Julian and I alternate dinner duty. This is usually not an onerous task, since the fate of the free world does not depend on what we eat. However, there are times when the chef du soir is just too tired to cook. Over the years we’ve frequented neighborhood restaurants that have maintained domestic tranquility and served us well.
Oak Cliff, our old neighborhood in Dallas, wasn’t a dining destination in the early 1990’s. It was dry at the time. It took until 2011 to wet the whistles of the good people of Oak Cliff with something other than iced tea (unsweetened, fortunately for me) or Dr. Pepper. However, we found a couple of places near our home that provided reliable food. My personal favorite was a Salvadoran restaurant called Gloria’s. Not only was the food excellent in quality and value, it offered complimentary private club memberships to patrons so they could have a beer with dinner. For quick takeout, we opted for a place called Pizza Patron. I could call in my order just before I left my lab at the med school and the pizza would be ready by the time I got there. This outfit made national headlines when it decided to take both US dollars and Mexican pesos as legal tender (they still do, according to the website). This raised the ire of Rush Limbaugh. Any restaurant that irks him is okay by me.
As I said in an earlier post, Greensboro had a surprising amount of Southeast Asian restaurants. Our far-and-away favorite was Saigon Cuisine. The three Nguyen brothers and their mom ran the restaurant. One brother was the cook, one ran the bar, and the third, Duckie, ran the front of the house. Duckie was an expert schmoozer, and could chat up anyone. Another restaurant we frequented was an upscale sandwich place called Liberty Oak. Our favorites were the Smokin’ Granny and Uncle Wally on a Bialy. (Folks in North Carolina know from bialys??? In Krispy Kreme country?) We also went to a couple of Middle Eastern restaurants, Jack’s Corner near the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Pita Delite. The latter we referred to as the “Hello people” restaurant. Whenever someone walked in, all of the staff would say hello; when someone left, the staff would say thank you in unison. When 9/11 whipped up anti-Arab frenzy in relatively liberal Greensboro, we made a point to go to Jack’s to support their business.
Our default joints here in the Northwest are predominantly Asian, with a couple of exceptions. Phaya Thai is just two blocks from our old home in Seattle. Our former next-door neighbor has its phone number on speed dial for quick meals. They deliver–a good thing, since those two blocks can be a very risky walk or left turn on or off Lake City Way. Yummy Café is a small Chinese place that will accommodate our gluten-free friends by using tamari sauce in the dishes they order. When we go to downtown Seattle, we frequent Long Provincial, the sister of Tamarind Tree in the International District. Here in Bothell, Korea House seems to be replacing Phaya Thai as our go-to Asian joint. The waitstaff are very outgoing and willing to answer questions from clueless Anglos. We were there for my birthday, and Julian asked the waiter where to get gochujang (a Korean chile paste) for a recipe he’d seen in Bon Appétit. We were given a container on the house! Downtown Bothell has two Mexican restaurants. El Gallo de Oro serves standard Tex-Mex. Their mole sauce is excellent. Julio’s across the street is a little more upscale.
It’s nice to see that many of our old haunts in Dallas and Greensboro are alive and expanding after many years. Pizza Patron is now a franchise with branches around Texas (take that, Rush Limbaugh!). Since we left Dallas in 1995, Gloria’s has branched out to Fort Worth, Houston, and Austin. Pita Delite has a couple of branches around the city and in nearby High Point. Saigon Cuisine and Jack’s Corner are at the same locations as they were when we lived in Greensboro, but Liberty Oak has moved downtown. Good food and attentive service foster longevity in an industry that’s notorious for short-lived ventures.
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