Oak Cliff

The 3rd Annual Go Oak Cliff Blues Bandits & BBQ will take place on Saturday, October 27, 2012. Conveniently located in the heart of North Oak Cliff  at the future site of the Davis Street Market development, 715 W Davis St., Dallas, TX 75208 is also the site of this summer’s amazing sunflower art installation, 1700 Seeds. The space will allow for plenty of room for our BBQ teams, live music, a huge shady beer garden featuring beer from Oak Cliff’s own Four Corners Brewery,  a kids area with a bounce house, room for food trucks, and more! It’s going to be an amazing weekend in Oak Cliff – so mark your calendar now.

The BBQ competition portion of Blues, Bandits & BBQ is the defacto City of Dallas BBQ Championship, with all the bragging rights that go with it. Teams compete in five categories: brisket, ribs, chicken, sausage and pulled pork – and anyone with a smoker and a little talent can enter. Teams need to register in advance (click here) and the deadline for team entry is Friday, September 28 at 5pm.

If you want to sample and enjoy all of the amazing competition BBQ, as well as vote on the 2012 BBQ People’s Choice Award, then you’ll want to purchase your BBQ tasting wrist band in advance. Once we sell out of these there won’t be any additional wrist bands available. But have no fear – we will have food trucks and other food vendors on site who will sell other treats onsite for cash.

More details on the schedule of events, bands, activities and other things going on during the weekend will be posted back here shortly. Look forward to seeing everyone – we’re expecting perfect weather, amazing BBQ, cold beer and lots of fun.

Adamson and Sunset will play each other on September 7th for the first time in years, bringing back the oldest and best rivalry in the State of Texas! Head to the Bishop Arts District the night before, Thursday, September 6th, for a pep rally and celebration complete with marching bands, drum lines, and more!

It’s that time again to break out the baguettes, don your best berets, and celebrate Oak Cliff’s historic “La Reunion” French colony with the return of our epic Bastille on Bishop celebration! This time around, Go Oak Cliff is partnering with the Alliance Francaise de Dallas, the French American Chamber of Commerce, and the city of Dijon to bring another fun filled street festival complete with wine, vespas, crepe stands, mussels competitions, petanque courts, mimes, accordions, french maid relays, dancing, and more.

Once again, renowned area chefs will compete in a mussels competition judged by local reporters. Also, a collection of historic French 2CV Citroens will be on hand as Francophile’s enter the district.  The party takes place on Saturday, July 14th, from 7PM – 11PM. Check back for updated information as the date nears. Tres Bien!

Facebook information is here https://www.facebook.com/events/333076386733586/

Registration for the 1.1 Mile Beer Run that kicks off the 2012 Brew Riot closes at 11:59pm tonight, Saturday, May 19. There will NOT be on-site registration the day of the event – so make sure that you are registered in advance.

Also – if you plan to attend Brew Riot but not run the 1.1 race we strongly recommend that you purchase your $20 tasting pass in advance as well. On-site ticket sales for the tasting will be cash only and we will most likely sell out quickly. Buy your Brew Riot tasting passes here today!

Runners need to arrive at Nova (1417 West Davis, Dallas TX 75208) by 3pm for pre-race check-in as well as pre-race hydration (should you be so bold). The race will start promptly at 3:30pm. We recommend parking along 7th Street between Windomere and Bishop Arts since there will not be organized transportation back to the race start.

All runners will be required to sign a waiver prior to the start of the race, and all runners must provide ID that proves you are over 21.

The 2012 Brew Riot takes place this Sunday, May 20th in the Bishop Arts District. This year’s event has attracted 50 home brew teams to the competition, and they are bringing over 150 types of beer to sample and enjoy. There will be lagers, IPAs, Belgian & French ales, and specialty brews. Pre-sale tickets are available now through PreKindle and are already selling quickly! A select number of tickets will be held for purchase the day of the event, but those will sell out very quickly. We highly recommend purchasing your tickets in advance.

In addition to some great live music and seemingly endless supplies of beer, this year’s event will kick off with our 1st Annual 1.1 Mile Beer Run. The race starts at 3:30pm at Nova Restaurant (1417 West Davis, Dallas TX) and the course proceeds down 7th Street with stops at The Kessler Theater and Bolsa before an exciting finish in the Bishop Arts District. At each stop runners will drink an 8 ounce beer before running to the next stop. The added bonus of participating in the 1.1 Mile Beer Run is that the runners will not have to wait in line in Bishop Arts for the ID check – runners get first tastes once Brew Riot begins!

The cost to sample the beers at Brew Riot is $20, and the cost to participate in the 1.1 Mile Beer Run (which includes your admission to Brew Riot) is $35. Beer Mile finishers also receive a 1.1 sticker so you can brag about your athletic accomplishment to your friends and family. There is no on-site registration for the Beer Run – you must register in advance and have paid your fee. No exceptions!

While it appears that the controversy concerning overflow parking for the Dallas Arboretum at Winfrey Point may be resolved for the time being, we received a letter from District 3 Park Board Member Michael Reagan and wanted to pass along his thoughts on the issue. It’s great to have neighbors like Michael who volunteer their time for positions like this who are also willing to keep us informed. Thanks, Michael!

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A lot of people are very unhappy with what they believe is happening at Winfrey Point, and as a Park Board Member, representing District 3, I have information that I would like to share in an attempt to clarify information that has been either misreported, misrepresented or misunderstood. In addition, both the Arboretum and the City of Dallas have made press releases that are very informative.

The ever growing popularity of White Rock Lake and the Dallas Arboretum have caused parking issues in the area, largely on the East side of the lake. Visitors sometimes park in the neighborhoods around the lake, creating inconvenience for some of the neighboring residents. The Arboretum and the City of Dallas have explored many options for alleviating these parking issues, and many proposals have been made. The Arboretum itself has done, what I personally believe to be a very good job of arranging for off-site parking and using shuttles to address their parking issues directly. (more…)

Brunch is the new black – or is it the new dinner? Regardless,  its become the standard by which a good weekend can be judged, and area magazines and newspapers  have covered the best spots for brunch across the city extensively. As a result, you may have noticed that Oak Cliff has become quite the destination for Sunday brunch, with huge crowds and long waits.

So imagine my pleasant surprise when I stumbled into CampO for brunch one recent Sunday morning and found no wait and a menu full of interesting and tasty options. The founders of CampO are originally from Argentina, and this informs a unique sensibility into the restaurant and in particular the menu. Leave traditional pancakes and waffles to Jonathon’s next door, but don’t assume this means a less than delicious brunch experience.

The menu is quirky, broken into 4 categories with 4 price points. You can choose a la carte or they’ve put together a few combinations that afford you a slight discount.

The Croque-Madame. Photo by Elliott Munoz. (more…)

Schedule of Events

Saturday, February 18

Sunday, February 19

2 p.m.   Crawfish boil and party in the Bishop Arts District   There will be Cajun food and lots of drink for sale in the street! Bring cash.  Unlike last year, we will not be pre-selling crawfish, etc., so get ‘em while you can!

Over 40 members of the Adamson High School football team will get a chance to attend the Ticket City Bowl on January 2nd at the Cotton Bowl where Houston will face off with Penn State at 11AM. The team’s tickets and trip are being sponsored by the Friends of Fair Park, the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce, Go Oak Cliff, and the Bishop Arts Winery and will include rides from Oak Cliff on a trolley bus, lunch, and great seats! For all those interested in helping us ensure our neighborhood kids have a memorable trip, join us on January 1st at 6PM on the balcony of 614 N. Bishop (Suite 3) Dallas ,TX 75208 where we’ll be making sandwiches and bagged lunches for the group. Email mark@miranda-realty.com to confirm attendance.

When Bolsa opened its doors as a restaurant almost 4 years ago, it was with the vision that they would operate both a restaurant and a gourmet market out of the same space. But as the success of the restaurant grew, the shelf space for crackers, coffees and chocolates shrank. But with the opening of Bolsa Mercado just two doors down Davis Street, that vision is now realized, and a dramatic shift for the neighborhood and the restaurant is in the works.

The Mercado features a surprisingly broad mix of dry goods and grocery staples, such as sea salts, olive oils, maple syrup aged in bourbon barrels, and more dips, spreads and sauces than you can count. The Mercado estimates more than 1000 items for sale in the grocery aisles. The large kitchen behind the market is also working on a full selection of prepared meals to go as well as fresh pastries, homemade cookies and muffins, and even house made sausages (we’ve got it on good authority that the wild boar, broccoli rabe and cherry sausage is divine).

A full coffee and espresso bar as well as a juice bar grace one wall, and refrigerated coolers on another wall house chicken, ham hock and veal stocks, homemade soups, and fresh salsas. You can also browse an impressive selection of cheeses as well as an eclectic selection of produce. (more…)