Saviano's Italian ~ Euless, Texas

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 proven to be very popular. And why not really, as Saviano's is truly old school Italian, something that isn't as common in DFW as you might think. St. Louis, Chicago and Philadelphia we are not. And speaking of which, Saviano's originally came to DFW with a 20 year resume of cooking in Long Island, New York where food like this can be found on every corner - or so it seems.

All the meals come with garlic knots and salads. The latter is a simple mix of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, celery and a delicious red wine vinaigrette dressing. The garlic knots are very chewy, buttery, garlicky and subsequently very tasty. The dishes here have a focus on the southern Italian regions, but they also have a wide variety of other entrees to choose from including Cacciatore, Alfredo, Marsala, etc... I appreciate their baked dishes, as the meals come out in those heavy duty "blackened" dishes (I love those), with bubbling cheese holding down the sizzling red sauce (and their sauce is delicious). Bury a homemade meatball or sausage in there for extra enjoyment. On this visit, the ziti was a little overcooked, so that's a bozo no-no. I'll let it slide, as everything else was well executed. These places need to learn how to cook al dente pasta earlier in the day. We passed on dessert as is our custom.

Saviano's is not BYOB, so we bought a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon for a little under $20.

We've been coming to Saviano's since about 2005 or so, but it's been a few years since we last visited. Since that time, they've made the place more welcoming with dimmer lights throughout, as well as adding a full bar with a large flat screen to enjoy some sports. Parking is hard to come by up front, so you may need to pull around to the back. Dinner is traditional dining and served by a wait staff. It used to be that lunch was counter service. It appears that might still be the case, but I'm not certain. On our last visit in 2008, it was. But that was a long time ago.

Have a hankering for some Old School Italian? Try Saviano's.

9/4/06; 1/30/12 (new entry)

Chencho's ~ North Richland Hills, Texas ***CLOSED***

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? We added it to Urbanspoon, and it still hasn't garned much attention to date. But it should - it's definitely worth a try. Looks like someone matched our positive with a negative. Who's right? You tell us.

Chencho's is not just a typical Tex-Mex place with warmed over enchiladas and soggy tacos. It's really somewhere between a taqueria, Tex-Mex and a New Mexican place. And I'm not going to tell you this is a Santa Fe styled restaurant - because it is absolutely not - but they do have delicacies typically only found on our Western frontier. They offer adobada as well as green chile sauces, which are more associated with New Mexico or Colorado. And they have rolled tacos, which of course are more southern Californian. Chencho's has a wide range of dishes to choose from, and we actually ventured only to Tex-Mex just to ensure a certain standard, before trying any of the New Mexican or tacqueria options. And they did a great job on the tacos y enchiladas - both in the texture and taste of the meat, as well as the spicy salsa they poured on top. I opted for grilled chicken, and it was delicious - and not something many places are willing to stuff your enchilada with - for the same prices as shredded chicken. Rice and beans were good as well.

The chips were standard but the salsas were not. BOTH salsas that came out were on the spicy side, which endeared Chencho's to us right away, and did not require me to ask for a hotter option. And they tasted like no other sauce I've ever had. Unique chile salsas with a kick are going to score points with the RJG.

As of last week, they stated to us they were going to start serving free beer and margaritas. For those that know the Texas law, if you don't have a liquor license, then you can't sell alcohol, but there's nothing to stop them from giving it away. I don't know if they implemented that yet or not, so don't hold me to it. I suspect they are working on a license in the meantime.

Caution here: We've only been once and we liked it. There aren't any reviews to corroborate ours, so you'll be pioneering like we did. But based on our one visit - I think it's worth a shot. The decor is very humble, so this isn't exactly a night on the town kind of place. But for local grub, it's very good and we're likely to try it a few more times in the near future.

1/24/12 (new entry)

Oliva Italian Eatery ~ Keller, Texas

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 providing a good (not great) tomato based sauce. They also have a fantastic meatball, that Mrs. RJG really has a taste for. I had the chicken parm on my last visit, and the chicken was a little bit tough - the first real complaint I've had in multiple visits. So they're human - it happens. We're working our way through the menu, though we haven't attempted anything adventurous here yet. The house salad is of the "backyard" variety with a tasty vinaigrette and plenty of field greens, olives, tomatoes, etc... I need to try their Caesar. And the warm seasoned soft bread is most welcome. Despite the nice surroundings, and overall popularity of the restaurant, the prices here are very reasonable.

The owner of the restaurant has a long history in the business, and is also an accomplished sommelier. As such, she offers a variety of high quality wines at very good prices. I admire her willingness to not take an enormous profit on alcohol, as so many places tend to do. As well, they have a nice beer selection including at least two Texas micros on tap.

Is Oliva the best Italian food we've ever had? Oh no - not even close. Is it the best in NE Tarrant county? Probably. A little better than Italianni's for our money, which would be in second place I guess. Now while I said most of the restaurants are similar in the area, I will also add most are very good. We've written about many of them here: Cafe Sicilia, Oggi Italia, Niki's, Italian Bistro and a few others. It's not hard to find good Italian food in NE Tarrant. However, it has proven to be difficult to find great Italian food as I find in other parts of the country. But there's always Pietro's or Prego's in Dallas if I'm determined to have the best.

Oliva is justifiably very popular (#26 on Urbanspoon), so be aware of that on weekend nights. Given its setting in an all residential area, Oliva is nearly empty for lunch, so if you have any flexibility on your schedule, definitely try to go then.

1/6/12 (new entry)

Thai Thip ~ Hurst, Texas

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, garlic and pieces of chicken. The egg roll is also very good - fried crispy with a bit of meat in it, which the RJG appreciates. And perhaps best of all is the RJG Thai sample dish: Basil Chicken. And they do it Thai style - that is with ground (minced) chicken, basil leaves, and bell peppers. I asked for it "Thai hot" and that's what I received - no blue-eyed treatment for the RJG, even though I would probably prefer one more notch higher (apparently 3x Hot in the Thai Thippawan vernacular). The sauce is delicious and the small dollop of rice was perfectly cooked. Mrs. RJG had the same dish, though she only went medium and stated it was spiced correctly. She usually prefers regular chicken to the ground variety but was pleasantly surprised by the flavor.

So for the good folks of NE Tarrant county, the RJG now claims we have FOUR really great Thai restaurants. And if you also include Thai Riverside, Magic Springroll and Nipa Thai, then we have no choice but to conclude that we live in a Thai food mecca. Especially considering we haven't really found one great Thai restaurant in all of Denver (some good ones, but nothing great).

2/22/08; 1/2/12 (new entry)