MR. FARRIS GOES TO CITY HALL: MAY

​This sign will soon dot the landscape of the Denton square. 

Remember how Denton County Hamburger was never open past 3pm, and no one ever knew why? Turns out the HVAC barely worked - so they just didn’t stay open longer than the AC unit could handle. Crazy huh? 

On that same topic, Denton County Hamburger's square location is no more (RIP, sweet, greasy prince), but the big news of the day is that Lone Star Attitude is moving in. The head chef from Fireside Pies and Hibiscus is carefully crafting a burger concept built around a traditional burger that doesn’t include extra love sauce or throwing on a chalupa. They are spending roughly $750,000 on renovations to get it up to code, open, and running. Apparently the seat count will be up to 178 (that's a lot of seats y'all). They'll be able to accommodate all of those brand new fancy-sch'mancy seats because they will also have a rooftop patio. To get there you'll have to hop up some new stairs designed by UNT students that look like piano keys and make music as you go up. We already can’t wait to have a burger and a beer on the rooftop while watching Twilight Tunes and the sun go down... sounds kinda great doesn’t it? We hope the burgers hold up, too. 

Vigne, the wine place tucked-away behind Gerhard's, is moving into the old Cellar 22 ​ space to develop a higher-end wine bar concept. We always love a place where we can swirl our cabs and not sound like snobs when we talk about it's legs, terroir and compare the size of our pocket squares and we hope that's what this place will be. So what happens to the old Vigne spot? A BBQ place is moving over in.  Hey future BBQ restaurant, can you do us a solid? Texas Monthly recently did a feature on the top 50 BBQ places in Texas. Guess what town wasn't represented on that list. Denton. Some would argue that if From Tha Heart BBQ were still around, it would've made the list, but it's now long gone. Sure, you can drive up to Tioga and give Clark's a try, but it's not really worth it, even with the horse-shoe as corn  holders. We need an open-pit, smoke-heavy BBQ place that people will wait in line for. We're not talking Franklin's level here, but something to at least give Pecan Lodge, Lockhart's or even Angelo's in Ft. Worth a run for it's money. I don't know about y'all, but our current Denton brisket selection just ain't cuttin' it for us. Don't let us down as-of-yet-unnamed place. We have high hopes for you. 

Along with the pains of a growing city come the perils of parking in a busy and bustling downtown area. We've already mentioned the East Hickory Parking Plan before (you can catch up on it's many features over here on Kevin Roden's blog), but guess what y'all - it's about to get messy before it gets better. Get ready for lots of lane closures, road blockages and people with yellow hats blocking your way. Start following our twitter feed if you aren't already. We’ll be giving out live updates from the city during this painful process of fixing the parking situation. Don't forget to start practicing your back-in angled parking now, so as not to embarrass yourself when it's all done.

Hey - remember that time that past mayoral candidate and alleged troll under Goat Man Bridge, Bob Clifton, tried to take down newly elected Joey Hawkins during the city council elections? Yeah, that happened. Luckily, Joey is a class act, and he turned a nasty and false attempt at a smear campaign into lots of people with free coffee and a hefty donation to Serve Denton. Great job Joey. We liked the way you handled that and we look forward to more of that kind of positive and progressive creativity as you continue to serve our city from your new council seat over District 4.

On the topic of city council, Jim Engelbrecht, Dalton Gregory, Joey Hawkins and Kevin Roden will be serving you as representatives for Districts 1, 2, 3 and 4. Congrats y’all! If you did vote, thanks for your willingness to participate in the democratic process! Two thumbs up to you! Believe it or not, voter turnout was still pretty low this year. Start gearing up for next year, y'all. There are some pretty important seats up for grabs and maybe another party or something. 

THE DEN10

The traffic got a little lighter this week. Our already sleepy town got a little sleepier and then with the heat, sleepier still. After spending an hour staring into the sun at the Denton Creatives Mixer on Monday, you're probably ready to not really leave the house until the sun's down. It's time to start finding those apartment pools to sneak into for late night swimming and drinking warm PBR's. It's time for chili cook-offs, Fourth of July plans and vacations near the water. There's the way the sun hits the square in the summer that makes it smell like even the dust is getting a sunburn. Somehow that's just a reminder that summer is here and it's not going away until the town gets flooded with fresh young faces clad in the latest Urban Outfitter's catalog - who heard that Denton had a really great "scene", who are "really excited about classes" and have adorable questions like "what's your major?". As inevitable as all that is, the only thing there really is to wrap your head around is how to fully, and slowly, soak up the very unique Denton Summer experience. Time to start making plans.

Wednesday May 15​
New Science Projects / Old Potion / Claire Morales / Daniel Folmer | Gloves | 9PM | $5
There's been quite a trend of solid shows at the Gloves lately and we're hoping it continues.

Sculpture Collective Show | UNT On The Square | 6PM
Put on by the Institute For The Advancement Of The Arts and The College Of Visual Arts And Design. Check out UNT's talent pool while enjoying Vietnamese food at this opening reception.

Thursday May 16​
Savage & The Big Beat / Bashe / Sophmore | Dan's | 9PM | $5
The fellas that brought you Jurassic Park The Musical are headlining Thursday at Dan's with the intention of fully entertaining you for five dollars.

Friday May 17​
Wayne "The Train" Hancock | Dan's | 9PM | $12
Wayne's commanding performances of the classic country swing form will be on display this Friday on Dan's stage. If you haven't caught him, you need to. Learn how to two-step and get to it.

Saturday May 18
Space Camp Death Squad / Tijuana Bible / M.C. Sex / Catastica | Gloves | 9PM | $5

The Ladies of Spiderweb Salon Showcase | J&J's | 8PM | $3
Comedy by Sarah Vaughn? Yes, please! Of course there's also a shadow puppet performance among the readings and playings of instruments. This is going to be a zany night of local zaniness that will be well worth your hard earned 3 Washingtons.

Taco Fest 2K13 | Taqueria El Picante | 2PM | $5 both days
This is our type of fest am I right? Dollar tacos, vegan tacos, raffles, a mustache seesaw, rad games and activities and - oh yeah, 2 stages of bands playing into the wee hours of the morn. There will also be a first aid kit on standby which is good because some people say "safety first" but I say "safety always".

Natural Beauty Products with Ayrton Chapman | Cardo's Farm Project | 10AM | $45
Tips that go beyond "consider bathing daily" like how to make your own natural lip balm, deodorant and lotion. This three hour workshop presented by Ayrton sounds like a nice and educational way to spend a Saturday morning. Register at www.cardosfarmproject.com.

Duchman Family Wine Dinner | The Chestnut Tree | 7PM | $50
A wine dinner hosted by Chestnut Tree and featuring pairings with offerings from the Duchman Family Winery. The cost includes four courses of Italian inspired food featuring local produce and four wines to go with it. Of course a Duchmen rep will be educating you about the tastings which, if successful, will finally have you thinking more than "that tastes like grapes" afterwards.

Sunday May 19​
Theatrum Sub Rosa Presents: Wet Hot American Summer | Paschall Bar | 5PM | FREE
The secret society of film enthusiasts that is Theatrum Sub Rosa returns this Sunday with the start of their summer series kicking it off with the comedy classic, Wet Hot American Summer. Sip your sazeracs and old fashioneds and enjoy this film to kick off what is sure to be the best summer of your entire life ever.

Taco Fest 2K13 | Taqueria El Picante | 2PM | $5 both days

Monday May 20​
PANTS Steamroller Printing Extravaganza | Cool Beans | 11AM
Hosted by the always industrious Printmaking Association of North Texas, this event seems to be continuing the live printing trend. There's nothing wrong with folks getting together and making art now is there? There's nothing wrong with those Cool Beans chili dogs either.