Top of the morning to ya! The Dallas Brunch Club was up and at ‘em this morning to celebrate Dallas’ favorite holiday – St. Patrick’s Day! There is nothing quite like putting on your finest green ensemble, packing onto Greenville Avenue with thousands of others boasting their “Irish roots” to anyone who will listen (“no, really…I swear I’m one-eleventh Irish”) whilst sloshing around giant mugs of green beer.  Pretty much just one gigantic green-themed frat party.  To prepare, it was important that we get at least one solid meal under our belts before the festivities began, so we decided to meet up for brunch at Taverna. 

For those already familiar with this Lombardi family owned establishment it is important to note that they have recently changed locations and can now be found just around the corner on Knox Street, next door to Toulouse. They now have an even larger patio dining area that opens up into the restaurant and a cute little courtyard on the outside, as well. 

Any true Taverna fan knows that the main reason to brunch at Taverna has nothing to do with their food. It’s all about the $2 mimosas and bellinis! And with the waiters constantly coming by to top off your glass it’s easy to lose track of how many you’ve had. Definitely the perfect place to get your St. Patty’s Day buzz on!

Sometimes if you look really ravenous or your order is taking awhile they will even bring out some complimentary parmesan focaccia bread with a side of rosemary olive oil. Cheap booze and free bread, are you feeling lucky yet??

For entrees you can’t go wrong ordering off the special’s board. The Taverna Frittata and Taverna Breakfast change daily and are usually crowd pleasers, though sometimes a little costly. Today’s Breakfast Special came with two pancetta wrapped pork medallions topped with hollandaise and crabmeat with two eggs over easy, breakfast potatoes and a side of broccolini. This can easily be shared between two people. 

I’ve personally sampled nearly every entrée on their brunch menu (what can I say…the $2 mimosas keep me coming back for more) and while all are pretty good, my go-to dish that never disappoints is the Classic Eggs Benedict with crabmeat. It’s magically delicious!

The Crowd: People looking to get their drank on without running up a large tab. Make sure you get here before 11:30 or risk having to wait a bit for a table.

Dress to Impress: Casual Cute, this place is always hopping and it’s likely you’ll run into someone you know so make sure you comb your hair before heading out the door.

Sounds Like: Honestly, I don’t recall any music playing at all. But that may have been on account of the mimosas.  

Best Bite of the Day: Eggs Benedict with Crabmeat.

Worst Thing About Taverna: Taverna does not sell liquor. Therefore, no Bloody Mary’s, no Bailey’s for your coffee, no fun.

Best Thing About Taverna: The $2 Mimosas and Bellinis, duh!

May the luck of the Irish be with you this week and for all your brunches to come! 

Wow! Someone really pissed the Groundhog off this year! Snow in March? While the bad weather may have ruined any thoughts of patio brunching – we still need to eat, so the show must go on. We decided to go super casual today and headed to our neighborhood Torchy’s Tacos.

Originally starting off as a food trailer in Austin selling “damn good” tacos, Torchy’s has expanded throughout the great state of Texas and lucky for us, there are several locations in the Dallas area. We hit up the one on SMU Blvd. this frosty morning.

Torchy’s is an order-at-the-counter kind of joint. Usually not my cup of tea, but as mentioned we were keeping it low key today. The thing I hate about having to order right when you walk in is that there just isn’t enough time to truly evaluate the menu before ordering. No one wants to be forced into making hasty decisions and then suffer from food envy, or taco envy in this case. We let a few people cut in front off us, before we were ready to commit to an order.  

On recommendation, we decided to order up a side bowl of the Green Chile Queso. A smoky flavored queso topped with cilantro, Diablo hot sauce and a scoop of guacamole.  My, oh, my…was it delicious and the perfect remedy for this chilly morning.

We decided to take up residence at the bar, as most of the tables were full. Looks like many of our fellow Dallasites had the same idea as us today. We sampled the Mimosas and Bloody Marys – which were both fantastic and a steal of a deal at $2 and $3, respectively.

One round of drinks and basket of chips down, our tacos made their grand entrance. We sampled the following: 

The Trailer Park – Fried Chicken, Green Chiles, Pico de Gallo and Cheese – we ordered it “trashy” of course which adds Queso on top. Always a winner! $3.75

The Independent – Fried Portobello Mushroom Strips with Refried Black Beans, Roasted Corn, Carrots, Cilantro and Avocado drizzled with Ancho Aioli. YUM! $3.50

Bacon, Egg and Cheese – Your standard breakfast taco. $2.25

The Roscoe – Their taco of the Month for March. Imagine the taco version of Chicken and Waffles. Umm, yes please! $4.75

There are so many other fabulous tacos to try at Torchy’s so you’ll have to make a few trips to find your personal fav. I will say that I’ve never been disappointed by the Taco of the Month. The others I just rotate through depending on my craving du jour.  

The Crowd: People looking to get their grub on. Taco lovers unite!

Dress to Impress: Whatever you don’t mind spilling queso on. 

Sounds Like: Everything from Weezer to Ace of Base. Served with a side of “Barbie Girl”. 

Best Bite of the Day: The Green Chile Queso.

Worst Thing About Torchy’s: The pressure of ordering without having ample time to analyze the
menu.

Best Thing About Torchy’s: Delicious tacos and great drink specials. What more could you ask for on a lazy Sunday?

Hope everyone is staying warm during this freak cold spell. We will be going on hiatus for one week, but don’t worry we will be back in time to celebrate St. Patty’s with you!