Flip's Patio Grill ~ Grapevine, Texas

Latest visit: Jun 2017 (Grapevine)

First visit: Jun 2006 (Grapevine)

They also have a location in Fort Worth.

If you're a weary traveler staying near DFW airport, there's a good chance that you'll find yourself tempted to dine on the TX-114 corridor in Grapevine (may we suggest Tolbert's instead for a more "local" experience?). The Main Street and William B Tate exits are a shrine to corporate eateries, many of them publicly traded on the stock exchanges back in NEW YORK CITY (get a rope). Other than the Dallas based Tex-Mex institution known as El Fenix (and probably its worst location at that), the majority of your choices are places you've seen in Anytown, Anystate.

The only exception to this, at least for restaurants you can actually see from the highway itself, is Flip's Patio Grill, the lone locally owned restaurant in the area. It wasn't always that way, as Flip's was once a thriving Tony Roma's - a place that seemed to fit perfectly with the locale.

Flip's has a pretty good reputation for having one of the best burgers around. But readers of the RJG aren't likely to be impressed if they've ventured to some of our local recommendations including Kincaid's, Johnny B's (both close enough to TX-114 to at least give them a try instead), Molly's (RIP), Freddy's, Five Guys, etc... Still, that doesn't mean Flip's isn't worth trying, and for what they attempt to do, they end up being quite adept. Like many sports bars, their menu has as many choices as the screens have games, so it can be a bit daunting on what to get. Locals swear by the blue cheese burger, and to be fair, the RJG has never acquired a taste for this most moldy of all cheeses.

So if I'm stranded at the local Hampton Inn, and I want a cold one and a big juicy burger to go with my game of choice, then Flip's would most certainly meet that need. We've only been a couple of times, and we haven't even begun to dig into the vast array of choices on the menu, so it's a bit unfair to state that Flip's doesn't have anything special or unique to recommend. We like it, but we don't love it, get it?

Since publishing this post, they've opened a second location off of Western Center and I-35W in Fort Worth.

6/10/06; 4/24/09 (new entry); 6/11/17

Pho Big Bowl ~ Watauga, Texas

Latest visit: Jun 2017

First visit: Oct 2015

Finding a quality Vietnamese restaurant in the northern parts of Northeast Tarrant county has always been a challenge. Recently we've been blessed with two new start-ups, and at the current time, we think Pho Big Bowl is the best of them all! Though the other place is very good too, and we'll be reporting on them soon as well. It's a long drive to Haltom City, so we're hoping these places stay around.

Pho Big Bowl offers soups, sandwiches, and full dinner entrees, as you would expect. On our first two visits, Mrs. RJG and I tried the pho. In fact, on our very first time here, I was beginning to get a cold, and what better way to knock it out than with a big ol' bowl of meatball soup! Their noodles are fantastic, and the broth is somewhat unique (excellent of course), adding to the allure. On a recent visit, I was most curious how their entrees would stack up. I had the lemongrass chicken stir fry, and Mrs. RJG went with the charbroiled chicken. Mine was good, lacking a bit in strong flavor, but a decent variation of the classic dish. On the other hand, the Charbroiled chicken was an absolute slam-dunk instant classic awesome dish. We haven't tasted chicken this well prepared and marinated since our days in Denver and the hall of fame Kim Ba (which we reference a lot). Loved it, and I can see this being a crave worthy dish. Once you achieve that level, you have a loyal customer. We'll see if they're consistent with it. And besides, there's always the fantastic soup. Oh - and the entrees do come with a cup of broth, which is a nice touch (many of the Haltom City restaurants do this as well). Worth noting as well that the rice was expertly cooked (this is becoming something of a lost art it seems).

As for drinks, it's typical Vietnamese drinking fare, including the always great sweet coffee. We actually snuck* in a bottle of wine, which was met with tacit approval. They're not truly a BYOB place in the sense that they don't have anything to support it - but if you bring your own gear (opener, cups/glasses, etc...) you can imbibe. While BYOB/alcohol is common among patrons of Thai food, it still seems foreign in a Vietnamese place. We need to change that! (*- you know - I didn't realize snuck wasn't an actual English word until now. Who knew? Sneaked I guess is proper....)

Pho Big Bowl is on the north side of Watauga Rd. (Mid Cities) just west of Rufe Snow in an old strip center. This used to be a Mexican restaurant (you can still see the touches of it), which we never frequented. Pho Big Bowl opened roughly a year ago. Interestingly, when Mrs. RJG and I first moved to NE Tarrant in 2003, there was a Vietnamese restaurant across the street (near Tony's) called Red Mango. We liked it, and on a second return it was already closed. Nice to see a decade plus later Vietnamese returning to the vicinity.

10/3/15 (new entry); 6/10/17

Rusty Taco ~ national chain : Hurst, Texas

May 13, 2022 update: So it looks like they went back to their original name of Rusty Taco. If I do manage to get to one of the Denver locations, I'll be sure to update the logo. The chain seems to be doing pretty well, and our dispersed through the country. Texas and the Midwest seem to be their strength areas.

Last visit: Jun 2017 (Hurst, TX)

First visit: Mar 2013 (The Colony, TX)

OK, I'm going to move this one forward. The review below was written for their Colony location, that has since closed. It was much more of a dive than our Northeast Tarrant locale, which is actually quite nice in a fast food sort of way. But for whatever reason, it just wasn't as good as I remembered it. Have they changed? I don't know, but I think a revisit is in order for the RJG. Now that I think about it, we didn't have frozen margaritas either. Hmmm maybe it helps with a buzz on? We'll move forward again if our opinion subsequently changes. And in the meantime, they changed their name to the hipster like R Taco. I guess the word rusty and food don't go together well eh? In any case, they've expanded mightily since the below was written. So they must be doing something right. We need to get back over there pronto (and rewrite the below review).

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While we await Torchy's and Digg's to come to Southlake (2017: Diggs never did!), Mrs. RJG and I decided one Saturday to venture onto other cow pastures for a good taco and a frozen margarita. We first saw Rusty Taco while driving on Greenville Ave. in Dallas a couple of years back. I recently came across the name while viewing new restaurant openings on Urbanspoon (2017: Old times, huh?), headed over to their website, and determined that The Colony's location would be the closest. Once you start heading northeast on 121, and get through the airport DMZ area, it's only an additional 10-15 minutes to The Colony. This would be the first official RJG visit to The Colony, an area I've somehow managed not to roam in prior.

Rusty Taco's setup is familiar to anyone who has ever been to Fuzzy's. It's counter service, with a whirling frozen margarita machine behind. They serve a variety of 13 different tacos, and so on this visit we tried 5 different ones across the spectrum of tastes. Our favorite was the Baja Shrimp taco which is filled with delicious crunchy shrimp and a spicy "Baja" sauce. The fajita chicken was our next fave, and the marinate on the chicken is very good. Following this would be the fried chicken taco, which is basically small chicken fingers in a corn tortilla with jalapeno ranch dressing. 4th was the Texican, which is their variation of the carne molida (ground beef) taco. The meat was seasoned somewhat like a Hamburger Helper, but we found it quite good despite how that might sound. The only miss was the roasted pork taco, which was greasy and left a puddle down below. The meat was somewhat gamey too. But 4 out of 5 is quite a good percentage, especially considering how great the Baja Shrimp and fajita chicken tacos are. And they're a decent bargain at $2 a pop (the shrimp and fish tacos are $2.50). They're not super large like Funky Baja's, nor are they traditional $1 mini-size street tacos. I think they're priced right for what you get. The frozen margarita was a bit too icey (not smooth) and too sweet. But it did pack a punch, so I can't fault them there. I'd probably settle on one of their bottled beers next time, and they have a pretty decent selection.

Rusty Taco also features 3 salsas served up in large plastic ketchup styled bottles. The mild red was actually quite delicious, and the medium "tangy green" had a slight sweet taste and is a good variation of a salsa verde. Best, of course you knew the RJG would say this, is the orange habanero sauce. A delicious sweet flavor and plenty of kick to satisfy our palates. It's not really that hot, so give it a try if you have some tolerance for heat.

It's pretty clear now that the big rage in the QSR (aka fast food) market are these kind of taco stands. And while DFW is beginning to see them on every corner, other parts of the country haven't been exposed yet. The race is on, and Rusty Taco has decided that East Texas and the capital of Minnesota is where they would like to branch out first. Obviously Fuzzy's has began to dominate this market on a national scale, so it will be interesting who else becomes the "Burger King" next to Fuzzy's "McDonald's" standing, if you get my reference.

3/23/13 (new entry); 6/4/17