LAKEWOOD/EAST DALLAS ADVOCATE
VOL. 33 NO. 8
8 Opening remarks
10 Dallas’s original food influencer
14 Brewing belonging at Pull Through Coffee Bar
34 Ariana Cuisine shares Afghan food & culture
SPECIAL SECTION
20 Best Of 2026 FEATURES
24 Play it again, piano men 28 Our neighborhood Whole Foods
32 At dinner with Alfonso’s Peter Colombo
For over two decades, Lewis Henderson has been playing piano at St. Martin’s. Read more on page 24. Photography by Lauren Allen.
By JEHADU ABSHIRO
Recently, I was driving down Lower Greenville on a Thursday around dinner time. I was peeking into the restaurants, and I noticed many of them were empty. I experienced something similar when I dropped in at one of my favorite watering holes in Oak Cliff on a Friday afternoon, and for the first time in a long while, I didn’t have to search for a table. And again when I made reservations for a few friends in a normally crowded restaurant in another part of town.
Granted, it’s summer, and this is a city that likes to pack bags and escape the triple-digit heat.
Perhaps more impactful, budgets are tighter for many people. We wrote an article in 2010 about 10 places where you could get $5 lunches. Save for Tony’s Pizza and Pasta on Northwest Highway, Keller’s Drive-In and Taquería Pinocho, many of the restaurants don’t have a $5 lunch option anymore, if they still exist.
Dallas has become a very different place since we wrote that article. Google says the rate of inflation between 2010 and now is 52.8% in Dallas. The CPI Inflation Calculator from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says a fiver in 2010 is the equivalent of $7.66 now, but the website also looks like it’s frozen in 2005, so we’re going to take that with a pasta water handful of salt.
Real estate pricing spiked, and produce and labor costs have increased for most of our restaurateurs. Cocktail menus with $20 drinks are commonplace. For a family of four, you’re looking at a $70 ticket — at least at any restaurant priced similarly to Chili’s — if everyone’s getting a burger, water and tipping 20%.
Our restaurant graveyard is a collection of heartbreaking favorites. We’re not only mourning the food. It’s our favorite server, being a regular, the moments we celebrated at the table toward the back, the person we used to be when we frequented the joint around the corner. And maybe what we miss most is what our neighborhood used to feel like.
I don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer. (I do lean that way.)
The good news is that we always have a new chef to interview, a new concept to write about and neighbors willing to become new restaurateurs. There have been a few comeback kids in newer spaces with new hope. That’s the real purpose of our reader-forward Best Of contest (the winners of which are announced on page 20) — let’s celebrate our neighborhood.
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Egg Roll Hut on Columbia Avenue. Photography by Lauren Allen.
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In addition to restaurants, Foodbitch also occasionally posts about politics and her Jewish identity.
“FOODBITCH” IS A BIT OF A MISNOMER. The food influencer’s content is mostly positive.
The Richardson native, who lived in Lakewood Hills for 14 years but currently resides in Preston Hollow, started her food reviewing career in 2008 on Twitter to direct people to local restaurants — or as she puts it, to stop going to Chili’s. This was amid the Great Recession, and she and her friends started a comedy blog about the economy and politics.
“It was sort of just how my friends and I found our voice online and how I decided that I really liked being anonymous,” she says.
Her Facebook and Instagram pages don’t reveal her name or face but instead focus on the food, drinks and design of the establishment she’s giving her take on. She was inspired by prominent food writer Ruth Reichl, who used to disguise herself before going to a restaurant she was going to review.
“I’m not going to be one of those people who everyone knows who I am so that I can at least try to tell people what it’s really like to go somewhere because it’s a totally different experience,” she says.
But it is possible to find out who Foodbitch is, and she does get invited to restaurants. It’s important to her to denote in her posts when she receives special treatment or comped meals.
The University of Texas alumna, who has a day job in advertising, shoots and edits her own photos and videos and takes care of any other production needs.
“I’m the creative director, so no one gets to tell me no,” she says with a laugh during a recent conversation with the Advocate
I joke that I just wanted to keep people from going to Chili’s. Really, the truth is that I wanted to highlight small businesses and places that put the real thought and real effort and real creativity into what people are eating. Instead of spending $12 on a hamburger, you could spend the same $12 and get something that someone made with care. It came full circle during the pandemic when we really were in danger of losing a lot of those smaller businesses, and our favorite restaurants were struggling. I made a really big effort during the pandemic to try to get people to take out from restaurants around town. A lot of people were doing that, but for me, it was one of the more self-actualizing times in my career, if you can call it that. I got to actually use my power for good.
I don’t know if I always have had it. I have an aunt
who used to take me out in New York City. She lived in New Jersey, and we would drive into the city. We’d go to a show, and we would go to the fancy restaurants, but for lunch. Because that was the hack. You didn’t have to spend as much money. You could still get the really high-end restaurant treatment. I hadn’t had that fine dining experience growing up. It was really nice to see that and experience people who were career servers and how much skill and choreography there is in fine dining and presentation and the artistry and the decor. At the restaurant Bouley, you knew what to expect every time. Everything was delicious, even something you didn’t like. I don’t like peas, right? Fine, lots of people don’t like peas because they’re good for you. But the way that they made peas with a puree and chicken stock, it was just beautiful, and they can make you like anything. You kind of learn that it’s all preparation. There’s really nothing you don’t like. You can find a way to like it, unless you’re allergic, or it’s not kosher. I don’t eat pork. I don’t eat shellfish. That’s been a little bit of a challenge, too. We are kosher at home. I’m not kosher out, so that’s also something fun to juggle. But you know, it’s all doable. Everyone has their things. I don’t like it when people are like, “Well, I just don’t like peanut butter.” Like, you’re not allergic. OK, fine, but like, try it. Or just try it again. Try it a different way. Maybe make it yourself or have someone that really likes cooking make it for you.
When I was back writing for that blog, we were also anonymous. My username was “Breadwinner” because my husband was out of work. It was just like a little nod to that. That’s when I decided I just really liked the anonymity of writing and being cheeky on the internet. It was kind of around the time Cake Boss was a thing. I just sort of came up with it, and it was just like, “Yeah, Foodbitch, that one makes sense.” It’s a little antithetical to my real personality because people are like, “Oh, you’re so nice.” At the same time, it kind of allows me to be more direct. It being different than my real personality helps me with the anonymity.
It’s true. It’s funny because my husband says that he’s a bigger critic. He likes fewer things, and I’ll be like, “Oh, you know, maybe they’re having an off day.” But at the same time, I try to be really honest. There are people who know that if I remark a lot about how a place looks and not as much about the food, then usually, it means the food is probably not the thing to go for. It doesn’t really
go to my personality to be like, “Well, this sucks.” I usually take that kind of feedback and give it directly to the restaurants and public relations teams first and then sometimes in the DMs. If someone asks me, “What should I get?” I’ll be like, “Actually, just go for cocktails. Trust me.” What I started this for was to help people go to more small businesses. I’m not here to put anybody on blast. I’ve done that before, and it has been fun. Back in the day, there was that unicorn dessert bar in Deep Ellum. It was when unicorn cupcakes were a really big thing. It was almost like AI-generated versions. Then when you got there and you waited in line, you got this thing that you spent way too much money on. When it was something like that, that was so blatant — like they were buying cupcakes from Costco and putting other shit on it — that was actually really fun to go after and be like, “This is ridiculous.” People were coming from across town and across state lines to come wait in line and get a piece of shit. I couldn’t let that stand. Then the real bitch came out.
FOR PEOPLE TO GO TO LOCAL RESTAURANTS?
For sure. I started a series that was kind of asking for people to tell me what their favorite place is. “If this was gone tomorrow, what would you absolutely cry over?” Those are the type of places that do sometimes get forgotten, or they’re under the radar. We forget to visit them because of all the newness. It’s like, “Got to go to this hot new place.” It’s like, “Well, do you?” Let’s make sure we give business to our favorite mainstays. It’s absolutely just as necessary now. We’re seeing closures all the time, and it sucks.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR 12-YEAROLD TWIN GIRLS.
It’s been fun to have them involved in the brand because they like to help me do photo shoots. Sometimes a company will send me a product, and I’ll need to shoot it in our house. They’ll be like, “Ooh, can I help?” We’ll design the lighting, and we’ll set it up. I just sort of let them see what it’s like to do something creative as a job. They’re both really into art and theater, so it’s very helpful to have their creativity on board. I also have to sort of temper their expectations for what their life will be like when not everything is given to them. Like, “Oh, Mom, are we going to order off the menu today, or are they just going to bring us everything?” And it’s like, “OK, slow your roll. We need to recenter. We need to talk about reality and privilege.” But they’re really fun. I was a little worried when they learned to read that they would see a bad word on mommy’s Instagram page because they are very anti-bad words. They’re always correcting us if we say anything bad, but they’ve learned to be fine with it.
For sure. Most of the time it’s like a plus-one situation. My husband stays home with them and the dogs, and I bring a friend. Last night, we were able to go out, the four of us, and have a nice meal that we normally wouldn’t spend that kind of money on. That’s always nice, too. We have to teach them, first of all, this is what you wear when you go out to a nice place. This is how you behave. It teaches them to be nice to servers and say “please and thank you” and order for themselves. We’ve sort of progressed. They’re definitely children of a foodie.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
A strawberry lemon poppy muffin ($4.15) and kolaches ($5.95) from Lelia’s Bakery, served alongside a latte made with Costa Rican coffee beans. Right: Christina James at the window of Pull Through Coffee Bar, which is focused on being a third place for cyclists.
Pull Through Coffee Bar is where coffee and cycling come together
Story by SYRA CASTILLO | Photography by JUSTIN SCHWARTZ
“THIS IS A COFFEE FARM?”
Christina James recalls asking as she took in the green and lush mountainous landscape of Bogotá, Colombia, with her dad by her side.
James had traveled to Bogotá to reconnect with her father after his deportation from the United States. She hadn’t seen him since she was 3 years old, and at 23, she was meeting him again for the second time. Knowing about her love for coffee, her father invited her to visit a family friend’s coffee farm.
“I always felt like I didn’t know enough about coffee … and I was on that farm, and I had this connection to it,” James says.
That was 13 years ago. But today, that moment has grown into Pull Through Coffee Bar, the coffee shop James opened inside Dallas Bike Works at White Rock Lake. Equal parts cafe and cyclist community hub,
the bar serves as a gathering place for cyclists and families.
But before the farm, the reunion with her father, the boost to her self-confidence and Pull Through, there was Aunt Diane and Washington, D.C.
James’ early childhood was marked by constant moves. From Mesquite to Richardson to Dallas, she spent her formative years under a strict, conservative household. She says her homeschooling left significant gaps in her education and social skills.
“When I was 17, I left home. I ran away, actually,” she says. “My education was behind, and my Aunt Diane helped me get my GED.”
Part of what pushed her to leave, she says, was feeling unable to be open to her family about her relationship with a girlfriend she had in high school. Once with her aunt, James found a different environment — one where she truly felt accepted for the first time.
“(Aunt Diane) helped me dream,” James says. “But the biggest thing was either I go back to school, go to college, or get a fulltime job.”
James chose part-time classes at a community college and a full-time job at Starbucks where she would work for a decade. She says she liked the rhythm of the work — the efficiency and the structure — but what mattered most was that it pushed her into daily interactions with people.
She moved up from a barista role into a district manager role, relocating several times from the East Coast to California, and finally back to Texas.
Once in Dallas, James decided to step away from chain coffee and focus on working with local mom-and-pop businesses like Cultivar Coffee Roasting Co. The switch from fast and speedy customer service to quality and production opened up another side of the coffee industry she had not tapped into yet.
“Jon, the owner, taught me a lot. Cultivar taught me quality and tasting (coffee) notes, and it definitely expanded my knowledge of coffee through him, and he also became a huge mentor,” James says.
But returning to Texas also left James feeling isolated. Between 2010 and 2016, she
struggled with drug addiction before finding relief in an unexpected place: cycling. The White Rock Lake cycling community became her outlet. After buying her first bicycle from Trek Bicycle Corporation, James began receiving invitations to join group rides.
“That’s what actually made me move from McKinney to Dallas,” she says. “It felt like there was a lot more going on for people my age.”
In 2020, James was racing for Bicycles Plus while simultaneously going through a breakup with someone on the team. She says the breakup pushed her to search for a new bike team and ended up finding space at Dallas Bike Works. That same summer, James joined the shop’s racing team and began to see the potential of a coffee bar.
“It’s kind of desolate in that little pocket of area,” James says. “There’s not much room for other businesses to move in. It’s this little space where there’s no food, no drinks, there’s nothing else that will keep you there.”
James shared her business idea with the owner of Dallas Bike Works, Boyd Wallace.
to save water.
Turn o sprinklers when it’s raining. If it’s raining, just rained or rain is coming, turn those sprinklers o . Never water more than two days a week and if it’s raining you may not need to water at all. Sign up for free weekly watering advice and know exactly how much to water. And next time you’re outside, swing by and say hello.
Pull Through’s summer drink menu offers Mandarin orange juice ($8), Sultry Saffron Sunset ($8.75) and Goji Matcha Sunrise ($8.75).
“I jokingly over beers asked Boyd, ‘Hey, you should open up a coffee shop, and then I’ll run it.’ And he was like, ‘I don’t know anything about coffee. You should open it and then you know, pay me rent.’ And it was like we were playing chicken with each other,” she says.
Looking back, James remembers Wallace’s anticipation about opening a coffee shop.
“I had wanted a coffee shop inside since I first opened but there was no way I could manage both, so it fell by the wayside,” Wallace says. “My only regret is that we didn’t form this partnership sooner. She turned both our visions into a reality.”
After talking to three different business owners and hearing their suggestions, James circled back with Wallace to show him a complete business plan. With Wallace’s approval, James began designing the layout of her coffee shop in 2021. However, during the beginning of construction, James lost her contractor.
“I remember Boyd was like, ‘Oh, we can do it ourselves,’ and we didn’t get open until February 2023 when it really took like a month to build,” James says.
But the two-year wait paid off.
Today, Pull Through Coffee Bar welcomes more than 400 coffee enthusiasts on the weekend and more than 250 during the week. On top of that, twice a year, it hosts a women’s ride, where women can connect in a male-dominated sport.
Saturdays bring a steady stream of runners stopping in after completing their weekend routes. On Sundays, cyclists and neighborhood families fill the shop, whether they’re browsing the bike selection or grabbing a drink before heading out for the day.
But the convenience of having a bike shop and cafe under one roof isn’t the only thing drawing customers.
“I love having a sense of humor in everything that I make or create, and the names were a big way for me to do that,” James says.
One standout is the Muscle Mommy Matcha ($9), an iced protein matcha latte James says is “for the girls.” Another customer favorite, Bonked But Not Broken ($8), is also an iced protein matcha inspired by cycling slang.
“It’s kind of a play on the saying we have in cycling when you’ve just ridden 100 miles and you’re on the verge of falling off your bike,” James says. “We usually say, ‘Oh, I’m bonking,’ meaning I’m past the point where nutrition can help me.”
James’ favorite summer drink is the Goji Matcha Sunrise ($8.75), made with goji berry syrup, coconut water, oat milk, ceremonial-grade matcha and topped with the cafe’s signature “manic pixie dust.” Another standout is the Sultry Saffron Sunset Spritzer ($8.75), a sparkling espresso drink made with saffron syrup, sparkling water and a floating shot of espresso, then finished with dried guava and mango. The summer menu will be available through September.
Thirteen years after standing on a coffee farm in Colombia with her father, James has built a place where coffee means more than just being served in a cup. It’s a place rooted in community — something James spent years searching for.
“It’s a place for everyone,” James says. “Whether you’re a dog lover from the neighborhood, live close by or a cyclist coming off the trail, people come together on that patio. I’ve watched so many people meet each other there who probably pass each other every day.”
Pull Through Coffee Bar, 4875 W. Lawther Drive, Ste. 101, 469.668.2663
Give your child the opportunity to build confidence, creativity, and a love for dance with White Rock YMCA’s Ballet program! Our program offers three ageappropriate levels that help dancers develop technique, coordination, and grace. Classes run from September 1, 2026, through April 8, 2027, giving students the chance to grow their skills before celebrating with an end-of-season recital!
Italian food is a beautiful thing, and sharing it with loved ones around a table is how our family was made. Thank you to everyone in this community for supporting Jimmy’s Food Store for 60 years. To have so many Dallasites, Texans from across the state, and out-of-state visitors appreciate our store is inspiring. It is inspiring to a Texan-Italian family that has been setting roots here for over 100 years and spreading Italian culture the best way we can.
Our humble roots have grown us into what we are today, a success that is only possible because of our loyal customers. We also owe our success to the dedication of our determined staff, some of whom have been with us for decades; without them, we could not do what we do at this level. Thank you.
HERE ARE THE RESULTS FOR OUR 2026 BEST OF, WHERE READERS NOMINATED THEIR FAVORITE LOCAL BUSINESSES.
VOTING STARTS NEXT APRIL, IF YOU WANT TO NOMINATE YOUR FAVORITE ESTABLISHMENT.
BEST BREAKFAST
WINNER - DREAM CAFE LAKEWOOD
2ND - GOODFRIEND PACKAGE
3RD - GARDEN CAFE
BEST BRUNCH
WINNER - GARDEN CAFE
2ND - BEVERLY’S BISTRO AND BAR
3RD - OZONA GRILL AND BAR
BEST BAKERY
WINNER - LEILA BAKERY & CAFEE
2ND - VILLAGE BAKING CO
3RD - LUBELLAS PATISSERIE
BEST CHINESE FOOD
WINNER - MIYA CHINESE
2ND - HELLO DUMPLING
3RD - FORTUNE HOUSE
BEST JAPANESE FOOD/SUSHI
WINNER - OISHII
2ND - SASA SUSHI
3RD - WAYA JAPANESE IZAKAYA
BEST RAMEN
WINNER - WABI HOUSE
2ND - WAYA JAPANESE IZAKAYA
3RD - CASA RAMEN
BEST VIETNAMESE FOOD
WINNER - M Ộ T HAI BA
2ND - DALAT VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT AND BAR
3RD - VIETNAM RESTAURANT BAR & GRILL
BEST THAI FOOD
WINNER - ROYAL THAI
2ND - THAI THAI RESTAURANT
WINNER - TERILLI’S
2ND - SISTER
3RD - VIA TRIOZZI
3RD - MEI ASIAN CUISINE RESTAURANT
BEST INDIAN FOOD
WINNER - ROTI GRILL
2ND - KALACHANDJI’S
3RD - ELEPHANT INDIAN BAR & GRILL
BEST MEDITERRANEAN FOOD
WINNER - CAFE IZMIR MEDITERRANEAN TAPAS
2ND - FADI’S MEDITERRANEAN GRILL
3RD - KOSTAS GREEK CAFE
BEST LATIN
AMERICAN CUISINE
WINNER - GLORIA’S LATIN CUISINE
2ND - LATIN DELI
3RD - HAVANA CAFE-MOJITO BAR
BEST MEXICAN FOOD
WINNER - MESO MAYA COMIDA Y COPAS
2ND - MONTERREY MEXICAN RESTAURANT
3RD - MAMI COCO
BEST TEX-MEX FOOD
WINNER - EL VECINO TEX MEX
2ND - LA CALLE DOCE
3RD - MESO MAYA COMIDA Y COPAS
WINNER
2ND
3RD
BEST PIZZA
WINNER - CANE ROSSO
2ND - GAPCO
3RD - OLIVELLA’S PIZZA AND WINE
BEST SEAFOOD
WINNER - REX’S SEAFOOD AND MARKET
2ND - HUDSON HOUSE
3RD - FISH N’ TAILS OYSTER BAR
BEST BBQ
WINNER - TERRY BLACK’S BBQ
2ND - PECAN LODGE
3RD - SMOKY ROSE
BEST BURGER
WINNER - BURGER SCHMURGER
2ND - RODEO GOAT
3RD - GOODFRIEND BEER GARDEN & BURGER HOUSE
BEST CHICKEN
WINNER - PALMER’S HOT CHICKEN (CLOSED)
2ND - HATTIE B’S
3RD - THE FINCH
BEST FRIES
WINNER - RODEO GOAT
2ND - BURGER HOUSE
3RD - GOODFRIEND BEER GARDEN & BURGER HOUSE
BEST SANDWICH
WINNER - JIMMY’S FOOD STORE
2ND - CORNER MARKET
3RD - GOODFRIEND PACKAGE
BEST HEALTHY BITE
WINNER - GARDEN CAFE
2ND - HG SPLY CO.
3RD - VIDA BOWLS - SUPERFOOD DRIVE-THRU
WINNER - HUDSON HOUSE
2ND - MCRAE’S AMERICAN BISTRO
3RD - THE CHARLOTTE AMERICAN BISTRO
BEST DESSERT
WINNER - HUMBLE PIES
2ND - PARLOR’S HANDCRAFTED ICE CREAMS
3RD - LE BON TEMPS BEIGNETS AND COFFEE
BEST DONUT
WINNER - LAKEWOOD DONUT
2ND - VOODOO DONUT
3RD - JARRAM’S
BEST FROZEN TREAT
WINNER - TCBY
2ND - PARLOR’S HANDCRAFTED ICE CREAMS (TIE)
2ND - JENI’S SPLENDID ICE CREAMS (TIE)
3RD - MILK • CREAM
BEST COFFEE
WINNER - WHITE ROCK COFFEE
2ND - LDU
3RD - EAST DALLAS MIDDLE GROUND
BEST PATIO
WINNER - BIRDIE’S EASTSIDE
2ND - SMOKY ROSE
3RD - CANE ROSSO
BEST COCKTAILS
WINNER - GOODWINS
2ND - LOUNGE HERE
3RD - APOTHECARY
BEST DIVE BAR
WINNER - COSMO’S
2ND - LAKEWOOD LANDING
3RD - STAN’S BLUE NOTE
BEST WINE LIST
WINNER - ST. MARTIN’S WINE BISTRO
2ND - BODEGA WINE BAR
3RD - LEELA’S WINE BAR
BEST SPORTS BAR
WINNER - OLD MONK
2ND - WHITE ROCK ALEHOUSE & BREWERY
3RD - STAN’S BLUE NOTE
BEST ROOFTOP
WINNER - HG SPLY CO
2ND - TERILLI’S
3RD - SUNDOWN AT GRANADA
BEST HOSPITALITY /SERVICE
WINNER - MCRAE’S AMERICAN BISTRO
2ND - THE CHARLOTTE
3RD - HUGS CAFE
BEST AUTO REPAIR SHOP
WINNER - ROSS & GREENVILLE AUTOMOTIVE
2ND - DALLAS CAR CARE
3RD - SKILLMAN AUTOCARE
BEST CAR WASH
WINNER - CARNATION AUTO SPA
2ND - CARMEL CAR WASH
3RD - COWBOYS CARWASH
BEST BARBER SHOP
WINNER - OLD EAST DALLAS BARBERSHOP
2ND - FLOYD’S 99 BARBERSHOP
3RD - BOARDROOM SALON FOR MENLAKEWOOD
BEST WOMEN’S HAIR SALON
WINNER - BLOW SALON
2ND - MUSE THE SALON
3RD - WILLIE & COOTE SALON
BEST NAIL SALON
WINNER - GLO NAIL LOUNGE & SPA
2ND - CASTLE NAIL SPA
3RD - DELUXE NAIL SALON
BEST SPA
WINNER - HAND & STONE MASSAGE AND FACIAL SPA
2ND - PURE SPA
3RD - THE DREAM SPA
BEST MED SPA
WINNER - RENEW BEAUTY
2ND - THE AESTHETICS PROJECT (TIE)
2ND - THE SCIENCE OF BEAUTY (TIE)
3RD - UPKEEP
BEST DERMATOLOGIST
WINNER - LAKEWOOD DERMATOLOGY
2ND - DALLAS ASSOCIATED DERMATOLOGISTS
3RD - WHITE ROCK DERMATOLOGY
BEST CHIROPRACTOR
WINNER - RESTORATION DALLAS
CHIROPRACTIC
2ND - TEXAS CHIRO HEALTH OF LAKEWOOD
3RD - BACKMENDERS - CHIROPRACTIC WITH CARE
BEST DENTIST
WINNER - LAKEWOOD CHILDREN’S DENTISTRY
2ND - PARK CITIES DENTAL GROUPDR.HINO
3RD - DRAGAN SMILES
BEST ORTHODONTIST
WINNER - LAKEWOOD ORTHODONTICS
2ND - WHITE ROCK ORTHODONTICS
3RD - ELLIS ORTHODONTICS
BEST OPTOMETRIST
WINNER - BRIGHT EYES VISION
2ND - TOM BARRETT OPTICAL
3RD - DR. THAI-AN NGUYEN AT EYEVENUE
BEST MEDICAL CLINIC
WINNER - PURPOSEFUL HEALING
DIRECT PRIMARY CARE
2ND - PARADIGM FAMILY HEALTH
3RD - VIA NOVA NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
BEST PEDIATRICIAN
WINNER - PECAN TREE PEDIATRICS
2ND - PARADIGM FAMILY HEALTH
3RD - COMPREHENSIVE PEDIATRIC CARE
DALLAS: MEENU JINDAL, DO, FAAP
BEST GYM
WINNER - WHITE ROCK YMCA
2ND - F45 LAKEWOOD
3RD - PARADIGM GYM 24HR (TIE)
3RD - RECESS FITNESS CLUB (TIE)
BEST PILATES
WINNER - SESSION PILATESLAKEWOOD
2ND - BLISS PILATES
3RD - OAK CLIFF PILATES
BEST YOGA
WINNER - BLACK SWAN
2ND - COREPOWER YOGA MOCKINGBIRD
3RD - YAM
BEST WELLNESS STUDIO
WINNER - DEGREE WELLNESS
2ND - SANCTUARY STUDIO DALLAS
3RD - THE AESTHETICS PROJECT
BEST PET GROOMING
WINNER - WHITE ROCK PET GROOMING
2ND - PETBAR LAKEWOOD
3RD - URBAN PAWS
BEST PET BOARDING & DAYCARE
WINNER - BARKING HOUND VILLAGE CENTRAL
2ND - YARDSTICK DOG HOTEL
3RD - WOOF TONE INN & SPA
BEST VET
WINNER - EAST DALLAS VETERINARY CLINIC
2ND - CITYVET | WHITE ROCK VETERINARY CLINIC & URGENT CARE
3RD - METRO PAWS ANIMAL HOSPITALWHITE ROCK
BEST FLOWER SHOP
WINNER - LAKE HIGHLANDS FLOWERS
FLORIST & FLOWER DELIVERY
2ND - EN FLEUR
3RD - THE T SHOP
to all
BEST LANDSCAPING
WINNER - LAMBERT LANDSCAPE COMPANY
2ND - HOLCOMB TREE SERVICE
3RD - ARTZ LANDSCAPE DESIGNS
BEST OUTDOOR
HOME IMPROVEMENT
WINNER - ARTZ LANDSCAPE DESIGNS
2ND - SUMMERHILL POOLS • OUTDOOR LIVING
3RD - TCP CUSTOM OUTDOOR LIVING
BEST ELECTRICIAN
WINNER - LAKEWOOD ELECTRICAL
2ND - WHITE ROCK ELECTRIC
3RD - ANTHONY’S ELECTRIC OF DALLAS
BEST PLUMBER
WINNER - AC PLUMBING
2ND - DOUBLE M PLUMBING
3RD - WORKMAN PLUMBING
BEST DRY CLEANING
WINNER - KNOX CLEANERS
2ND - FAULKNER’S FINE DRY CLEANING
3RD - FEATHER LAUNDRY
BEST TAILOR
WINNER - UNIQUE TAILOR
2ND - RED CARPET TAILOR - LAKEWOOD
3RD - CLASSIC CLEANERS & TAILORS
BEST SHOE COBBLER
WINNER - RICO HILLSIDE SHOE SERVICES
2ND - COBBLESTONE SHOE HOSPITAL DFW
BEST LAW OFFICE
WINNER - SHAMIEH LAW - ACCIDENT & INJURY LAWYERS
2ND - PATRICK LAW FIRM, P.C.
3RD - THE MEDLIN LAW FIRM
BEST MORTGAGE
WINNER - CHRISTIAN JOHNSONMORTGAGE LENDER
2ND - TODD HARTGROVE AT WILLOW BEND MORTGAGE
3RD - HOMEOWNERS FINANCIAL GROUP
BEST ANTIQUE STORE
WINNER - CURIOSITIES ANTIQUES
2ND - SECOND CHANCE TREASURES
3RD - WHITE ROCK CENTER OF HOPE
BEST BOOKSTORE
WINNER - LUCKY DOG BOOKS
2ND - POETS BOOKS DEEP ELLUM
3RD - DEEP VELLUM
BEST BOUTIQUE
WINNER - THE T SHOP
2ND - TALULAH & HESS
3RD - FAVOR THE KIND
BEST WOMEN’S CLOTHING
WINNER - PINK SUNDAYS
2ND - FAVOR THE KIND
3RD - KEEPSAKE
BEST CHILDREN’S STORE
WINNER - FROGGIE’S 5 & 10 TOY STORE
2ND - THE LITTLE THINGS
3RD - ROCKET FIZZ DEEP ELLUM
BEST PET SUPPLIES
WINNER - PET SUPPLY PLUS
2ND - HOLLYWOOD FEED
3RD - THE UPPER PAW
BEST PLANTS
WINNER - RUIBAL’S PLANTS OF TEXASWHITE ROCK
2ND - REDENTA’S GARDEN SHOP
3RD - WALTON’S GARDEN CENTER
BEST THRIFT
& CONSIGNMENT STORE
WINNER - EAST DALLAS VINTAGE
2ND - WHITE ROCK CENTER OF HOPE (TIE)
2ND - DOLLY PYTHON (TIE)
3RD - CASA VIEW THRIFT
BEST ART CLASS
WINNER - CREATIVE ARTS CENTER OF DALLAS
2ND - LAKEWOOD ART LAB
3RD - IMAGINARIUM SCHOOL
BEST ART GALLERY
WINNER - ART ON MAIN
2ND - KETTLE ART GALLERY
3RD - UMBRELLA GALLERY
B EST LIVE MUSIC
WINNER - GRANADA THEATER
2ND - THE BOMB FACTORY
3RD - SUNDOWN AT GRANADA
BE ST VEN UE
WINNER - TIMES TEN CELLAR
2ND - SONS OF HERMANN HALL
3RD - THE MERIDIAN
BEST DANCE COMPANY
WINNER - CONTEMPORARY BALLET DALLAS
2ND - STUDIO B
3RD - ANITA N. MARTINEZ BALLET FOLKLORICO
BEST PA RK
WINNER - WHITE ROCK LAKE PARK
2ND - TIETZE PARK
3RD - GLENCOE PARK
BEST L IBR ARY
WINNER - LAKEWOOD BRANCH LIBRARY
2ND - WHITE ROCK HILLS BRANCH LIBRARY
3RD - LOCHWOOD BRANCH LIBRARY
BEST PLA C E FOR KIDS
WINNER - WE ROCK THE SPECTRUMLAKEWOOD
2ND - IMAGINARIUM SCHOOL
3RD - DOWN TO PLAY
BEST SUMMER
CAMP FOR KIDS
WINNER - WHITE ROCK YMCA
2ND - LAKEHILL PREPARATORY SCHOOL
3RD - AR WORKSHOP DALLAS
3RD - VENTURA’S SHOE & BOOT SERVICES 2026
Story by MADELYN EDWARDS | Photography by LAUREN ALLEN
“Everyone loves music. What would the world be without music? What would your day be without music? We have to have music.”
— Lewis Henderson II, longtime piano player at St. Martin’s.
Imagine going to dinner at Terilli’s Restaurant and Bar or St. Martin’s Wine Bistro for a special occasion. Maybe you’re celebrating a birthday or anniversary. You’re sitting down for dinner with your spouse, your friends, your parents, your children, and then you hear the pianist playing a tune.
Doesn’t that make your evening even more memorable?
The owners of Terilli’s and St. Martin’s would hope so. That’s why they employ pianists to play live while guests eat their meals.
John Solly at Terilli’s and Lewis Henderson II, one of three pianists at St. Martin’s, are both professionals who have served their respective restaurants for decades. Longtime patrons may remember their names, faces and the songs they play.
The current Oak Cliff resident
was born in East Dallas, but he didn’t stay for long.
“My dad was a minister, and the conference moved him around like every four or five years,” Henderson says.
This included Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Illinois, Arkansas and Colorado (his favorite because of the views). Along the way, Henderson was put in piano classes as a young child by his parents, particularly his mother who also played.
“They gave me lessons throughout elementary school and high school,” he says. “I didn’t get a piano until I was about 9 or 10. We didn’t have a piano, so I used to play the table and hear the music in my head.”
Meaning he would tap his fingers on the edge of a table, pretending it was a piano. He still can do this for just about any song. He learned to play easily and kept going in college.
“I think my gifts come from God,” Henderson says.
He started playing piano at restaurants in Pennsylvania and continued that when he came back to Dallas around the late ’90s when his father was ill. This has been his career ever since.
“I’m not going to work any other place, except I taught school for a while,” he says.
This was at southern Dallas’ Southwest Christian Academy for about three years. Henderson taught choral music and directed the children’s choir for students in first through eighth grades.
“They loved me, and I liked them,” Henderson says about his former pupils.
The opportunity at St. Martin’s came along when Henderson found out that the East Dallas mainstay was looking for a new pianist after its former one passed away. He won the gig after auditioning for the role.
“I liked the place, the room,” he says. “They had a grand piano; that made a difference.”
Henderson has been performing at St. Martin’s since around the turn of the century at both the restaurant’s former location and its current one in Old East Dallas. He is one of three pianists (others are Alexis Lugo and Robert Brown) at St. Martin’s and plays Tuesdays through Thursdays and Saturdays.
“I can play what I want to
play,” he says about his role. “The people are nice.”
He performs all kinds of music, like pop, religious, classical and tunes from movies and Broadway, but not country.
“It has to have strings,” he says of that genre. But even if he had accompaniment, he still wouldn’t be interested.
St. Martin’s diners will make requests of Henderson on a regular basis, which he’ll generally do if he knows the song.
“If he doesn’t know it, just play it for him on YouTube or something because he plays by hearing,” says Omid Haftlang, one of St. Martin’s operators. “And they’re just so fascinated by that. … They go to YouTube, play it and then he gets it and plays it for them immediately.”
The caveat here is that Henderson also has to want to play the song. The music has to meet the moment, he says. People make plans in advance to have dinner at St. Martin’s, and the tunes are part of what makes the evening special.
Henderson knows he’s appreciated because the same people keep coming back to St. Martin’s to hear him play. He says some diners won’t make a reservation unless they know he’ll be there.
Today, he also plays and directs the choir at Lee Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in southern Dallas on three Sundays each month. He continues this work because it’s his act of service.
“We were raised to help people,” Henderson says.
As a pianist and singer at Terilli’s, Solly considers himself to be just part of the guest experience.
This is modest talk for someone who once attended a party at Diana Ross’ house.
The North Dallas native and W.T. White High School alumnus left college at the University of North Texas and moved to California for two years with a band for a record deal.
Which band?
“You’ve never heard of it,” he says. “No one ever did. We did the album, but it never was released — the story of a lot of bands.”
Despite this, Solly had some once-in-a-lifetime experiences in California.
“We opened shows for Sly and the Family Stone, Three Dog Night, and we recorded our album at a studio (that) everybody used,” he says. “You know, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and actually our engineer was their engineer, so we were kind of rubbing elbows with some people that were successful.”
Solly actually got to meet David Crosby, who passed away in 2023, and says he was nice.
Remembering that Crosby was in recovery for addiction, this reporter asks, “Is he the one who had the drinking problem?” And Solly replies, “Who didn’t?”
Older folks around Dallas at the time may remember Solly’s other band — The Novas — which he played in from junior high through high school. At home, his grandmother played piano and would sit with him while he practiced. And his father was in a men’s choir at St. Monica Catholic Church in Northwest Dallas.
“I got exposed to a lot of schmaltzy songs,” he says. “Songs from musicals like Show Boat and Irving Berlin ”
But he was inspired by the way his father’s choir sounded, especially the harmonies.
California never felt like home to Solly, so he returned to Dallas. Then, in the ’70s, he started his band John Solly Society, and that lasted for a couple of years before he decided to focus on solo work.
“The most unusual thing I did, I was in my 20s then with a young family, for six and a half years, I simultaneously played three jobs a day — lunch, cocktail hour and night,” he says.
Solly’s gigs were at The Filling Station at Park Lane and Greenville Avenue, the Downtown rib joint Tony Roma’s, and hotels like the Hyatt Regency Dallas. But he took a break from playing at restaurants in the ’80s and ’90s.
“I lost my lunch job, and you cannot replace a lunch job because there just are none,” he says.
He turned to his family’s restaurant (Salih’s Barbecue in Preston Center until it became Solly’s Barbecue in Addison) and worked there for about 25 years. Once that closed and he had some downtime, Solly found his way back into music gigs at Jeannie Terilli’s house at the right time.
“She had a piano, and we were playing music, and she offered me a job,” he says.
That was in 2005, and Solly has been playing at Terilli’s ever since, currently 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. He knows hundreds of songs — covers of Billy Joel, Frank Sinatra and Elton John tunes, plus more obscure jazz tracks and his originals — and he plays and sings them by memory.
“I never have a set list. I just go by how I feel and the vibe of the guests and everything,” he says.
The ambiance tends to be more mellow in the early evening and more upbeat later in the night.
“It’s a lot of fun here, and the crowd is lively, and you can feed off that energy,” Solly says.
With performances at the Greenville Avenue Italian restaurant spanning over two decades, he now hears from diners and staffers who have been listening to him play at Terilli’s since they were young.
“I just love music. I love the way it sounds,” he says. “It’s always interesting to me.”
For the last 21 years,
been
hundreds of
ranging
OUR LOCAL GROCERY STORE IS MORE THAN THE PRODUCTS ON ITS SHELVES
Story by MADELYN EDWARDS | Photography by LAUREN ALLEN
Back in 2009, we covered the opening of Lakewood Whole Foods Market like it was the Super Bowl.
There were so many stories and columns from initial whispers to the grand opening. Lakewood/East Dallas Advocate kept readers abreast of construction updates with a 24/7 webcam feed.
Now that the hype has died down, the Whole Foods in the triangular space between Abrams Road, Richmond Avenue and Gaston Avenue is a landmark. A point of reference when giving directions, a meeting place, a
destination that we’d like to be able to walk to safely. And it’s centrally located between Lakewood proper, Lakewood Heights and Lakewood Hills.
Before Whole Foods, that space was the local birthplace of the supermarket. After World War II, Safeway started building a large store there to replace two smaller ones nearby, according to Teresa Musgrove Judd’s book, Lakewood 1925-1985: A History of the Shopping Center. It opened in 1947.
This was a big deal because shopping before required more stops.
“Grocery stores back then were so small. They didn’t have everything like we have today,” Judd says to the Advocate . “A lot of stores specialized in something, some type of produce, some type of meat, whatever, and so when you shopped, you generally had to go to at least two, maybe three stores to get everything you wanted.”
Forty years after the Lakewood Safeway opened, the company sold off all its Texas stores. Minyard Food Stores Inc. (which was started by a Dallas family) picked up our shop, along with 23 others in Dallas-Fort Worth. In 1992, Minyard remodeled the Lakewood store for $1 million and grew its size by 70%, which meant a few businesses were demolished for parking and a bigger receiving dock.
Upon its August 1993 reopening, the expansion provided “a floral area, a deli and salad bar with sit-down dining, video rental, and a bakery” — trappings of the modern supermarket.
When Whole Foods came to Lakewood, there was more growth, such as in the “food to-go and dining area, bakery, wine aisle, decorative produce bins, and seafood counter,” according to Judd’s book.
Whole Foods was in Lower Greenville where Sam’s Club Now is today, Judd says, and moving to Lakewood was likely a chance for expansion.
One of the Lower Greenville Whole Foods employees now works at the Lakewood store — Brian Speer, Whole Body (wellness and beauty) team leader. When he joined Whole Foods in 1994, there were only two stores in Dallas, he says.
“It was down-home,” Speer says of the Lower Greenville store. “The neighborhood, it was interesting where we were, but it was fun at the same time.”
Speer started at the Lakewood store in 2010, not long after it opened in 2009.
“I was so excited for the neighborhood,” he says. “We kind of outgrew the Lower Greenville area. It’s not that far from here to there, but there’s a lot of people in this neighborhood that wouldn’t go there that now they have their own Whole Foods. And we got to reach even more of the neighborhood because we moved closer to here.”
Grocery stores have opportunities to be more than what they are. Judd remembers how the old Safeway used to let her and her peers host bake sales out front to raise money for school groups. The store was also the place where she
Minyard Food Store were started in East Dallas, with the first store located on Lindsley Avenue. The chain was sold in 2004, and the Lakewood location closed in 2007. The photo on the right is a live cam set up by the Advocate to track the construction progress of the Whole Foods.
got to ride the mechanical horse for a quarter when she was young, and she and her family knew all the employees.
Things aren’t so different now. Whole Foods has had events and gatherings catering to the neighborhood, plus community outreach programming. When Whole Foods employee Basil Braxton Love died in 2023, over $43,000 was raised, and customers sounded off in the GoFundMe comments about their good memories of him.
Another Whole Foods employee known by customers passed away last year — Linda Marie Ford England.
“Ms. Linda was not only like my role model, but she was our work mom,” store trainer Maddy Sinclair says. “Anytime anybody needed anything from an ear to just listen to them to a hug or whatever, she was like the matriarch of our store, even of the community, too. It was insane to see how many people just poured out and showed us love for the loss.”
In the future, Store Team Leader Ernest Roy wants to do even more for the neighborhood outside of product sales, especially in terms of events and partnerships.
“I want to be able to make this store a bigger community hub,” Roy says. “It really makes a difference to me when a customer says, ‘This is my Whole Foods.’ That’s a big deal. And when a customer brings a family member here, it’s like, ‘Hey, this is my Whole Foods, let me show you this.’ That means that they are proud of us. We want them to be proud of us.”
Alfonso’s beloved owner aimed to make everyone feel like family
Story by MADELYN EDWARDS
IN 1982, Michigan native Peter Colombo opened Alfonso’s Italian Restaurant at age 27 in Casa Linda Plaza, and it’s still standing in White Rock Center today.
Though not born a Texan, Colombo was one by the time he passed away in May, leaving behind his wife of nearly two decades, Pim, several family members and Bruno, his Old English Sheepdog. He would have turned 71 at the end of August.
Named after his father, Alfonso’s was a community where Colombo made friends with his customers and staff. And they were among the ones who came to see him during his final days after having a stroke.
Even his two ex-wives, who he stayed friends with, visited.
“This is the kind of guy that Peter (was),” his youngest sister Lori Colombo Dunham says. “I guess you can tell that a person’s heart is how they are when they end up divorcing a person.”
Growing up, Lori remembers Peter, the eldest of six siblings and 12 years older than her, as assertive, matter of fact and a decision-maker. He loved being around people, playing hockey and driving in the fast lane, literally.
“He burnt every engine,” she says. “Everybody referenced his heavy metal, his heavy foot.”
Alfonso’s was born through Peter’s lifelong interest in food, his background in hospitality and his entrepreneurial spirit, Lori says. He started working for Hilton as a high school senior and continued his career with hotels until he arrived at the Anatole in Dallas and decided to open a restaurant.
“He would go sit with people at their table and hear about what’s happening with their family.”
Most of the immediate family worked at Alfonso’s over the years, Lori says. Their father also gave Peter some advice for the recipes — pick the restaurant with the best flavor, and then go to its dumpster to find out which brands are being used. Or at least watch to see which delivery trucks show up.
And that’s what Peter did. Some recipes originated from home, particularly the meat sauce and meatballs, but for the most part, they are his creations.
Like his father, generosity was a defining characteristic of Peter’s personality, Lori says.
“Peter was always offering if you need it, if you need his help, if you need something,” Lori says. “Later in the years when he moved out of state and I was on my own, I didn’t have money for rent. ‘Peter, I need rent.’ ‘Well, what do you need?’ And then next thing I know, there’s a check at my doorstep.”
And she wasn’t the only one to receive this treatment. He gave money to his high school-aged waitresses who needed homecoming dresses. He sent pizzas to hospitals. He donated money to Thailand after hearing about the mid-2000s tsunami.
But Peter wasn’t the gentle type, more like “hard on the outside but soft on the inside” personified.
“His voice sounded like he was from hardcore New York, but he wasn’t,” Lori says. “How he delivered his message was always harsh, but his heart was extremely warm.”
And when doing good deeds for Alfonso’s staffers, he didn’t want recognition, longtime employee Wendy Miller says.
Miller started working at the restaurant in 1986 as a Bryan Adams High School junior and stayed on for about 20 years while also pursuing her education career. As a boss, she says Peter made Alfonso’s fun.
“He would bring cookies or make food for the staff,” she says, in addition to staff outings. “He created a family environment up there.”
This tone extended to the regulars.
“He would go sit with people at their table and hear about what’s happening with their family,” Miller says. “If he knew the kids liked a particular ice cream, then he would get it for them, and he would have it in the back for them when they came in.”
Miller described Peter as a second father, not just someone who mentored her in restaurant operations. He had a place in her wedding. They vacationed together with Peter’s wife and met for dinner often. He also bonded with Miller’s husband.
“He would always call (me), ‘That’s my Wendy, that’s my Wendy,’” she says. “I was his Wendy.”
Since Peter’s passing, people have been making a point to dine at Alfonso’s and pay their respects, Lori says.
“The community has been amazing,” she says. “It’s been very helpful for Pim to just receive the love.”
Lori wants her brother to be remembered as he was at the dinner table, breaking bread with friends.
Alfonso’s Italian
Ariana Cuisine’s menu includes (clockwise) butter chicken, Chapli kabab (beef meatballs), Kabuli Pulao (lamb, rice, rasins and carrots), Afghan naan, mantu (ground beef dumplings) and chicken salad.
Chef at Lower Greenville’s Ariana Cuisine has been serving Afghan family recipes for a decade
The traditional Afghan restaurant Ariana Cuisine has been serving neighbors for years. But the story of this family-owned business began decades earlier.
Now, the owners are looking toward a future in a larger space.
Gul Rahman and Sadia Pathan, husband and wife, opened Ariana Cuisine in December 2022. Pathan, who serves as the chef at Ariana, first learned how to cook from her mother in Afghanistan at age 12.
Soon after starting their family, Pathan and Rahman left their home to provide a safer upbringing for their children in Pakistan. There, Pathan said she gained more professional culinary experience with a mentor.
The couple later decided to immigrate to the U.S. to give their children an even greater opportunity. They landed in Richardson, where Pathan began selling her homecooked meals to neighbors 10 years ago. She then cooked at 8Cloves, an Indian restaurant located in the Dallas Farmers Market, building the confidence to open her own business.
Sohail Pathan, the couple’s middle child, says the development of Ariana and its early days are among his core memories of growing up in America.
“Back in Afghanistan, we would buy Chapli kabab (a round and flat fried meat patty) at the store and, obviously, couldn’t have an endless amount,” he says.
After his mother began refining her dishes to sell to customers in America, Sohail says he remembers the endless plates of Chapli kabab his siblings and cousins devoured at their home.
“She kept sending plates over and over again, and that was my favorite food, and I just never had it to where I could eat as much as I wanted,” he says.
Sohail has worked at Ariana since its opening, tending to front-of-house duties alongside his father. His sentimental connection to the restaurant has inspired him to pursue opening his own place.
“I’ve learned that it really isn’t about the money when it comes to stuff like this,” he says. “If it wasn’t for my mother’s passion for Afghan food and our family’s passion to keep customers happy, we would not have lasted these four years.”
Sohail, entering his junior year at Vanderbilt University, studies computer science and electrical engineering in hopes of a lucrative post-graduate career to help him save toward that goal.
He credits Ariana for large parts of his personality and
life skills, built through the community made and lessons learned in the opening of the restaurant.
For Sadia, the ability to send her children to higher education has been the greatest gift of opening Ariana. She looks forward to her son’s next steps and says that growing the business is a natural next step.
Sohail says that Ariana being a stepping-off point is even referenced in the name.
“In Afghanistan, when someone opens a new store or anything, they name it ‘Ariana’ because it’s an ancient name in their history,” he says.
The small store fits four tables, and customers are immediately welcomed in as family by Sohail or Rahman at the counter. Sohail says they enjoy introducing their culture to a place that has met their family with open arms. Lower Greenville hosts a wide variety of cuisines, but Ariana was the first to bring traditional Afghan dishes to the table, Sadia says.
Introducing her culture was the goal for Ariana, she says, and the restaurant has been embraced by the Dallas community.
It certainly helps that the menu features a range of dishes, served hot and fast by Sadia herself. For an appetizer, Mantu (dumplings full of ground beef, $7.99) remains popular with customers. To follow, the entrees Koobideh Kabab and Chapli Kabab ($14.99 for each) both balance delicious flavor with spice. Don’t forget to add a side of Kabuli Pulao ($12.99-$17.99), Afghanistan’s national dish, to your meal to taste the tender bites of lamb mixed into rice with raisins and carrots.
Though Sadia has worked to master her menu, she hopes to broaden her skills to begin serving breakfast. She and her family want to do that at a new location as their lease on Greenville Avenue comes to an end. Sohail said the family would love to stay in the area but are open to new locations.
“We’d like to move into a bigger space where we can be more than just a restaurant,” Sohail says. “People could come to watch soccer games or have tea and have it be more like a community center than a restaurant.”
As the family approaches an inevitable move, they plan to put more effort into marketing strategies, inviting more people into the familial love they share at Ariana.
“It’s in my culture,” Sadia says. “It’s what we do.” Ariana Cuisine, 3607 Greenville Ave., Suite A, 469.317.7112
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TH ELECTRIC Reasonable Rates. Licensed & Insured. Ted. E257 214-808-3658
WHITE ROCK ELECTRIC All Electrical Services. Lic/Insd.TECL-34002 214-850-4891
BENJAMINS PAINTING Hiring:18-26Yr.olds, Top Pay- Will Train. In Advocate since 2007. 214-725-6768
EXPERIENCED NANNY 2 months-6 Years Great References.15 Years Experience warconie@gmail.com. 469-987-2172
EXTERIOR CLEANING
G&G DEMOLITION Tear downs, Haul. Interior/Exterior. 214-808-8925
FENCING & DECKS
4 QUALITY FENCING • 214-507-9322
Specializing in Wood. YourWoodmaster.com
AMBASSADOR FENCE CO.
Automatic Gates, Fences/Decks, Pergolas, Patio Covers, Arbors. AmbassadorFenceCo.com 214-621-3217
FENCING, ARBORS, DECKS oldgatefence.co 214-766-6422
LONESTARDECKS.COM 214-357-3975
Trex Decking & Fencing, trex.com All Wood Decks, Arbors & Patio Covers
HANNA WOODWORKS
• Decks • Pergolas • Patio Covers Hannawoodworks.com 214-435-9574
FLOORING & CARPETING
HASTINGS FLOORS Epoxy Garage Foors Many colors to choose (flakes optional) Call Nick for bid 214-341-5993 hastingsfloors.com
FOUNDATION REPAIR
Slabs
Pier & Beam
GARAGE SERVICES
UNITED GARAGE DOORS AND GATES Res/Com. Locally Owned. 214-251-5428
GENERAL CONTACTING
A2H GENERAL CONTRACTING,LLC Remodel, Paint, Drywall/Texture, Plumbing. Electrical, Siding, Bathroom/Kitchen Remodels Tilling, Flooring, Fencing. 469-658-9163. Free Est. A2HGeneralContactingLLC@gmail.com
GLASS, WINDOWS & DOORS
LAKE HIGHLANDS GLASS & MIRROR frameless shower enclosures • store fronts replacement windows • mirrors 214-349-8160
ROCK GLASS CO Replace, Repair. Single, Double Panes. Showers, Mirrors. 214-837-7829
WINDOW MAN WINDOW CLEANING.COM
Residential Specialists. BBB. 214-718-3134
HANDYMAN SERVICES
BO HANDYMAN Specializing In Historic Home Renovations & Pro Remodels. Custom Carpentry, Doors, Kitchens, Baths & more. 214-437-9730
DANHANDY.NET Repairs Done Right For A Fair Price. References 214-991-5692
HANDY DAN The Handyman. ToDo’s Done Right. handy-dan.com 214-252-1628
HANDYMAN SPECIALIST Residential/Commercial. Large, small jobs, repair list, renovations. Refs. 214-489-0635
HANDYMAN WANTS your Painting,Repairs, To Do Lists. Bob. 214-288-4232. Free Est. 25+yrs exp.
HK CONSTRUCTION
We Do It All. All trades. 214-717-8317
HOME REPAIR Doors, Trim, Glass. Int/Ext. Sheetrock, Windows, Kitchen, Bathroom 35 yrs exp. 214-875-1127
HOMETOWN HANDYMAN All phases of construction. No job too small 214-327-4606
ONE CALL WEEKEND SERVICES
Contractor & Handyman. Remodels, Renovations. Paint, Plumbing, Drywall, Electrical. 469-658-9163
Let Us Tackle Your To-Do List!
Drywall
RAMON’S INT/EXT PAINT Sheetrock, Repairs. 214-679-4513
TEXAS BEST PAINTING LLC Resd,Interiors 30Yrs. 214-527-4168
TOP COAT 30 Yrs. Exp. Reliable. Quality Repair/Remodel. Phil @ 214-770-2863 VIP PAINTING & DRYWALL Int/Ext. Sheetrock Repair, Resurfacing Tubs, Counters, Tile Repairs. 469-774-7111 Over 25 years of experience Free Estimates 214-702-2188 morganexteriorsdfw.com
A BETTER TREE MAN Trims, Removals, Insd. 18 Yrs Exp. Roberts Tree Service. 214-808-8925
Lawns, Gardens & Trees
BRUMLEY GARDENS. Landscape Design,Installation, Estate Maintenance and Commercial Services.
Shop Local And visit our Garden Center and Gift Shop. 10540 Church Rd. 214-343-4900
DAVIS LAWN CARE, LLC
580-222-4909 or davislawncare214@yahoo.com
Serving Lake Highlands & Lakewood.
ELEVATED GARDENS - 469.682.5039
Raising the Standard of Outdoor Beauty
HOLMAN IRRIGATION
Sprinkler & Valve Repair/ Rebuild Older Systems. Lic. #1742. 214-398-8061
MAYA TREE SERVICE Tree Trim/Remove. Lawn Maintenance. Resd/ Commcl.Insd. CC’s Accptd. mayatreeservice.com 214-924-7058 214-770-2435
NEW LEAF TREE, LLC
Honest, Modern, Safety Minded. 214-850-1528
OLD TREE LIGHT SYSTEMS
Affordably Removed/Updated treelightmaintenance.setmore.com
PAT TORRES 214-388-1850 Lawn Service & Tree Care. 28 Yrs. Complete Landscape Renovation. New Fence Install & Brick Repair. Concrete Removal and Gutter Cleaning.
RED SUN LANDSCAPES • 214-935-9779
RedSunLandscapes.com
RGC - STORM WATER MANAGEMENT drainage solutions 214-477-8977
TAYLOR MADE IRRIGATION Repairs, service, drains. 30+ years exp. Ll 6295 469-853-2326. John
O RGANIZATION
A CHARMING HOME
Decluttering + Organizing + Styling acharminghome.co 214-794-6382
PEST CONTROL
MOSQUITO SHIELD 972–850-2983
Imagine A Night Outside Without Mosquitoes NATURE KING PEST MANAGEMENT INC. All types of Pest control. Natureking.com Natureking.com. 5 Star rating on Google 30+yrs. Exp. 214-827-0090.
REAL ESTATE
ESTATE HOME NEEDS TO BE SOLD? FACING FORCLOSURE? IG HERON HOMES Call Ricardo Garza @ 469-426-7839
FOR RENT Little Forest Hills 2/1 Single Family Home w/fence. $1,600mo. $1,600 deposit. Cheryl. 214-235-1399
GARDEN OFFICE SPACE FOR RENT Walnut Hill @ CENTRAL.3 Smaller Suites Avail. Flexible Terms 214.915. 8886
REMODELING
BO HANDYMAN Specializing In Historic Home Renovations & Pro Remodels. Custom Carpentry, Doors, Kitchens, Baths & more. 214-437-9730
AGING ROOF? New Homeowner? Got Storm Damage? You need a local expert provider that proudly stands behind their work. Fast, free estimate. Financing Available.1-888-878-9091. BATH & SHOWER UPDATES in as little as ONE DAY! Affordable prices - No payments for 18 months! Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & Military Discounts available. Call: 877-543-9189
BECOME A PUBLISHED AUTHOR. We want to read your book! Dorrance Publishing trusted since 1920. Consultation,production, promotion & distribution. Call for free author’s guide 1-877-729-4998 or visit dorranceinfo.com/ads
"Keeping Children & Pets in Mind"
Termite Specialist - Mosquito Mister Systems Licensed · Insured · Residential · Commercial · Organic 214-350-3595 • Abetterearth.crw@gmail.com abetterearth.com
AC PLUMBING Repairs, Fixtures, Senior Discounts. Gary Campbell. 214-321-5943 214-794-3374 healthyhomeplumbing.net
FENN CONSTRUCTION Kitchens And Baths. Call Us For Your Remodeling Needs. 214-343-4645. dallastileman.com
HK CONSTRUCTION
We Do It All. All trades. 214-717-8317
RENOVATE DALLAS renovatedallas.com 214-403-7247
S&L CONSTRUCTION All Home Services & Repairs. 214-918-8427
DENTAL INSURANCE- Physicians Mutual Insurance Company. Covers 350 procedures. Real insurance -not a discount plan. Get your free dental info kit! 1-888-623-3036 www.dental50plus.com/58 #6258
DIRECTV STREAM - Carries the most local MLB Games! ChoicePackage $89.99/mo for 12 mos Stream on 20 devices at once.HBO Max included for 3 mos (w/Choice Package or higher.)No contract or hidden fees! Some restrictions apply. Call IVS 1-866-859-0405
DONATE YOUR CARS TO VETERANS TODAY. Help and Support our Veterans. Fast - FREE pick up. 100% tax deductible. Call 1-800 -245-0398
staggsplumbing.co ASK ABOUT DISCOUNTS!
Kitchens, Bathrooms, Windows, Doors, Siding, Decks, Fences, Retaining Walls, New Construction
New Construction & Remodels FiferCustomHomes.com• 214-727-7075
KITCHEN • BATHS Complete Remodeling and Restoration Design • Build • Detailed
ELIMINATE GUTTER CLEANING FOREVER! LeafFilter, the most advanced debris-blocking gutter protection. Schedule a FREE LeafFilter estimate today. 15% off Entire Purchase. 10% Senior & Military Discounts. Call 1-855-402-0373
GENERAC Prepare for power outages today with a GENERAC home standby generator $0 Down + Low Monthly Pmt. Request a free Quote. Call before the next power outage: 1-844-334 -8353 GET DISH SATELLITE TV +INTERNET Free Install, Free HD-DVR Upgrade, 80,000 On-Demand Movies, Plus Limited Time Up To $600 In Gift Cards. Call Today! 1-866-479-1516
HUGHESNET Finally, super-fast internet no matter where you live.25 Mbps just $59.99/mo! Unlimited Data is Here. Stream Video. Bundle TV & Internet. Free Installation. Call 866-499 -0141
PROFESSIONAL LAWN SERVICE:
Fertilization, weed control, seeding, aeration & mosquito control. Call now for a free quote. Ask about our first application special! 1-833-606-6777
CERULEAN POOL SERVICES Family Owned/ Operated. Weekly maintenance, Chemicals, parts & repairs. CeruleanPro.com 214-557-6996 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
C.A.S. BOOKKEEPING SERVICES Personal/Small Business. Payroll, Accounting, Organizing, Consult. Cindy 214-577-7450 WHERE DID YOUR MONEY GO? Bookkeeping Services for small businesses & Personal. Financial organizing. Quicken & other programs. Sharon 214-679-9688
REPLACE your roof with the best looking & longest lasting material steel from Erie Metal Roofs! 3 styles & multiple colors available. Guaranteed to last a lifetime! Limited Time Offer up to 50% off install + Additional 10% off install. (military, health &1st responders.) 1-833-370-1234
SAFE STEP North America's #1 Walk-in tub. Comprehensive lifetime warranty. Top-of-theline installation and service. Now featuring our free shower package & $1600 off - limited time! Financing available. 1-855-417-1306
THE GENERAC PWRCELL, a solar plus battery storage system. SAVE money, reduce your reliance on the grid, prepare for power outages and power your home. Full installation services
WATER DAMAGE
cleanup & restoration: A small amount of water can lead to major damage and mold growth in your home. Our trusted professionals do complete repairs to protect your family and your home's value! Call 24/7: 1-888-872-2809
WANTED:
PIANO
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