The Great Outdoors Sub Shop ~ Carrollton, Texas

The Great Outdoors maintains 7 locations - 6 in the Dallas area and one in Fort Worth.

Latest visit: Oct 2017 (Carrollton)

First visit: 1980 (the old Bachman Lake place - long closed)

I've started going back to the location in Carrollton (technically Dallas, but I can't get my mind around that). One place that I like to stock up on craft beers is Lone Star Beverages, also in Carrollton. So it's a good lunch stopover. I never get to Addison anymore, so this is more convenient. Nothing else to say really, the below captures my experience. What I said in 2009 holds for 2017. And probably forever.

---

It was our place. The place where father and son would go to enjoy a meal, talk freely, and savor the moment. We'd talk politics, religion, school, his job, etc... He wanted to talk with me about girls, but I was never too comfortable with that. Just enough to let him know, you can relax Dad, I definitely like girls. We first discovered the Great Outdoors near Bachman Lake sometime in the early 1980s while I was still in high school. On sporadic weekend college flights home from Lubbock, he'd meet me at Love Field and we'd beeline over there. My first job out of school was near Addison Airport, so we relocated to the Carrollton locale. The wife and I had relocated to Colorado, but on trips home, with the Bachman Lake restaurant now closed, we'd still venture up to Carrollton for each visit. Or on one particular business trip I was working near LBJ and Central, so we'd go to the Forest Ln one (now also closed). Finally, after we relocated back to DFW, I had an office near Belt Line and the Tollway, so we made the Belt Line and Montfort location our new home base for once a week lunches. Today, this is the only one I go to - about once a year when I see my accountant and sit in silence and reminisce. Northeast Tarrant even had one when we moved back - in North Richland Hills. Obviously I took it for granted, as it closed nearly as quick as we arrived (sometime in mid 2003). The Great Outdoors remains primarily a Dallas area institution, with one lone Fort Worth location.

The ritual was always the same. I'd get a double #1 (Ham, Salami), or a double #3 (Turkey Pastrami) and he'd get a single #6 or #12 (the ones with the most variety of meats). Always on white. Then it was time for the glorious "Works". As one African American worker said to me with a certain ghetto street tone "THAT'S WHAT MAKES THE SANDWICH!!". Incidentally the workers, over the years, have been uniformly great - many had worked there for over a decade (rare for fast food). So back to the Works. I'd get it without tomatoes. On queue, Dad would automatically say "give me his tomatoes" and snicker-laugh unconsciously. I would dress it with mustard (regular), and he would always say a "big blob of mayonnaise". We'd each get a pickle spear (15 cents!). I'd usually go a chocolate chip cookie. He'd get Diet Pepsi and I'd choose a Mountain Dew.

Then the games would begin. Dad would try to wolf down his sandwich as fast as he possibly could stuff into his mouth. I'm no slow eater either, though I would put down the sandwich and chew the food at least. Why did he do this? So he could smoke, that's why. Back in the days when you could still smoke indoors at restaurants (The Great Indoors?). His goal was to get in as many cancer sticks as possible before I would say "it's cold, let's go". See, since the Great Outdoors is a deli with meats, the place is always kept at a frigid temperature. In the winter, we'd be dressed appropriately, but in the summer... are you kidding me? Plus he'd just assume spend all day there smoking ciggy's and talking about whatever, and I'd rather actually have a life and maybe see a friend, or do something else other than talk about the military ex-officers club. Or his sales figures. Or my low grades.... So while sitting there enjoying my sandwich, he'd already reached into his shirt front pocket and grabbed a cigarette. And he'd puff away on it and instinctively reach for another one. And another. And another... so I had to time it perfectly. Just as he put one out, and began reaching for another, I'd say "let's go, it's cold!". "Already?" he'd plea. "Dad!" "OK..." he'd acquiesce.

Very sadly, it's not something we can do anymore. Dad passed away near the end of 2003 at the too young age of 68.

This post is dedicated to my father, who I miss dearly. And Dad, I look forward to sharing a double #1 with you in heaven.

6/1/88; 12/21/94; 8/13/95; 4/15/98; 6/6/09 (new entry); 3/9/12; 3/18/15; 10/29/17

Abuelo's Mexico ~ regional chain : Hurst, Texas

Currently they exist in 9 states with 26 locations strewn about the southern half of the US. Texas remains their stronghold, and our former NE Tarrant location of Hurst is still open.

Latest visit: Oct 2017 (Hurst, Texas)

First visit: Aug 2004 (Hurst, Texas)

We first visited Abuelo's in the summer of 2004, but for whatever reason Mrs. RJG didn't care for it, and we didn't return for a half-dozen years. Then one day last year we were talking with our neighbors about Mexican food, and they said their favorite place was Abuelo's. I figured that may be because they are hardcore West Texas folks and the chain is based in Lubbock. But we gave it one more try shortly thereafter... and we've been going back ever since. 6 years from first publishing this post, that remains true.

---

The first thing you notice about Abuelo's is how stunning the restaurant looks - on the inside and out. It's like a Mexican vacation resort (and this remains even after they relocated across the street). Generally that's a red flag for the RJG. When the money is put into the decor, we fear that's at the expense of the food budget. But that's definitely not the case at Abuelo's. And in fact, Abuelo's offers some pretty unique items that one may only find in a dive. For one they may have the best habanero salsa I've ever had. It's a blazer, but extremely tasty, with that fire roasted chile taste (I just got that feeling in my tongue - I feel like going there right now!). They also have a chipotle medium hot and a tomato based mild. Both are very good, but do not compare to the habanero. Funny that they serve it in a tiny little tin with the other two other salsas in larger bowls. But I'm sure most folks would rather only have a taste. But not the RJG - he asks for a BUCKET of it. And the chips are tasty enough without salsa. The Tex-Mex dishes here are a mix of staples and more authentic Mexican (for example, you can get fried eggs on the enchiladas, that sort of thing). I liked their baked overstuffed burritos, loaded with melted cheese, tasty con carne and whatever meat filling I'd like. Mrs. RJG says their crunchy tacos are the best! Rice and beans are delicious and beyond the norm. Let's go further with the beans: Abuelo's has the absolute best refried beans I've ever had! And they are still sizzling hot on the last bite.

Abuelo's has a full bar, and their margaritas (frozen and au natural) pack a punch.

This is a good place to take guests, or business associates. Though for the many times we've been, it's just been the wife and I. Overall a great Mexican restaurant.

8/22/04; 10/22/11 (new entry); 10/24/17

Bangkok Cuisine (original ownership) ~ Haltom City, Texas ***CLOSED***

Last visit: Oct 2017

First visit: 2004

OK, so we have an important announcement here for those that don't know: Manit has retired and sold the business. We were there for his last week, and then we visited again the second week the new owners took over. At that time, they had kept the original menus, and presumably recipes. But the food did not taste the same at all to us. The new owner - pleasant as can be - had hinted that she would be bringing her own recipes forth shortly. So with that, this will be the last update for this post. We will return in a couple of months to see if anything has changed. At that point we will start a new post if we feel the food is worth trying. But for the RJG, it cannot be the same without Manit. He WAS Bangkok Cuisine.

---

We've been visiting Bangkok Cuisine since 2004, and it remains one of our favorite Thai restaurants in DFW, along with Sea Siam and Sweet Basil. It's just simply exquisite. The owner, Manit (who is always there), will make it as spicy as you want (actually the chefs are usually his wife or daughter), and all the dishes we've tried here are excellent. They cook with more of a syrupy (but not sweet) texture than most Thai places, so the dishes tend to be sauce heavy. Mrs. RJG and I both don't typically go for that, but Bangkok Cuisine is an exception. It's that good. I have to say that Bangkok Cuisine tastes like no other Thai place I've experienced in the country. It's very unique, and yet another reason why we venture here often. Personally I love their basil chicken, which they custom make for me, and often times cooked with a few Thai chiles added in (super hot). Mrs. RJG likes their chicken with vegetables or their cashew chicken. In addition, their version of chicken satay makes for an excellent appetizer, though we've generally gone straight to the meal in recent years.

Good news for winos as it's BYOB, so a great way to save, and enjoy a bottle of your favorite wine (or beer). Manit (or your server) will open the wine bottle and provide chilled wine glasses for you as well! No one does that for you, except those who charge a corkage fee. They also have, of course, sodas, Thai coffees, teas, etc...

Bangkok Cuisine sits in a strip mall, next to the Hoffbrau steakhouse on US 377, not far south from I-820 and just north of Glenview (west side of 377). The setting is very simple, with about 15 tables, and recently repainted in a light blue color. It's a fairly bright place (though the new paint helps with this), with a TV near the kitchen if you're dining alone. It feels like a casual lunch cafeteria, but we almost exclusively go for dinner, and always enjoy the experience. The parking lot is always crowded, but 95% of the people are at the Hoffbrau. And that's a good place too (we've been a few times), but it's a shame more folks don't venture in to Bangkok Cuisine and give it a try. Note that they are closed on Monday.

The reviews on the wall point to a heritage that goes back to 1986, when they first occupied a place further south on Belknap (US 377), where there there are dozens of restaurants today (primarily Vietnamese). I believe Bangkok Cuisine is the oldest Thai restaurant in Tarrant County, or at least Northeast Tarrant.

7/6/08 (new entry); 10/15/17