Main Street Cafe ~ Keller, Texas ***CLOSED***

Last visit: Jun 2016

First visit: Jun 2015

We've been a few times over to Main Street Cafe, including very recently. A consistently good place, though the non-distinctive name and location keeps it out of the memory bank when thinking about places to dine. Of course, it tries to replicates the main street town diners of old, but that's hard to do without a grill that's been cooked on for 70 years...

Breakfast is the main draw, but they also serve lunch and dinner every day (except dinner on Sunday and Monday). We would categorize their breakfast as a "cut above" the ordinary places such as Denny's or IHOP. In the past, the RJG frequently questioned the variation for breakfast, as eggs and pancakes are often too similar to differentiate. But with the advent of skillets, creative omelettes, and artisan breads/meats, breakfast has become much more interesting in modern times. While we've yet to discover a standout dish, we've been more than satisfied with their breakfast offerings to date (omelettes, bacon & eggs, pancakes). We'd say that Main Street fits smack in the middle of the continuum from Snooty Pig to Old West Cafe in Grapevine (RJG feature coming soon!). We've also tried their lunch, and I found their cheeseburger to be quite excellent, giving stiff competition to the specialty houses in the area. Excellent hand cut fries as well. I'm most curious about their dinner offerings, as it has a distinct Italian slant. That will be our next venture.

Drink: Good coffee, and the usual juices. Since they are a lunch/dinner place, they do have a full bar as well. They used to carry Shannon, but we were informed recently that their customer base aren't really into craft beers, so they only have Bud Light, Michelob Ultra, that kind of thing. I'll be damned if I'll drink a Bud Light at this stage. We just get water (same thing, isn't it? haha).

Location: Even further south of Maria Cuca's on the strip of shops between the railroad and US 377 near downtown Keller. Its first tenant was Cedar Creek Seafood, and you can still see remnants of their original decoration, even though Main Street has been here since 2009. It's a spacious, bright and welcoming place.

Rating: 3.5. Reliably good breakfast and lunch, though not exceptional, and as such we are very infrequent patrons. Still curious about their dinner offerings.  Could go up from here.

6/11/15; 6/27/16 (new entry)

Wise Guys Pizza ~ Grapevine, Texas

Looks like they've added a location in Roanoke as well. This appears to be independent of the restaurants in California, so I'll leave as is. Interesting that I went in a 2 week time span, and never returned. Huh.

Latest visit: Jun 2016

First visit: Jun 2016

THIS... this is what I've been talking about in regards to artisan pizza and craft beers. The craze that is taking hold in America is reflected quite well here at Wise Guys. Though the pizza isn't really in the same category as Grimaldi's or Spin!, it's still a fine blend of well made pizzas and a superb local beer selection. Mrs. RJG and I had visited two weeks ago, and when Mr. Music and I planned a day of food, drink, and tunes, I decided this would be the perfect lunch location. Following that, I would enter it here into the blog.

Pizza is the main draw,  but they also have a fine selection of pastas, sandwiches, salads, and soups. We've only sampled the pizza so far, but based on the sauce that comes with the baked pizza dough balls (served pre-meal like chips at a Mexican restaurant), I am most excited to try their pasta. Mrs. RJG and I tried one of their Neapolitan pies with Italian sausage and fresh basil. The crust is a bit thicker than Grimaldi's for example, and it doesn't really seem like a Napoletana style to us. And what of it? We loved it anyway! Mrs. RJG who is very picky with crusts, especially thicker ones, enjoyed it immensely, as it had the right amount of crispiness and an excellent flavor, and that doesn't taste doughy. Cheese and sauce are the other key ingredients to any good pizza, and it's the latter where Wise Guys excels. Just the right amount of sweetness, and not dry at all. With Mr. Music, we decided on one of their "Specialty Loaded Pizzas" which they describe as thick and hand tossed. No way Mrs. RJG would go for this, so had to take advantage of the moment. While they are indeed thicker, it's once again crisp, and not just fat pizza bread that makes you waddle out. In fact we downed a 14 inch "Don All Meat", and didn't feel stuffed in the slightest. That's a good thing! Waddling out of a restaurant is not something we strive for. So 2 for 2, and I'm certain Mrs. RJG and I will be returning to split dishes and salads.

Drink: Best selection of local craft beers on tap we've yet to experience in NE Tarrant. Like Jack Mac's in Dallas, it's not a huge selection like Ginger Man or Drunken Donkey, and there's less than 15 taps. But it's all Texas, all craft, and not beers you find everywhere. Different brews from 3 Nations, Oak Highlands, Noble Rey, and Panther Island are hardly common in this part of DFW anyway. And they change frequently (they have a chalkboard - always a good sign). Impressive. Of course they have wine as well.

Location: Anchors the south end of a strip mall on the SE corner of Northwest Hwy and Park Blvd. just north of the 114 service road in Grapevine. If memory serves, this was once a Sonny Bryan's BBQ. Nice industrial decor, with a small bar area. Comfortable surroundings.

Notes: Wise Guys is actually from Southern California and they have two locations there (Orange and Yorba Linda). Grapevine is their 3rd, and so far last, locale. So it's not a corporate chain or anything, just a family owned operation, in 2 distinct geographies.

6/11/16; 6/26/16 (new entry)

Spin! Neapolitan Pizza ~ regional chain :

First visit: Jun 2016 (Southlake, TX - closed)

They're still open in Richardson and Frisco. Most of their locations are in the Kansas City area.

Spin! represents the latest fad sweeping America: Artisan Pizza meets Craft Beer. Something akin to Grimaldi's, but with more focus paid to locally made beers. In fact, we tried two such places while in West Virginia last week: Backyard Pizza and Raw Bar in Huntington and Pies and Pints in Charleston. It's the latter that is most like Spin! in that it's both a small(ish) chain, and that their menu offerings are similar.

If you've read these pages long enough, you'll know that Mrs. RJG isn't the biggest pizza fan you'll encounter. But she likes these kind of pizzas. The Napoletana style, that we first spoke about long ago at the now closed Campania, just a few blocks away. For our two visits so far, we tried the Italian Sausage and Onion 12 inch pizza. It was just the right texture and crispiness, while the pizza sauce is slightly sweet, cheese appropriately gooey, and the ingredients a higher grade that what one would find at the laughable Pie Five for example (editorial: Pie Five is nothing more than Pizza Inn made in front of you, but on a smaller pie - seriously?). We also like to split a salad, and their Caesar is excellent, with cold crisp Romaine, shaved parmesan, garlic croutons, and an excellent smooth dressing, not thick and nasty like some Caesar's can be. Oh and they include hot pizza bread as well (as if you need more bread... but it is good!). We'll be certain to try other pizzas in the future. They also feature gelato, which we have yet to sample.

Drink: As alluded to earlier, Spin! does put a focus on craft beers. Now it's not the most robust selection (7 beers I think?), but at least they are mostly local, and since they are from Kansas City, they also have a couple of Boulevard's on tap. Though I would wish they'd bring along some more craft breweries with them that we can't get here otherwise. But I'm sure that's way too costly (and as reader Mervis correctly points out, they would need to get label approval from the TABC, which is not something one should expect from a pizza place!). Their Texas beer selection is somewhat typical of the area, and they probably should have at least one Shannon on tap to support Northeast Tarrant. They do have Grapevine's Lakefire on tap though. They also have weekly "pint nights" where they feature a local brewery.

Location: In the "suburbs" (lol) of Southlake Town Square. You'll find Spin on the north side of Southlake Blvd, east of the main square, next to Pei Wei. If memory serves this used to be Blue Mesa, one of the more miserable meals we ever had. It appears Spin! has exorcised those demons. It's a large space, with plenty of seating. Walk in, order at the counter, receive your "number block". And then from there it's full service. So they hand you a swiped credit card receipt, and you add the tip later. It's a unique approach, but I think it's a good concept really.

Notes: Spin! is a chain from Kansas City that is branching out into major metropolitan areas around the US in a decidedly slow growth strategy. Fortunately we were second on the map, and there are now a few locations in DFW. On our first visit, the manager noticed our pizza wasn't shaped correctly, and gave us a free one on the house. Wow! We didn't even notice honestly. Perhaps it's because we didn't bring a "free pizza" coupon. Whatever the case, an excellent gesture, and a good way to develop brand loyalty. Oh - and I do recommend you join their Spin club (rarely do we say this). It's free and phone number driven, so you don't have to carry anything with you. They actually offer serious coupons ($5 on our last visit!).

6/13/16 (new entry)

Lou Viney's Restaurant & Pub ~ Sulphur Springs, Texas ***CLOSED***

First visit: Jun 2016

Mrs. RJG and I just returned from a week long road trip through the southeast, culminating in West Virginia, before heading back through Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas. It's tempting to write about all the places we ate, as all of them were uniformly excellent - and all very much "local". But I fear readership would be small, and not of much use for most of you. Perhaps I'll pen a few notes on Trip Advisor for each of them.

But I didn't want to exclude Lou Viney's, since Sulphur Springs is in the vicinity of DFW, and it's definitely worthy of a destination drive. I think we've been to Sulphur Springs once, and I remember little about it. But times have changed, and the downtown area is revitalized, and quaint, with many restaurants, shops, etc... throughout. It's nice to see small town America have that same sense of relevancy as you would find in Europe for example. I wish our country would have competitions for "most pretty village" as they do in England. Certainly there are informal ones, but it would be nice for something more official. I think it would encourage local civic pride, and also help remove the all-too-common blight one sees on the roadside.

What's interesting about Lou Viney's is that this is exactly the type of food Mrs. RJG and I ate on the entire trip. A restaurant type that is more formally known as a Gastropub. I hate that name for whatever reason (sounds like an after meal condition), and so I'm now penning these places as Craft Tavern. Basically, freshly prepared meals with local ingredients, as well as a fine selection of craft beers and/or local wines and whiskeys. We were there for lunch, and it was our last restaurant before heading home. The menu is eclectic, with a large variety of mostly American oriented dishes but with unique recipes. Their most famous dish is Bourbon Chicken, but unfortunately it's only available for dinner, so we had to miss out. We each tried a cup of the chili, something that the RJG loves to sample at every restaurant since it's usually different. And this was no exception. I personally enjoyed it, but it lacked any kind of soupy texture. It was almost like a bolognese sauce in a cup, with finely cut ground beef and Italian sausage. They were out of the Broccoli Cheese soup, so Mrs. RJG decided to go forward with the chili as well, but it wasn't to her liking , though she did enjoy the flavor. It was just too much meat. This was followed by her decision to get the daily special which was the Patty Melt. Excellent she declared, though she couldn't finish it, as once again, the meat of the chili inhibited her from devouring the entire patty. But the fresh peppers were a plus as was everything else. The homemade potato chips were excellent, some of the best we've ever had. I went forward with the spaghetti and meatballs. Though they stated it was angel hair, it was more like a capellini. In either case, this is a difficult pasta to cook al dente, and they nailed it! Perfect texture. The red sauce was slightly sweet, and a bit chunky, but very much still a sauce. Superb. The best part were the homemade meatballs. It's been a long time since the RJG had meatballs this good! It's a lost art, and while Lou Viney's doesn't remind me of the meatballs of my childhood (different recipe), they are superbly seasoned. The garlic toast was also excellent, something I rarely notice or comment on.

Drink: Nice selection of wine and craft beers (on tap and bottle). We each tried a draught of the IPA from Woodcreek, a new brewery from Rockwall that I hadn't heard of prior. And it was excellent!

Location: As mentioned in the prelude, Lou Viney's sits in the middle of the revitalized downtown area. It's large open space, nicely decorated and comfortable. Outdoor seating is available as well.

Notes: Apparently Lou Viney's started as a wine tasting room, before branching out to a larger restaurant. Sometimes you'll see the name stylized as LouViney's, but the menu clearly separates first and last name.

Rating: 4.0. Warning, only one visit so far. But honestly I can easily see this rating going up with repeated visits. But since we are rarely in this neck of the woods, that may prove difficult. But you never know...

6/12/16 (new entry)

Kumar's ~ Plano, Texas

A small delay, as I had a couple of other projects to attend to. In the meantime, Mr. Music sent this one in recently. It looks like a restaurant nearby to our Indian Godfather. I'll have to ask him if he's been!

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Kumar’s South Indian Village in Plano is a unique experience. They are located in an OLD strip mall on Custer Rd in Plano. They serve home cooking and offer all you can eat on weekends. It’s not really a buffet, it’s much more fun than that! I went there with my friend on Saturday. We had to make reservations because it is very small (12-15 tables) and gets very crowded quickly. Our table was set with a tray covered in a banana leaf for each of us. We sat down at our table and I noticed in the middle of the room were these giant receptacles filled with fresh cooked basmati rice. The staff brings a big bowl of it over, and shovels a mountain of it in the middle of our tray. Then, servers come by with buckets of curries and other goodies. Depending on what you fancy, they ladle the food on the edge of your rice in different piles surrounding the rice. I had 2 types of mutton curry, chicken curry, & fish curry. Then they brought another round with lentils and spices, sambar (lentil stew with a variety of veggies) and rasam (tamarind soup). Everything was excellent, but I was quite partial to the mutton! They also bring roti (like a crunchy tortilla), deep fried peppers, Indian pickle, and a another condiment or two. For desert we had sweet pongel (rice and or dal with jaggery aka sugar, ghee aka butter and cashews); it was pretty good, but not my favorite Indian sweet dish, although by then I didn’t really need desert! Worth mentioning that Kumar’s is known for using much less ghee than most other Indian places. You can also get naan and a few other sides for an extra charge. One of the mutton dishes we tried, sukka (dry) mutton was only a few bucks and was very spicy and probably my favorite dish of the day; it was basically chunks of mutton that were smothered in spices without a real gravy. It was moist, but the spices didn’t drop off the meat! They also served a drink which was basically yogurt made from buttermilk with cilantro leaves on top. I loved it!

By the time we left, there were many people at the front and outside waiting for a table.

- Mr. Music review