Regular Joe's Guide

Latest visit: Dec 2014 First visit: Dec 2012 fka Il Calabrese and also Patrizio Osteria. Il Calabrese is no longer part of Patrizio's in Dallas. OK, where were we? I thought I was going to have a slow week at work, but I should have known better. Now I think it's going to slow down. So let's get back to that RJG Restaurant Week, shall we? In my European backpacking days 20+ years ago, I quickly learned that Osteria is Italian for "beyond my budget". I find it interesting to read that the term obviously has evolved, since technically it should be just the opposite: A small place with locally grown ingredients carefully cooked to order. And apparently Highland Park based Patrizio agrees with my personal assessment. In fact, this place could be called Patrizio's Ostentation. For anyone who commutes up and down 114 in these parts of NE Tarrant, you no doubt saw the palatial villa going up near the Southlake Town Square. There was a tremendous amount o...

Latest visit: Nov 2014 (Southlake - closed) First visit: Sep 2014 (Southlake - closed) Looks like the Southlake location is gone, but they still exist in far north Fort Worth and The Colony. The former would have been our NE Tarrant primary location. Like Arezzo, another somewhat-new concept arrived in Southlake this summer that we're quite fond of. We first tried Frezko back in late September, and it's a place we've gone to a couple of more times since. Food: Frezko is definitely a traditional taqueria in the sense that it uses only fresh ingredients, and keeps things simple with a small menu of primary tacos and burritos and there are no alcoholic beverages. You choose a protein (steak, chicken, pork (carnitas)), toppings (onions, cilantro, cheese, lettuce, tomato, etc..), and that's about it. As mentioned, the food is freshly prepared, and the steak and chicken have a wonderful charbroiled taste (asada). The tortillas are fresh. Of course, no taqueria worth...

Last visit: Oct 2014 First visit: undocumented If I were to name a restaurant - or perhaps a concept - I'm most excited about, it would have to be Arezzo. They describe themselves as "Italian Street Food", and I think that's an apt portrayal of exactly who they are. Named after a beautiful city in Tuscany, Arezzo tries to emulate the village experience as best as possible for the modern upscale automobile culture we live in. On the few visits I've been, the restaurant has been fairly empty. I hope this is a concept that doesn't fly by without notice. Definitely give it a shot and report back. The price is right, and the food is great. One of these days, I'll have to try something else, but it's really hard for me not to have a big ol' heapin' bowl of pasta. Especially on cold weather days. Food: Somewhere between Fazoli's, any pizza-pasta shop, and a modern Italian cafe, is where you'll find the food of Arezzo. It's setup...

Time to blow the cobwebs of this blog, and let's see if we can get the engine cranked again! The holidays are coming, which should give me much more time, and I have a raftful of information for everyone. Which would make sense, since my last post was in January (Mr. Music had one in August for us). But we didn't stop eating out! OK - speaking of Mr. Music, he has once again given us a new review to see if this blog still works. Take it away Mr. Music! --- Mr and Mrs Music have resided in the Denton area for over 10 years and have been dreaming for a really good Vietnamese restaurant. A few places have come and gone, but none have really been that great. Recently, I was in Corinth and happened to drive by a place that used to hold a takeout Chinese food spot and noticed a new sign, Asian Star. What really got my attention is that when I got closer, I noticed pictures of Pho and Goi Cuon (Spring Rolls) on the window! And although the big sign just says Asian Star, on t...

Latest visit: Oct 2014 (Southlake, Texas) First visit: Feb 2003 (Mickey Mantle's - Oklahoma City) Apr 11, 2022 update: Kirby's continues to operate 5 locations including Mickey Mantle's in Oklahoma City. Like many local restaurants, Kirby's got its start as a neighborhood steakhouse, a place to meet friends for a casual meal. Kirby's was an institution in the Lower Greenville district of Dallas, and lasted from 1954 to 1987, when the owner decided to retire and close up shop. Though my parents and I would occasionally head down to Lower Greenville for Italian food throughout the 1970s, we never once stepped foot in Kirby's (Dad was a big fan of the Steak and Ale near Bachman Lake), though I remember driving by it each time. So it seemed yet another classic place from DFW that was dead, gone and buried. Except 6 years later, in 1993, a group of neighbors decided to go into business together and reopen the landmark. This time as a "high end" steakhous...

Apr 11, 2022 update: Palio's is now up to 38 locations, which is down from 45 a year ago. But still a long way from their humble beginnings when we first covered them (one of our very first posts!). Both locations that we mentioned below are still operating. Latest visit: Oct 2014 (Keller, Texas) First visit: Mar 2008 (Colleyville, Texas) --- It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and me and the Misses were in the mood for a little pizza, mainly of the individual variety. I first stumbled onto Palio's at their Coppell location, but we didn't eat there always promising to come back someday. Palio's is a mini DFW local chain, primarily based in the far northern Dallas suburbs. We discussed Colleyville and Hwy 26 in the Bellisimo thread, and Palio's is just down the road in one of the more fancy buildings, designed in the faux-old style that's so prevalent in these parts. In fact, these guys have the FAUX idea down, as they managed to cram as many 1920s to 1950s era ...

Last visit: Aug 2014 (Southlake - closed) First visit: Nov 2006 (Las Colinas - closed) Last location closed in Jan 2024. It feels kind of funny to label Taco Diner as a "taqueria", as this is about as far away as possible to the classic little humble street vendor as you can get. But essentially Taco Diner is in fact a taqueria. A high end, upscale taco truck. With chairs... and frozen margaritas. The diners' themselves are laid out in the classic 60's Googie architecture style mixed with a tres hip late 90s ambiance. So if you feel so compelled, wander in alone with a newspaper tucked under your arm and instead of waffles, order up a taco la parilla... and a frozen margarita. Speaking of which, actually don't order a frozen margarita. They're average at best, and at $8 for a small glass, a ripoff to boot. And there ends my complaints about Taco Diner. Because the food is quite good, and perhaps a bit surprising given the relative blandness of their flags...

Latest visit: Aug 2014 First visit: Mar 2005 I had originally posted about Tex's in a longer Burger update, but it really should have its own write-up. And since that time, Tex's has really played up their Chicago roots - adding many more regional delicacies such as beef and sausage sandwiches, Vienna hot dogs and "Polishes". With that has come a "sub-name" as it were: Tex's Chicago Connection. The RJG, along with many others I'm sure, had called out some confusion about the original name. And the owner wrote in to tell me that he knew he missed out on the name game. Tex's is run by a very conscientious owner, and there's a reason why he's ranked # 4 in ALL of DFW. As for my own designations, you'll see I put Chicago Deli and Greek Diner. Well it's not really a diner, since you do order up at the counter and they even have a drive-through. But the food is very much like the Greek diners found throughout the Midwest. And on this ...

Hi everyone! We're back from an extended break, and hope to update the blog and catch up soon. In the meantime, Mr. Music just sent this one in to get us rolling again. --- The Music's spent the day in Granbury over the weekend.   With a herd of 10+, a round at the local disc golf course, a stop at Revolver Brewery (another great experience in itself) and then some lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. What else could one want in life? El Gallo de Oro is a cute little place right off the Brazos River.   It is a small, free standing building serving authentic Mexican dishes.   They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. I was originally attracted to it by the name - recalling one of my long gone favorite little places in Dallas on Maple just off Wycliffe owned by a couple from Guatemala.   No relation, but the food here is great.   They serve a wide variety of dishes including enchiladas, quesadillas and street tacos!   Nothing else needed to be said, whe...

Irving has closed. They are still open in McKinney. Latest visit: Jul 2014 First visit: Dec 2012 The RJG has been on an artisan pizza craze of late. We've written about some of them like the declining Campania , the always excellent Coal Vines , and the super INZO . We have a couple of others to talk about, but since we're on the RJG Restaurant week, here was our next lunch, with Mrs. RJG back in the fold after a day of deliberatin' . Cavalli's is proud to claim that they are the first pizza place in DFW to be certified by the Verace Pizza Napoletana association . Campania also once held that designation, but have since fallen off this most sacred of pizza organizations. The RJG suspects they didn't want to pay the annual fees rather than being removed due to close inspection and a failed audit. All the same, Cavalli feels it's important to be certified by the VPN, and so we'll leave it at that. For what it's worth, the only other DFW pizzeria to o...

Keller is now closed. Not sure there's a location I've been to that's still open. Latest visit: Jun 2014 (Keller, TX - closed) First visit: 1979 (Dallas - N. Inwood Rd. - closed) Locations (as of May 2022): According to Wikipedia as of 2019 there are 150 restaurants in 6 southern states, and I'm sure the majority of them reside in Texas. They made a go at the Colorado market, but pulled out just before we moved back. In fact there were signs up for two northern Colorado Springs locations when we first moved here in 2018. --- You just knew I was going to cover Taco Bueno didn't ya? I feel somewhat obligated to, even though it may seem to folks here in DFW that the chain is as ubiquitous as McDonalds. In reality, it's actually a localized regional chain that continues to outwardly expand. In that way, it's somewhat like Whataburger - a place you might take for granted because it's always there. Leave the Southwest part of the United States however, a...

As of 11/29/24, Texadelphia has 7 locations (6 in TX + 1 in OK). Las Colinas is closed. Latest visit: Jun 2014 (Las Colinas - closed) First visit: Aug 2004 (Las Colinas - closed) Everything you need to know about Texadelphia can be derived from the name itself. As a base, they put forth the Philly cheesesteak concept, but with a Texas infused twist. They start with the soft hoagie roll and finely chopped and seasoned beef, just as in Philadelphia, but you also get chips and salsa on the side. And a host of toppings like BBQ sauce and Mustard Blend. No cheeze whiz or even provolone, but rather mozzarella is used. The salsa reminds me of Pace, so nothing special, but a nice accompaniment all the same. So as you can see, it's not "authentic", and that's just the point. That's why they refer to themselves as a "Texas Cheesesteak". And the RJG will always reward a new fast food concept. We first started going to Texadelphia when the RJG started to work ...

Closed: Jun 2023 Latest visit: Apr 2014 First visit: Nov 2008 The beer revolution continues here in DFW, and the whole Baja "chain" has gone all in for local craft brews. Hooray, hooray! Mr. Music and I visited Peace Burger this past weekend, and now I can say they really will be part of a "burger rotation". We each tried a local-to-Texas beer - I had the Peticolas Royal Scoundrel, while he had the Real Ale "Devil's Backbone" (which I've had in the bottle but not on tap). Like their Funky Baja's location in Keller, they feature gigantic $5 "Freaking" Burgers. Mr. Music had the Hell Burger and I tried their chili cheese dog, which is about the biggest one I've ever had. Sloppy goodness. This chain has evolved so much, I'm not even sure how much of the below is worthwhile to read. I've struck out items that are no longer true The below review represented the RJG's first visit. And now some 3 years later, we have gone b...

Latest visit: Apr 2014 First visit: Apr 2010 When the RJG first wrote the below review, we also added the restaurant to Urbanspoon and was its first rater. A year and a half later, 207 votes are in, with a 90% approval rating. That's pretty amazing when you consider how remote My New York Pizza really is. It's definitely a neighborhood pizza place. On the downside, of the 10% that don't like it, some have left vicious reviews. I think folks need to take it easy when they're negative. There's some bad karma out there and it usually comes back in the same manner. Be careful out there. Try to be kind even when things don't go your way. One other note, the guy who runs My New York Pizza is a bit quirky (and very nice). Sometimes he opens at a 11, sometimes not until 12. So to avoid disappointment, I'd suggest not going here for an early lunch. --- In Part 1 of our pizza overview , we discussed the New York pizza phenomenon, and my own personal history with...

Latest visit: Mar 2014 First visit: Aug 2013 Saturday was a day of music, beer, and dining with Mr. Music and family. After absorbing a few vinyl albums, Mr. Music and I plotted our lunch and afternoon activity. We decided to go to Taqueria Guanajuato for some tacos, followed by a stop at Oak St. Drafthouse for a local craft beer or three (more on that in another post), and then we'd stop by The Taco Lady for some more tacos. And then off to hit Denton's record stores, and perhaps another bar or two. Back to Casa Mr. Music for tunes, and then to dinner with the whole Mr. Music brood (which turned out to be Dough in North Dallas. I'm not ready to write about it though. Need another visit). That was the plan anyway, and for the most part we stuck to it. I'm not going to write about The Taco Lady. It was definitely good, and I gave it a thumbs up on Urbanspoon, but we weren't wowed. But we were both absolutely floored by how good the upstart Taqueria Guanajuato is. T...

Latest visit: Feb 2014 First visit: 2003 These photos are from the old Cero ' s Heros, but as noted below, the quality has remained the same. On my last visit, I had the Italian with the spicy mixture. Grapevine Subs exclusively uses Boars Head meats. Now to me, a sandwich is only as good as the toppings and the bread. Anyone can put Boars Head meat between two slices of bread. And here's where Grapevine Subs exceeds. The soft chewy French Roll and the spicy mixture are very good, adding the right amount of tartness to the sandwich. Apr 2011 update: Cero's Heros is now called Grapevine Subs and More. It's the RJG's opinion that the sandwich is pretty similar to before, though not quite as large and messy. One reviewer on Urbanspoon has already expressed their disappointment (though they hadn't tried the original to be fair). We still give it a thumbs up! --- Original review Since we're on a roll (so to speak) with Grapevine destinations, I t...

Latest visit: Feb 2014 First visit: Feb 2013 As I write this, The Burger and Philly Shack has a phenomenal 98% approval rating on Urbanspoon, with close to 215 votes. That is incredible. And why is that? Because The Burger and Philly Shack has some of the best burgers in town. In fact, this may be the best in all of NE Tarrant, and that's saying something considering the competition. The flavor of the meat is outstanding, and it seems they use a higher grade of beef than most. A high quality bun holds it all together, and they cut it in half to make consumption an easy task. The fries are thick cut, and delicious. I haven't tried their Philly yet on my two visits, but next time I will. Word on the street says their Philly's are excellent. Mrs. RJG wants to try the burger, so that will be my chance. The owner of the place is a sharp witted wisecracker, who is a whole lot of fun to rap with. And I've seen him do nice gestures such as offer delivery truck drivers a fr...

As of 11/29/24, Bottlecap Alley is located in: Grapevine, Cross Roads, and Nacogdoches. Latest visit: Feb 2014 (Keller - closed) First visit: Feb 2012 (Keller - closed) Here's the second in our series of Keller-goes-bar-and-burgers. Bottlecap Alley originally started in Grapevine, in a former Sonic location (a rare indoor locale, not one of their familiar drive-ins). I like to stock up on microbrews at the World Market store in Grapevine, which is in the same shopping center, so I've passed it many times. But I never did stop by for lunch or dinner. Apparently they've been successful, as they've now opened up a second location in downtown Keller. The way it works at Bottlecap is once you enter, you are instructed to fill out some paperwork. Remember that term "paperwork"? Who does that anymore right? Everything is online. I bought some Forever stamps a few years ago, and I still have almost all of them. I'm sure the post office will be long out...

In what makes absolutely no sense, Lee's Grilled Cheese is no longer open. I couldn't find any free articles to read, but I have to expect either overexpansion or owner's unwillingness to continue on as the factors. Because for the location, they were making money hand over first. Or they should have been... Last visit: Jan 2014 First visit: Feb 2013 --- We went for lunch on a Monday and the place had a line to the door, and almost no tables available. These guys are clearly onto something here. Investors should be lining up to expand their concept. We tried the mac n cheese as well, and it's delicious. Reminds me of my Dad's old recipe. --- Original review When the RJG was 6 years old, grilled cheese sandwiches were my favorite meal. The RJG's Mom had one of those old 1960s metal toasters, with a tray on the bottom to make things like grilled cheese. Often the sandwich would be served along with a bowl Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup. Now that was a lu...

Apr 7, 2022 update: The chain is now completely out of business, with their last Dallas area location closing down in 2019. Last visit: Jan 2014 (Fort Worth) First visit: Sometime in 2003 (Southlake) Dec 30, 2017 update: In addition to the Southlake location closing, as mentioned below, the Fort Worth Alliance location has closed as well. We have been to the Las Colinas location once many years ago, and it's still open. We'll update this post once we've revisited another locale, but they are no longer in Northeast Tarrant unfortunately. And after two closings, it's not likely we'll see them anytime soon. They still have 3 restaurants in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Plano. We've covered Baker Bros prior with their Southlake location, that we predicted would close due to the cost of the surroundings. And indeed it came to pass. It also seems that their plans to go national have been derailed, and they shuttered all their stores outside of Texas. However, they now seem ...

Latest visit: Aug 2023 First visit: sometime in the summer of 2009 This is the last of my entries from the pandemic year of 2020. I hadn't been since January of that year, before we knew that our lives would be turned upside down. What hasn't changed is Las Caras itself. Everything is exactly as I remembered. The spicy salsa, the yummy marinated grilled chicken, and the excellent green chile. No more beer for me at lunch time these days, but I didn't deviate from the norm otherwise. I'm not in this part of Denver much anymore, but I'm glad I made the effort. One of the best Mexican restaurants in Colorado. ---original 1/15/14 review So we continue our trek through the Denver restaurant landscape. We first discovered Las Caras in our summer townhome phase of Denver living (2009-2011). Las Caras was conveniently close to our place in SE Denver, and since I worked from home, it made the perfect lunch stop for Mrs. RJG and I during the week. Las Caras means "The Fa...

And here's the final entry from Mr. Music's last batch of reviews. I'm not familiar with Samui, which I could say about almost all restaurants in Plano, but it appears to be a popular place according to Urbanspoon. --- My boss suggested we come to Samui Thai for lunch last Friday. I had been once before and just didn’t remember loving it, although several of my co-workers speak highly of it. I was looking forward to another visit. Samui is a nice Thai place in the Shops of Legacy. The lunch menu was reasonably priced and had all the dishes I know and love - Thai food is one of my favorite types of food. I noticed they had Lad Na, which a Thai friend of mine told me was a good sign as it is a favorite dish at home. I actually opted for the Spicy Basil Chicken and my boss and co-worked each had a fried rice dish. We could add soup or a spring roll for $1 so of course I went for the Tom Kha Gai. The bowl was a good size for a side and the soup was great. Chicken bro...

Many of you will remember that the RJG had visited 3 Parrots Taco Shop almost exactly a year ago. We had gone to the Beach Street location. In the latest batch of reviews from Mr. Music, he'd apparently gone to the Benbrook location after some disc golf. So I'll create a new post here, and we can compare notes to our own experience. And it appears he drew a similar conclusion regarding Fuzzy's. As you can see from the link above, we haven't returned, and I don't think that we will unless I hear of significant changes. --- Mrs. Music and I were in West Ft. Worth with some friends for some serious disc golf at Z-Boaz Park. After a grueling 3 hour round, we were ready for some chow! One of our friends surfed up Three Parrots and since it was very close, we decided to check it out. I’d never heard of it and didn’t have time to look it up so I was excited to go in blind. Ryo was excited to see they had schooners of beer for $3, but if craft been is your preference...

The below review was for the location in Fort Worth. It's now gone - but they maintain 3 locations in Dallas. --- Not only is the RJG back in the saddle, but Mr. Music has suddenly reappeared as well with a fresh set of local reviews. Revolver Taco Lounge is a place that has received an enormous amount of press, but we have yet to wander over and try it. Let's see what Mr. Music thinks... --- The Musics' were in Ft. Worth on Saturday and decided to check out some local tacos. A good friend mentioned he’d seen a place called Revolver Taco Lounge and had been meaning to check it out.   I saw some good reviews and thought it was worth a shot.   The restaurant is very small with nice décor and the white table cloths help make it seem upscale.   The menu is packed with very interesting items such as mole, ceviche, birria and several yummy looking tacos. Mrs. Music wanted to splurge a little and ordered the Langosta tacos which are made with a half-pound of lobster meat. I ...

First visit: Jan 2014 So we start the new year not with a revisit, but rather a new entry altogether. TPR Burger was getting some buzz in the local media marketplace, and since it's here in NE Tarrant, I felt I better get over there and report back. TPR, as you can discern from the photo above, stands for Texas Patty Real. In speaking with the owner, the acronym was born when the cost to replace the sign above the restaurant was too expensive to put the whole name there. Once again it proves the old axiom: Necessity is the mother of all invention. When I first walked in, I was expecting to see an order counter, and since no one greeted me, I wandered around aimlessly for a couple of minutes. It was clear after awhile, that it's a sit down restaurant, and I was greeted warmly by the owner and she escorted me to my table. I'm guessing they are short on help at this point. Since this is my first visit, I decided to stick with the basics and go with a cheeseburger, and that...

Happy New Year everyone! Hopefully 2014 brings happiness to all. Especially to our taste buds. And on that note, let's do a quick 2013 in review. We had our most productive year on the RJG to date. Not bad for a silly little project that started almost 6 years ago. I was able to stick with it all year, even though we didn't have new entries for a few months towards the end. But I kept the updates fresh, as evidenced by the 66 updates (see 2013 Update label to your right). That is in addition to the 78 new entries we added. I will leave that label alone, and we'll create a new 2014 Update category for all 2014 updates to entries prior to today. I'll be curious how they compare. Many of the principle's of the RJG are still intact, and I don't see them changing anytime soon. Amongst those 1) We are not professional food writers and do not want to be. While that should be painfully obvious after reading only one entry, it's worth noting that we do this s...