’Twas the Night Before Christmas

Enjoy a new take on the most popular Christmas poem ever. Dallas Children’s Theater presents a holiday musical focused on the author, Clement Moore: He has four days to write a feature for the “New York Evening Post,” but he has writer’s block. For ages 5 and up. Dallas Children’s Theater, Baker Theater, 5938 Skillman, dct.org, 214.978.0110, $17-$28

NOV. 30- DEC. 24

Spend local and win

Save some cash, win amazing prizes, and support local businesses including Brumley Gardens, Lucky Dog Books, The Store in Lake Highlands and Nueva Casita restaurant. Print a map of participating retailers at shoplocaldfw.com, then make purchases at five businesses on the map to receive prizes and raffle goodies. For additional information, contact Brad Schweig at 972.239.3716, shoplocaldfw.com

Buying or selling a home can be a timeconsuming process. Enlisting the help of a real estate professional frees up your time to concentrate on other things. So if you or someone you know is considering buying, selling or investing in property, call me. I’ll put my resources to work for you, so you can kick back and relax!

Delicious

Cajun food

Onthose days when you’re craving flavor and spice and everything nice, Alligator Café should be at the top of your hit list. As you can probably guess from the name, Alligator Café is a Cajun food restaurant with some seriously N’awlins vibes, and lucky for us, it’s right in the heart of Casa Linda Plaza. On any given weekend, crowds from all over Dallas swarm to the White Rock area so they can sink their chompers into Alligator’s crawfish enchiladas, or the blackened catfish smothered with crawfish étouffée. Founder and owner Ivan Pugh has a theory about that: “I always say, ‘Start with the little things, and the big things will take care of themselves.’ It’s all the little things that add up.” We, however, have a theory that Pugh’s impressive return rate might have something to do with his topsecret spice mix. The entire menu is a product of Pugh’s imagination, although he mostly has turned the actual execution over to his cooking staff. However, there’s one thing he’ll never share: “To this day, I still make all my own spices. I don’t trust anyone with my spice recipe. People ask me, ‘Why do you own a restaurant?’ and I say, ‘Because I have the best spice mix in town, and it can’t be duplicated.’” Brittany

Alligator Caf

Alligator Café

9540 Garland Suite 362

214.821.6900

AMBIANCE: SIT-DOWN CAJUN FOOD RESTAURANT

PRICE RANGE: $7.95 TO $20.95

HOURS:

TUE-WED: 11 A.M.–9 P.M.

Nunn

THU: 11 A.M.–10 P.M.

FRI-SAT: 11 A.M.–10:30 P.M.

SUN: 11:30 A.M.–9 P.M.

Blackened catfish smothered with crawfish étouffée: Mark Davis

1 Offshores Nextdoor

This is the way to eat your veggies — fried asparagus. The seared tuna on a bed of greens is a delicious option too. Grilled salmon as well as just about anything you see on that “specials” board is gunna be good. We GUAR-UN-TEE!

9660 Audelia

214.503.1012 offshores-nextdoor.com

2 The Boiling Crab

Did you know mo manje is Creole for “I’m hungry”? (At least that’s what Google says). And when you are, these folks will feed you piles upon piles of spicy boiled crab legs, crawfish (in season) potatoes and corn ‘til you cain’t eat no more. Get crackin’.

10560 Walnut Street

972.272.7086 theboilingcrab.com

3 Shuck N’ Jive

Head to this dive-y and reliable seafood joint whenever you have a hankering for oysters, crab claws, shrimp Creole, fried pickles — that sort of thing — late at night. They serve until 2 a.m.

5315 Greenville

214.369.9471 shucknjive.com