Best Gas Station Hot Dog 2008 | Exxon On the Run | Best of Dallas® 2020 | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Dallas | Dallas Observer
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Best Gas Station Hot Dog

Exxon On the Run

Which is worse? Gas station hot dogs that are overcooked, all dried out and leathery like big, fat Slim Jims? Or a gas station that never keeps its hot-dog cooker stocked, so the hot dogs are always back on the part where it says you can't eat them yet? On the Run is one of the city's busiest gas station/lifestyle centers, and they do a great job with the dogs. You have your choice between condiments in packets or from stainless containers, with both yellow and spicy brown mustard—a nice touch! Buns are kept fresh and plump in a steam drawer. OK, the hotdogs aren't exactly made from organic, grass-fed beef. But be honest with yourself. That's not what you were going for anyway, is it? Open 24/7.

  • 3716 Maple Ave., Dallas, 75219 Map

Best Hole-in-the-Wall Pad Kee Mao

Star of Siam

Sometimes you don't want snazzy décor or a big dining room filled with fashionable souls. You just want some good ethnic food in a little, low-key joint. If this is you, Star of Siam is your place. The family eatery is small (and so is the parking lot), and it's best to bring cash. The pad kee mao, a signature Thai stir-fried noodle dish, is incredibly flavorful here. The broad, flat rice noodles are mixed with bean sprouts and meat or tofu and soaked in a delicious sauce of lime juice, ground red chili and fresh basil. There's nothing like it, especially combined with the yummy tom kha soup and distinctive Thai/Lao dish called larb, minced chicken with a smattering of delectable spices.

Best Steak

Ounce Prime Steakhouse

The flatiron steak here is sure to curl your toes. It's a quantum leap richer than most steaks, woven as it is with a harness of fat that melts and leaches into the meat fibers. It relegates the bulk of prime beef to the sub market sector in one clean cut. It's called akaushi beef—allegedly a few cuts above prime, and this meat is so lustrous and rich, so rippled with complex layers of flavor tethered to smooth textures, it's like eating foie gras. It sweats an extracted nuttiness not unlike a dry-aged rib eye—an arresting plate of rich meat that is so creamy you'll want to shuck the steak knife and opt for a straw.

  • 708 W. Spring Valley Rd., Richardson, 75080 Map

El Postre Mejor

Pasteles de Guayaba y Queso

Over at La Cubanita, Alberto Lombardi's new Cuban "concept" restaurant, they're a bit goo-goo over guava. It seems like any time you ask your server, "Hey what's in this that makes it taste so good?" the answer is "guava." You name it: appetizers, side dishes—even La Cubanita's ribs have guava sauce. But it works, so who's complaining? The guava's sweet, juicy innards work best, in fact, in the pasteles de guayaba y queso, a dessert that should never work but does. The recipe starts with a typical Latin pastry, a sort of semi-sweet turnover, which is filled with cream cheese and guava compote. It's heated, so the cheese hits that nice, almost liquid consistency, and the heat brings out the guava's unique flavor. The turnover is then topped with ice cream, making the whole luscious thing a sort of Cuban version of apple pie, but with a guava-y twist. Try one with a café Cubano—a sweetened espresso they make expertly at La Cubanita—and you'll be happy. Fat, but happy.

Best Of Dallas®

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