Here are some of this week's most noteworthy restaurant reviews from across the country:

Broward-Palm Beach

Mona Lisa Coal Oven Pizza

There's a scene in Mario Puzo's The Godfather in which Clemenza, having just overseen the assassination of Paulie in the back of his car, says to his partner, "Leave the gun. Take the cannolis." It figures a rough mobster like Clemenza would turn his thoughts to food immediately after whacking an old friend. Death, after all, is common. But dessert -- now that's something special. More >>

Dallas

Bailey's Prime Plus, Park Lane

"Wow. Looks kind of like a casino," I said to my BFF (best food friend) as we approached the entrance. "Or a strip club." An upscale one at that. It wasn't that the place looked sleazy--more grand than gaudy. The good news is, once we stepped inside, it turned out Bailey's Prime Plus, Park Lane (not to be confused with Bailey's two other metroplex locations) was sans the predictable "good ol' boy" Dallas steakhouse snootiness. More >>

Sara Kerens

"Bailey's steaks may be man-sized, but it's a welcoming place for women too."

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Here are some of this week's most noteworthy restaurant reviews from across the country:

Dallas

Fish Shack

At Fish Shack, location is not everything. Nor is presentation. Nor, come to think of it, is appearance, plate-arrival timing, or even the name of the place--when's the last time you wanted to eat in a shack, anyway? More >>

Sara Kerens

Coconut shrimp and rainbow trout are both better than one would expect from a "shack."

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Here are some of this week's most noteworthy restaurant reviews from across the country:

Broward-Palm Beach

Wild Olives by Todd English

The worst service I've ever encountered came while eating at the famed Columbia Restaurant in St. Augustine. The waitress, who looked like a Latin version of Joan Rivers, was an absolute trip. I remember asking her how a particular fillet of snapper was prepared, to which she responded, "Are you a lawyer?" More >>

Dallas

Otaru Nippon Collection Japanese Restaurant and Lounge

Late one Friday we were seated for dinner in the central dining area of what seemed like a relatively quiet spot, Otaru Nippon Collection Japanese Restaurant and Lounge, located just off the Tollway. Coats off, drinks ordered, we settled in. Shortly after, we noticed the staff was not just tidying but removing tables around us, and we began to fear that we'd be the lone table in the middle of the floor. More >>

Sara Kerens

"On weekend nights, you may find laser lights dancing across your bento box."

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Here are some of this week's most noteworthy restaurant reviews from across the country:

Broward-Palm Beach

Rock 'N' Roll Ribs

I barely even have to chew," my friend Jeffrey said, pausing for a moment from sucking sticky-sweet barbecue sauce off the business end of a baby back rib. "They fall right off the bone." He and I and about a dozen of my friends were hovering over aluminum trays outfitted with racks of the smoked-then-grilled ribs, each worthy of the ultimate rib compliment. More >>

Dallas

DISH

The egg must not be cold. Here we are in Oak Lawn's dishiest new restaurant, DISH (the insistent capital letters an attempt to elevate the generic name). It is a frigid Saturday morning, and at 11:30 a.m., we two are the only patrons in a 5,500-square-foot space that seats about 100 diners (and 50 more if the covered patio is open). More >>

Sara Kerens

"At DISH, the lemon icebox pie with puffs of toasted meringue presents better than it tastes."

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Here are some of this week's most noteworthy restaurant reviews from across the country:

Broward-Palm Beach

Cypress Nook

Seeing a group of Floridians try to keep warm in a cold wave is like watching the pope perform a bris: We have absolutely no idea what to do with ourselves in such conditions. All those pained expressions, the shivering, the wardrobe problems -- it's God's cruel joke on a region ordinarily blessed with the best weather in the world. More >>

Dallas

Holy Grail Pub

Just what makes a pub a "pub"?

If we're speaking of an English place, it should serve fish and chips. Most of them list a number of beers and perhaps a few interesting whiskeys. A long wooden bar says "pub," as do library shelves, wooden beams and a decorated mirror. More >>

Sara Kerens

"Large scoops of fried goat cheese perched in a thin layer of tomato basil soup--not your standard pub grub at The Holy Grail"

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Here are some of this week's most noteworthy restaurant reviews from across the country:

Broward-Palm Beach

Anatolia Mediterranean Cuisine / Al Bawadi

Initial impressions play a big part in setting the tone for a meal, as I found out while visiting two Mediterranean restaurants recently. The first experience happened at Anatolia Mediterranean Cuisine, an attractive, year-old Turkish restaurant near Mizner Park in Boca Raton. More >>

Dallas

India West

There are two possible reasons why India West's dining room was so sparsely populated the evening of my final visit. More >>

Sara Kerens

"Although India West is a new restaurant, its owner and kitchen staff have served curry for more than 20 years."

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Here are some of this week's most noteworthy restaurant reviews from across the country:

Broward-Palm Beach

Corner Café and Brewery

The Gnarly Barley pale ale I was sipping at Corner Café and Brewery in Tequesta was rich and full-bodied, with a yeasty finish that reminded me of the bread my mother used to bake when I was a kid. Mom didn't bake bread often, so when she did, it was special. She'd place the dough in loaf pans on the countertop to rise, and the smell of fresh yeast would permeate the house -- a smell that only grew stronger while it baked. More >>

Dallas

The Mansion on Turtle Creek

In the absence of Michelin stars, The Mansion on Turtle Creek serves as Dallas' culinary measuring stick.

The priciest restaurants are described as "more expensive than The Mansion." When other kitchens list tortilla soup on their menus, people ask: "Is it as good as The Mansion's?" And when people recount the city's top restaurants, the Turtle Creek icon always ranks somewhere near the top. More >>

Sara Kerens

"New King of The Mansion Bruno Davaillon is biding his time for now, though he fully expects to make us forget the past."

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Here are some of this week's most noteworthy restaurant reviews from across the country:

Broward-Palm Beach

Los Perros / Borojo

Lifting this mammoth, Colombian-style hot dog from Los Perros in Lauderhill to my mouth is like looking down the barrel of a gun. I'm no longer hungry -- I'm scared for my life. It's nearly a foot long and three inches wide, and the dog's beefy largess is coated with enough goopy pink sauce, salty crumbled potato chips, and puréed pineapple to give Takeru Kobayashi pause (he's the man who set four world records in competitive hot dog eating). I summon up the courage and take a bite, and gobs of mayo and crushed chips tumble onto the paper plate with a thick plop. More >>

Dallas

Mario Sabino's

A couple years ago I sat in some fancy French restaurant watching two servers wheel a polished brass cart to my table. One of them fussed about a copper chafing dish for a moment then began to splash Grand Marnier over the delicate, sugarcoated pancakes within it. Flambé presentations build with heightened anticipation. So, with a final flourish and spark, the crepe suzette erupted, flames consuming the liqueur and condensing sugar, juice and citrus peel into an exquisite sauce. More >>

Sara Kerens

"A quick, one-plate tour of Salvadoran favorites is reason enough for a trip to Lemmon Avenue."

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Here are some of this week's most noteworthy restaurant reviews from across the country:

Broward-Palm Beach

LOLA Restaurant and Ultra Lounge

"There she is! Do you see her?" shot my mother, motioning behind my head toward the glass-encased wine rack by LOLA's foyer. I spun around slyly to try to catch a glimpse of the crazy woman in the purple tutu my family kept going on about. But I missed her yet again -- this time she had ducked behind a gaggle of chatty party girls downing bottles of wine. Damn that purple tutu. It was becoming my white whale. More >>

Dallas

Grace

Some people insist a diet of fatty foods not only rounds out the waistline, it also invites a series of almost certain future ills. If they're right, then Blaine Staniford must want to kill us--although with his arsenal of bacon, butter, cream and slabs of richly marbled red meat, ours will be a long, slow and very happy death. More >>

Sara Kerens

"This is what a delicious death looks like: rich, densely flavored and very satisfying."

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Here are some of last week's most noteworthy restaurant reviews from across the country:

Broward-Palm Beach

Anthony's Runway

We stood in the hallway entrance of Anthony's Runway 84, all of us fuming over what had just happened. My wife was applying lip gloss in the bathroom and rehearsing how she would tell off the maître d'. My aunt and uncle figured we ought to just drop it, but I couldn't let this stand. I didn't catch the host's name, so we'll call him the Consigliere. He greeted me with his hand out as I got ready to unload on him. More >>

Kansas City

The Farmhouse

What a difference a year makes. This time last year, a chef named Joe West was serving an ambitious, artistic menu -- dishes spattered with flavored foams, fruit paints and carbonated grapes -- at 300 Delaware. In the months that followed, West's restaurant, the Delaware Café, vanished into the same ether that swallowed up other fledgling operations, such as Matchstick Barbeque, Infused Restaurant & Bar, and Mandarinism. More >>

Jaimie Warren

"There's much to crow about at the Farmhouse."

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