Last visit: Oct 2016
First visit: Jul 2013
I met with The Garland Troublemaker for a final time in October 2016. We both moved on to new (and better) jobs in short order. We knew this would be the last visit in our time with Company X. ---
Interesting that I've met with The Garland Troublemaker for the last two straight weeks. Especially considering I may see him two times a year these days. This visit was from last week, and Jack Mac's is just as great as it always has been. I'll leave the review below pretty much intact, with a few edits and formatting changes. Jack Mac's is incredibly consistent. And one reason for that is Jack is usually there and cooking for us! Great guy too.
It all started with some research on Ratebeer about some local beers that folks were rating. I asked myself "Where are these guys getting this stuff?" In the reviews I would commonly see "on tap at Jac Mac's (sic)" . What the heck is Jac Mac's I ask? So I look it up on Urbanspoon, and then went to their website. Wow! This place has my name all over it! All local to Texas craft beers and a very interesting looking menu. So I suggested to The Garland Troublemaker that we meet at Jack Mac's Swill & Grill rather than Flying Saucer next time for our next quarterly "executive briefing".
And so it transpired. And I'm happy to say: We have a new meeting place. We love The Flying Saucer, but Jack Mac's is even better for what I'm looking for. They only have 14 taps. But those 14 constantly rotate - with many hard to find / obscure beers - all from Texas. Anything from established micro's such as Rahr, Saint Arnold, Ranger Creek, and Franconia, onto up and comers like Firewheel (Rowlett) and Community (Dallas), to just-out-of-the-womb 903 Brewery (Sherman). And to think next time we go, they will all be different (2016 update: And that has remained true to form). Maybe not different breweries of course, but different beers from those breweries (or others). That's exciting. As they state on their website: "All 14 of our handles are Texas craft beer and to keep it interesting, we’re constantly rotating brews. So stop in to see what we’re featuring this week."
But as I often say, even if you only drink iced tea, Jack Mac's will satisfy on a strictly culinary level. They have an ambitious menu, that goes far beyond sandwiches, chips, pizza, and burgers. They have all those things (even standard variations), plus much more. On this visit they were featuring llama burgers. I wasn't quite ready for that adventure, and stuck to a standard meat filled pizza - which was excellent, and featured some homemade chorizo (May 2016 update - I also really enjoy their Cubano Sandwich!). TGT went with The Mexican Burger which is, get this, two cheese enchiladas between a bun. Ooo, that sounds awfully heavy doesn't it? Anyway, their menu is filled with dozens of interesting looking items, that we will be certain to try on subsequent visits. This is the first place I've listed as a gastropub in the RJG (ed: Don't like that name anymore - going with Craft Tavern now!). The offerings are just too imaginative to call it strictly pub food. About a year ago, I dined at the Magnolia Brewery in San Francisco that was advertised as a Gastropub. Their offerings weren't any different in spirit than what is at Jack Mac's - just less of it.
Jack Mac's is exactly the type of place I wish we had in NE Tarrant. Certainly we've grown up in the last couple of years ourselves, and even have a Ginger Man now (May 2016 update - and more than that now... more to come on the RJG!). But Jack Mac's is in a different league altogether.
Fans of Hopdoddy in Dallas, that we featured awhile ago, should also give Jack Mac's a try!
Jack Mac's anchors a strip mall on Preston Rd in far north Dallas, south of the Bush Turnpike, and north of Frankford. Nice airy place, with a fine area to sit around the bar. Also darts in the back room!
It all started with some research on Ratebeer about some local beers that folks were rating. I asked myself "Where are these guys getting this stuff?" In the reviews I would commonly see "on tap at Jac Mac's (sic)" . What the heck is Jac Mac's I ask? So I look it up on Urbanspoon, and then went to their website. Wow! This place has my name all over it! All local to Texas craft beers and a very interesting looking menu. So I suggested to The Garland Troublemaker that we meet at Jack Mac's Swill & Grill rather than Flying Saucer next time for our next quarterly "executive briefing".
And so it transpired. And I'm happy to say: We have a new meeting place. We love The Flying Saucer, but Jack Mac's is even better for what I'm looking for. They only have 14 taps. But those 14 constantly rotate - with many hard to find / obscure beers - all from Texas. Anything from established micro's such as Rahr, Saint Arnold, Ranger Creek, and Franconia, onto up and comers like Firewheel (Rowlett) and Community (Dallas), to just-out-of-the-womb 903 Brewery (Sherman). And to think next time we go, they will all be different (2016 update: And that has remained true to form). Maybe not different breweries of course, but different beers from those breweries (or others). That's exciting. As they state on their website: "All 14 of our handles are Texas craft beer and to keep it interesting, we’re constantly rotating brews. So stop in to see what we’re featuring this week."
But as I often say, even if you only drink iced tea, Jack Mac's will satisfy on a strictly culinary level. They have an ambitious menu, that goes far beyond sandwiches, chips, pizza, and burgers. They have all those things (even standard variations), plus much more. On this visit they were featuring llama burgers. I wasn't quite ready for that adventure, and stuck to a standard meat filled pizza - which was excellent, and featured some homemade chorizo (May 2016 update - I also really enjoy their Cubano Sandwich!). TGT went with The Mexican Burger which is, get this, two cheese enchiladas between a bun. Ooo, that sounds awfully heavy doesn't it? Anyway, their menu is filled with dozens of interesting looking items, that we will be certain to try on subsequent visits. This is the first place I've listed as a gastropub in the RJG (ed: Don't like that name anymore - going with Craft Tavern now!). The offerings are just too imaginative to call it strictly pub food. About a year ago, I dined at the Magnolia Brewery in San Francisco that was advertised as a Gastropub. Their offerings weren't any different in spirit than what is at Jack Mac's - just less of it.
Jack Mac's is exactly the type of place I wish we had in NE Tarrant. Certainly we've grown up in the last couple of years ourselves, and even have a Ginger Man now (May 2016 update - and more than that now... more to come on the RJG!). But Jack Mac's is in a different league altogether.
Fans of Hopdoddy in Dallas, that we featured awhile ago, should also give Jack Mac's a try!
Jack Mac's anchors a strip mall on Preston Rd in far north Dallas, south of the Bush Turnpike, and north of Frankford. Nice airy place, with a fine area to sit around the bar. Also darts in the back room!
7/4/13 (new entry); 10/26/16
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