Photos provided by Sundown at Granada and Cynthia Smoot
Sundown at Granada is a neighborhood beer garden and restaurant located next to the historic Granada Theater on Greenville Avenue. Sundown provides a beer selection of over 60+ beers, one of the largest patios on Lower Greenville, farm to table food featuring grass fed beef, specialty cocktails and plenty of vegan and vegetarian options. The restaurant opened in 2012 and although they've invited me many times, I've never gotten around to visiting. Primarily because my subconscious has an adverse reaction to the words "vegetarian" "organic" and "healthy". I generally tend to equate those adjectives with "tastes like shit" and "blech". A few weeks ago I got an email inviting me to attend a media dinner and I decided to attend because two things happened: 1) an old Observer colleague of mine has recently joined their management team and I find it hard say "no" to a friend and 2) they brought on Executive Chef, Jason West, in December 2015 and I am a sucker for Cajun food.
West comes to Sundown at Granada by way of his most recent experiences as the Executive Chef at Steel Restaurant and Lounge, located in Uptown. He has crafted a new menu featuring 15 new, and original, menu items that adhere to Sundown’s vision of combining local and high-quality ingredients to deliver fresh and healthy farm-to-table dishes. These new seasonal dishes are also crafted to pair perfectly with Sundown’s extensive list of beer, wine, and must-try artisan seasonal cocktails. New menu highlights include Meatballs Nirvana made with Akaushi brisket, Berkshire pork, red wine marinara, served with toast points; Crispy Crawfish Rolls made from Cajun boudin, wild rice, sweet chili, and with creole mustard; and New Orleans BBQ Shrimp and Grits with barbecued Gulf shrimp and cheddar grits, topped with bacon and braised kale. The verdict? I am happy to report that healthy food doesn't always taste awful. In fact, I really liked the Loaded Avocados appetizer, Chicken & Andouille Sausage Gumbo with wild rice and Texas Ranch stew made with Akaushi brisket, elote corn, black beans and roasted onions.
Don't take my word for the place. Here's a tip from D Magazine: "We know plenty of people who come here before or after concerts at the Granada Theater right next door, but we think the best time to come is right after work. Sit yourself at one of the tall tables, ordered up a Jefferson Airplane and a Drunken Goat flatbread (gluten free and extra goat cheese, please), and go to your happy place. Speaking of, the regular and reverse happy hours are a steal ($3 Texas beers, $3 Tito’s Vodka). The service is friendly, the free live music every night doesn’t hurt, the food is good, and it’s one of the only places in town that seems to understand that being vegan, veggie, and/or gluten free doesn’t mean you actually enjoy chewing on cardboard."
Sundown at Granada is located at 3520 Greenville Ave. Dallas, TX 75206. http://sundownatgranada.com
