ALÓ

ALÓ
4447 North Central Expressway, Suite 100

at Knox Promenade

Dallas, TX 75205

214.520.9711

Aló a new restaurant from the owners of La Duni. This restaurant is in a great location and has trendy atmosphere with causal a crowd consisting of families, dates and large groups. Now to the meal, everything came out and appeared very appetizing until it was time to actually eat the food, the ceviche was chewy, the volcano (like nachos) were just gross and by end of the meal when we ordeded dessert I was spitting the food out in my napkin.

Can't miss dishes: None.

Service: Could be better.

Negatives: Terrible food. VOLCANES, PERUVIAN CEBICHE, GRINGAS.

Cost: $

Recommendation: Eat somewhere else. GROSS.

Trader Vic's Dallas

Trader Vic's
Hotel Palomar
5330 E. Mockingbird
Dallas, TX 75206

If you're looking for fun drinks, fabulous food, and wonderful, hospitable service, then Trader Vic's is perfect for your night out on the town. I've been to Trader's twice now and each time I have left totally satisfied with my evening. The bar area is a fun place for a bachelorette party or just a night out with friends. The service is unbeatable, and the food... well, lets just say, you'll love the menu. From the crispy calamari with spicy wasabi sauce to the special snowball dessert, each bite will be remembered for its own unique taste.

Definitely try something from their Chinese wood-fired oven. The Chilean sea bass practically melts in your mouth and is served on a bed of fresh spinach. For the meat lover, try the Pork Chop Hawaiian. The mashed potatoes on the side are to die for and you won't leave hungry.

If you can, grab dessert. The snowball (ice cream dipped in shredded coconut) is not what you expect, it's creamier and richer than the menu lets on.

There is a whole other menu that you can't skip as well. The extensive drink menu, all 4 pages, includes mostly rum and island inspired concoctions as well as mixes that actually can be lit on fire or garnished with a flower. They are pretty costly, ranging from $10- $24, but some you can share with a long straw across the table. The Kamaani was my favorite, it came inside a coconut. Try a few, the hangover will be worth it.

Service: friendly and helpful

Price: expensive, especially with drinks

Comments: make sure to make reservations and get there early so you can sit at the bar and check out the menu.

Hours:
Dinner: Monday-Thurs 5-10pm
Friday and Sat 5-11pm
Sunday 5-9

Bar: Mon-Thurs 4-11pm
Fri and Sat 4-12am
Sunday 4- 11pm

Reservations are available on OpenTable.com

YO Steakhouse

www.yoranchsteakhouse.com
702 Ross Ave
Dallas, TX 75201

I really don't like writing bad reviews. But I feel like it is my duty to inform dining-out Dallasites on where not to go as well as places to try if they are looking for something new.

YO prides itself on being one of "Dallas' premier dining establishments," but falls flat when it comes to decor, ambiance, and the quality of its food. The cheesy antler chandeliers, saloon styled bar area, and gimmicky signs leave you in small-town East Texas, a place that hasn't been cleaned since it opened in 1913 or so.

Not only does it serve Tex-Mex, wild game, AND seafood and clearly can't decide what kind of restaurant it actually is, but at lunch time you get free banana-pudding... even if you don't want it. My dining partners wondered how many times the pudding bowls had been handled before someone finally accepted the dessert. Gross.

YO tries to compete with the finer West End restaurants including: Landry's, The Palm, and even Hoffbrau with its quality of service, but the food is atrocious. I can usually find several things on a menu to eat, but when your co-worker urges you not to order the buffalo steak salad any rarer than medium, you then know that the meat is not what you might find at a fine steak restaurant.

After I ate my chicken sandwhich, I desperately wanted to head back to the office, and out of reach of the banana pudding, which was compared to something a baby had spit up. (Sorry for the nasty visual).

Another problem is that YO is located in The West End, where tourists gather. I hope that our Dallas visitors do not find YO to be typical of our Dallas restaurant base, when clearly, it is not.