Dallas Dining?

Wow, that quite an extensive list - thanks so much!

Just out of curiosity, have you been in Big D long enough to tell us how it compares to living in the Derby City, in terms of eateries as well as overall lifestyle?

Excellent question. I would love to hear your opinion on this as we are considering relocating with our company.

I am finishing up my second year in Dallas, so I think I have a pretty good feel. Well, I gotta be frank. I am much better salesperson for living in Louisville than I am in Dallas. Louisville's personality, spirit, and eclecticism suits me much better. Dallas is, well, a large city. So, with a large city comes a lot of options and opportunity. For me, it is more about what I will call the "je ne sais quoi" of living somewhere. For example, it often seems that it is all about conspicuous consumption in Dallas - big expensive cars, big expensive houses, big expensive restaurants, big expensive handbags... I think you get the picture! Louisville is proud and conscious about preserving its architectural heritage, which is important to me. In Dallas, you will find that people will snatch up a property in the right zip code for 500 to 800 thousand dollars to raze the perfectly adorable 1930's bungalow and put up a million dollar McMansion that fills the entire lot. There are only rare pockets of historic preservation in Dallas. People seem to like it shiny and new here. If you love shopping, you definitely have better opportunities here. You want it and they probably got it - from Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, Chanel and Hermes to Ikea, Forever 21 and the Gap. Granted, I still tend to spend my dollars at the Gap and Banana Republic, but it is kinda cool to know that Chanel is just down the street. There are definite pockets of creativity and originality, but you have to look much harder to find it. I feel like I could just stumble across it so easily in Louisville, whether it be stumbling across a cool local band or going on the gallery hop. There is a really good arts district, and I have hit several of the major museums but attending performances here has been way outta my price range. It is also hot, flat, and brown here. I miss the green rolling hills and the true change in seasons.

OK - so that is Dallas as a city. Foodwise, it has a ton to offer. You can tell that by the "short" list I provided. But, it tends to be expensive to eat in Dallas. Part of it has to do with where I live. I live in a super expensive area, so many of the really good and interesting sounding LOCAL restaurants will run you 30-40 dollars for one person, and that is just an entree, drink, tax and tip. We do also get a number of big name places, again because it is a much larger city where people like to spend money. We have a Nobu, a Bice, and a Craft to name a few. We also have those famous long-time standards like the Mansion on Turtle Creek.

The interesting little hole-in the-walls and cheaper eateries are few and far between in my area (I will use the example, of... hmm.. Cafe Lou Lou to illustrate what I have in mind). And let's face it, when you are looking for that type of place, you are typically wanting something quick, familiar and close by... you aren't wanting to drive a half hour to get there. I obviously do have a list of places I enjoy - I shared several of those with you. I do miss having a wide variety of local pizzerias to chose from - there doesn't seem to be many of those here. Tex Mex is definitely better here! Probably my favorite food related destination has to be Central Market, which has to be one of the most amazing groceries I have ever encountered. It is this really weird hybrid of a Jungle Jim's type place, Whole Foods/Wild Oats, a regular grocery like Kroger, with the addition of an extensive prepared food sections that makes it easy to eat a healthy dinner for one without a lot of work and expense! In general, there are quite a few places that do almost all prepared food options, along the lines of Eatzi's (some of you may be familiar with that concept).

I hope that answers your questions, but feel free to ask follow ups if you want more specifics on something I said or didn't say!

Cori,

Thanks so much for your thoughtful input. What you described is exactly what my perception was, sight unseen. I know Dallas, as any city or town, has great things to offer, and I know the food arena down there can be phenomenol. But, as you said, at a price.

The 'shiny and new' aspect that you describe is one that so does not appeal to me. I'm originally from a small town in WV. I like more options than the town has to offer, but it's quaint, has a lot of history and original architechture and character. And pretty big hills! I then lived in Lex for 5 years getting my 2 pieces of paper, and while I hold nothing against the town, I can tell you that I felt more at home in Louisville after only 6 mos. than I ever felt in Lexington. I realize I was a student, so it was a different situation, but Lousiville's Chamber's tagline of "Your New Hometown" is right on in my book. I'm rambling, but the things you described about this town are the things I too love the most. I have often described Louisville as a CITY with a small town feel. We are fortunate to have the best of both sides, with lots of culiary, arts, and festival functions for all. In short, we love it here, and really don't want to move.

And I'm so not a shopper, so that doesn't appeal to me, and big money speaks of a general attitude where I can't go. Just not me, or my husband.

Our 2 defining decision factors on this move have been, number one, the proximity to our aging parents. My mom is still in WV, and his folks are in WI, and we can hop in a car and be in either place within 5-6 hours, in general. The other is quality of life, which we love here, and questioned in Dallas. We will still go next week with an open mind, but we have pretty much made our decision to say no (did I just contradict myself??? oops ) Blue skies and warmer weather appeal to me, but in the right place, and we're fairly certain that Dallas is not it.

We will only be there from Wed. through Sat. morning, so this is a long shot, but perhaps we could meet for dinner or lunch on one of those days. As of now, they don't have any formal agenda for us, so we're pretty wide open.

Thanks again for the input. It pretty much confirmed what we already knew/thought