I dined with a friend this week, and agreed wholeheartedly with her assessment: "They aren’t getting all of these rave reviews for nothing."
Bolsa is not only the hip new place to eat; it’s the hip new place for food critics to review. After the CliffDweller’s original sneak preview, the Observer, the DMN and D have all weighed in, and the DMN even followed up three months after its initially story with another about Bolsa, saying that the future of Dallas restaurants "dwells in community-minded gathering spots, and Oak Cliff not only hatches such places, its residents nurture them."
Of course, all of this praise means that neighbors wanting to eat at this hip restaurant which deserves the accolades it is receiving have to wait with everyone else — sometimes up to two hours — for a table on Friday and Saturday nights. Weeknights are also pretty slammed, I’m told by a friend who works there, though earlier in the week is a bit slower.
So if you want to see what all the fuss is about, I would suggest trying Bolsa for lunch. Here was my experience:
The restaurant wasn’t too busy — we found both businessmen in collared shirts and the ladies who lunch. To start, we ordered the bruschetta, which is a great appetizer to share. The main course was butternut squash soup — perfect for a winter day — and a spinach salad that had an even mix of toppings and dressing. We shared Bolsa’s signature dessert, the white chocolate run tart, and I enjoyed it, but it was too rich for me to finish even half.
The menu isn’t lengthy, and no dish is too complicated, which really allows the quality of Bolsa’s food and ingredients to stand on their own. Most lunch entrees range from $8 to $11, so it’s a little pricier than the $5.95-lunch-plate-special type of restaurants, but the quality and service is above average, so you should expect to pay a little more.
