Sam’s Treats & Eats

This is a mom-​and-​pop establishment– maybe just-​a-​pop, as I have only seen one proprietor. The menu has wide variety, and the prices are slightly lower than anywhere else I’ve seen in the tunnels of downtown Dallas. In my experience the food quality has been consistently fresh, and the portions are larger than the other eateries’ offerings. **Oh, and there is no minimum purchase requirement!** Service is personal, observed in many cases to be on a first-​name-​basis. Customers tend to whisk-​in and whisk-​out to go back to work, so you’re almost certain to have a quiet lunch. There are two dining rooms, one in the front and one off to the side. The front is more polished, but the side is quiet and private (although it does adjoin a storage room and often smells like rising bread dough). The décor is in many ways simple and retro, as there is décor but nothing trendy or flashy. This is like a hometown mom-​and-​pop tucked in a less-​traveled corner of the Dallas tunnels; do not come with expectations of hype, glitz, or trends, and certainly not the noise and tumult of the usual chain watering holes. Enjoy yourself, slow down for your lunch hour, go easy on your wallet, get full, and feel good about it!

After passing it by many times, I was finally lured into this often-​empty eatery in the Dallas tunnels. It was the billboard plugging a dollar-​sixty-​nine breakfast taco that did it. I should have known better. I closely monitored the «cocinera» assemble it and I swear she put cojita cheese over it, briefly easing my doubt, but the result was a disappointing load of tepid eggs, sprinkled with cuts of sausage patty, and wrapped in a broken flour tortilla. To add insult, I took the verde salsa that, when opened, wafted like a squashed green stink bug fermented by kitchen heat. I would gladly pay more for better ingredients executed properly, but I’m not convinced this vendor could achieve that.