ISO good, non-corporate restaurants in East Dallas

[piggygirl]

Have a conundrum folks...my sweet baboo lives in East Dallas (oh heck..let's just say it-Garland)..and the food choices over there are so depressing! It's a beating to drive into Dallas every time we want to eat out (we are not home cooks)...does anyone have good suggestions for the Garland-ish side of the world? I'm desperate..if he tries to tell me one more time that La Madeline is good French cuisine, I'm going to stab myself with a stale baguette. Help!

[Epicurious Esquire]

Just north of Peavy on Garland Road (west side) is a Mexican Seafood restaurant called Ixtapa Bay. I find it excellent for what it is. It is a working class Mexican, not-fancy-at-all little place with Telemundo on the TV and no English anywhere, but man-oh-man, the ceviche rocks and the seafood soups (siete mares is wonderful) are full of fish, shellfish, etc. and they are incredibly reasonably priced.

I think it's in the former El Pulpo location.

[Epicurious Esquire]

I ate at Duy Tan yesterday for lunch. Pho Dac Biet was good and not too greasy. I can't remember the name of the Goi Cuon-like thing we had for the appetizer, but it was #1 on the Appetizer list and it was great. It came with a peanut sauce-like sauce that was excellent. I think it had egg in it.

Clearly it's a very busy place, chock full of Vietnamese (including my lunch companion, who is quite an authority on local Vietnamese food).

He does prefer Caravelle to Duy Tan, but I liked it a lot.

[Dallas Alice]

Definitely check out the Vietnamese places along Walnut - they may not look like much, but the food is fantastic. I like Duy Tan and La Me the best. Tukta Thai on Plano Rd. has good Thai food. They're all BYOB, too.

[piggygirl]

alas...too far to really be considered convenient, but thanks for the thought.

[MarcusB]

How far is the Lakewood from the area of Garland that he lives? Plenty of options down there, Angelos, Matt's Rancho, Kitchen 1924 just to name a few.

[piggygirl]

Thanks guys...there's actually a Babe's out by me in Tarrant county, so I'm well familiar with their fatty yummyness, but very exciting that there might be some other choices that don't involve "would you like fries with that"...thanks! We lovers of Garlandites gotta stick together!

[Scott]

Check out Charles Kemp's excellent web page: http://tinyurl.com/yvk6e8 . Though he focuses more on old East Dallas, he's a Vietnamese fiend and does discuss some of those options in and around Garland (which is a real hot spot for Vietnamese).

And I'll enthusiastically second Donna's recommendation of Babe's.

Scott

[donnaaries]

Haha I have the same problem (significant other a Garland resident). If you're into exploring adventurous ethnic cuisine, there are plenty of Mexican restaurants/taquerias to be explored, especially close to the old downtown area. One of the better ones I consistently enjoy is Tortillas del Rancho y Restaurante off of Kingsley Rd, great tortillas.

For good home cooking, there's always Babe's Chicken Dinner House.