Bold Entertainment and Bold Flavors Spice Up Summer Nights
Looking for something to do on an otherwise slow summer night? Here are two options you might want to consider – Don’t Tell Supper Club and Tulum’s new happy hour. Don’t Tell Supper Club is a novelty worth experiencing, with impressive performers and good food. Tulum’s new happy hour is filled with sophisticated flavors at an approachable price.
Don’t Tell Supper Club
2026 Commerce St.
Though we’ve been told not to tell, the funky entertainment venue in downtown has a new menu created and delivered by Chef Geo Arredondo and his team and it’s worth it for us to break the “Don’t Tell” directive. The menu change is spurred by a recent change of ownership and marries the comfort of New American with the spices of Asia. This is the first change of menu since the venue’s opening nearly two years ago
Chef Geovanny Arredondo has worked among the likes of Omar Flores (Whistle Britches), DJ Quintanilla (Fat Chicken) and Tre Wilcox (Tre Wilcox Cooking Concepts). For Don’t Tell Supper Club’s new menu, Arredondo is featuring a variety of new Asian-influenced dishes featuring prime meat and quality produce.
“We cook everything from scratch, and we taste everything recipe-by-recipe to try to bring the best flavor,” Arredondo says. “We use the best quality ingredients to prepare each dish to every customer’s liking.”
If you haven’t been, DTSC is an expansive space on Commerce Street that offers fine dining and drinks and entertainment in the form of aerialists, illusionists, and Instagram girls. It’s quite a scene, the menu even touting the Instagramability of the food. Somewhat surprising in the same way that a magician pulls a rabbit out of a top hat, is the freshness of the Shocked Mime, tuna tartare layered with jalapenos. scallions, yuzu, and edamame guacamole and the Et Tu Insalata, a delicious, classic Caesar.
The Green Veggie Risotto is creamy, a little chewy as risotto should be, and mildly flavored with green vegetables, obviously, but the flavored blended together in a way that made them indistinguishable. There were shards of parmesan on top which added a nice bit of flavor. The menu offers many choices, most of which I didn’t try but there are plenty of surf and turf options, such as the Grilled New Zealand lollipop lamb chops and the Green Curry Prawns. On hot summer days, Don’t Tell Supper Club is a cool, dark place to escape and enjoy a little Vegas-inspired dinner and fun.
Guests of Don’t Tell Supper Club can enjoy Arredondo’s new menu items for dinner on select weeknights and every weekend.
Tulum
4216 Oak Lawn Ave.
Tulum, Mexico is one of the last places inhabited by the Mayans, and Tulum restaurant in SoHiP is one of the last places inhabited by me when I went to check out their brand-new happy hour.
Offered from 5 to 7 p.m Monday through Friday in its spacious bar, Tulum’s happy hour offers cocktails, beer, and wine plus seriously impressive shareable items for only $7 each. Happy hour menu items are well portioned and rich in flavor and quality.
The avocado & French radish chips is a light, refreshing dish consisting of avocado pureed with extra virgin olive oil, serrano, and shallots served with slices of lightly salted radishes and jicama slices. It’s beautiful and absolutely delicious. More substantive shareables include two tamals – short rib and pollo (chicken), each presented in deep dishes so the stuffed mounds of masa can soak up the flavored sauces.
The Galgo is Tulum’s version of the classic Greyhound and is a balanced mix of vodka, grapefruit and lime juices, and ginger beer with a sprig of rosemary. Their version of the ubiquitous Aperol spritz uses Torrontés, a still Argentine white wine, instead of prosecco which, to me, makes it less sweet. Though the happy hour menu is certainly robust enough to make a full dinner out of, I suggest staying for dinner to enjoy the Flounder Milanese, a lightly breaded and pan-fried fish served with fresh tomato and Vidalia onion sofrito, spaghetti squash, and a small arugula salad and other inspired dishes by Chef Nico Sanchez.
