Pete Freedman
Our Most Popular Stories of 2013.
These past 12 months in Dallas have been nothing if not entertaining.
And, from the re-emergence of Deep Ellum as a legitimate commercial district and our city’s forever-present food debates to reality television debacles and pornographic displays going down right in the public eye, we’ve been there to cover all of it.
In the below space, we take a look back at that coverage and reveal our 20 most well-read stories from this stretch. Interestingly, two of them are carryovers from last year’s list. But the rest? Ther’e all original.
Seen ’em before? No matter. As those old NBC promos for summer re-run season so kindly reminded us: If you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you.
So read on and learn something. Or just reminisce.
Either way, it’s sure been real, 2013. We mean that, too.
But, no offense, her’s hoping that 2014’s even better.
20. THE NAKED TRUTH. // The Most Revealing Yelp Reviews of Dallas Strip Clubs.
Excerpt: “Between bachelor/bachelorette parties, birthday throwdowns, drunken escapades and just regular ol’ horny jaunts, most of us have visited at least one strip club in our lives. And, hey, that’s nothing to be ashamed about. Almost always, a trip to the strip club makes for a good story. Rappers have basically proved this to be true throughout the years; hip-hop has long mastered the art of adult playground story-relaying. But, these days, even regular folks like you and me are getting in on that strip-club-experience-sharing action, too. Where? On Yelp, duh, because of course that’s where we’re doing that. It’s pretty funny, actually: Some local strip club reviews we’ve found on the site get right to the point, detailing the very specific positives and negatives of these various establishments; others are literary works all their own.” — Zoe Mattioli
Date Published: August 5, 2013.
19. CRACK A COLD ONE. // The Owners of Fillmore Pub’s Next Project? Revamping An Old, Long-Vacant Deep Ellum Spot.
Excerpt: “Located at the corner of Main Street and Exposition Avenue, the future home of [Cold Beer Company] currently sits on a lot most frequently used as an unofficial Double Wide parking ground. In its present state, the modest white building is, perhaps, most recognizable by the fact that its only real marking is the Seinfeld-ian moniker “RESTAURANT” written across its front in fading red-brown paint.” — Cory Graves
Date Published: November 7, 2013.
18. MACHINE HEAD. // Yes, Machine Gun Kelly Got a Blow Job From Porn Star Rachel Starr at The Monroe This Weekend.
Excerpt: “Yes, Cleveland-based rapper Machine Gun Kelly was in Dallas this weekend for a brief stop at the newly opened Knox-Henderson spot The Monroe, and, yes, he did receive oral sex from the Dallas-dwelling porn star Rachel Starr as he performed at the old Wish space — because apparently rappers getting blow jobs mid-set is a thing now.”
Date Published: August 13, 2013.
17. LINKED IN. // Fuzzy’s Taco Shop and a Trio of Proven Scene Vets Sign Lease To Re-Open La Grange Space.
Excerpt: “It only took two months. At 3 o’clock this afternoon, a new ownership team — one featuring the owners of Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, plus former La Grange manager and longtime Dallas talent buyer Scott Beggs, Tactics Productions owner and talent buyer Kris Youmans and Elm Street Tattoo owner and internationally renowned tattoo artist Oliver Peck — signed a multi-year lease with Westdale Properties to reopen the La Grange space, which closed abruptly in mid-November. Plans for the space include the installation of Fuzzy’s Taco Shop’s first Deep Ellum location (in La Grange’s former restaurant half) and a renovation of the performance room, which will be re-branded as a venue called Three Links and which will be run by Beggs, Youmans and Peck.” — Pete Freedman
Date Published: January 25, 2013.
16. KUNG FU HUSTLE. // Is Kung Fu Saloon Racist?
Excerpt: “Allegations of possible recent racist treatment to customers at the Austin location of Kung Fu Saloon are making waves in media circles this afternoon. Similar allegations, meanwhile, have been fired away at the Houston location of the arcade game-filled bar chain for the better part of a year now. Two out of three ain’t exactly a good look, no. But make no mistake: The chain’s third location, found in Dallas at 2911 Routh Street, isn’t exactly setting a higher standard.” — Pete Freedman
Date Published: August 14, 2013.
15.THE BIGGEST DRINK IN DALLAS. // The New Bloody Mary Offering at Anvil Pub Is a Behemoth.
Excerpt: “The brain child of Anvil Pub co-owner Loc Holman, it’s arguably the biggest drink in Dallas. But the story behind it is pretty simple: A couple of months back, while looking for a way to up his bar’s early weekend traffic, Holman decided to take a bunch of food items — some of them brunch-related, most not — and stuff them into a glass, assuming crowds would enjoy the sheer spectacle of it. And, since his spot boasts no weekend brunch menu to offer in addition to its regular one, then, hey, it helped fill that void, too.” — Melissa Mackaly
Date Published: March 1, 2013.
14. THE GREAT DALLAS SEX SURVEY. // We Polled 1,000 North Texans About Their Sex Lives. Here’s Just The Start of What We Learned.
Excerpt: “For the past 16 months, we’ve been anonymously and confidentially polling North Texans about their own sexual attitudes and experiences. And what we’ve discovered in the process has been fascinating. For instance? Well, no matter into what subcategories we broke our data into (age, sex, religious preference, etc.) the average age of one’s loss of virginity always remained steady at 17 years old. But that’s just the tip of our findings.”– Cory Graves
Date Published: December 16, 2013.
13. LOUNGIN’. // A Look At The Just-Opened Twilite Lounge in Deep Ellum.
Excerpt: “True to [owners Danny] Balis and [Jess] Barr’s words, the spot’s a classy-looking one: Vinyl booths line the space’s right-hand wall; an inviting, well-kept garden patio sits out back; intricate wallpaper decorates the walls, which are covered with various, framed music posters and photos; couches and bookshelves fill the gaps toward the back of the inside space and on the spot’s small front window-framed stage; and, in a layout not all too different from that of the Amsterdam Bar in Exposition Park, the bar, walk-in and restrooms take up the left-hand side of the interior.” — Pete Freedman
Date Published: June 4, 2013.
12. TATTED UP. // Elm Street Tattoo To Bring Massive Music, Tattoo, Motorcycle and Skateboard Fest to Deep Ellum.
Excerpt: “There’s no doubting that renowned Dallas-based tattoo artist Oliver Peck is a busy dude. Between his ownership responsibilities at both Deep Ellum’s Elm Street Tattoo and Los Angeles’ True Tattoo, his touring schedule that takes him all across the world, his duties as one of three judges on SpikeTV’s reality tattoo competition show Ink Master (the show just kicked off its third season on Tuesday night) and, to a much lesser extent, his role as a co-host at the Double Wide’s Thursday night Good Luck Karaoke weekly, it’s a wonder how the guy ever finds the time to think, let alone make more moves. And, yet, here he is again, making more moves as if to spite the rest of us working stiffs: In celebration of both the 20th anniversary of his penning ’13’ tattoos for $13 for patrons each Friday the 13th and the 13th anniversary of Elm Street Tattoo’s now-storied marathon “13” tattooing sessions, Peck and his Elm Street cohorts will be take over various Elm Street venues and parking lots from Friday, September 13, through Sunday, September 15, to host a massive, three-day tattoo, music, motorcycle and skateboard festival.” — Pete Freedman
Date Published: July 18, 2013.
11. THE DWIGHT STUFF. // Hey, Dwight Howard. If You Sign With The Mavericks, You’ll Get All This Free Stuff.
Excerpt: “It started off as a joke. After having seen that chicken finger-specialty restaurant Raising Cane’s had gone public earlier this week with an offer to Dwight Howard — free food for a year if he were to sign with the Mavericks — we simply wondered aloud if we could get some other area businesses to do something special to possibly help entice the dominating NBA free agent to sign with the Mavericks, too. We didn’t really expect anyone to respond. Then, uh, they started to respond. All sorts of people, too. And it’s starting to add up to a seriously impressive package.” — Pete Freedman
Date Published: July 3, 2013.
10. SOCIAL PARIAHS. // On Monday Night, The Bar Staffs at Cedars Social and Smyth Staged a Walk-Out.
Excerpt: “Just after 9 p.m. on Monday night, bartenders from Cedars Social and Smyth gathered around at a certain Greenville Avenue pub, openly pondering their future. Earlier in the evening, their combined staffs had walked out in unison from their collective posts, effectively shutting down two of Dallas’ most-respected mixology-inclined spots at the flick of a switch. Both spaces — each to date helmed from behind the bar by Dallas cocktail mastermind and enthusiast Michael Martensen — now seem mostly without staff. Citing creative differences, the workers said that things had come to a philosophical business crest at their South Lamar Street and reservation-only Travis Street workplaces, that a final straw had been pulled.” — Pete Freedman
Date Published: November 19, 2013.
9. SHOCK ROCK. // The Perot Museum Is Building a Singing Tesla Coil To Dazzle Your Eyes and Ears Alike.
Excerpt: “Yesterday, to celebrate what would’ve been electrical innovator Nikola Tesla’s 157th birthday, the Perot Museum dropped a pretty sweet reveal, announcing that they’re building a freakin’ singing Tesla coil. According to the folks at the new museum, this new coil will use ‘modern solid state technology to modulate the power input controlling the amount of electrical discharge.’ Also: ‘The power modulation can be varied to produce electrical discharges that give off sound waves tuned to specific musical notes.’ I’m not completely sure what that all means, but it sounds awesome.” — Jessica Petrocchi
Date Published: July 11, 2013.
8. 50 FREE DATES. // Desperate For Dough? Delight Your Date In Dallas Without Dropping a Dime.
Excerpt: “Other than your car payment and the rent, dating can be one of the greatest expenses a single twentysomething faces from month to month. One way around this is to seek out excessively wealthy partners. Granted, their patience for your freeloading ways may wear them a little thin before it’s even time to take them back home to meet the parents. But, hey, it’s still kind of charming. And, besides, the whole dinner-and-a-movie thing is really played out, anyway. So stop spending money on dates, folks. Start getting creative, instead.” — Cory Graves
Date Published: July 20, 2012.
7. FUN FACTS. // 50 Interesting Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Dallas.
Excerpt: “For years, the official slogan for the city of Dallas was ‘Live Large, Think Big.’ In recent months, though, the city opted to go with the fresher-sounding ‘Dallas: Big Things Happen Here.’ Regardless of however the city wants to present itself to outsiders, we know the real truth about Dallas: The eighth-most populous city in the United States has a long — and, dare we say, pretty awesome — history of big ideas, big events and even bigger personalities.” — Cory Graves
Date Published: January 16, 2013.
6. THE FIFTY BEST BURGERS IN DALLAS. // The Meatiest List in Town.
Excerpt: “Our opinion on the matter isn’t included at all in this equation. Sure, we love a delectable, juicy burger as much as everyone else. But, considering the sheer number of lists already put out by the likes of D Magazine, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Dallas Observer and others (14 lists in total made it into our formula, and you can find links to each of them at the bottom of this post), we just didn’t feel it necessary to try to get our own voice to rise above the chorus. Instead, we wanted to come up with a consensus — or as close to one as we could.” — Jessica Petrocchi
Date Published: July 3, 2013.
5. JUST THE TIPS. // Here’s Your First Look at Redneck Heaven’s New MTV Reality Show, Big Tips Texas.
Excerpt: “Since we first broke the news that the Fort Worth location of the chain would be the focus of an upcoming MTV reality program, Redneck Heaven’s Lewisville location prompted the city to redefine its official definition of “nudity,” thereby bringing to an end the restaurant’s popular “Anything But Clothes” nights. Not long after, the City of Fort Worth began the process of changing a city ordinance to redefine the term as well. Still, Redneck Heaven’s biggest moment in the sun still awaits and, during last night’s MTV Video Music Awards, we got our first look at what’s in-store for the first season of the show, which is now being called Big Tips Texas.” — Cory Graves
Date Published: August 26, 2013.
4. HEAVEN HELP US. // MTV Is Filming a Reality Series at Fort Worth Breastaurant Redneck Heaven.
Excerpt: “Cliches are bigger in Texas, and nowhere is this more evident than in the realm of reality television programming, which just can’t seem to shake the ole Texan-as-bona-fide-cowboy stereotype. Be it a series about Dallas’ most eligible singles, a group of gay urbanites, our city’s policewomen, or the region’s wealthy mother-and-daughter tandems, we can nary think of a single Dallas-based reality program that hasn’t featured at least one person riding a horse or someone uttering some variation of the phrase, ‘The higher the hair, the closer to God.’ So, no, we don’t really expect too much to change when MTV throws its proverbial cowboy hat into the North Texas-based reality series ring this fall. Still, it’s worth noting: The network is currently filming a series based on a group of waitresses from the Fort Worth breastaurant Redneck Heaven for its station. At this point in time, the series is being developed under the working title of South of Heaven.” — Cory Graves
Date Published: July 9, 2013.
3. CHEAP EATS CHEAT SHEET. // Where To Find Half-Priced Food Deals in Dallas in 2013.
Excerpt: “According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, food prices in America rise at least 3 percent each year on average. Kind of a drag, right? Fortunately, the wily Dallasite has more than a few ways to circumvent this troubling statistic. All across town, on every night of the week, different restaurants offer up various half-priced and otherwise supremely discounted food deals. From half-priced pizza to free empanadas, the knowledgeable local eater can grub on any variety of discount cuisines in Dallas on any given night.” — Caren Rodriguez
Date Published: July 22, 2013.
2. 100 THINGS TO DO IN DALLAS BEFORE YOU DIE. // (Or Before You Move To Austin or New York or Wherever You Go To Become a Cliche.)
Excerpt: “Far too often, our town gets a bad rap due to the prominent cocaine and boob job stereotypes of the $30,000 millionaire crowd, or of the persistent J.R. Ewing, everything’s-bigger-in-Texas image. It is ideas like these that illicit snarky comments from citizens of other parts of the Metroplex whenever they find out we’re from Dallas. It’s also the reason so many folks from Dallas so frequently migrate to the assumed greener pastures of Austin or New York. But for anyone who has really gotten to know her, Dallas really is an amazing place.” — Cory Graves
Date Published: May 16, 2012.
1. THE DOUCHIEST BARS IN DALLAS. // These Places Are Just The Worst.
Excerpt: “Sometimes they’re fun. But they can also sometimes be the absolute fucking worst, too. Wanna find some speech-slurring drunk patrons, rude bartenders and, hey, maybe a mechanical bull? Look no farther, sirs and madams!” — Heather Abbott
Date Published: August 19, 2013.