Lawry's The Prime Rib ~ regional chain : Dallas, Texas

Latest visit: Dec 2013 (Dallas)

First visit: Jun 1982 (Dallas - old Maple Ave. locale)

Barring any surprise discovery, this should be the final restaurant post for 2013. I plan on doing a summary of the year tomorrow or Tuesday if possible.

For those who've been following the RJG, you'll know that Lawry's is not our typical fare (witness yesterday's My Lan entry). But my parents had some history with this restaurant, and because of that, here we are dining elegantly. So what is that history? For a brief time, from 1966 to 1967, when the RJG was just a toddler, we lived in the Los Angeles area, before relocating to Dallas. My father, who was in sales, had been transferred from New York City to LA. For their 5th wedding anniversary in 1966, they had a splurge meal at the Five Crowns, which I believe had only been open a year at that point. While they were enjoying themselves immensely, most assuredly I was eating Gerbers or some such crap and spitting it up on the babysitter. Anyway... My old man loved prime rib more than anything else, and he had fond memories of that night for years to come. I would usually hear about the experience when we had one of their dressings on the kitchen table (remember Canadian Bacon dressing?), or when we pulled out the Seasoned Salt or Seasoned Pepper to bury the cottage cheese (it is the only way to make it palatable - that stuff is gross). To this day, the RJG household uses those seasonings on a regular basis. I love them.

That's the ancient history. The more recent history is, of course, when they opened their location on Maple Avenue in 1982. My parents were hell bent on a revisit, and since I was in high school then, I got to join them (after eating the Gerber's. Oh wait...). It was indeed excellent, as they had said. Formal (jeez, I even had to wear a tie), but very nice. In 1986, I sent them off in a limo (paid for on my paltry college budget no less) as they went there to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. And in 1988 I took them there, again for their anniversary, as the RJG actually had a paying job and could afford the dinner! My folks loved that place. I enjoyed it of course, but I'm not a fine dining nut. And I'm not sure the food is worth the premium. But, hey, whatever... if they liked it, why not indulge them? That was the RJG's last visit to Lawry's. Until...

...until December, 2013 - 25 years later. Now it's the official RJG's Mom's 75th birthday. Dad is sadly gone over a decade now, and we were discussing where she would like to have her celebratory dinner. She wanted one last visit to Lawry's. They've since moved to Far North Dallas off the Tollway, which makes sense, since Lawry's remains a "power lunch" kind of destination. The place is a time warp, and it's like stepping back in time to a formal dining establishment 40 years ago. It's very British in that aristocratic sort of way. Even though Mom was celebrating her 75th, she might as well have been in the Youth Group this night. It's actually nice to see folks in their 80s and 90s get out like this, without needing much help (or any). Hopefully I'll be so fit at that point. Mrs. RJG and the official Mother-in-Law Chula were in attendance as well to celebrate. Mom had one of her traditional "call drink" martini's, and Mrs. RJG and I settled on a couple of craft beers. After having a couple of salads, it was only Mom that went for the signature prime rib (Queen's cut of course), while the rest of us went for variations of fish. Chula and I had the Sea Bass, while Mrs. RJG had the fried red snapper. The Sea Bass was truly excellent, as were the potatoes. I seemed to enjoy the red snapper more than the wife, but she said it was pretty good. They also had a side of mushrooms, which all agreed to be excellent.

During the Christmas season, they have Victorian era Carolers wandering about - though unfortunately they were singing whatever people wanted to hear. Such as those Dickens era classics "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Jingle Bells" (ugh, really?). Mom picked out something more appropriate. Good thing, as I wouldn't have a clue what to ask for.

Well, anyway, Lawry's is a snapshot in time. I doubt we'll ever go back, unless one of my business partners insists on it. It's very good. It's very expensive. And on both points, they always have been.

6/10/82; 6/10/88; 3/18/95; 12/29/13 (new entry)

My Lan ~ Haltom City, Texas

First visit: Dec 2013

You may have noticed that we haven't featured any Vietnamese restaurants in the RJG yet (though Mr. Music did one a few months ago). We rarely eat Vietnamese is the obvious reason. And to be honest, we haven't been motivated to do such, and tend to spend our Asian food dollars on the excellent local Thai restaurants almost exclusively, with an occasional Chinese take-out meal. Strange then when you realize that Mrs. RJG and I, when we were dating love birds in 1996, spent most of our dinner time at one Vietnamese restaurant in Denver. That would be Kim Ba, and it remains, perhaps not surprisingly, our favorite Vietnamese restaurant in the country. We were regular visitors until 2003 when we relocated to NE Tarrant. (And I hope to write about it on the RJG at some point). So when we arrived here, we asked about local Vietnamese food, and were promptly pointed to Haltom City. We tried a couple of the noodle houses from there, and they were definitely good, and perhaps one day we will revisit those places (that are remaining nameless for now) and do a quick writeup. But for whatever reason, we just stopped. We couldn't see ourselves going any further south in Haltom City than Bangkok Cuisine - and we are regulars at that fine Thai restaurant to this day. We've had a couple of Vietnamese restaurants up here in Southlake and Keller, but they either went out of business or they're just not that good.

Earlier this year we had an excellent bowl of pho while in Santa Fe, New Mexico - and that prompted Mrs. RJG to suggest that perhaps we get back down to Haltom City and soon. And finally that moment arrived on a recent Sunday. Mrs. RJG suggested I put away NFL Red Zone for the final half of the second games (sacrilege!) and go for some Vietnamese food. And shoot, the Cowboys had the game in hand. I mean it was 26-3 over Green Bay at home. Surely even they won't screw this up. Ah, the memories.... Anyway I agreed to it. So I went over to Urbanspoon to see what they said was the highest rated Vietnamese restaurant in Haltom City. And up popped My Lan. That wasn't one we'd been to before, and so we pointed the cattle mobile south and off we went. 121 to Beach, head west past Belknap, right turn in the first shopping center, and we're there. We recognize this center for Thai Belknap (an OK Thai place, but there's much better) and Pho Bella, the latter which might be closed now.

Like many Vietnamese restaurants, the inside decor is non-existent. It's like eating inside a gas station convenience store with poor lighting and old booths. Service is just there - meaning when they have time to get to you, they will. Otherwise you wait, and don't complain. My Lan serves the local Vietnamese immigrant community, and they are all about great food and reasonable prices. The Dining Experience is not high on their list of priorities. OK with us! Mrs. RJG and I were joined by my official Mother-in-Law known in these pages as Chula. I had a bowl of Meatball soup, Mrs RJG had the grilled beef on vermicelli, and Chula had the Lemongrass chicken. My bowl was huge, with an excellent broth filled with cilantro and chives. The meatballs were firm and tasty. Mrs. RJG's grilled beef was superb, with wonderful charbroiled tastes. And I quite liked the lemongrass chicken sample I tried, which had a nice zip to it.

Maybe we'll try another Vietnamese restaurant in Haltom City, but we don't need to. My Lan is excellent, and truly all we could want for the style (beyond perhaps a nicer restaurant recalling our beloved Kim Ba in Denver). Need a suggestion for Vietnamese? Give My Lan a shot. Just come with an appetite and no expectations of fine dining.

Note: Closed on Wednesday's.

12/28/13 (new entry)

Apeizza e Vino ~ Southlake, Texas ***CLOSED***

Last visit: Jan 2014

First visit: Dec 2013

For the second new restaurant that the RJG tried, after a lengthy cold spell, I had awaited a visit from Mr. Music - a true connoisseur of the Napoletana pizza tradition - to try NE Tarrant's latest coal oven venture. With Campania (Southlake) going completely down the tubes (our last visit was not good, and it seemed to be on its last legs), and INZO (Roanoke) starting to mail it in, there is definitely room for a new pizza place in Northeast Tarrant with a 900 degree oven. Grimaldi's (Grapevine) pretty much owns this market as far as the RJG is concerned (and Coal Vines (Southlake) which is slightly different in my mind). But there's a new sheriff in town! Let me introduce to you all Apeizza e Vino, the second location for the burgeoning Denver based chain. Lafayette is east of Boulder, and it's quite ironic that one of our favorite coal oven pizza places in the Denver area is a small chain called Proto's. And the location we tried was in Lafayette! But I never knew about Apeizza e Vino (with only two votes on Urbanspoon, I have to think it's new there too).

The name is literal, and the restaurant primarily focuses on their pizza and a healthy wine list. A limited scope is always a welcome idea to the RJG, as we know then that they are focused (or should be anyway) on their core product. Beers are fairly basic, and they also have salads and appetizers.  We split a salad, and each went with a pizza. The salad was excellent (and quite large, similar to Grimaldi's in that way). I tried the basic Margherita pizza with added homemade Italian sausage and Mr. Music had the Salsiccia e Funghi (Sausage and Mushroom). We were both more than pleased with the pizza texture and sauce. The Italian sausage is truly divine, and not the "off the truck" variety. In speaking with the owner's wife, she stated that if you want it crispier (the way Mrs. RJG likes it) - then it's just a matter of oven placement. The pizzas are bigger than individual size (except for teenagers on the football team of course), so be prepared to take some home. We thought the prices were reasonable, so the overall value is quite good. As an aside, the oven was handmade in Italy and shipped here, and it has the owner's named spelled out in the tile (Debastiani).

12/27/13 (new entry); 1/11/14

Campania Pizza ~ Southlake, Texas ***CLOSED***

Last visit: Dec 2013

First visit: Jan 2009

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Jun 2016 update: Looks like a fire destroyed their kitchen, and the restaurant decided to call it a day. They had gone downhill for some time in our estimation. They were a pioneer in Northeast Tarrant for this kind of pizza though, and they should be commended for that at the very list.

Since I wrote the below, it appears Campania have lost their Vera Pizza Napoletana certification. Whether that's due to an authentic lack of consistently meeting standards, or Campania just didn't want to pay the fees, is anyone's guess. The RJG thinks certifications in the business world are nothing more than a racket, so it doesn't matter to me one way or the other. But worth mentioning all the same. On our last visit, I felt the pizza was slightly undercooked, and this is the second disappointing visit in a row for me. I'm concerned it's "not the same as it used to be." Mrs RJG had the penne arrabiata and the sauce was very good - and spicy as it should be.

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Sometime back in the late 1980s, when the RJG first began to backpack through Europe, one of the great pleasures in life was to devour an individual Italian style pizza. Not to mention that it was very affordable for a budget-conscious backpacker, usually costing no more than $5 even in the most expensive places like Sweden or Norway. These were not the big sloppy gooey cheese creations, like at home, but rather a more simplistic, but no less delicious, pizza pie. And like most Americans, I didn't know pizza was meant to be eaten with a knife and fork.

While in the 1980s this kind of pizza might have seemed a novelty, today it is more accepted. Whether it's due to the fact that many Americans have now traveled through Europe, or just the notion that we should be eating things more "authentic", is anybody's guess. No matter, as we're all fortunate to at least have the opportunity.

The Southlake location of Campania's is one of 26 pizzeria's in America to be certified by the Vera Pizza Napoletana, an organization committed to "producing authentic Neapolitan style pizza according to the guidelines of the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association based in Naples, Italy."

We've been to the Southlake location multiple times now, and each time the memories of Europe raced through my mind. The thin crust is durable and slightly chewy but not crispy. The ingredients are all top notch. I still get a kick out of ordering the salami pizza, with the huge round slabs covering the pie.

Also recommended is the salad, once again a simple variety, as you'll find in Europe. Fresh greens with a vinaigrette dressing that I could eat all day.

They also have pasta, which we haven't tried, though I'd expect nothing but the best. Probably a drier version than what we're used to here, if authenticity continues to hold court.

There's a tendency amongst food reviewers to state that places like Campania are "much better" because they are "more authentic". Phooey I say. I'm proud of the "Italian American" style and consider it almost an entirely different food from what you'll typically find in a Tuscan village or a major metropolis like Rome. For me, they're both wonderful, and I'm glad we have the options to eat at both here in America.

The original is was in Dallas in the Uptown/West Village section, though we've only ever been to the Southlake location. To get here, go to the Southlake Town Square and park by the East garage. You'll see it directly across from the garage.

1/28/09 (new entry); 12/11/13