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Today we traveled back in time and to the south side of the Big D to hit up a groovy little spot called, The Cedars Social. No, seriously, you will feel like you’ve been swallowed by a time machine and dumped out into a space that’s a stylistic mash-up of the Brady Bunch and the Jetson’s living rooms. 
But trust us, you’ll love it! 

Arriving at Cedars Social can prove to be difficult because there is no signage on the street to let you know when you’ve hit your destination. Make sure you take Siri along for the ride.

Also, parking is free even though signs in the lot indicate that you must pay. After we had already paid the $5 fee, a waitress outside on her smoke break informed us that people eating at their restaurant do not have to pay. Awesome. We’re so charitable. 

Heading indoors, there were lots of oohing and ahhing as we were guided to our seats. The décor is strange but familiar, like stumbling into your grandma’s house after an acid trip. We’re only guessing. *The DBC does not recommend the consumption of acid before partaking in brunch, or ever really. 

I was glad to see that their menus were presented in an easy to read layout. Their online menu has all of their drinks, sides and entrees jumbled together in one run-on sentence and is difficult to decipher. I was also impressed by their long list of drink offerings. For $10 you can go for bottomless mimosas or if you’re fancy bottomless rosé.  I opted for the mimosas and they were fab! Tall pours and a good OJ to champs ratio, just the way I like them. The Bloody Mary was a little on the spicy side, but in a good feel-the-burn way. The Irish Coffees were also delightful and all coffees (with booze or without) are French Press. A-plus on drinks!

To jumpstart our palettes we ordered a plate of deviled eggs, as well as a sampling of their oysters, which change daily. I’d definitely recommend the eggs as a starter as they were more of a crowd pleaser. The oysters, although beautifully presented, were a little on the small side for $3.75 a piece. 

For entrées we went with several of the recommendations from our waitress. The Eggs Benedict was pretty delish, mainly because it was served atop thick pieces of pork belly giving it an extra savory sweetness. The Shrimp and Grits were also appetizing although come served in a very shallow bowl. You might need to eat with slow spoonfuls to really get your money’s worth. 

Their burger was good, although pretty standard and comes with a side of parmesan fries, which can be ordered with truffle oil if your heart desires. However, the real standout today was the Breakfast Flatbread. Toppings included pork belly, carmelized onions, cave aged cheddar (whatever that means) and eggs. It was fantastic. 

The Crowd: There was no crowd when we arrived at 11:15AM, but they slowly started to trickle in while we dined.  

Dress to Impress: Casual, although if you’re into blending in with your surroundings make sure to wear something that is a nod to mod.

Sounds Like: Portishead, Citizen Cope, Red Hot Chili Peppers…. You’ll definitely want to have your Shazam app ready to go!

Best Bite of the Day: The Breakfast Flatbread for the win. I mean with a pork and melted cheese combo can you really lose?

Worst Thing About Cedars Social: The parking debacle and a very confusing time splitting our check and getting charged for random things at the end.

Best Thing About Cedars Social: The ambiance and cocktails! Definitely a fun place to bring a group or out-of-towners. They have a patio area that overlooks the Dallas skyline that would only enhance your drinking experience. 

Wish we could go ahead and time travel to next weekend’s brunch!
See you soon!
-DBC

Check out The Cedars Social online here

1326 S Lamar St, Dallas, TX

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! 

As if we didn’t indulge enough this Valentine’s weekend, the Dallas Brunch Club decided to follow cupid’s arrow to Terilli’s for a Sunday brunch with our amores.

Apparently, we weren’t the only ones who decided to cap off the weekend with celebration. There was a half-hour wait for a table. Luckily, we had a “Build Your Own Bloody Mary” bar to pass the time and for $4 – what a steal! Especially for those piling theirs high with jumbo shrimp and banana peppers.
Don’t judge.

After 20 more frustrating minutes of waiting on our table to be cleaned that we had already been paged for, we were finally seated at a perfect little table on the patio. The ideal spot for watching Dallas’ finest rev their engines down Greenville to compensate for what they may be lacking! 

The long wait was quickly forgiven, when our waitress brought us some complimentary blueberry muffins with a side of strawberry butter. Heaven. That fluffy, pink goodness is the stuff that dreams are made of. 

After every morsel of muffin was devoured, we ordered an array of entrees. For myself, I chose the Egg White Omelet. If you’re a goat cheese fan at all, then this is definitely for you – super cheesy, therefore obviously delicious!

After discovering that there was a crab shortage, due to the lover’s holiday, other DBC members settled on such entrees as the Gorgonzola Omelet and the Bistro Burger.

Although all were enjoyed, none could come close to the amazingness that is the Italcho! The Italchos are a Terilli’s speciality - an order of breakfast nachos piled high with your favorite toppings. We got a little aggressive with our toppings, thus leading to a $25 entrée, however, every bite was worthwhile and the Italchos were the complete envy of others at the table. 

Satisfied, yet unwilling to end this glorious day of brunching, we decided to take the party upstairs to the rooftop patio. Here they serve drinks and appetizers, but do not offer the full menu. Maybe trekking the food up three flights of stairs is too risky? Didn’t matter to us, the open-air ambiance of the rooftop was the perfect place to lounge with friends over a few mimosas.

The Crowd: This is a classy joint, catering to those looking to dine out for special occasions. (Though the DBC always considers brunch a special occasion.) Try to make it in before 12:00PM to avoid a long wait. 

Dress to Impress: Again, keep it classy! Tory Burch flats and your best sweater set will make you feel right at home.

Sounds Like: A trip down memory lane if you’re into classics from the 60’s & 70’s. You’ll find yourself humming along to classics by legends such as The Beatles and Bob Dylan or in the middle of a Shazaam-ing war with your friend to settle a debate over who sings this song?

Worst Thing About Terilli’s: The $2 mimosas were a little weak on their pours. We later found out that they were running low on champagne after Valentine’s weekend! Next time we’ll make ours a double!  
 
Best Thing About Terilli’s: Three-way tie between the strawberry butter, the Italchos and the rooftop patio! I suggest you make it a perfect day and go for the trifecta!

Today the DBC explored uncharted territory. We traveled to the other side of the pond (ok, fine we crossed McKinney Ave), to visit the British Beverage Company. Though it really did feel like we had just touched down in London Town, as the weather was drizzly and 50 shades of grey. A perfect day for cozying up at the BBC for Sunday brunch. 

The BBC has one of the best deals in town if you’re into mimosas. For a mere 99 cents you get yourself a fancy glass filled three-fourths of the way with champagne, which you can top off at the juice bar. I sampled the strawberry, peach and orange juices. I personally recommend the peach. 

Another Dallas Brunch Clubber ordered an Irish Coffee, but had a little trouble getting a good coffee to Bailey’s ratio. I’ll let you guess which one it was lacking. The Bloody Mary was quite tasty on the other hand – figures, Bloody Brits!

We had a hard time getting our fellow brunchers out of bed to join us this morning. Apparently they heard that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, so we weren’t able to sample as much of the menu as we would have liked.

Counting calories isn’t necessary on cold days; therefore, we decided to try out the Frangelico French Toast. Brioche bread battered in Frangelico batter, topped with hazlenut butter. Sounded heavenly, but was sadly only average.

The BBC Chicken and Waffle was again, a little on the plain side, but they definitely didn’t skimp on the panko-crusted chicken breast. It nearly covered the entire waffle. Blimey!

The best order of the day was the BBC Welsh Rarebit Grilled Cheese sandwich. An open-faced sourdough toast topped with turkey, applewood bacon and a blend of cheddar, gouda, and bleu cheese melty goodness.  

Though a couple of our dishes disappointed, we still very much enjoyed dining at the British Beverage Company. Let’s be honest - Britain isn’t really known for their food, anyway. It’s more the place for getting knockered with your best mates over a few pints. This too can be said for the BBC. 

The Crowd: A fun-loving mix of 20 & 30 somethings looking to get their bangers and mash on. You definitely want to head to the BBC around or after 12:30pm, if you're looking to mingle. 

Dress to Impress: Brits keep it casual and so do those dining at British Bev. Leave your pumps and crown jewels at home and opt for something more comfy.

Sounds Like: A DJ was spinning a Top 40’s mix. Not over the top club music, but enough to get your foot tapping.

Best Thing About BBC: The atmosphere! The BBC is definitely a unique spot for Dallas. From the huge picture of Amy Winehouse hanging above the ATM machine to the leather wingback seating, you will definitely feel like you’ve taken a stay-cation. You’ll also want to make sure and instagram a pic of you and your bestie in front of the red telephone box as proof of your good times!

Worst Thing About BBC: As mentioned previously, their food lacked excitement, though it’s still a neat brunch destination that we’ll be sure to visit again.

Thanks for stopping by this week! 
Cheerio! 

The Brunch Gods have smiled down upon us, yet again. Another picture-perfect day to indulge in our favorite weekend pastime, getting hammered, I mean brunching. : )Today we found ourselves at one of our go-to spots for brunch, Nick and Sam’s Grill. We're surely due a free meal by now as many Saturdays as we have spent here, but I digress…

After squeezing in an early morning yoga session, (because nobody can brunch as often as we do and still look this good without a little effort – Namaste.) we headed to Uptown.

By the time we arrived to NSG around 11am, we were hangry. Read: hungry + angry: The point at which your hunger becomes so extreme you will punch someone in the face if they don’t bring you the breadbasket quickly.

We also were a hostess’ worst nightmare – a bevy of blondes asking for, “this table, no that one on the patio.... Oh just kidding, we have 4 people, no I mean 5.” Luckily they seemed to be accustomed to dealing with  bi-polar bitches. With smiles on their faces we were seated at a new, larger table in two minutes flat and with a basket of blueberry bread, no less. 

After getting settled, we got straight to work. First things first, ordering drinks, obviously. One of the things that I love about NSG is their $10 carafes of mimosas. You can choose between mixing your champagne with traditional orange juice or instead, my personal fav, blood orange juice. They also have poinsettia carafes (cranberry juice and champagne) as well, but no one had a UTI at our table so we were good.  

Our drinks came out quickly, but our waiter didn’t take our order for about another 20 minutes. Thank God for that breadbasket. Finally, we ordered our meals and this time made an effort to select a variety of items. The guys at our table ordered “Build Your Own” Omelets from the Omelet station that was conveniently located right next to our table. Once you decided on whole eggs or egg whites you also have a long list of add-ins to choose from such as ham, sausage, salmon, chicken, and an assortment of cheeses and veggies. If you ask nicely they can add brisket for an extra 3 bucks. 

The Brisket Scramble was a dish that we had to paper, rocks, scissors for because it sounded so delish. The eggs and brisket were great, however, the breakfast potatoes were mixed in causing them to be a little on the soggy side. 

I went with the Eggs Benedict. It was fine, though I’ve had better, nothing over the top about it.  
My saving grace was the cup of savory, yet sweet Butternut Squash Bisque that I ordered that was absolutely to die for!

Nick and Sam’s Grill has a soup and special entrée that changes daily. They are usually great - so if nothing on the menu is jumping out at you I would definitely suggest you do yourself a favor and go with that. The Grown Up Grilled Cheese is also consistently fabulous and my usual go-to, but I disappointingly opted out of it this go round.

We were joined today by a friend who was willing to “take one for the team” and ordered the Captain Crunch French Toast so that we could have a well-rounded brunch experience. Imagine digging into your favorite childhood box of cereal, crunching it up onto thick slices of French toast and then topping it with cinnamon whipped cream. Off. The. Chain. It was hands down my favorite bite of the day.

The Crowd: Always awesome. This place is not Dallas’ best kept secret. Though, if you come before 11:30am you should be fine. If there is a wait, feel free to enjoy some complimentary coffee out front while you wait or get the party started and order a drink at the bar.

Dress to Impress: Casual cute, however, I did see some yoga pants – but I would never encourage such attire. Brunch is a time meant to see and be seen, not smelled. Change out of your workout clothes before you dine, people!

Sounds Like:  A decent mix of pop music – 80’s 90’s and beyond. You might feel like you just stepped into a Night at the Roxbury.

Best Thing About NSG: Their atmosphere! It is always a good time and the ideal place to bring out of town friends. Also the covered patio is perfect, especially when weather allows them to open up the side doors for some great people watching!

Worst Thing About NSG: I would say their Eggs Benedict, because  it was nothing to write home about. Go with something you’ve never had or be adventurous and try something off the specials board.

Tomorrow we’ll be hitting up another Dallas restaurant so stay tuned! Two brunches in one weekend! YOLO! Ha, don’t worry I just punched myself in the face for that one! ;) 

Cheers!