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Est. 1986 More than 1,500 columns served!
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Potager Natural Cafe in Arlington is 1 year old.
That's a nice surprise, because some cynics thought Potager wouldn't make it.
Potager -- the name is French -- is an organic, all-fresh, all-local cafe with no set prices. You pay whatever you think your lunch or dinner was worth.
Owner Cynthia Chippindale figured out right away that she needed to suggest a price, so you're now expected to pay about $7 to $10 for lunch or dinner, plus more for a drink and dessert.
Potager is a tiny former sandwich shop with a few tables and chairs, and without a cash register, dining there feels like you've come for lunch in Chippindale's kitchen.
The special one day last week was a simple grilled chicken or pork steak with fresh cabbage and a crisp field greens salad with blue cheese crumbles.
The weekend dinner menu features a choice of meat and vegetarian dishes, like last week's choice of an espresso-rubbed roast sirloin or onion-mushroom tart with glazed carrots and turnips.
Potager is also known for quiches and for fresh breads and pies.
It's open Tuesday through Saturday for lunch, Thursday through Saturday for dinner. Yes, it's BYOB; 315 S. Mesquite St., 817-861-2292.
The daily menu is on the Web site: www.potagercafe.com.
On the other side of healthy, Off The Bone BBQ is also celebrating an anniversary.
It's been open a year, too, and it has been a month since that little stand on the Mansfield Highway was named D Magazine's No.1 barbecue restaurant in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Read our critic's review of Off The Bone on Page 16.
One tip: Order the rib ends. They're the size of other restaurants' ribs.
D Magazine also spread more barbecue love across Tarrant County, ranking Longoria's in Everman and Smokey's in east Fort Worth among its favorites.
The predictable old-timers were there: Angelo's in Fort Worth, Cousin's in several locations and North Main BBQ in Euless.
The magazine also liked the Ranch House in Sansom Park, the only restaurant I know that serves smoked tenderloin and rib-eye steaks.
Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt, the cult favorite that expanded to Dallas last year from its Los Angeles home base, will open its first Tarrant County store March 11 at 4000 Bagpiper Way in the Arlington Highlands shopping center.
Only three states have Pinkberry shops: California, New York and Texas. (Try the passion fruit.)
Bud Kennedy's Eats Beat appears Fridays in GO! Follow @eatsbeat on Twitter