NM Cafe — Restaurant in Dallas

Received this email and feel strongly that people should know about this

.My daughter and I had just finished a salad at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas, and we decided to have a small dessert. Because both of us are such cookie lovers, we decided to try the"Neiman-Marcus cookie." It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe, and the waitress said with a small frown, "I’m afraid not, but you can buy the recipe." Well, I asked how much, and she responded, "Only two fifty-it’s a great deal!" I agreed to that, and told her to just add it to my tab.

Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement, and the Neiman-Marcus charge was

$285.00! I looked again, and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two

salads and about $20.00 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement,

it said, "Cookie Recipe-$250.00". That was outrageous!

I called Neiman’s Accounting Department and told them the waitress said it

was "two fifty", which clearly does not mean "two hundred and fifty dollars" by

any reasonable interpretation of the phrase. Neiman-Marcus refused to budge.

They would not refund my money because, according to them, "What the waitress

told you is not our problem. You have already seen the recipe. We absolutely

will not refund your money at this point." I explained to the Accounting Department lady

the criminal statutes which govern fraud in the state of Texas. I threatened to report them

to the Better Business Bureau and the Texas Attorney General’s office for engaging in

fraud. I was basically told, "Do what you want. Don’t bother thinking of how you can get

even, and don’t bother trying to get any of your money back."

I just said, Okay, you folks got my $250, and now I’m going to have $250 worth of

fun." I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in the United

States with an e-mail account has a $250 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus...for free.

She replied, "I wish you wouldn’t do this." I said, "Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you ripped me off!" and slammed down the phone. So here it is!

Please, please, please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I

paid $250 for this, and I don’t want Neiman-Marcus to EVER make another penny off of this recipe!

$250 Neiman Marcus Cookies

2 cups butter

24 oz. chocolate chips

4 cups flour

2 cups brown sugar

2 tsp. soda

1 tsp. salt

2 cups sugar

1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated)

5 cups blended oatmeal

4 eggs

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. vanilla

3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)

Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine

powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together

with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips,

Hershey Bar, and nuts. Roll into balls, and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies.

PLEASE READ THE RECIPE AND SEND IT TO EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW WHO HAS AN E-MAIL ADDRESS! THIS IS REALLY TERRIFIC!!

Even if the people on your e-mail list don’t eat sweets send it to them and

ask them to pass it on. Let’s make sure we get these ladies $250.00 worth.

Enjoy the cookies, they...

First off, no Neiman Marcus nor any of their eateries sell cookie recipes. They never have and they never will. You CAN buy a cookie and several other baked goods at Mermaid Bar downstairs but they cost less than 5 bucks. The cookie recipe story has been going around the internet since the internet existed and it seems it WILL NOT DIE.

Unlike most of these reviewers talking about the stupid nonexistent cookie recipe, I actually ATE at NM Cafe.

As a Dallas blogger who often writes about food, I thought I should finally try the food named the most iconic in Dallas, the Neiman Marcus popover. The popover and accompanying strawberry butter are served complimentary to each guest here. They also bring you a complimentary cup of chicken consomme to sip on. It's warm and delicious and a perfect start to a great meal in an elegant setting.

NM Cafe is a formal yet comfortable white-tablecloth cafe on the third floor of the department store. It was decorated for Christmas on the day I came.

The service was outstanding. The hostess, servers, manager, and even the chef often come and have conversations with the diners. This courtesy is extended to people who eat there every week as well as to first-timers (like me.)

The menu here is quite small and tends mostly towards salads and sandwiches that bring to mind "ladies who lunch." (Maybe that's why they serve the consomme - so the salad eaters can get filled up before tackling those salads.) In any case, there were several tempting options on the menu. I heard a nearby diner compliment the chef on the quinoa bowl and her companion (who apparently is a regular here) greatly enjoyed the salmon dish. They also loved the meringue tart they had for dessert.

I am not a salad (or quinoa or salmon) kind of gal, so I ordered the Rosewood Wagyu burger. I don't make a habit of ordering $20 burgers, but I have eaten a few. I've also had many $12-15 burgers this one was better than any of them. If you add in the Neiman Marcus experience, this one was well worth it, and the best "pricey" burger I've ever eaten.

The burger was very large - I couldn't eat it all. The meat was flavorful and had a perfect char on the edges of the thick patty. The plate presentation was lovely too. The brioche bun was glistening with a light butter glaze and the inside of the bun was buttered and toasted too. The burger was topped with mushrooms, caramelized onions and melted gruyere cheese. (I didn't know gruyere had such great "pull" - now I know that it's a perfect cheese to serve on a burger!) My burger was served with leaf lettuce on the side, so as not to wilt it from the piping hot burger patty. The burger also came with dijonnaise to dress it with and a huge serving of french fries. (The fries were just the right amount of crispy - much like McDonald's fries, and I mean that as a compliment. Everybody knows Mikky D's has the best fast food fries.)

I truly loved this dining experience. It's definitely one I want to repeat. If you don't prefer the formal style, The Mermaid Bar on the first floor has a similar menu, but they don't serve the complimentary popover and consomme. So I say go for the full experience at NM Cafe. It's a splurge, but...

For years my family ate at the NM Cafe. Sometimes we’d go 3-4 times a month. It was a nice quiet restaurant with lots of delicious options. Well unfortunately today was a major disappointment. We’ve been waiting a whole year since the lock down, and today was our first day back at our favorite place. The experience was a MAJOR disappointment! The waitress was dry and unfriendly. We missed our waiter Hector who was released. We had to walk out because they had only 3 random entre options.

The chef in charge needs to realize that this is not a 1 star Michelin restaurant. His attempt to boast his culinary ego falls short. I don’t know who they are targeting with their new pretentious efforts, but it’s not the upperclass families that want to experience great food options that different palates can enjoy.

I’m fine with change, but this aggressive attempt falls short. This is obvious by the restaurant being completely empty...