We went on the 4th of July, and downtown Dallas was a relative ghost town. There were only 5 of us on the tour. Overall, compared to other food tour experiences I’ve had in different cities, this tour was somewhat disappointing. We went to 4 locations all locally owned. Details:
1. Dessert first at Kokopelli Cafe — a mango sorbet with an unusual topping of spices including tahin and adobe (3.5 out of 5 stars).
2. RJ Mexican Cuisine — where we had delicious homemade tortilla chips and salsa and tilapia tacos (5 out of 5)
3. Ellen’s for “Joe’s rack of balls” - 4 different types of deep fried balls each with its own dipping sauce - 3 of the 4 were made using grits including “blue balls” made with blueberries, the 4th kind (and best) were mozzarella cheese balls (overall 3.5 out of 5 stars)
4. YO Ranch Steakhouse, an upscale place that serves game meat like bison and elk, where we had Texas chili — all meat, no beans, nothing to write home about (3 out of 5 stars) The best part was touring the private dining areas of the large restaurant with a lot of interesting history.
The deep fried balls and chili during the second half seemed like a recipe for heartburn. We were definitely full but not really satisfied — in terms of a variety of delicious savory samplings.
The pace of the tour seemed slow. Our guide was generally knowledgeable and worked very hard to be engaging.
Maybe if the tour was not on a holiday or if the group had been larger, it would have been more entertaining. Even then, though, the food choices would have been underwhelming.