In Dallas since the early ’80s, she’s built a 30-year career as one of the city’s best-known restaurant owners.

Of all the Morenos, the most recognized is the family’s other daughter, Belita.

First and foremost, if you know what Mom likes, give it to her.

They come for the beignets, the signature eggs benedict and the towering buttermilk pancakes.

With its move to a remodeled fire station on Bishop @ Davis, it looks like Gloria’s, the Salva-Tex restaurant of choice in Dallas, has hit a home run.  Same great food (grilled quail on my visit), same great service (you don’t befuddle the wait staff by ordering a la carte a la my wife) but with an airy and inviting upstairs dining area, upscale patios and a buzz-worthy bar, complete with the old fire pole.  The downstairs patio has colorful fire pits with water fountains and comfy-looking chairs and an upstairs patio overlooks downtown. My prediction is that Gloria’s will be the primo place to watch next year’s Oak Cliff Mardi Gras parade.

Tomorrow is Earth Day, and to some degree or another, all of us are trying to do our small part to reduce our carbon footprint. One common (and trendy) way to do this is to use eco-bags when grocery shopping. Simple enough, right?

Unless you’re like me and you suffer from eco-bag guilt, a problem created by the fact that it’s very difficult to shop at only one grocery store in Dallas. Four or five is more likely (the one with the cheapest produce, the one with the gourmet food, the one with the organic offerings, the one with Cheerios and Charmin … )

In my case, I have collected eco-bags through grocery promotions over the years, and I have a large bundle of bags bearing the logo of competing stores, with only one or two from each store. This poses a problem when I venture into Central Market, for example, and I want to use my sturdy, roomy Whole Foods bag. But I can’t bring myself to bring it into the store because I feel as though I will somehow insult the Central Market employees, who are so kind and helpful. I feel the same way when at Whole Foods — what will they think when they see my Central Market bags? Will they know that I regularly forfeit organic health for foodie goodness? And which is more insulting to Whole Foods employees — when I use a Central Market eco-bag or when I ask for a paper bag?

So instead of worrying about how my use of competitors’ eco-bags will be interpreted, I usually grab the bags branded with the store at which I’m shopping plus one or two of my inferior, non-branded bags. (Why is it that grocery store bags are so much better?) Here’s the thing, though: I somehow don’t have as much of a problem taking a Central Market bag into a Tom Thumb store, or using my Whole Foods bag at Albertson’s. It’s akin to shopping at the Gap while carrying a Neiman Marcus bag — the Gap would be thrilled with the presence of a Neiman’s shopper, right?

Were grocery stores cognizant of the guilt they would inflict on shoppers like me when they started making branded eco-bags?

And while we’re on the topic of eco-bags, here’s another problem: I have too many. Does anyone know if eco-bags are recyclable?

Regular visitors here know that I’m quite skeptical about what I call post-modern zinfandel. Those are the ones with higher alcohol, that feature way over the top fruit, and bear little resemblance to what passed for zinfandel in the old days (in this case, five or six years ago).

What’s worse is that these wines often move middle-aged men to wear baseball caps backward, call each other dude, and offer high-fives to everyone they see when they drink them. And then they say things, when asked about the wine, like “sweee-eet.”

That will not happen with the Cline ($11, sample, widely available), which is about as traditional a zinfandel as you’re going to find these days — and especially at this price. The alcohol is just 14 percent, which is not much at all in these days of 15 and 16 percent wines. There is cherry fruit, but it’s not sweet or gloppy like it is in so many other entry level zinfandels. Plus, the Cline actually has black pepper, which used to be a tell-tale zinfandel character but has mostly disappeared in the rush to add alcohol, sweet fruit and tannins.

Best yet, the Cline is food friendly, something else that many of the high alcohol zinfandels don’t bother with anymore. Drink with this with barbecue or burgers, spaghetti and meatballs, or even chili (which I did) and be glad someone making zinfandel still respects the varietal.

Hula Hotties Cafe was one of the best restaurants in Dallas, and it probably was my favorite place to eat in Oak Cliff. When husband-and-wife owners Jill Inforzato and Roger Simpson recently switched concepts, from Hawaiian to Italian, I knew it would be OK.

It’s Jill Inforzato we’re talking about here. She’s awesome.

We had dinner at  Inforzato’s Thursday night, while everyone else with a beating heart in Oak Cliff was at opening night of the new Gloria’s for 25-cent margaritas. (We look forward to eating there when it’s not packed to the gills.)

The Inforzato’s menu includes a fried ravioli appetizer ($4). That’s not something you see on too many menus in Dallas. Campisi’s has them, yes, but they’re not like the ones at Imo’s in my home state. Since Jill is from Minnesota, and she is one of the best cooks around, I figured hers might be close. Unfortunately, the waiter forgot to bring them, so we’ll have to wait ’til next time.

First came a basket of four doughy bread knots, with loads of olive oil, garlic and parmesan. Tempting, but too filling. I didn’t want to spoil my appetite or have to be rolled out of the restaurant. So I laid off them.

My date and I both ordered spaghetti ($6). He ordered a meatball ($2.50), and I ordered “Cousin Kyle’s homemade sausage”, ($2.50).

The spaghetti comes with choice of a spicy tomato sauce, “Grandma Dora’s marinara”, or garlic butter olive oil. We both ordered the tomato sauce, which is a little spicy and not too sweet. It also comes with a little dollop of Jill’s homemade pesto sauce and big sprigs of basil for quite a lovely presentation.

About halfway through our meal, she brought us an “experiment”, two big crusty hunks of bread fresh out of the oven. Divine.

Even if you never want to eat Italian food, go to Inforzato’s for the desserts. A butterscotch cannoli special was tempting. But we went for apple pie. Layers of sliced apples, cinnamon and aromatic spices in a perfect crust, served with caramel. Amazing.

Inforzato’s has applied for a liquor license. The place used to be byob, but not anymore, since their insurance policy won’t allow it.

The original Gloria’s restaurant on Davis at Llewellyn is expected to close for good at the end of today, Tuesday, April 12.

The new location on Davis at Bishop, in the renovated Fire Station No. 15, is expected to open as early as Wednesday.

The new Gloria’s will feature a rooftop patio with skyline views, dining and lounge seating and fountains, plus the design will integrate historical features, such as the brass fireman’s pole.

To celebrate National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day April 12, Norma’s Cafe will give away free grilled cheese sandwiches to customers all day Tuesday, and no purchase is necessary.

Last year, the comfort food spot handed out hundreds of sandwiches, which come on buttered Texas toast with melted American cheese.

Norma’s is open 6 a.m.-8 p.m.

By the way: April 12 is also National Licorice Day. Gotta love those random holidays, especially the ones that involve food.