Adventurous Fare at East Dallas' Urbano Cafe

We often frequent Urbano Cafe, located on Fitzhugh in East Dallas. Number one, it's super convenient. Number two, it's BYOB. Number three, they are one of the few restaurants in DFW that regularly have seared duck breast on the menu (I'd like to believe they succumbed to our pressure when we threatened to bring our own). And the food is usually solid, tasty, and a great value.

Now, they often change the menu seasonally to allow for the availability of things like figs, squash, etc. But they do keep fairly consistent regular and "blackboard" menus--just shifting the sides and accompaniments to account for seasonality.

Friday was different. For the first time in a long time, Urbano had some truly unique and different dishes than the usual hearty menu fare. They decided to put venison risotto, braised rack of elk ribs with sweet potato gnocchi, and a special seared duck breast accompanied by fig and smoked mozzarella grits on the special "blackboard" menu for the weekend. I don't think they've ever done venison or elk before, and it showed great--adventurous, well cooked, and not gamey at all. Who knows how long they'll stay on the menu, so eat up while you can. Also try the risotto balls as an appetizer, and the gorgonzola mac-and-cheese. Best gourmet mac-and-cheese you can get this side of our house! And while you're there, say hi to Mitch, Johnny, Kevin, and Kelsey. They're good people.