BREAKING NEWS!!! In-N-Out Burger coming to Texas!

I know I haven't blogged in awhile (chubby kid gotta work so chubby kid can eat!), but I thought I'd break my silence with this HUGE piece of news...

(click here for the original story)

In-N-Out to Build in Garland

By FRANK HEINZ

Updated 4:00 PM CDT, Mon, May 24, 2010

The rumors started up again late last month about yet another burger chain looking to leave a footprint in the DFW burger-crazy market.  The rumor appears to be true -- In-N-Out is gunning for North Texas and at least one location is now known.

According to the city of Garland website, the planning commission approved Jim Powell's plans for the first In-N-Out location in Texas east of Lavon Drive and south of Town Center Boulevard.

Last month, Carl Van Fleet, VP of Planning and Development for In-N-Out, told the EatsBlog "We are, in fact, working on a few site opportunities in the market," he wrote. "However, it is still very early in the process so it would be premature to comment on any specific sites and very premature to speculate as to if/when we might actually be doing business in the Dallas area." 

Looks like the time is now and that double-double animal style will soon be a very popular term in the Metroplex.

In-N-Out currently has locations in California, Arizona and Nevada.

Everytime I've been in LA, I've never had a chance to eat an In-N-Out burger, even though I've been told they're the bee's knee's by more than one person.  But Texas is a tough burger market...not only does Dallas have great burger places like Chips, Jake's and Twisted Root, but the chains here (Dairy Queen, Texas Burger, Whataburger) ain't too bad either.  It'll be interesting to see how it fares here in the Lone Star State. 

NOM NOMS: Mama's Meatballs from Jimmy's Food Store

If you live in Dallas and you like food and you haven't been to Jimmy's Food Store yet...what the F is wrong with you?  Seriously, this is one of the BEST places to get fresh pasta, meats, and wine in the area...and their sandwiches ain't half bad either.

But the reason I made a trip there was to pick up a couple pounds of what can only be described as THE BEST MEATBALLS IN THE WORLD.  Yeah, I said it.  How did I find this out?

A friend of mine was going to a party where his dish to bring was simple meatballs for appetizers.  I suggested Jimmy's, and away we went.  Not only did I open his eyes to that wonderfulness, but we checked out the Mexican grocery store across the street (greatness) and I've already written on this blog about Mai's Vietnamese food, on the same corner of Fitzhugh and Bryan.

We took the meatballs home, cooked him, threw in some sauce, and set them out for people to munch on.  Everyone at the party devoured them, and I swore that the next time I was in town, I was taking some meatballs home to Mom and Doc.  And true to form, both the parental units were blown away at how delicious these little meaty bastards are.

If you get the chance, venture into the area and check out Jimmy's, even if you're not going to buy anything.  It's like what I imagine a New York style market to be like.  And there's always some Dino or Frank playing over the stereo.  And their wine selection is pretty outrageous as well. And the sandwiches are fantastic.  I really can't say enough about it.

Jimmy's Food Store
4901 Bryan Street at Fitzhugh
Dallas TX, 75206
214.823.6180