surrendered. Even at just two songs, it found its way into my regular car cassette rotation. If I ever gave you a ride in my ‘88 LeSabre, you listened to Brutal Juice.

Imagine, if you will, Denton twenty years ago. It bears little, if any resemblance to the city today. The universities were present, as well as the Pancho’s, but for the most part, that was it. If you got on Loop 288, you either wanted to go to Wal-Mart, or get drunk in a field. If you had any type of creative inclinations, restless energy, or simply had a low tolerance for boredom, your options were limited: make music, take drugs, or experiment with combining the two in varying quantities. From out of this pharmaceutical ennui came Brutal Juice. 

Coalescing in and around the University of North Texas in 1991, the band took their name from an incredibly prescient Hertz car rental commercial featuring O.J. Simpson and Arnold Palmer. Hitting the ground running, the band began writing songs and honing their sound. Bassist Sam McCall recorded the earliest demos before eventually joining up full-time, combining with drummer Ben Burt to form a crazy tight, muscular rhythm unit. Guitarists Gordon Gibson and Ted Wood lashed from prog-laced arena punk riffs to spaced out lysergic solos. And Craig Welch scared the shit out of everyone within arm’s reach, taking equal time to scream lyrics full of sex and violence as well as smash beer bottles against his head and put lit cigarettes out on his tongue. 

They quickly began documenting their perverse style of acid punk, releasing How Tasty Was My Little Timmy, followed by the Cannibal Holocaust and Black Moment of Panic singles, the latter put out by Alternative Tentacles. It’s on Black Moment of Panic that the first concrete signs of what was to come showed up. The A-side plays almost like a foreshadowing of where the band would eventually end up, with a heavily psychedelic front end bolstered by a chaotic and crushing bridge and coda. The B-side “Rock Town” is largely forgettable; a stiff mosh-funk tune contractually required of any band operating between 1989-1997.

Recorded at Emo’s in Austin in 1994, I Love the Way They Scream When They Die is essentially a live concert demo version of the band’s only proper full length. Most of the same songs appear on both releases, albeit in very different guises. Overall, the live album is naturally looser and more raw than the polished studio effort. It is obvious on the live album though, that the musicianship is already top-notch, and most of the puzzle pieces have already been placed.

In the wake of every band in America with access to a distortion pedal being signed by a major record label, Interscope Records released Mutilation Makes Identification Difficult in 1995. Originally conceived with the working title Everything’s Coming Up Toilets, the album was an uncompromising conglomeration of metal heaviness, punk riffs, pop vocal harmonies and general weirdness. Leading with the seasick lurch of “Kentucky Fuck Daddy,” all the way through to the best twenty minute Tool song Tool never wrote in “Whorehouse of Screams,” it manages the neat trick of sitting comfortably at the crossroads of noise rock and power pop, and remains an unfortunate casualty of a saturated alternative rock market. 

Brutal Juice toured relentlessly throughout the mid-’90s. Their final record, released with Man’s Ruin, was the All-American City single. Both a departure from the Mutilation album, and a totally logical endpoint to their music, “All-American City” is extremely psychedelic in comparison to the majority of other BJ songs, passing for straight-up hippie rock for the first minute until pedals and balls both get stomped at the chorus and atonal squeals begin issuing forth from the guitars. The B-side, “Bound for Glory,” is cast more in the classic Brutal Juice mold. A thrashy, melodic kiss-off, it’s the kind of song that you hum as your mugshot is taken.

Brutal Juice dissolved in 1997, though reunion shows have been plentiful and semi-regular in the years since. Gibson and Burt formed the Tommorrowpeople, which continued the more pop-oriented psychedelic sounds BJ was beginning to explore. Ted Wood went on to become a member of Hand of Onan, and later Magnum Octopus and with Welch, was a member of the Banes. Welch went on to be a member of International Sparkdome as well as the Fabulous Badasses, and currently performs as part of electro/hip-hop outfit NEEKS. McCall continues to produce and record other bands.

If you have any good Brutal Juice stories, please tell us in the comments!

Brutal Juice:

Ben Burt - drums

Gordon Gibson - lead vocals, guitar

Sam McCall - bass, vocals

Craig Welch - lead vocals, guitar

Ted Wood - guitar, vocals

Fry St. Fair 93

reunion show @ Dan’s:

-David Willerton

Top 10 Vegan/Gluten-free/Vegetarian Spots in Denton

1.  Sprouts in Flower Mound.  Did Denton seriously need another Walmart?  Even though Sprouts is a drive, it's got the best prices and selection of vegan / gluten free items.

2. Too lazy to drive to Flo Mo? "Fancy" Kroger on Teasley is a 15 minute drive from "cool" Denton, but their organic and produce section is stronger than anywhere else within the city limits. 

3. Cupboard Cafe has the best Jerk Tempeh sandwich in Denton and the vegan banana smoothie is too good to pass up vegan or not. 

5. Vitamin World section of Drug Emporium

6. Vegetarian Menu at the Greenhouse Restaurant namely the Southwest Avocado Tacos or the Black Bean Burger.

7. The Mean Green dining hall in Maple Hall on UNT campus is a welcome addition to Denton's herbivore scene. If you don't mind sitting around a bunch of UNT students, members of the public can also visit this cafeteria. Mean Green is open from Monday through Thursday from 7am until 7pm (and 7am - 6pm on Fridays!). Prices range from $5.50 to $7.50 depending on the meal you're eatin'. 

8. Mr. Chopstix and Andaman are ready and willing to accommodate your vegan needs. Just ask. Andaman's Drunken Veggie is simply delectable... just specify vegan and anything fishy will be omitted. Keep in mind that the fry batter Mr. Chopstix uses contains egg, though!

9.  Dan's Meat Market on North Elm has the best avocados.  Dan's wife will help you find the good ones at the register.

10. Vegan Freak. While the name might conjure up images of a healthy grocery store, this place ain't The Cupboard. Instead, Vegan Freak focuses on selling other vegan lifestyle items (vegan bath and body products and other vegan items). Vegan Freak is open from Monday through Saturday from 10am until 7pm and again on Sundays from 10am until 5pm. These are actually really good hours for a small, local business. Patronize this place and give them reason to keep them!

11. The Denton Vegan Cooperative has vegan baked goods available at both Jupiter House locations (Yes, there's another Jupiter House. Travel north of the square, much?) and the Community Market on Saturdays. 

Side Note: Denton, you should be ashamed of yourselves! For housing such a plenty of vegan, vegetarian, local eating, health conscious bunch of people we should open fewer fry and dines and something a little more likened to Spiral Diner (Dallas, Fort Worth). Tisk Tisk. Now you may have your tofutti. 

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