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Here's another reason to linger at Oak Cliff bookstore Wild Detectives

You may never go to Oak Cliff shop the Wild Detectives hungry for a big meal. The cozy store does coffee and books and wine. It isn't a restaurant.

If the Wild Detectives looks small, it is. Inside is a living room and bar for sitting and...
If the Wild Detectives looks small, it is. Inside is a living room and bar for sitting and sipping. There's more room in the backyard, or out front on the patio. All are good spots for close conversation.(Christopher Wynn)

But while you're lingering over a book, or borrowing the wifi, the Wild Detectives' new menu of tostas, or Spanish toasts, is worth a look.

Each dish is like an open-faced sandwich, with spreads, vegetables and meats piled on top of toasted bread. They're bigger than most tapas plates, but still small; consider each order a snack.

The Dallas Morning News wrote about the "toast trend," in 2014. The Wild Detectives' tostas are less of a trend and more of an expression of the owners' roots. Paco Vique and Javier García del Moral, both from Spain, say nibbling and drinking with friends for many hours is part of life back in Europe. They usually eat tostas standing, at the bar.

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"Food could be sometimes just the background of a conversation," says Andrés de la Casa-Huertas, brand director at the Wild Detectives.

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The new tostas are explained as "good and healthy food you don't have to commit to."

Share these -- or don't. Tostas are designed to be a casual, non-committal snack.
Share these -- or don't. Tostas are designed to be a casual, non-committal snack.

Save the commitment for dinner in the Bishop Arts District, which is an easy walk from the Wild Detectives.

The owners added eight toasts, priced $3 to $6.50, to the menu, including avocado with lime-marinated tomatoes; tuna and anchovies; and a sweeter honey-cream cheese toast topped with poppy seeds. There's also a new mussels and chips plate, $12.

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The shop no longer sells sandwiches or charcuterie and cheese boards, though they may reintroduce a new cheese board soon, de la Casa-Huertas says.

The Wild Detectives is located at 314 W. Eight St. in Oak Cliff.
The Wild Detectives is located at 314 W. Eight St. in Oak Cliff.(Louis DeLuca)