Way back in April, about 20 of us crammed into our building’s second floor conference room and began hashing out this year’s Best of Big D. That’s the official start to us figuring out the 142 people, places, and things that made the city what it was over the previous 12 months. But that process really started, oh, two days after last year’s party. It’s an always-on sort of thing, keeping an eye out for the sandwich that stands head and shoulders above the rest (hello, Sachet’s porchetta!) so that you can beat your colleagues into submission when they try to suggest something else. Something wrong.
That’s the fun of it. Typically, those debates wind up with us choosing the very best for our pages. And that brings us here to late July. We’re unveiling the feature today, ahead of tonight’s party that honors all the winners and corrals them into a cavernous music venue so you can taste the best all in one place. Pecan Lodge is even bringing beef ribs. And you can wash it down with a cocktail from the French Room. You literally cannot do that anywhere else.
This is not the 45th year that we’ve done the feature, but September will mark our 45th year as a magazine. (And we’re still locally owned!) All of which is a rather remarkable feat in these volatile years of journalism. So tonight at the Bomb Factory is something of a celebration for us alongside all the awesome bars and restaurants and performers that will be there. It’s 70s themed, so maybe dress accordingly. Here’s a playlist to get you in the mood, from our marketing folks. Here’s my favorite Neil Young album, which dropped the same year the magazine started.
But anyway: read this year’s Best of Big D right now, buy a ticket to the party tonight, and come enjoy your city with us. That’s why we fought over all of this back in April. Just look at all there is to eat and drink. Can’t wait to run it all back next year.
