Gayborhood faves up their games with innovations
CRY UNCLE | Uncle Julio’s, a gayborhood favorite, has jazzed up its menu with several elegant new twists on fajitas, including red snapper, pictured, and filet mignon.
We frequent restaurants in part because there’s something reassuring about what they deliver. Even when they change the menu out seasonally, we have a sense for the quality and style. If they don’t evolve, we get bored. But at several gayborhood haunts, recent changes have given us new reasons to check them out anew.
The Lemmon Avenue location of Uncle Julio’s isn’t the biggest restaurant in the Dallas-based national chain’s arsenal, but it is the oldest, and in some ways still the best. But there’s always room for improvement.
Don’t worry: The swirl margaritas haven’t gone away, but you will find some gourmet additions. For one, tableside guacamole has made its way to Julio’s. It’s a trend that’s been around a while, but only started here within the last month. If you’re a fan of guac, you’ll want to call over a fully-loaded cart where a server mixes room-temperature avocadoes, cilantro, onions, lime juice and tomatoes, into a huge basalt molcajete (the familiar igneous rock vessel) for a chunky, fresh appetizer.
That’s a good start, but it’s the developments on the fajita menu that should really whet your appetite. Seven new styles — including three putting seafood at the fore (shrimp al pastor, red snapper and grilled ahi) and one with filet mignon — impart high-end spins on traditional skirt steak or chicken. Sure, shrimp has been around for a while, but the version here boasts a certain elegance, doused in a mild habanero-mango sauce. The filet is far more tender than most fajita meat, and the red snapper, served with julienned squash and a jicama slaw, wrap perfectly inside pockets of Bibb lettuce (though corn and flour tortillas are also available). These are refreshing combinations that reinvigorate an already popular menu.
A few blocks over on Throckmorton, Thairiffic has its own flavor updates — though perhaps not the kind you expect. The thing is, Thairiffic’s notorious 1-to-20 “heat” scale (most guests stick to a “5” or below) isn’t an exact science. In recent weeks, as the U.S. endures the dryest season on record the chiles used to imbue that tongue-burning flavor have been running hot: A “9” may taste like a “10.”And that means you might want to adjust your expectations.
And if you know Thairiffic, you know expectations are usually met. I tend to max out around an “8,” though recently I tried a “7” and hit the sweet spot for spiciness. The noodles, bolstered by chewy cubes of spongy fried tofu in a red curry, gave me everything I wanted in a Thai dish: An exotic balance of power and texture.
And you don’t even need to go into the restaurant to enjoy it. Thairiffic is now offering free delivery (it’s been available for a few months, but they’ve only recently begun promoting it), which means you can have those curries and fresh shrimp rolls dropped off right at your door.
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Cocktail Friday
Everyone knows Dallas is a foodie city, but it’s also a boozy city. In the gay community especially, it’s not just a beer and a shot that lubricate our social interactions, but a smartly tailored craft cocktail. Starting this week, Fridays on DallasVoice.com’s InstantTea blog, we will feature a different cocktail recipe, perfect for spicing up that pool party, fundraiser or just weekend away from work. If there’s a favorite you want to share, suggest it by emailing the recipe to jones@dallasvoice.com.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 1, 2014.