Regular Joe's Guide

As of 11/29/24, Rodeo Goat now has 10 locations. First visit: Dec 2012 Continuing on with the RJG Restaurant week, today's post concerns a one Rodeo Goat. Mrs. RJG had her monthly Grand Jury duty to serve, so I was on my own for lunch on this mid-week day. In an act of solidarity, I felt that maybe I too should also venture down towards central Ft. Worth for the afternoon. A perfect scenario to try Rodeo Goat, a place that offers two of my favorite intake items: Burgers and Brew! Rodeo Goat is the newest venture from some of the fine folks at Flying Saucer Draught Emporium and the Meddlesome Moth. From that, you probably already guessed that craft beer is going to play a major role in the Rodeo Goat concept. And indeed it does, with a specific focus on the burgeoning DFW microbrewery scene. They offer at least one beer from the following up and coming breweries: Four Corners (Dallas), Revolver (Granbury), Lakewood (Garland), Deep Ellum (Dallas) and Peticolas (Dal...

Last visit: Dec 2012 First visit: Apr 2008 Feb 2014 update:   Officially closed on Jan 31, 2014.  That's too bad, as we enjoyed their barbecue and went on an occasional basis. Though we did for certain miss all of 2013. They didn't close because of a lack of business, but rather the owner retired. ---- I was first introduced to Up-N-Smoke by my former neighbor Mr. SS (who is now a full-time resident of Manhattan and enjoying the culinary delights offered there - lucky guy) in April of 2008, right at the time I started this blog actually. But for whatever reason, I didn't get back to the place until 2010, and have been a few times since. This is our initial post for Up-N-Smoke. For Mr. and Mrs. RJG, Up-N-Smoke has become our favorite barbecue restaurant in NE Tarrant. We haven't tried them all (though we intend to), but we've done some sampling in the area (Cousins, Red Barn, Big Barn, Feedstore, Spring Creek, Red Hot and Blue, and a few others) and we prefer U...

Last visit: Aug 2012 First visit: Apr 2010 As you can see from the below, we've covered Antonio's already. We've vacillated back and forth on our opinion about this establishment. We've even gone so far as to state Antonio's is the #1 best Mexican in NE Tarrant. But times change, as do opinions, and Antonio's has fallen from the top spot (Anamia's in Southlake is the current owner). However, it's still a favorite, though maybe not the favorite. I've taken the liberty to rewrite many sections of the original review, based on recent trips. On this visit, I tried the baby chimichangas with ground beef. The queso topping is declicious as was the perfectly textured rice. The charro beans (which, as usual, I substituted the refried beans for) were a bit too soupy and "bean-like", lacking the yummy bacon flavor I crave - even though there were bits of bacon in the dish. The ground beef was servicable but ultimately lacking in rich flavors. The wif...

First visit: Jul 2012 The year after we decided to sell our summer townhome in Denver, we agreed to take an extended work/vacation somewhere in the US. I chose Oregon and Washington, as other than Seattle, I had very little exposure to either state. The first week of the trip was in Bend, and I worked all 5 days, and we would venture out for lunch and dinner. And beers... lots of them (after work hours of course...). Later I would refer to this jaunt as our first dedicated craft beer trip. For beer lovers, especially back then, Oregon was ground zero. Even the Bend tourist board got in on it, and encouraged everyone to try each brewery, and you would get a trinket at the end. We did just that but I can't remember what we got.  We stayed in a cute small one bedroom / one bath cabin just outside downtown, where many things were walking distance. It was a fantastic start to the trip - and one of the best travel week's we've experienced. We also enjoyed the food there, and over...

Last visit: Jul 2012 First visit: Sometime in 2003 Ugh. Closed. This was our favorite neighborhood spot for Italian. Also note that the old Dal Italia is now Oggi Italia. New owner, but same cooks, recipes and menu. They changed the look and feel of the restaurant (for the better), but otherwise the below review still applies. North Richland Hills is NE Tarrant County's largest and most diverse suburb. Stretching from the working class areas near Haltom City to the south, through the ostensibly middle class of Hurst and onto the McMansions of Colleyville and Keller that make its northern border. There is no similar theme that runs through NRH, nor do they sport an authentic, or even made-up, old town (though I suspect the area where the Cottonbelt BBQ stands will one day be just that, and with any luck at all, a stop on the proposed railway from DFW airport to Ft. Worth). The utmost northern reaches of NRH is where you'll find Oggi Italia Cafe, sitting quietly in a new, but...

Mar 30, 2022 update: Pappasito's remains a Texas institution. There is one location in Atlanta just to mess up the narrative. The restaurant listed below in Dallas is still open as well. Pappasito's maintains 25 restaurants and Houston has at least half of those. Latest visit: Jun 2012 (Dallas - NW Hwy) First visit: Nov 2011 (Dallas - NW Hwy) Pappasito's, as many of you probably know, is part of the much larger Houston-based Pappas group of restaurants, and most known for its flagship Cajun-styled Pappadeaux's. Beyond those two, they also own Pappas Burger, Pappas Bar-B-Q, Pappas Bros Steakhouse, Pappas Seafood House, Dot Coffee Shop, and Yia Yia Mary's Pappas Greek Kitchen. Many times you will see these restaurants clumped together, as is the case with the Pappasito's we visited on Lombardy and Northwest Hwy in Dallas. A few of these concepts are only found in Houston. This particular Pappasito's is inside an ample "restaurant row" area, situate...

Last visit: Jun 2012 First visit: Nov 2011 Panchita's is a new restaurant that opened its doors this August. It's housed in the former Windy City Deli location, and is a couple of doors down from Niki's (featured on this blog somewhere). They are a husband and wife run establishment, and you can tell that they use only fresh ingredients. No large platters of enchiladas here - each meal is individually handcrafted. The food is a mixture of Tex-Mex and Mexican from the interior. There's even a hint of New Mexico, and not surprisingly there's a family heritage from there. The chips are crispy corn and the salsa served is what we typically see in Colorado: A mixture of tomatoes, chilies, onions and cilantro. It was good with a nice kick. As such I wasn't sure they would have a "hotter" one, but indeed they do. It's a tomatillo based green sauce blended with jalapenos and/or maybe serrano's. Definitely contains more heat and thus smooths out the b...

First visit: Feb 2012 The one exception to the home dining routine as mentioned yesterday was a business dinner earlier in the week. We had some of our company's sales folks in town, so that sounds to me like an expense account! My counterpart in crime, resident of Garland, suggested we meet at The Ranch at Las Colinas. And a good choice it was. I should be able to keep this review pretty short. Basically The Ranch is a direct cross between Love and War in Texas and Cool River Cafe , both places we've reported on recently. From Love and War, they borrow the regionalized food-of-Texas concept. From Cool River, they bring the high quality steaks, upscale Hill Country atmosphere, and the bar scene. So after having a couple of drinks at the bar with the Garland troublemaker, the rest of the party arrived and we sat down and got right into the menu (OK, maybe there were a couple of more drinks involved first...). We passed on appetizers (hey - none of us are under 45 - got to...

Closed: 2022 First visit: Feb 2012 (Azle) Finding a restaurant in DFW that serves New Mexican food has proven to be quite the challenge. There was Anthony's Place over by Meacham Field, but they've since transformed to a special events and catering only business (though no surprise - as you will find out later - Anthony is the same owner as our restaurant featured today). Mi Dia From Scratch , a new place in Grapevine owned by the same folks behind Bob's Steakhouse, has a very limited "Santa Fe" portion to their menu (and only for dinner), and it's mostly items that use similar ingredients to Tex-Mex (just cooked differently) . We haven't been, but it certainly seems more like a high-end ($$$) Mexican restaurant than New Mexican to me (feel free to write in if you are of a different opinion). Chencho's seems to have a few NM type items of interest, and I'll be trying those soon. Don't even mention Blue Mesa to me. Please... don't. And, wel...

First visit: Feb 2012 (Roanoke - now closed) Since we're on a burger kick here, I thought I'd pick up where we left off from last week. According to the Star-Telegram, Bronson's Burgers is now open for lunch as of this week. So we'll be certain to try it soon, and finish our Keller-goes-bar-and-burgers series. In the meantime, I took a right turn on US-377 from 1709 and headed north to Roanoke, which now has tagged itself as the "Unique Dining Capital of Texas". These are truly modern times when official city boosters see fit to call out their restaurant scene as their main asset. In any case, it is here that we find Outlaw Burgers. In the very early days of the RJG, we spoke of a restaurant called C&A Italian Family Deli (which is now Tirelli's and has moved to Keller). Outlaw Burgers is now in that location. Though funny enough, the shopping center billboard has both Outlaw Burgers AND Italian Family Deli on it. Maybe they didn't notice the...

The Watauga location closed a few years ago, but they continue on with mixed reviews in Saginaw. First visit: Feb 2012 (Watauga) The burrito craze started back in the 1990s, and the city of Denver (where we lived full time back then) was ground zero for this food movement. So at times it seems I've almost grown up with the concept. Both Chipotle and Qdoba started in Denver and still represent the major brands in this market . The formula was simple, yet effective. The assembly line method was used. First they'd steam your tortilla, then you'd get the cilantro lime rice, followed by black or pinto beans, and finally a meat. Then you choose your salsa and other toppings, pick up a drink cup and off you go. Just about every burrito copycat place from then on used this formula with minor variations. It was inevitable, but what if you wanted more options? Enter stage left Freebirds, and a whole new slew of parameters were introduced to the process. It wasn't enough to jus...

First visit: Feb 2012 And here's the third installment of the Keller-goes-bar-and-burgers. Of the three establishments so far, Keller Tavern is definitely the most bar of the lot. I truly love the interior of this place. A simple A-frame low roof, architected in the German or Swiss style, with a dark wood interior. Honestly I felt like I was in the upper Midwest as soon as I entered the building. Like I suddenly stumbled into a tavern in Green Bay or Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Even though it was 65 degrees outside, I imagined it was more like 20, and was grateful to be cuddled up in the warmth of the tavern. And a nice beer... Since I'm on a burger kick, and that's the comparison point for these 3 places, I went for their Tavern Bacon Burger. Unlike the last two restaurants, Keller Tavern is strictly menu driven, and doesn't offer a dizzying array of choices for your burger. And that's because the Keller Tavern isn't really a burger joint and they offer ...

First visit: Jan 2012 Funny how things work. Just 6 months ago, if you went to Keller and wanted to act like a big boy and get a real hamburger with an adult beverage in a tavern setting, then you were pretty much out of luck. Now in the last 3 months, Keller has not one... not two.... not three.... but FOUR new places of a similar ilk. All on the same road. All on the same side of the road. Three of them are bunched within a quarter mile of each other. Birds of a feather now cook together I guess... For the curious, the 4 places are: Bottlecap Alley Icehouse Grill, Keller Tavern, Bronson's Burgers & Beer and the topic of today's discussion: Yourway. And this is the only one not found on the main US-377 strip downtown. So I, as your humble NE Tarrant correspondent, now must go forward and try all of these places. I do it for you. I will make the sacrifice and eat fat cheeseburgers and drink microbrews. I mean someone has to step up and take one for the team right? Th...

Latest visit: Jan 2012 First visit: Sep 2006 I tend to forget about Saviano's when thinking of Italian restaurants in NE Tarrant. I had just mentioned a few days ago about restaurants that we frequent the most, and that we're struggling to settle on a great Italian joint in the area. I don't think Saviano's necessarily solves that dilemma, but they're definitely part of the equation. One potential reason we don't think of them is their location at the far southeastern edge of our primary coverage area. By being situated on Euless Main and 183, Saviano's is further for us than many places in Ft. Worth proper or Arlington even. No matter, as Saviano's has proven to be very popular with the locals and was again packed to the rafters on this particular evening. Incidentally, it was on our way here that we first discovered the Mexican Inn in Bedford had shut down. Saviano's has recently opened a second location in downtown Ft. Worth, that has also pro...

First visit: Jan 2012 Chencho's sits in a former Italian restaurant location that was a 3 time loser . (now a 4 time loser apparently, as Chencho's is now closed. A home cooking restaurant will be the 5th to make a go at this spot!) This location originally housed a Ferrari's, a place that had more notoriety via the news than it did amongst diners (never a good sign). We never sampled the place ourselves. This was followed by the Bella Cafe. Mrs. RJG and I dined there a couple of times. It was decent, but very typical of the Italian food found in NE Tarrant. And finally Mia Cafe went up and was well on its way to closure, when the final owner wised up and said "You know what? Maybe this isn't a good location for an Italian restaurant." Ya think? So he wisely found another partner, from nearby Alvarado's in fact, and launched a Mexican restaurant. I'm usually hesitant to be "first" to try a restaurant, but we were in the area, and said why not...

Latest visit: Jan 2012 First visit: 2011 I think I just heard someone yell "Well it's about time!". I know, I know - we're way late in writing about Oliva. Strange that we haven't discussed it before, only in that we've been a few times since they opened. But it was right at the time I stopped writing for the RJG. But we're back, and it's time to give Oliva their proper due. Also please note the restaurant is technically in Fort Worth (though the restaurant themselves insist it's Keller). As you can see in the comments, someone felt very passionate about that - so I figured I should mention it. You've heard the RJG grouse about the fact that almost all the Italian restaurants in NE Tarrant are the same. The antidote? Oliva. The menu is a mix of old school red sauce Italian and newer, more trendy options. Though the balance is definitely tilted towards the traditional. Oliva does the basics right like cooking the pasta al dente, while pro...

Latest visit: Jul 2025 (Space Center @ Palmer Park) First visit: Sometime in 1982 (Irving, TX) HQ: Lake Forest, CA (near Irvine) ---7/13/25 (Space Center) This seemed to be a close call. What do you mean RJG? Well it looked like Del Taco was going to close all of their Colorado locations, save one in Grand Junction (different owner). Why? Because the franchiser essentially went bankrupt. I should have known something was up when they pulled the hot sauce packets from the self service island (see the 2024 update). But apparently the Del Taco locations do well here, and the parent company decided to take over and reopen the ones that were closed (with one exception in Denver). While the other two CoS locations that I have documented below remain temporarily closed, they did get the Space Center restaurant up and running. I happened to be at the Colorado Springs Flea Market in the morning, and this Del Taco is very close to that. I was in a very good mood since I had a great collection f...

Last visit: Jan 2012 First visit: Feb 2008 fka Thai Thippawan We've received a few comments at the RJG to consider Thai Thippawan. And for us, it's actually a reconsider position. We did try Thai Thippawan not long after they first opened in early 2008, and we were not overly impressed. So we were reticent to return, especially considering we're more than happy with Sea Siam, Sweet Basil and Bangkok Cuisine - all featured prominently on this blog. But the RJG feels it only fair to try (or retry) all the restaurants that fit our tastes. And Thai food is at, or near, the very top food group for the RJG. And the fact that the restaurant is still open with a whopping 92% approval rating on Urbanspoon tells us that Thai Thippawan must be doing something right. And indeed they are. What a difference 4 years makes. We went for lunch, and the specials come with a house soup, an egg roll and a small-ish entree. The soup is delicious, a simple recipe of chicken broth with rice, g...