For this month’s column, I drafted a story suggesting spring break alternatives to Mexico after last month’s unrest in Jalisco. Halfway through writing, I realized no one’s talking about that anymore, though it consumed our psyches for days. We have collectively moved on to something else.
The news cycle, the continuous process of generating, reporting, and consuming news, where stories are rapidly produced, updated, and replaced, has shifted from the days of smokestacks and carrier pigeons to morning and evening editions of local newspapers to 24-hour cable news to, now, getting alerts on our mobile devices every few seconds.
The Dallas restaurant news cycle is almost that frenetic.
Each month, I receive at least a dozen press releases about new restaurants opening in the coming days or months. Social media feeds show images of new dining rooms, grand opening party pics, and the hot spots of the moment. It’s hard to keep up.
When people ask me what my favorite restaurants are “right now,” I often blank. I think “What’s the right answer? What have I written about recently?” My favorite restaurants, the ones I visit most regularly, are those that have been open a few years or even a few decades. Honestly, I feel a bit dusty when I recommend a restaurant that isn’t the current hot spot.
Dallas is a notoriously difficult place to operate a restaurant, and restaurants are notoriously unprofitable, yet local hospitality companies expand and imports flock here like moths to a flame. The local economy is strong, yet qualified hospitality labor is in short supply and rent and food costs are high. That’s why my favorites are always going to be locally owned. It’s an uphill climb for them, and they are my neighbors. Our neighbors. I want to support them, and I want you to as well.
Though there are plenty of others, here are some locally-owned hospitality groups that operate restaurants in our community:
Travis Street Hospitality (Knox Bistro, Georgie, Frenchie); Duro Hospitality (The Charles, Norman’s, Mr. Charles), Katz Brothers Hospitality (Beverly’s, Green Point Seafood, Claremont); Big Dill Hospitality (Casa Brasa, Muchacho); Imperial Fizz (TJ’s Seafood, Ramble Room, Escondido); and Western Addition Restaurant Group (Il Bracco, Bobbie’s Airway Grill).
It’s vital to support “mom and pop restaurants” that only have one or two outlets such as Parigi, Written by the Seasons, Sachet and Gemma, Mot Hai Ba and Pillar, and Roots Southern Table. Not for nothing, these are among my favorites.
Deep pocketed out-of-state restaurants such as Carbone, Catch, Nobu, and Avra add color, texture and value to our restaurant culture. While these out-of-state concepts are excellent, rarely do they make “Best of” lists or earn big-star awards. Our independently owned restaurants do.
The ideal restaurant ecosystem contains more locally owned places than glitzy out-of-state chains. As growth continues and the restaurant news cycle spins faster, we risk being so distracted by the new and shiny that we lose the mainstay places that form our community. Eat local when you can, it matters.
Kersten Rettig, a freelance writer with leadership experience in the food and travel industries, resides in the Park Cities, where she is known as “the restaurant sherpa” for her expert recommendations. Follow her on Instagram @KerstenEats.
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