Go Oak Cliff

5th Annual Brew Riot – May 19, 2013!

robshearer — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:16:03 +0000

Brew Riot 2013 is taking place May, 19 2013 in the Bishop Arts District, and with more than 60 home brew teams signed up it’s sure to be one heck of a party! We’re expecting a hugh crowd this year, so we recommend you read the information below and buy your tickets in advance.

The fun kicks off with the 2nd annual 1.1 mile beer run, which starts at Nova Restaurant (1417 West Davis) at 3:30pm and proceeds down 7th Street with 3 beer stops before the finish line in Bishop Arts. If you plan to participate in the 1.1 then you MUST register in advance. The cost is $35 and that INCLUDES your admission into Brew Riot as well as the ever popular 1.1 sticker for your car. Tickets for the 1.1 are available via PreKindle – click here! Runners need to be at Nova by 3pm and the run will start at 3:30pm.

If running isn’t quite your bag, then go ahead and purchase your ticket in advance for Brew Riot. The cost is $20 and this gives you the opportunity to sample all of the home brews and vote for your favorite. There’s some amazing beer being poured this year, and odds are good that many of these home brew teams are your next local commercial breweries. Four Corners Brewing Co. got their start at the very first Brew Riot, and look at them now! Pre-sale tickets for Brew Riot are available via PreKindle – click here!

The beer starts flowing at 4pm and will be served until teams run out and we crown a People’s Choice Champion of the 5th Annual Brew Riot.

In addition to beer we’ve also got a great line up of live music, including The O’s, The Birds of Night and Hunter Jones!

Parade Watching Party 2013

robshearer — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 23:18:38 +0000

The 5th Annual Mardi Gras Oak Cliff Parade kicks off at 4pm on Sunday, February 10th, 2013 from the corner of Davis Avenue and Windomere (across the street from Nova Restaurant) and will rumble down Davis all the way to the Bishop Arts District. With nearly 60 parade entrants, it’s sure to be packed with lots of music, beads and fun for the entire family.

The pre-party this year will start at 12pm in the lot between Safety Glass and Calvario Funeral Home (312 West Davis, Dallas TX 75208), which has the benefit of seeing the parade pass on BOTH sides of the lot (both the Davis side and the 7th side feature the parade). Just like last year Michelle Carpenter and her Cajun friends and family will provide a full crawfish boil starting at 1pm, and we will have two beer tents to help wash it down. There will also be New Orleans sandwiches, red beans & rice, and jambalaya for sale in addition to the crawfish.

Here’s the line-up of the live music at the official Parade Watching Party:

12:15 – 1:15 Club Wood

1:40 – 2:30 Big Chief

2:50 – 3:30 Inner City All-Stars

3:50 – 6:30 Zydeco Blanco (with a gap for the parade around 4:20 – 5:00)

The party will go until 6:30pm, or until we run out of crawfish! Bring some friends and join us for a great day in Oak Cliff!

Mardi Gras Oak Cliff Parade – Sunday, February 10, 2013

robshearer — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:22:18 +0000

One of the biggest parties in Oak Cliff will take place Sunday, February 10, 2013 – the 5th Annual Mardi Gras Oak Cliff parade! The parade runs approximately one mile down Davis, starting at the intersection of Davis & Windomere (across the street from Nova Restaurant) and the parade finishes in the Bishop Arts District. This year the Bishop Arts District will be home to TWO parties – featuring tons of crawfish, cold beer, jambalaya, red beads & rice, live music and a few thousand of your closest friends.

The floats will begin lining up early Sunday afternoon, but the parade won’t kick off until until 4pm. All floats will arrive in the Bishop Arts District by 6pm.

Due to the large crowds along the parade route, the entire route will be fenced to prevent the parade viewers from spilling dangerously infront of the floats and vehicles that are part of the parade – so you’ll want to claim your spot along the parade route early to make sure you’ve got a good view. All of the restaurants along Davis plan to host watch parties, so those can also be good options for your viewing pleasure.

Of course, the best place to watch is in the Bishop Arts District. The parties in Bishop Arts will start at 3pm and run until the parade is complete. Come early and bring cash for the food & beverages available.

More details to come, or you can visit http://mardigrasoakcliff.com for all of the event details.

OCarnivale Masquerade Ball – Saturday, February 9th

robshearer — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:06:58 +0000

Come dance the night away! The 4th annual OCarnivale Masquerade Ball is Saturday, February 9th at The Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff. It is the perfect pre-party for the 5th Annual Mardi Gras parade the next day! The Inner City All-Stars will kick things off with live New Orleans-style music, then showcase Matt Tolentino and his Singapore Slingers, followed by Club Wood, the perfect band for shaking your… well…you know.

Enjoy delicious Creole cooking and New Orleans style Hurricanes will have you wondering why we can’t do this every weekend! Make sure you wear your dancing shoes, as you’ll rarely find yourself sitting down. It is without a doubt one of the best parties in Oak Cliff!

Festive attire encouraged. Prizes are awarded for best dressed! Food is included in your ticket price and there will be a cash bar.

Advance purchase of tickets is strongly encouraged, and tickets are available online right here: http://prekindle.com/promo/id/22680801842017319

Cliff Fest is Sunday

Amy Wallace Cowan — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 21:41:02 +0000

Cliff Fest is Sunday, November 18! Here’s a

little bit about what you’ll find from noon to 6 in the Bishop Arts District.

There’s a great stage line up (see below), Oil & Cotton is doing crafts for kids, there are lots of neat street vendors (see list below) plus our storefront shops, of which we have lots of newcomers!

There’s plenty to eat and drink, from our staples in the District to special guests like Mesa, Spiral Diner, and El Padrino! Word on the street is our neighborhood microbrewery, Four Corners Brewing Company, just “kegged” the Brown we’re serving on Friday! Fairhaven Vineyards out of Tyler, a regular at the Bishop Arts Saturday Market, will be there with their Texas wines, too.

Chili tasting and voting is from 2 – 4. We’ll start selling the spoons for $5 at 1:45. In a new development, we’ll be benefiting BOTH the North Texas Food Bank AND the Rosemont 6th Grade trip to the inauguration in Washington D.C.! So come prepared to eat and to do a bit of good for the neighborhood! The chili will be located in front of Eno’s. It’s not too late to enter! If you think you’ve got game, sign up here.

Getting there: As always, we suggest a bike ride or walk! The pedicabs will also be running from 2 – 6 on W 7th. If that’s not your speed, Bishop Arts has gone upscale and now offers district-wide valet. The valet stand is in the gravel lot next to Calvario Funeral Home and costs $5.

May thanks to the sponsors: Methodist Hospital, Jim Lake Companies, Councilwoman Delia Jasso, Councilman Scott Griggs, Craig Schenkel, Mark Miranda, Hattie’s, Eno’s, and Oddfellows.

Also, many thanks to the ecology club from Bishop Dunn for running our recycling program!

Stage schedule:

12:00 Felix Flores Band
12:45 SOTE
1:00 Bona Fide Blues

2:15 La Rondalla / Yells at Eels
3:45 Bethan
5:00 Fox and the Bird

Vendor list:

Oak Cliff Soup Company

Grand Tete

The Kessler

Mesa

Mighty Fine Arts

The Canterbury School

Cozy Cottage

Tyler Street Church

Winnetka Heights

Texas Theater

El Padrino

The Vintagemobile

Dowdy Studio

Fairhaven Vineyards

Friends of Oak Cliff Parks

From the Ends of the Earth

Spiral Diner

Anytime Fitness

ChickeeBoom

Designs by Darlean

Fair Earth Paper

Dylan & Company

Zang Triangle

Dash for the Beads

Rosemont

Izzy Loves Embellishments

Eva Azul

Sunset Hill Neighborhood Association

Gypsy Trading Company

Three R Designs

8th Street Designs

Get Gay Stuff

Randy Gonzalez

Kings Highway Conservation District

Espresso Delight

Colcerex Trading Company

Arbonne

Cliff Fest 2012

mannytmoto — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 22:10:18 +0000

It’s time for the 4th annual Cliff Fest: More Than Just a Taste event, where we celebrate all of the excellent music, art, & cuisine that make Oak Cliff so great.

The stage has a great line up, including Fox and the Bird, Yells at Eels, La Rondalla, Bethan, and Bona Fide Blues!

Also at Cliff Fest– The annual Chili Cook-off is a load of fun. Though it might be the farthest thing from a legitimate competition you’ll ever witness, the chili is great, and the People’s Choice voting takes the cake. A $5 donation earns you tasting and voting privileges!

We’ll be serving up Four Corners Brewing Company’s brews, so come out and make a day of it in beautiful Oak Cliff!

Vendor registration is online here: http://form.jotformpro.com/form/22564941433959

Chili cook-off registration is online here: http://form.jotformpro.com/form/22564738207962

And The Winners Are…

robshearer — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 17:22:05 +0000

The 3rd Annual Blues, Bandits & BBQ was a huge hit with an estimated crowd of 2500 BBQ lovers and a literal ton of smoked meat consumed (and who can forget the 14 kegs of Four Corner’s Local Buzz). The 22 BBQ teams who participated competed in 5 judged categories (brisket, pulled pork, pork ribs, sausage and chicken) and then vied for the coveted title of ‘People’s Choice’ as voted by the more than 700 attendees who were lucky enough to snag a tasting wristband. It helped that the weather was perfect, the bands rocked and the Go Oak Cliff volunteers kept things running smoothly.

And the winners of the 2012 Blues Bandits & BBQ are:

Brisket:
1st Place – Davis Hawn Lumber
2nd Place – OC Master Basters
3rd Place – Tie between Thin Blue Beautiful Smoke & The Smoak Cliff Boys

Pulled Pork:
1st Place – Oak Cliff Oh’s
2nd Place – Ego Brothers
3rd Place – Kings Highway Neighborhood Association

Pork Ribs:
1st Place – The Smoak Cliff Boys
2nd Place – Heavy Metal Cooking Team
3rd Place – Ego Brothers

Chicken:
1st Place – Thin Blue Beautiful Smoke
2nd Place – Oak Cliff Oh’s
3rd Place – Rosemont Dad’s Club

Sausage:
1st Place – Texas BBQ Posse
2nd Place – Road Kill BBQ
3rd Place – Los Huevos Grandes

And the winner of the 2012 People’s Choice Award was the Texas BBQ Posse, with Los Huevos Grandes coming in second and Red Beard BBQ finishing third.

A huge thanks to our sponsors who helped to make this possible: Bolsa Restaurant & Smoke Restaurant, Bolsa Mercado, The Kessler Theater, SqFt Real Estate, Hewitt & Habgood Realtors, North Oak Cliff Beer & Wine, Rafael Anchia, Delia Jasso, West Davis Dental, Robb Puckett & Jenni Stolarski Realtors, and Ben E. Keith. And a big thanks to the bands that played and to the volunteers who helped to make the entire event run so smoothly.

Mark your calendars for the 4th Annual Blues Bandits & BBQ, which will be October 25 & 26, 2013. BBQ team entries will be announced in the spring on GoOakCliff.org and event details will be announced next summer. See you next year!

What To Expect: 2012 Blues, Bandits & BBQ

robshearer — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 00:46:13 +0000

Want the scoop on what to expect during the 2012 Blues, Bandits & BBQ festival? Here’s the all the details that you need to plan your weekend of fun!

WHEN: Friday, October 26, 2012 from 5pm-10pm and Saturday, October 27, 2012 from 12pm-6pm
WHERE: 715 W Davis St., Dallas, TX 75208 (3 blocks west of Bishop Arts on Davis Street)
WHAT: Live music, 23 competition BBQ teams cooking more than 1000 pounds of BBQ, beer garden, & fun for the whole family

First thing to note is that there is NO admission fee to attend Blues, Bandits & BBQ this year – it’s free and open to the public! That’s free admission to the wood fire cooking demonstration, the outdoor movie screening, beer garden, live music, kids bounce house, and more! Second thing to note, the location is DIFFERENT than last year! Third thing to note is that if you want to TASTE the BBQ, then you have to purchase a tasting wristband from Prekindle in advance. They are selling fast so we suggest you hop on over and take care of that now.

Now let’s cover the rest of the details!

The fun starts Friday, October 26 at 5pm when we officially open the beer garden and kick the night off with a little live music. Come on out and check out the BBQ teams who will be arriving, setting up their areas and firing up their smokers. We’ll also have a wood fire cooking demonstration from Chef Tim Byres from Smoke Restaurant at 6pm which is free and open to the public. Finally, we’ll finish the night with an free outdoor screening of the classic film ‘Bonnie & Clyde’! Food trucks will be onsite and we’ll be selling beer from 5pm-10pm.

The BBQ teams will spend the night onsite tending to their smokers, but come back at noon on Saturday, October 27 for the main event! The beer garden opens up again at 12pm and the live music starts then as well. The BBQ tasting will be from 2pm-4pm and a pre-purchased wristband is necessary if you want to sample the brisket, ribs, chicken, sausage and pulled pork from the 23 competition teams. Each person with a wristband will also have an opportunity to cast their vote for the 2012 People’s Choice award. A few cautionary notes about the tasting – if you wait to buy your tasting wristband till the day of the event you’ll be out of luck. We will be sold out prior to the doors opening on Saturday. And, if you purchase a wristband you’ll want to make sure you are onsite during the entire tasting time (2pm-4pm). The best meat goes fast and the teams will be rolling out different meats at different times based on the judging schedule.

Here’s the full schedule of events:

Friday
4:00 P.M. BBQ Team load in
5:00 P.M. Beer Garden opens
5:00 P.M. Live Music — The Cliff Blues Band
6:00 P.M. Tim Byres, Smoke Restaurant – Wood Fire Cooking Demonstration
7:00 P.M. Live Music — Dallas Family Band
7:30 P.M Live Music – Chris Johnson (Telegraph Canyon)
8:00 P.M. Live Music — Johnny Beauford & The Jack Kerowax
9:00 P.M. The Texas Theatre Presents – Bonnie & Clyde (movie shown onsite)

Saturday
12:00 P.M. Beer Garden opens
12:00 P.M. Live Music — Bona Fide Blues
1:30 P.M. Live Music — The Roomsounds
2:00 P.M. People’s Choice BBQ Tasting begins
2:00 P.M. Oil & Cotton hosts children’s art project
2:45 P.M. Live Music — Rev K.M. Williams & Trainwreck
4:00 P.M. People’s Choice BBQ Tasting ends
4:00 P.M. Live Music — RTB2
4:45 P.M. Announce BBQ winners
5:15 P.M. Live Music — The Cliff Blues Band
6:00 P.M. Event Ends

And here’s the lineup of teams for the 2012 Blues, Bandits & BBQ competition:

Matador Meat & Wine Texas BBQ Posse
TNTQue The Smoak Cliff Boys
TRUE BBQ Guthries
Los Juevos Grandes Smokin Domo Nation
RickShaw Catering Company Red Beard BBQ
The Notorious P.I.G. Kings Highway Neighborhood
Two Hats OC Master Basters
Roadkill BBQ Rosemont Dad’s Club
3 Bar BBQ Ego Brothers
Oak Cliff Oh’s Heavy Metal Cooking Team
North Oak Cliff Beer & Wine Thin, Blue, Beautiful Smoke
Davis-Hawn Lumber & Architectural Millworks

New Apartment Construction Slated For Bishop Avenue

robshearer — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 20:28:53 +0000

Go Oak Cliff reported on Facebook yesterday that the road construction project that has dragged on for nearly 18 months is almost complete, and a beautiful bike lane had been painted. Today it looks like the crew has made additional progress and by the time you read this the barricades that have dominated Bishop may have been removed completely. But as the street construction clears, it appears that it is only to make room for the construction of two new apartment buildings on vacant lots at 801 North Bishop and 908 North Bishop Avenue.

The lots are owned by Good Space, a well known real estate company in the neighborhood responsible for some of the more historically sensitive and detail oriented rehabilitation projects in the neighborhood. Owned by long time Oak Cliff resident David Spence, Good Space has been the winner of three Preservation Dallas awards for it’s restoration projects in and around the Bishop Arts District. Good Space is also the landlord to several of Oak Cliff’s finer dining establishments, including Bolsa, Bolsa Mercado, Lucia, Dude Sweet Chocolate and the recently opened Emporium Pies.

Good Space has partnered with Magnolia Property Company on this project, which will bring a total of 39 new apartment units to Bishop on a block that has apartment buildings of similar density. Magnolia Property Company is described as a developer of environmentally sustainable boutique apartments in urban neighborhoods.

Construction is not scheduled to actually begin on the project for several months. In the meantime Good Space and Magnolia are hosting an informational session for neighbors to learn more about the project on Thursday November 1st at 6:30pm at the Kidd Springs Rec Center (711 West Canty, Dallas TX 75208).

Tim Byres Wood Fire Cooking Demo

robshearer — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 12:02:52 +0000

The 3rd Annual Blues, Bandits & BBQ festival will kick off with a free wood fire cooking demonstration by Oak Cliff’s own Chef Tim Byres from Smoke and Chicken Scratch restaurants. Tim has a new cookbook due out this spring entitled, “Smoke: New Firewood Cooking” and he’ll be stoking a wood fire onsite and teaching those who attend a few of his culinary secrets.

The cooking demonstration will be from 6pm-7pm on Friday, October 26th at the site of the 2012 Blues, Bandits & BBQ, 715 W Davis St., Dallas, TX 75208.

The competing BBQ teams will begin arriving at 4pm that afternoon and firing up their smokers upon arrival, and the beer garden will open at 5pm to kick off the festival. Following Chef Tim’s cooking demonstration will be live music including the Dallas Family Band, Johnny Beauford & The Jack Kerowax, and the Cliff Blues Band. And we’ll end the evening with a screening of the classic film ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ starring Warren Beatty. Bring a blanket, bring your kids and plan to stay for the evening!

Friday, October 26, 2012
4:00 P.M. BBQ Team load in
5:00 P.M. Beer Garden opens
5:00 P.M. Live Music — The Cliff Blues Band
6:00 P.M. Tim Byres, Smoke Restaurant – Wood Fire Cooking Demonstration
7:00 P.M. Live Music — Dallas Family Band
8:00 P.M. Live Music — Johnny Beauford & The Jack Kerowax
9:00 P.M. The Texas Theatre Presents – Bonnie & Clyde