Regular Joe's Guide

The RJG just returned from a 6 day vacation, which I hope to report on soon. However, while catching up on e-mails, I discovered that none other than Mr. Music had sent us a fresh review. Alright! So take it away Mr. Music.... A recent drive from the Denton library with Mrs. Music, Music Jr., and Baby Music revealed a welcome sight!  A new restaurant on S. Elm called Viet Bites!  I was just talking to Music Jr. a few days ago about how cool it would be for a real Vietnamese restaurant to come to Denton.  We couldn't wait to go!  I have to admit that it tickles me that my 8 year old daughter often asks me when we can go for spring rolls and pho!  On Friday night we met another couple at this cute little, standalone building. It looks like it once may have been a one-off taco stand or something similar. As we walked in, we marveled at the rows of fresh Thai basil with their purple leaves and Thai chilies pointing to the sky surrounding the perimet...

Latest visit: Jan 2023 (Colorado Springs - North Gate) First visit: Jul 2013 (Colleyville, Texas) Happy New Year everyone! Back for our first move forward of 2023 (or technically the second, since Freddy's got a head start in December). On this visit I switched things up and had the carne asada which was very good - tender and tasty. They smothered it in red sauce - and then smothered it again with the same sauce on top of the burrito with cheese on top. No honey habanero or chile verde this time, just that red enchilada sauce. It was hotter temperature than last visit. While I don't go here very much, Costa Vida always satisfies. Costa Vida is a regional chain from Utah (Lehi - in the row of towns between Provo and Salt Lake City) that originally came up during the burrito craze of the 90s as lead by Chipotle, Baja Fresh, and Qdoba's. Their core audience seems to be in the Mormon country of Utah, Idaho, and Arizona with a handful of other western locations (including Alb...

Latest visit: Feb 2025 First visit: sometime in 1998 (when they first opened) And we begin the first RJG journey of 2025, and our first trip for retirement! It was planned before I retired, as one of our Official Niece's is getting married (yet another one...). However for a variety of reasons they needed to have the wedding in Mexico, and since Mrs. RJG's family roots (and the groom's family roots) are in Sonora, then its capital city Hermosillo is where the wedding was to be held. They both live near Prescott, Arizona, so it wasn't convenient for them either! Not an easy place to get to, and we needed to take an early morning flight out of Denver to make a connection in Phoenix, the one and only flight to Hermosillo per day from the USA. A perfect excuse to spend one night in Denver before heading out! And if I'm getting an open night in Denver with Mrs. RJG, then Mama Louise rises high in the charts as a dinner option. As noted below, we have a long history with ...

Latest visit: Dec 2023 (Spring Hill Rd.) First visit: Apr 2006 (Las Colinas, TX) HQ: Chicago, IL (Founded: 1977) Locations: They're currently in 32 states including DC. They have 10 in Colorado, mostly up in Denver. Our original review location in Hurst is still around. Have to earn those steak dinners, so it's time for two straight days of internal meetings. They were very informative actually and my peers and management team is great, so no complaints. But it's tiring. Many of us are of a similar age, and we're not up for long nights and hard days. But we persevered. It's hard to exercise in this environment, so I don't even bother. With the record show on Saturday and four straight days of travel, my legs are well rested. And my belly has grown... Speaking of which! Potbelly. As in I now have one. It'll be coming off soon. Lunch was served after 12, and my stomach was growling wildly. But I was relieved to hear Potbelly was our vendor's choice for lu...

Last visit: Oct 2022 First visit: Oct 1995 ***Closed Nov 2023. It needed to. ---Rude Dante has shared some final thoughts below. I had to go back one more time. I wanted to load up on the carbs before a full day of record crate digging. And what better place to go than my old favorite haunt, El Tepehuan. Most assuredly that visit in 2018 was an anomaly. They must have fixed those mistakes and brought back the recipes of yore. Why would anyone mess with something so perfect? I'm sad to say that the last visit was representative of the new El Tepehuan (at least they ditched the dopey El Tep moniker). My crack below about the grill may not be far off the mark. I'm beginning to wonder if they even have a grill at this point. Essentially the review below is null and void. The only thing they retained by moving a few doors down were the oak chairs with El Tepehuan engraved in them. And a few warlord Caucasian looking Aztec paintings. It's a much bigger space and they have a larg...