Regular Joe's Guide

Looks like Mr. Music is back in his own graze land. And he's very enthusiastic about a local place up in the Lake Dallas area. Makes the RJG want to get in the cattle car and go north! --- I have been meaning to go to the newest taco spot in Corinth called Super Tortas #1. I finally made my way there and was glad I did! The owners, John and Lucinda were super friendly, big time food lovers and excited to talk about it! The shop is small and in an old shopping strip facing I-35­E on the Southbound access road; just before Swisher. The décor is nice and simple; the place is spotless! After looking at the menu for awhile and yakking to the owners, Lucinda suggested the Milanesa. Theirs is a fresh piece of beef that is pounded by hand until it is super flat and thin. It’s very lightly coated with a batter and deep fried?...oh no, they put just a little oil on the grill and cook it right there. It cooks nicely with just the right amount of crunch and keeps it from getting real ...

May 13, 2022 update: It appears the chain has completed retreated back to Florida. All other locations are closed. First visit: Aug 2015 (Hurst, Texas) A handful of these restaurants have popped up in the DFW area suddenly. We had a choice between this one in Hurst or Watauga, and it's a bit easier to go here. Let's check it out shall we? How many of you all been to El Pollo Loco? Or for a more known local option, El Pollo Regio? Pollo Tropical is the same concept, except instead of the cuisine of Mexico, you get the flavors of the Caribbean. Grilled chicken is the primary driver here, but pork loin, ribs, and beef are also available. All with a wonderful marinate made up of Caribbean spices. And the platters come with rice (white, brown, or yellow with veggies) and black beans. On our visit, the portions were more than plentiful. The rice was oh so slightly undercooked (maybe one more minute), but still enjoyable (better than overcooked!). The bottled spicy condiment that ...

Latest visit: Aug 2015 (Irving, Texas - closed)  First visit: Jul 2011 (Yuba City, CA) HQ: Sacramento, CA Locations: 28 - California: 25 (in and around Sacramento); Nevada: 3 (Reno area). The Yuba City location is still open. --- Well look at this, would ya? The RJG's only prior experience with Jimboy's Tacos was at their  Yuba City, California  (aka middle of nowhere) location about four years ago. Mrs. RJG and I were driving from the wine country (Windsor/Russian River) on our way to Lake Tahoe via a scenic route. I had originally picked out a delicatessen, but as we were driving through town, Mrs. RJG noticed Jimboy's, and the car beelined immediately over without me even steering it. So you can imagine our surprise when we found out that Jimboy's snuck into the DFW area without much fanfare (there's another location in Plano as well). Given their relative close proximity to the RJGs favorite craft beer store (Las Colinas Beverages - say hi to Nick!), Jimboy...

Here's something I've been meaning to promote here on the RJG, and I forgot about. This probably doesn't apply to the majority of you, but for a borracho like me, I find it very important . As a rule, we like to eat our lunch early (generally between 11:00 and 11:45), primarily because we've already run 3.5 miles and I don't feel like breakfast. Especially on Sunday's - and Mexican food is usually very high on our list of choices. Well Mr. RJG loves his frozen margaritas with his Mexican food, especially in the summer! Now comes the dilemma - will the restaurant actually serve me the drink without question before Noon on a Sunday? 95% of the time the answer is yes. And those 95% of the times, the restaurant is technically breaking the law. Not that I would ever tell... The TABC's website is incredibly vague on the topic. They say nothing more than "Sunday: Noon to midnight. (10am-noon only in conjunction with the service of food)" . Very we...

Mr. Music has been hanging out in Austin again, and sent this review in. I believe this is the first Indian restaurant we've ever featured in the RJG. ---   The Music clan is on the move again and down to Austin for a last getaway before school starts.  After a nice morning hike at the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve, our appetites were ready for a treat! Indian food was the consensus!  After doing some research, it looked like Bombay Bistro was a good choice with a recommended buffet. Mr. Music is usually drawn towards little hole-in-the-wall spots, but Bombay Bistro is an upscale eatery.  The eight of us (the Music's and another family, the Vespas we were vacationing with) piled in the already bustling place. The Bistro is a smallish place, but very nicely decorated.  The buffet was nestled in the back with a station for salads and condiments and the back wall lined with pans of North Indian goodies.  They served some of the usual suspe...

May 13, 2022 update: Looks like they closed the restaurant. Hard to believe as the place was always packed. I'm guessing they wanted to focus on their pizza chain that is still going strong. Last visit: Aug 2015 First visit: Nov 2008 When I wrote the review in 2008, that represented our first visit. Since then, I Fratelli has become my go to place for local business in the area. Since all of my DFW co-workers are based in the Plano-Richardson-Garland region, while I'm here in Northeast Tarrant - we needed a meeting place that is halfway. I Fratelli is about 30 minutes away for each of us. As well, the DFW airport location makes it ideal when we meet with partners, vendors, and clients. I Fratelli is absolutely perfect for business: It's local; popular; has a nice bar; easy to get to; plenty of parking; and most importantly - great food. Everyone from out of town asks if we can meet there again. Like many locals in the DFW area, we first discovered I Fratelli via one of ...

Well, folks, there's been major changes since I wrote my scathing review of the restaurant website two months ago. What I would have never imagined to happen in my lifetime, I actually received an emailed letter from Zomato and an invitation to speak with them. It did not occur because of my review above, nor because of any supposed status I may have had (or not had) at Urbanspoon. It happened because while I was testing their "spoonback" feed that Urbanspoon used so successfully, it appeared to not work (like everything else it seemed to me by that time). I figured maybe I lost my status as a blogger, so I reapplied (it turns out I was still listed as a blogger). That's when a note showed up in my e-mail box from a one Alyssa, who is what they call a "Community Director", and she has DFW as her domain. She offered to speak with me by phone, or even meet for coffee. So I setup a conference call last week, and we chatted for about an hour about Zomato. She w...

I Fratelli now has 22 locations, mostly still in DFW with an additional 3 in Austin and 1 in Houston. Latest visit: Aug 2015 (Keller) First visit: Jan 2006 (Southlake) We've previously written about the  i Fratelli restaurant over in Irving / Las Colinas, and it's a favorite of the RJG household, as well as my business partners. But I haven't discussed the pizza outlets yet, which are exclusively take-out. I'd been to the Southlake location a few times since they opened, but I think the last visit was before I had this blog - or close to it. Now they have one in Keller in the same shopping center with Funky Baja's (next door actually) and Mo'Fish. In fact, I think this was a Little Caeser's prior that didn't make the grade. Anyway, that's good news for the RJG since his official Mom lives in some apartments nearby and she's somewhat of a pizza fanatic. So we did something the other night that I imagine will be habit forming: Show up to Mom...