Cool River Cafe ~ national chain :

Mar 31, 2022 update: Well this is weird. So it appeared that the Cool River Cafe chain was on its last legs. The remaining Dallas area location (near Love Field) has exceptionally low ratings. The Las Colinas restaurant - which always seemed very popular to me - was the last one to close. They had many other restaurants prior that are now gone, including nearby Denver. Now all of a sudden - out of nowhere - they plan to open up in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in the summer of 2022. Go figure that one out.

Latest visit: Sep 2017 (Las Colinas, TX)

First visit: Jan 2006 (Las Colinas, TX)

Cool River is clearly geared towards the male business traveler. And on this business visit last week, the four of us dudes fell in lockstep. We started at the bar for cocktails, frozen margaritas, beer (nice selection of craft) and wine. Then we headed over to the billiards room and shot a few games of stick. Then off to dine where we feasted on large mounds of red meat. And finally a trip to the cigar bar to puff on some stogies, while being served drinks by cute girls in slinky cocktail dresses. Now on this later point, the RJG doesn't smoke, but having grown up with it, I have no objection to sitting in the room and polishing off a Chimay (Rouge) while they smoke away.

Personally I think their steaks are some of the finest in the area. And the sides are excellent as well (I tried the basmati rice this time). I've seen low ratings for Cool River in the past. Most of the gripes seem to stem from the high prices, but it's not near as expensive as some of Dallas' finest steakhouses as you will find on the North Tollway. And it's somewhat a given that you come here on an expense account - and it's location on MacArthur in Las Colinas only underscores that point. Definitely not a fun-for-the-whole-family kinda place!

The RJG first visited Cool River in Denver (on business) sometime around 2001 or so. After that, all the visits have been at their Las Colinas location, starting in 2005. We had an office nearby, and this was a popular place to take clients, vendors, partners, etc...

Simply put: A great place to meet or host clients.

1/10/06; 1/23/12 (new entry); 6/19/14; 9/14/17

Thai Riverside ~ Grapevine, Texas

Last visit: Sep 2017

First visit: 2004

We have a love hate relationship with Thai Riverside. I think they're on their 49th owner now. Every time we go, it seems they're back and we're happy. Then we revisit, and it's not the same! No consistency whatsoever. It's not terrible mind you, but it's not what it should be. 

We first started frequenting Thai Riverside when the place was known as Thai Rice, sometime in the 2003-2004 era. New ownership brought improvements including an interior spruce-up, an upgraded menu and new flavors. On this visit, our first in nearly two years, we learned that Thai Riverside again has changed owners. Not so many alterations this time around, exceptions being a new menu and a handful of new recipes, though the owner assured us that most everything was "the same".

That's unfortunate, since as you may have gathered from the "first visit in two years" comment, Thai Riverside isn't one of NE Tarrant's finest. Nor is it near the bottom either but somewhere in the middle. That is to say, Thai Riverside is a "serviceable" Thai restaurant.

On this visit we sampled the Chicken Satay for an appetizer, and for entrees we had the Cashew Chicken and Chicken Basil. All of it was good, not nothing captured the imagination.

Thai Riverside is located on Northwest Highway, just east of 114. It's buried in a strip center (on the Park Blvd street side). The interior is pleasantly decorated with mood lighting, to ensure a nice dining experience. Oh and it's BYOB, so that's a plus too.

5//09 (new entry); 8/30/14; 9/9/17