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What the Heck is a Strap Hanger?
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|  Officially, a strap hanger is someone who stands in a bus, train, subway or trolley and holds onto the strap above them. It came to refer to the type of person who would need to hang on in that fashion - those who were tired and uncouth enough not to sit, who were often hungover or too tired to make it to the train on time to get a seat. So, our classic breakfast of two eggs (any style), hash browns or grits, toast, and your choice of meat, is a great meal for a strap hanger. It's also just a great breakfast, period.
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Get to Know Your Dream Cafe Servers
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| Andy Russell
Like last month's profilee, Jane, Andy has worked at both the Addison and the Uptown Dream Cafes. But you probably haven't seen him lately.
The good news about Andy is that he is one of the funniest guys you'll ever meet, he's a great server and he has a dream that he's working hard to make come true. He is the founder of The Dallas Comedy Conspiracy, a "No Holds Barred" sketch comedy troupe (think Saturday Night Live, but really and truly live, and in Dallas).
Andy spent years studying the art of comedy writing and performing in Chicago and Los Angeles with Second City and the Groundlings, respectively. He also performed with troupes such as Chicago's Improv Olympics and Esther's Follies in Austin.
Andy and The Dallas Comedy Conspiracy are appearing this weekend at Pocket Sandwich Theater on Mockingbird Lane, just east of I-75. Their shows are at 11:15pm Friday and Saturday nights, October 1st and 2nd.
The bad news is that Andy was recently diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. He has been undergoing treatment and his outlook is good. But that is why he hasn't been able to work at the Dream Cafe for the last several months. In order to help pay his bills, Andy's friends and troupe members put on a benefit show for him last weekend, raising critical money to help him pay his bills. If you are interested in helping the cause, visit www.dconspiracy.com and click on the benefit show button. Even though the benefit is over, you can still contribute via PayPal.
And in the meantime, be sure to go see Andy perform with his troupe this weekend (albeit with Andy in fewer roles than normal) at Pocket Sandwich.
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History Lesson
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| The Lost Dream Cafe
In 1994, Dream Cafe owner Mary O'Brien had a new dream - expand the Dream into Dallas' emerging hip neighborhood, Oak Cliff. So she opened a more bakery-focused iteration of her hit Uptown spot. Featuring a large variety of baked breads and desserts in an attached bakery, it was a natural extension of the original Dream's dedication to fresh ingredients and in-house baked goods.
Located at Zang and Colorado, the Oak Cliff store never quite hit the mark. So, sadly, Mary decided to shutter it after only two years.
Of course, this was before the boom of the hip Bishop Arts district (and Dream Cafe is nothing if not perennially hip). If Mary had just waited for that area to take off and change all of the Metroplex's perception of Oak Cliff, she might have had another hit on her hands.
She was just ahead of her time.
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Dream Cafe Uptown The Quadrangle 2800 Routh St. Dallas, TX 75219 214.954.0486
214.954.0807 FAX
Dream Cafe Addison Village on the Parkway 5100 Beltline Rd. Suite 208 Dallas, TX 75254 972.503.7326
972.503.7332 FAX
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