WE GAMBLED AT BET THE HOUSE AND WON

Words and Images by Will Milne

Bet The House Barbecue opened on South Elm last Saturday. They had a line out the door after being open for nine minutes. BBQ news travels fast, y'all. Thankfully, we were already there, sampling the wares, snapping some pics, and getting the meat sweats. Read on for more...

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Bet The House is owned and operated by Cody Smithers and Shawn Eagle who have been running a catering crew in town for several years now. Smithers' day job is as an analyst at the Dallas Morning News and Eagle is a special education teacher at Ryan High School. Both are honest, hard working dudes who were delightfully pleasant to hang out with for people who had just received under three hours of sleep (pitmaster is a tough job, y'all). 

We've been clamoring for legit central Texas BBQ in Denton since we've lived here. And every time a new place opens up, we're met with disappointment. Thankfully, Bet The House lived up to our expectations. This is the thickly sliced, "I don't need no sauce" style smoked meat that we've been waiting for. 

VSCO even makes iPhone shots of brisket look dramatically beautiful. 

The brisket is moist, flavorful, and has a great amount of smokiness to it. The sausage is from Fischer's Meat Market in Muenster and is made specifically for Bet The House. The jalepeno-cheddar we tried was delightfully cheesy, had a great snap to it, and left us with an awesome peppery aftertaste.

The sides are pretty basic Texan BBQ joint - i.e. okra, coleslaw, potato salad, etc... (no hot messes yet) We're hoping we get to see a few more "made in house" non-bbq specialties in the future. 

Bet The House is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11am - 9pm, but watch out for them selling out, because it'll happen. Go get some brisket before the word gets out, y'all. 

Prep for a chopped brisket sandwich. 

The custom made smoker can hold a bunch of rib racks and briskets, y'all. 

Shawn Eagle slicing brisket. 

Bet The House is located at 508 S. Elm St. in Denton, TX. 

Bet The House on Facebook.

CUPS AND CREPES AND REINCARNATION

Whoa. Wait a minute. That ain't a crepe at all!

Cups and Crepes on Fry St. has been supplying Denton with French a.m. delicacies for several years now. For a while there, they kind of faded out of our consciousness, but recently they closed down for a few months to make some changes. We scoped the place out over the weekend and were super happy with our experiences. Read on for more breakfast-y goodness!

The lemon curd crepe from Cups and Crepes. 

We here at WDDI love our Crepes. Some of us have problems with the French (and some of us make them mad on Facebook), but we all love crepes. One of the reasons we gave up on Cups and Crepes in the past was the long wait to get food. We remember waiting up to forty five minutes on one occasion. This doesn't appear to be an issue any more. Service was friendly and we had our order super fast.

The crepes we're never really an issue, but since reopening they seem to be even more delicious. Above you see the lemon curd crepe with fresh berries and whipped cream. It had just the right balance of sweetness and tartness. 

Cups and Crepes is now brewing Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters.

When we first walked up, we were happy to see a familiar face in the ever-positive visage Aaron Aguilar of the currently-cocooned Shift Coffee.  Those Shift peeps have apparently been bringing their coffee nerdery to many places in town (read: Big Mike's). At Cups and Crepes, you now have the opportunity to have your coffee brewed via a variety of different methods including Chemex and siphon. We were even asked what type of filter we prefer for our Chemex (bleached, yo). 

C & C is also now serving Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters beans from big D. We had a very bright cup of Songea Peaberry which was delightful and tasted as close to champagne as a cup of brew made from roasted beans can get.  

We also enjoyed a huddy (think of an omelette but with hash browns in lieu of eggs) with Gouda cheese which was meat-free, but we didn't even notice (we're big fans of bacon at WDDI). The eggs were perfectly oozy and the salsa added a nice component.

The special of the day was a s'more crepe with maple cream, chocolate drizzle, and a sprinkling of graham crackers on top. It sounds like overkill as far as sweetness goes, but it worked.

The inside of the restaurant didn't appear to have much redone. It's still a living room of a cool old house that seems as if it could be made into something much more than it currently is. Thankfully, sitting on the patio on a quiet spring morning was wonderful. 

At around $7/crepe, the prices seemed a bit high for Denton, but the food was worth every penny. 

We're happy that Cups and Crepes seems to be around for the long haul. They've got a good thing going and an interesting selection of Crepes. We also heard a few exciting things about the future of Shift Coffee, but we'll save that for a later post.

CAFE BRAZIL IS OPEN AND STUFF

Like many of y'all we've checked out the new Cafe Brazil in Denton over on University and Carroll since it opened last Tuesday. This is the same Cafe Brazil you've come to know and love since 1991. There's lots of flavored coffees available for you to mix and match, late nights and a breakfast-heavy large menu. We've always thought of it as a North Texas version of Magnolia Diner or Kerbey Lane Cafe (both out of Austin). 

Our service was adequate at each of our visits - quick, polite, but there were some slight issues (missing items, etc...). The food was just as good as any of the Dallas Cafe Brazil locations. We ordered a few breakfast items, as well as a few non-breakfast foods some of which are shown below. Overall, for a first week visit, things seemed to be going the right way for 'em. We hope to see something take off in this location (don't jinx 'em and call it "cursed"). Between Cafe Brazil, Royal's Bagels and Denton Donuts, Carroll and University may now be referred to as "the breakfast district" in Denton - watch out, Congress Ave! 

If you like flavored coffees, this is the spot for you. 

The chorizo nachos featured Cafe Brazil's house-made chorizo which wasn't greasy at all and pretty tasty. It actually was more similar to ground beef than chorizo to us, texture+wise, though. The nachos had plenty of cheese, but at $2.50 for a dollop of guac, we were left feeling a little cheated. 

The fruit "pancrepes" were tasty but a bit overly eggy for us. 

A few other things we tried and really dig are the chicken crepes - which are pretty great and come covered in a tasty creamy sauce and the breakfast relleno. The breakfast relleno is somehow the perfect blend of egg, chorizo and cheesy goodness stuffed into a poblano pepper. We were shocked, and almost a little embarrassed by how quickly we inhaled them... and thought about how we wouldn't go without ordering them again. 

Have you been to the Denton Cafe Brazil yet? If so, tell us your thoughts in the comments! 

CAFE HERRERA IN PHOTOS

After a long string of opening dates that came and went, Cafe Herrera opened in the corner section of the Texas Building last Friday. The site was on and off crowded over the weekend, we went and checked the place out a couple of times. Below are seven photos of the space. Check 'em out and make sure you stop by for some Tex-Mex real soon. 

While the space doesn't get as great of a view as the other new-to-the-square restaurant, LSA, the ginormous side windows of the skinny space give you some great people watching angles for outside of Recycled and down Locust. 

The place has a massive tequila selection and even offer tequila flights. It's only rivaled by Villa Grande and Mulberry St. Cantina. We'd try and have some sort of a tequila-off blog post, but the stuff makes us fiesty. That said, the cocktails and margaritas were all on point. 

The bar might not be big enough for as many margaritas as they're going to be serving up at future happy hours. 

The house margarita is only $3 and a very interesting shade of green. 

The salsa was fresh and had some heat to it. We were fans and will definitely be back if only for the salsa and drinks. 

All meals come with complimentary bean soup which we were quite fond of. It was deep, meaty and steaming hot. 

The fajita salad. 

The menu was large and pretty varied as far as Tex Mex goes. One of the times we were there, the "brisket guy" wasn't in so we didn't get to partake in the brisket tacos. Instead, the "Rupert Special" took its place. The enchiladas and tostadas were great. 

MOMMY IS IT 5PM YET?

YOUR GUIDE TO BRINGING KIDS TO BARS

by Naomi Wood and Will Milne

A kid dancing at the Mardi Gras Festival on Walnut St. last Friday. Photo by Paige Gibson. 

Denton is currently in something of a bar renaissance. Some of our all-time favorite Denton bars have opened just within the past five years. This, plus the fact that seemingly everyone in Denton is now toting a wee-one (read: child), puts us at a moral quandary. When is it appropriate, if ever, to take your kid with you to some place with booze?

If you’ve walked into an early-evening show or bar with a kiddo in tote, and felt the peering eyes of strangers, we feel for ya. A few weeks ago, there was a Denton Creatives Mixer at Rubber Gloves, an often “all ages” venue. We went and lo and behold a few kiddos were there. Was it maybe a little strange to see a couple of kids at a space in which Peelander Z has played over a dozen times? Maybe. But also kind of awesome. There was absolutely nothing overly “adult” happening and the kids seemed to be having a good time. Last weekend at the Mardi Gras festival on Walnut St., there were plenty of adults drinking lots of beer and wearing lots of beads, but in addition to that, there were tons of children of all ages running around, dancing to music, and getting their faces painted. This was even deemed family-friendly. And why not? Sports games serve alcohol, and is it even possible to make it through the state fair without some sort of depressant or stimulant?

We have a few tips that may make any social family more at ease. We like to think that bars aren’t just places of drink and relaxation, but are a key way to connect to the community around us. While none of them approach the level of kid-friendliness that you’ll find at places such as The LOT or The Truck Yard in Dallas, we’re getting there. Here are a few places that we think are hot-spots for families to unwind - and by god - happen to serve alcohol.

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Oak Street Draft House and East Side Social Club - OSDH is the big daddy of bringing your kid to The open-air beer garden attracts all kinds of folk, from the 2-legged to the 4-legged. For some reason it seems more kid friendly to us than ESSC, but we're not gonna write that out - especially with their forthcoming food truck park neighbor (which we hope has some kid-friendly components, too. It’s no secret that this is one of our favorite craft beer spots, and what kid doesn’t like a game of ping pong with Dad after a long day in the office? At this point, you may be wondering, "But what does management think of this habit? Surely, people don't want little kids running around their bars."

We reached out to the owner of Oak St. Draft House and East Side Social Club for comment. Williams said, "Oak St. Drafthouse and East Side Social Club are very kid-friendly environments. We have Saint Arnold's Root Beer on tap and sodas available for the kiddos. As long as you keep an eye on them and they are out by 8pm or sundown, feel free to enjoy our non smoking inside and wide-open patio." We think he's a pretty swell dude. 
 

Dan’s Silverleaf - There are  plenty of family-friendly shows where anyone from infancy to white hairs are welcomed. Most of the time, they start at 5pm and oftentimes the bands are of good quality - such as Mrs. Polly. The outdoor patio allows for a little more wiggle room for that squirmy toddler, but be careful - while the inside of Dan’s is smoke-free, the patio can get smoky pretty quickly. Plus, sometimes there's popcorn. 
 

Denton Festivals - For a town that really knows how to throw a festival, we're surprised this trend hasn't really cropped up before. Denton has tons of festivals in which adults can lean back and enjoy a cold one while their kid dances around or plays. Jazz Fest seems like the obvious choice, but festivals such as the Blues Festival, or even the weekly Twilight Tunes jams on the courthouse lawn during the summers are great for both the young at heart and the young at everything. 
 

Mulberry St. Cantina - Is doing a great job of creating a family-friendly environment. Once again, we have a non-smoking atmosphere complete with games nearby. You may have to wait your turn for cornhole, but there's plenty of cards and games such as Connect Four at the complimentary chip station. When the garage window goes up, the fresh air hits you while you're sipping a delicious margarita -  all that's missing is some sort of kid-play area (maybe a splash park. Right, Mrs. Briggle?) nearby. Oh, and Lean Machine or The Waffle Wagon are normally outside, too, so you can grab some kid-friendly food, too (ours like Lean Machine's smoothies). 

Misc.  - There are plenty of other places you can catch some live music and a glass of wine without looking like a bad parent. The Whitehouse often has shows outside, Banter has a pretty consistent live music lineup and Last Drop Tavern has pizza so you can't really beat that. 

Howsabout you? Have you ever felt weird taking your kid somewhere in town, or do you have a suggestion on a place you think is unassumingly kid-friendly? Let us know in the comments!

JIVE FIVE: BREAKFAST TACOS

Breakfast tacos at La Estrella. 

As most of you already know, we're pretty taco crazy. We especially love the fact that tacos can be served three times a day, even more if you count a taco as a snack. We've talked before about a few of our favorite tacos around Denton - namely, our guide to the East McKinney Taco Corridor and how to hunt down a good taco in town - but we have a special place in our hearts for the breakfast taco. A thousand times better than a stale bagel from Kroger, and way more satisfying than that bowl of Lucky Charms you had this morning, a good breakfast taco can improve your morning tenfold. 

That said, "breakfast" tacos aren't just for the AM. Flour tortillas, eggs and greasy meat are pretty much the best hangover cure at noon on a Saturday, and they're equally excellent after a long night of playing bags at Oak Street Draft House. So take a look at our recommendations below. Keep in mind, this is by no means encyclopedic knowledge of all things breakfast taco. This is a primer; something to help you step away from Taco Cabana. We know this will be a highly contestable post so get your angry comments ready now. 

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TACO-RIFFIC

Show up at La Estrella at the right time, and you’ll have some of the best breakfast tacos this side of the Rio Grande. Be careful, though, you might be met with Denton’s version of the “soup nazi” whom we will dub the “taco fascist.” We love her pan with the inverted handle she uses to prepare meat for your breakfast tacos. She’s actually pretty darned awesome. Just don’t be overly gringo and things will work out okay. 

Casa Galaviz has the softest scrambled eggs. They're so soft, they’re almost delicate. They serve them on hot handmade flour tortillas alongside some incredibly tasty salsa. Plus if you bring your own jar you can get a bunch of their salsa for only a few bucks to take home and put on everything you make for the next three days. 

Most of the taco facilities we're recommending aren't the same places we'd recommend you grab a coffee. If you're going to grab a beverage, grab some horchata. Horchata, Mexican rice milk, is delicious, slightly sweet and normally has a faint cinnamon flavor. We can't recommend Taqueria Guanajuato's horchata enough. To go along with that tasty beverage make sure you grab some of their barbacoa breakfast tacos and cover them with salsa. 

Be adventurous. Beef tongue (lengua) sounds kinda gross, but it's an awesome cut of meat and is great on a breakfast taco. 

Taco Tuesday, y'all. Mi Casita has a good basic potato egg and cheese breakfast taco. While it might not be as good as some of the others, they’re still fresh and fast and not greasy and cheap as heck. Also, we love eating chips and salsa in the morning, and the spice on the chips at Mi Casita is great. Plus, they have a few different locations so you're sure to be able to get to one even if you're off of the EMTC. 

TACONO

Fuzzy’s may be cheap and there all the time, but they are so incredibly greasy and the egg is more of a rubbery mound than a soft scramble. Plus, their hot sauce can’t even begin to compare to fresh salsa. It mostly just takes like vinegar with a little kick. 

Anything at Sonic that is labeled a 'breakfast taco' inside of a chewy, thick, and tough tortilla with tater tots and an 'egg mix' should not be consumed nor should it be called a breakfast taco. 

While we normally love us some corn tortillas, when it comes to breakfast tacos, we're gonna have to always go with flour. 

We have mixed opinions on Rusty Taco’s breakfast tacos - some of us love ‘em, some…don’t. Sorry Rusty's. We all dig your cheap tequila margaritas and your Baja shrimp tacos with that habanero sauce, though. But some of us can't give a thumbs up to your breakfast tacos. They're good sometimes, but inconsistency isn't good for our mornings. We are happy that you open up before 11am now. And we'll keep visiting for lunch with a margarita on your great patio.

RECIPE: BROWN BUTTER APPLE CRUMBLE

We are in the midst of the holiday season, y'all. Potlucks, parties, friends-givings and holiday parties are about to be all around you. For us, that means its time to start filling our flasks and perfecting our favorite festive cocktail recipes in order to get through the family fun and office parties with our sanity intact.  However, before that happens, we want to  give you a recipe for a dessert that you can enjoy with or without friends and family that is winter ready and will make any gathering a little bit brighter, even if it's just you, Macauley Culkin and Home Alone hanging out together. 

Share if you'd like - don't if they didn't make the 'nice' list - because this is one apple dish that deserves an encore and isn't worth sharing with people that you don't just adore. You can of course top this with any ice cream of your choice, and while Blue Bell's Vanilla is always a classic, we personally prefer topping this tasty treat with Beth Marie's Cinnamon ice cream. It's not only a better match, but we love that we can pick it up on the square after hitting up a few shops and grabbing gifts to stash under our tiny tree. So when you're signing up to bring a dish to that upcoming office potluck, think about giving this a go. It's WDDI recommended. 

Brown Butter Apple Crumble

For the topping:

1 c All purpose flour

1 c Old fashioned oats 

1 c Dark brown sugar

1/2 c Chopped pecans

1 stick (1/2 c) Unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp Maldon sea salt 

For the filling: 

1 stick (1/2 c) Unsalted butter

6 Medium granny smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

1/3 c Dark brown sugar

1 tbsp Cinnamon

1 tbsp Vanilla 

1 tbsp Maldon sea salt 

2 tbsp bourbon 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease an 8" skillet. 

To make the topping: combine the flour, oats, brown sugar and pecans in large bowl and mix until the topping becomes crumbly and resembles wet sand. Set aside while making the filling. 

For the filling, place the butter in medium sauce pan on medium heat. Stirring constantly, allow the butter to crackle and foam, and then begin to brow. Allow the butter to cook until it has reached a caramel brown and has a nutty aroma. Remove from the pan immediately after that in order to stop the cooking process. Set aside to let cool for a few minutes. 

While the butter is cooling, place the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, salt and bourbon in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Add the brown butter to the apple mixture and make sure to coat evenly. Add in 1/4 c of the topping mixture to the apple mixture, tossing to combine. 

In the prepared skillet, place the apple mixture on bottom and cover with the topping, making sure the topping is as evenly distributed as possible. Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Serve with a generous scoop of Beth Marie's Cinnamon ice cream.