Regular Joe's Guide

First visit: Feb 2013 Mo' Fish is the latest concept restaurant coming from the same folks behind Baja Mex Grill, Peace Burger and Dive Bar , Funky Baja's Cantina , and Baja's Bar and Grill. In fact, this restaurant sits on the opposite side of the same shopping center with Funky Baja's. They've taken over the old Vietnamese restaurants such as the Green Bamboo and later the infamously named Pho King Way (Pho is pronounced "Fu" as in Fudge. Ohhh... I get it now !). Perhaps the best news coming from this small collective of restaurants is their decision to focus on local craft brews - more so than any other restaurant or pub in Northeast Tarrant. On this visit I tried the Revolver Bock from Granbury. And it's an excellent example of the style. As for the food, Mo' Fish specializes in Southern Louisiana and Texas seafood. Cajun seasonings abound, with traditional favorites like Po' Boys, oysters and crawfish all on the menu. Shrimp, mahi mahi...

Latest visit: Sep 2025 (Stetson Hills @ Powers) First visit: Feb 2013 (Fort Worth, TX) HQ: Sterling Heights, MI (Detroit area); Founded: 1978 ---9/27/25 Going in with the exact same premise as last year, we waited until football season to order our first Jet's of the year. This is a tradition that goes back to 2014 when we still lived in Northeast Tarrant County. The NRH location was right around the corner from where we lived, so once they opened, we were regulars during the NFL season through 2017. For the first time with Jet's, I ordered the pizza online. I got the "Detroit Pizza" which I presumed to be their regular thin crust. Nope. It's their thick crust version. That's not been my Detroit experience, including this year, as noted here on the RJG. Oh well, we'll see if Mrs. RJG is going to enjoy it. She loved it! As did I. Their pizza sauce is the key, one of the few pizza joints that understands that you need to add more sauce so it doesn't beco...

Apr 7, 2022 update. Southlake location closed since 2015. It appears the entire franchise is now gone too. Last visit: Feb 2013 First visit: undocumented In 2009, the RJG made a conscious decision to trade in ice cream for beer. I was getting deeper into the craft beer hobby, and I felt something needed to go in its place. Generally Mrs. RJG and I would enjoy a small dish (or cone) of ice cream after dinner. Now we enjoy a beer for dessert - preferably a nice milk stout or something similar. We both exercise hard as it is, so we couldn't afford to add more calories. So we switched them out. For awhile, we were starting to do both, and that was too much of a good thing I'm afraid. But yesterday, we knew we were meeting friends for dinner (at the Ojeda's in Dallas . It is one of now 27 2013 Updates we've made to the blog - so I'm continuing to hold my promise). And these friends eat later than we usually do, so we had to be creative on keeping ourselves fro...

Apr 7, 2022 update: Still open with mixed reviews. They still have their location in Haskell as well. First visit: Feb 2013 State Highway 114 is the direct route between Lubbock and Dallas-Ft. Worth. As such, it was the highway I originally used when going back and forth to Texas Tech after the winter and summer breaks. But there were a couple of major issues with it. 1) It's a very dull route. It lacks cute towns, and most of the drive has very little scenery; 2) Worse, in those days anyway, was that the national speed limit was 55. That was a problem everywhere of course, but on 114 the small town cops used it as an excuse for revenue generation. "I mean, who else is going to pay for Maybelle at the Olney library?" Prime target: Tech students on the way to and from Lubbock. Especially  us students coming from DFW. "Caught 'cha doin' a FIFTY-SIX in a FIFTY-FIVE... BOY. You rich city kids always in a hurry". So after two years of that nonsense, I began...

Latest visit: Feb 2013 First visit: 1983 Orlando's was the only Italian restaurant in Lubbock when I was a student at Tech in the 1980s. And to be honest, my recollection wasn't a very positive one. So it may seem odd that this was our final meal on this visit to Lubbock. We hadn't originally planned to go here, but after visiting another Mexican place that didn't look very alluring (in fact, it was fast food rather than a sit down restaurant), we both shifted gears and decided Italian sounded really good. Not only had I remembered Orlando's from my past, but I did recall recently reading some very positive reviews on Urbanspoon. They've been around since 1965, so they must be doing something right! I probably only went to Orlando's 3 times in my 4 1/2 year stint at Tech. We had always gone to the 24th and Q location, but I believe the south location existed back then too. In any case, we were closer to the Indiana store, and so we decided to give that loc...

Last visit: May 2023 (Lubbock 50th @ Ave. T) First visit: Sep 1983 (Lubbock 50th) After Cooper's we made it to the next county seat which is Brady. Stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. Much nicer than the Springhill Suites in Austin. Comfortable rooms and very good buffet breakfast. We woke up to a beautiful sunrise. Time to head on home to Colorado Springs. JL said he wanted Taco Villa again. He really liked that quick stop in Amarillo. I try not to "double up" on places when traveling, but it occurred to me that 1) lunchtime will likely be in Lubbock and 2) the Taco Villa there is technically different. See below for the details. So that's exactly what we did.  Everything went very well, and JL didn't notice too much difference between the two. He tried a steak fajita taco and said it was great - really like a good steak! They skimped on the cheese but otherwise I have to agree. They even use the same hot sauce package, so there's obviously a cobranding agre...

First visit: Feb 2013 The RJG is a proud graduate of Texas Tech University, where I attended the school from 1983 to 1987. I  somehow managed to obtain a Bachelor's degree in Engineering. Yea, exactly. I don't know how I did it either. Anyway, I graduated in December of that year, perfectly timed to come out of school immediately after a major stock market crash. Jobs were non existent for "entry level" types, even though I had gained real experience in the field. No matter - times were somewhat similar to today's market - or really more like 2008/09. Since I'd also been trained as a computer developer, I took a software programming job - and set off on a career that was completely unexpected. I had no concept of what was in store for me when I entered the software field. And, as these things tend to go, it is with absolute certainty the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Had I stayed an engineer, no doubt you would be rea...

We are again fortunate to have a Mr. Music review today. Some of you may recall that I put up a quick blurb about Genti's this past summer, after visiting Mr. Music up in Denton. I went ahead and removed that since we have a much better review now for the restaurant. Take it away Mr. Music! --- Genti’s Italian restaurant is a family owned placed in Corinth. Mrs. Music’s mom and step-dad live near there and since we are in Denton, we meet them there pretty regularly. It is one of my favorite restaurants in the area. There are several things to love about Genti’s aside from the food: 1) They are BYOB and there is an Albertson’s right next door as well as a couple of liquor stores across the highway in case you didn't bring your own hooch. 2) It is a cozy little place where the staff and family are very friendly. 3) It is very kid friendly. 4) The prices are very reasonable and 5) They have one large screen TV in back by the bar (that doesn’t serve alcohol) for...