Ok, so a short recap on our dining experiences. Just to let you know, our company held it's annual (beer) sales convention in Dallas this year. The main body in attendance is our collection of wholesalers from around the country. Imagine a few thousand millionaires in one city and you get the picture.

Sunday: Fogo de Chao (pronounced 'Fogo de Show)
Well this place lived up to its billing as a place to gorge yourself on meat. I took advantage, and I'm not a large guy at all. It was a 3 hour eating extravaganza of all meat products. I tried everything and decided I liked the house specialty beef the best. The chicken and pork offerings were a bit too 'smokey' for my tastes.

Monday: Oceanaire (in the Westin hotel)

The highlight of the trip. Eating out on my company's dime is usually an extravagant affair, so I'm surprised to say that this place is probably the best restaurant I've eaten at during the last 2-3 years. No exaggeration. In terms of food, service, and atmosphere it was top-notch. The appetizers were great, entree of Chilean sea bass was phenomenal, dessert was totally over the top (two desserts per table of six was too much). The service was simply head and shoulders above anything I've had recently. To cap it all off the decor was fantastic and the atmosphere even on a Monday night was electric.

Tuesday: Star Canyon (as mentioned above, an old standby)

I would consider this pick something of a compromise. We had a group (9) dinner at 5:30pm in order to finish in time for the private John Mellencamp & Sheryl Crow concert being staged for our convention. We've been there before and the location is good for downtown convenience. Obviously, the early arrival meant we were well cared for. Our meals were all quite good, though the menu seemed a bit limited and 'old'.

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So, all in all a great dining trip. Dallas as a convention city is not all that great. Any change of locale whatsoever requires jumping in a cab for a minimum 15-20 minute drive. Thankfully there are lots of cabs around (some don't smell so great). However, the restaurants are simply fantastic. I think you have an incredible pool of serving talent to draw from. And the patrons are an obviously sophisticated bunch.

Some other locations that colleagues visited and had nice reviews include: Abacus, Bob's, The Palm.