Since spring and summer are the time to take road trips, I'm working on a little treat for all of you venturesome folks. The people of Fort Worth are generally what everybody else in the state strives to be and its our job to travel the state and show those people how great we are.
Because I know you fine Fort Worth people are the kind of people that like to travel around to unique places, attend odd events and eat at small cafes I am going to provide a pretty extensive list of places to eat and events to visit throughout the state this summer. Of course, I'm not so egotistical to think that I can pick all the favorites across Texas, but I'll try to give a good review that hopefully opens your eyes to something new.
This will not cut into my regular posts on Fort Worth holes, but will be a special edition post. I expect that it will come together soon after the BBBBQ Review. Both are perfect spring time topics and hopefully the TRR (Texas Restaurant Review) will inspire some of you to get out this year and explore our wonderful state.
Because this is a fairly ambitious topic, I am receiving help from my dad and a few friends. We are trying to put together a list that provides some of our favorite holes in all the cities we have eaten in. I will also provide a list of events and festivals going on throughout the summer that will hopefully give you a reason to get out for a weekend or so.
I know what you're thinking about me - either 1) you know me and my friends and you don't trust their opinion; or 2) you don't know me but I sound like the type of person with poor taste in friends. Both classes of people would be correct. However, they are all trustworthy when it comes to hole in the walls. I wouldn't be friends with them otherwise. My dad has an outstanding hole in the wall resume. Some say I take after him in that respect. Its a recessive gene so I hope my wife has it somewhere in her family.
I think this will be pretty interesting. We'll see.
In other news the following are due up pretty soon: Edmondson's Fried Chicken (maybe Hicken - we'll see how good it is first before bestowing such a title - see "fried hicken" for more information), the BBBBQ Review, Nonna Tata, the Roy Pope Grocery store (or whatever the name is - I know where it is), and Duce.
Thanks for your continued reading and please keep refreshing six or seven times each time you visit - it helps my ego.
-FortWorthHoleInTheWall
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Hui Chuan
As you may have noticed, I've become one of the top Fort Worth sushi reviewers since this blog started. In an effort to avoid eating boring sandwiches for lunch, I routinely venture out. Recently I ventured to Hui Chuan for lunch with my brother to discuss Harry Potter and eat some sushi.
Hui Chuan is on Camp Bowie, next to La Madeleine and has about enough room for my brother and I, and the couple nearby that was probably confused why two adult males would sit and talk about Harry Potter.
Previously, I reviewed Piranha and Sushi Axiom. I would say those two places differ from Hui greatly. They seem to be more trendy and modern whereas Hui is more bare bones with a big sushi bar and a couple tables around the edge of the room. They also have a room in the back where you sit on the floor and eat at the table. At first I thought that it was a really cool opportunity. Now, in retrospect, its just cheap. I don't think Japanese people really eat while sitting on the floor. I think its a trick so they can make fun of us.
I just checked. They do sit on the floor.
So back to Hui Chuan. The rolls available are similar to the options I have seen at other places but there was also a menu for a mexican restaurant with the sushi menu. Either this was an accident or they are multitasking. So essentially we ordered the Japanese enchiladas. We had a few of the basic rolls and a couple specialty rolls.
They were all great. None of them had any sauces on them which was the main difference from the rolls at Piranha and Axiom. Since I'm sort of a newbie at this, I'll naively assume this means this place is more authentic. Can you believe it? In one week I ate in Lebanon and Japan.
If you're looking for something a little different in the sushi realm and you want a small little place to go and sit at the bar and talk about Harry Potter, I would recommend this place. Although, it doesn't fit into the lunch justification of "its as much as my homemade lunch would cost."
By the way, if you haven't read the seventh Harry Potter, it turns out that the commissioner hires Harry to fight crime in Gotham. Dumbledore comes back to life, retires from Hogwarts and uses his skills to help the park rangers, resulting in a dramatic fight scene between him and Yogi.
Hui Chuan is on Camp Bowie, next to La Madeleine and has about enough room for my brother and I, and the couple nearby that was probably confused why two adult males would sit and talk about Harry Potter.
Previously, I reviewed Piranha and Sushi Axiom. I would say those two places differ from Hui greatly. They seem to be more trendy and modern whereas Hui is more bare bones with a big sushi bar and a couple tables around the edge of the room. They also have a room in the back where you sit on the floor and eat at the table. At first I thought that it was a really cool opportunity. Now, in retrospect, its just cheap. I don't think Japanese people really eat while sitting on the floor. I think its a trick so they can make fun of us.
I just checked. They do sit on the floor.
So back to Hui Chuan. The rolls available are similar to the options I have seen at other places but there was also a menu for a mexican restaurant with the sushi menu. Either this was an accident or they are multitasking. So essentially we ordered the Japanese enchiladas. We had a few of the basic rolls and a couple specialty rolls.
They were all great. None of them had any sauces on them which was the main difference from the rolls at Piranha and Axiom. Since I'm sort of a newbie at this, I'll naively assume this means this place is more authentic. Can you believe it? In one week I ate in Lebanon and Japan.
If you're looking for something a little different in the sushi realm and you want a small little place to go and sit at the bar and talk about Harry Potter, I would recommend this place. Although, it doesn't fit into the lunch justification of "its as much as my homemade lunch would cost."
By the way, if you haven't read the seventh Harry Potter, it turns out that the commissioner hires Harry to fight crime in Gotham. Dumbledore comes back to life, retires from Hogwarts and uses his skills to help the park rangers, resulting in a dramatic fight scene between him and Yogi.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Chadra Mezza
I know I promised you a Hui Chuan review and you'll get one someday but this is urgent. Please put down your work and read this immediately.
I like Lebanese food now.
On the recommendation of everybody in Fort Worth I went to Chadra Mezza this past week and I need to get this review out before I forget the many foods available.
My wife and I went on Friday for the famous Friday buffet. Normally, when I think of buffets, I think of obesity. Even at soup and/or salad (quite possibly the most disgusting restaurant in the history of restaurants) obesity reigns. So when people tell me about a great buffet, I include them in the same group as those who eat frozen mexican food (see my La Playa Maya review). Also, I have experienced more cases of food poisoning at buffets then at any hole in the wall.
So I was skeptical, but I like to expand my horizons, so Lebanese food, being beyond my horizon was an acceptable option.
Chadra Mezza is across the street from the Old Neighborhood Grill and there is apparently a great backstory to this place but you can find that on other websites so I wont retell it. What I do know, is that this place has a bar, so I don't think you can bring your own hooch, but you can sit at the bar and feel like you're in Lebanon...if Lebanon had a Fort Worth themed restaurant selling Lebanese food.
So, there we were, in Lebanon, drinking Rahr beer and ready to approach the buffet. The first thing you'll notice is that this is not Golden Corral. The buffet has a salad section and an entree/veggie section. There is no soft serve ice cream dispenser, no sprinkles, no pudding. This is a serious Lebanese buffet. You can feel the bullets flying over your head as you prepare your plate.
Unlike most of these posts, I want to outline exactly what food was available because this place was so unusual to my mexican/hamburger palate. There was a zucchini/garlic/tomato/cheese thing that was really spicy. Rolled chicken with cheese in the middle, covered in a cream sauce. Salmon. Tilapia. Lamb. Rice. Falafal - "like a hush puppie" said our waitress. Cauliflower - some how this was delicious without coating it in queso. Some other meat.
Ok, so now that you know whats available, here's what to get. All of it but that other meat. I'm not sure what it was but it looked dry. The rest of the food was delicious.
The zucchini thing was very spicy but it was really good. I mixed it with Lebanese rice. This was like when they first decided to mix regular with fried and created fried food. Brilliant on my part, if I must say. The chicken was one of my favorites and my wife's favorite. The lamb was amazing and it came on a bone. So you can eat it like a caveman if you're tacky. If you're upscale and citified like me, you'll use your knife and fork (although you don't really need a knife). I'm a big fan of lamb and the lamb I had was perfectly cooked. Not overdone, very tender and nothing added to it so you get to actually enjoy the lamb. Funny isn't it, baby sheep is considered awesome, but baby dog is never popular at restaurants here.
The falafel has a very unique spice and flavor to it that I loved but the Mrs. didn't. She was asked to leave the table. She came back with Cauliflower and I let her stay. I don't know how it was cooked but it was really good. I actually got seconds. The fish looked good although we didn't eat it. My wife thought the Salmon may have been undercooked and we decided it was a poor attempt at sushi.
We didn't eat the Tilapia either but only because eating healthy is for suckers. Enjoy those extra five years of life under the alien's rule. We'll be resting peacefully in our lard filled mausoleums.
So all in all, the food was a big hit. I have never been so giddy about eating something unusual. This place is really good and it provides a great break to the usual flavors people always eat. Luckily, if you're boring and don't want to broaden your horizons, you can eat safely here as well. They have Italian food for the people they laugh at when back in the kitchen.
I also have to tell you about the baklava. It was a really hard praline type substance with a phyllo topping and some ice cream. The honey infused phyllo was great. The ice cream was great. I couldn't eat the hard stuff. Literally, my restaurant supplied utensils couldn't cut it. I'm blaming this on their failure to give me a chainsaw. What I could taste from licking it was good, but that seemed odd and made the couple next to us move away. I'm going to try it again in hopes that this was a fluke.
I give this place twenty three thumbs up. You get culture, a good meal at a great price, an experience to hold over all your hamburger eating friends, and a trip to Lebanon along with a number of jokes to make about the type of food. Notice that I failed to make a single joke tying the name of the food to a segment of the female population with a similar sounding name.... Bravo me.
Check it out and let me know if you've ordered the Ablama. It looked good on the menu but I don't think it was available on the buffet. Also, I would like to ask the restaurant family to put tabbouleh and pita bread into the buffet options. I was really looking forward to that.
But if any of you have been to Carshon's recently, you'll notice restaurants don't take my recommendations seriously (no chocolate coconut pie yet).
So enjoy your trip to Lebanon. Make jokes about the name. Lick your baklava. And come here to tell me what you think about the place. I hope this connection between the Fort Worth and Lebanese community can grow and strengthen. Maybe someday we'll have a Taste of Lebanon here in Fort Worth.
Edit: Welp, I messed up this one. I ate at Chadra Mezza, not Cafe Chadra, so any of you that read this before now saw the wrong name. I apologize. From now on I'll actually read the signs of the restaurants I go into. Thanks for the heads up anonymous. I have changed all references...hopefully.
I like Lebanese food now.
On the recommendation of everybody in Fort Worth I went to Chadra Mezza this past week and I need to get this review out before I forget the many foods available.
My wife and I went on Friday for the famous Friday buffet. Normally, when I think of buffets, I think of obesity. Even at soup and/or salad (quite possibly the most disgusting restaurant in the history of restaurants) obesity reigns. So when people tell me about a great buffet, I include them in the same group as those who eat frozen mexican food (see my La Playa Maya review). Also, I have experienced more cases of food poisoning at buffets then at any hole in the wall.
So I was skeptical, but I like to expand my horizons, so Lebanese food, being beyond my horizon was an acceptable option.
Chadra Mezza is across the street from the Old Neighborhood Grill and there is apparently a great backstory to this place but you can find that on other websites so I wont retell it. What I do know, is that this place has a bar, so I don't think you can bring your own hooch, but you can sit at the bar and feel like you're in Lebanon...if Lebanon had a Fort Worth themed restaurant selling Lebanese food.
So, there we were, in Lebanon, drinking Rahr beer and ready to approach the buffet. The first thing you'll notice is that this is not Golden Corral. The buffet has a salad section and an entree/veggie section. There is no soft serve ice cream dispenser, no sprinkles, no pudding. This is a serious Lebanese buffet. You can feel the bullets flying over your head as you prepare your plate.
Unlike most of these posts, I want to outline exactly what food was available because this place was so unusual to my mexican/hamburger palate. There was a zucchini/garlic/tomato/cheese thing that was really spicy. Rolled chicken with cheese in the middle, covered in a cream sauce. Salmon. Tilapia. Lamb. Rice. Falafal - "like a hush puppie" said our waitress. Cauliflower - some how this was delicious without coating it in queso. Some other meat.
Ok, so now that you know whats available, here's what to get. All of it but that other meat. I'm not sure what it was but it looked dry. The rest of the food was delicious.
The zucchini thing was very spicy but it was really good. I mixed it with Lebanese rice. This was like when they first decided to mix regular with fried and created fried food. Brilliant on my part, if I must say. The chicken was one of my favorites and my wife's favorite. The lamb was amazing and it came on a bone. So you can eat it like a caveman if you're tacky. If you're upscale and citified like me, you'll use your knife and fork (although you don't really need a knife). I'm a big fan of lamb and the lamb I had was perfectly cooked. Not overdone, very tender and nothing added to it so you get to actually enjoy the lamb. Funny isn't it, baby sheep is considered awesome, but baby dog is never popular at restaurants here.
The falafel has a very unique spice and flavor to it that I loved but the Mrs. didn't. She was asked to leave the table. She came back with Cauliflower and I let her stay. I don't know how it was cooked but it was really good. I actually got seconds. The fish looked good although we didn't eat it. My wife thought the Salmon may have been undercooked and we decided it was a poor attempt at sushi.
We didn't eat the Tilapia either but only because eating healthy is for suckers. Enjoy those extra five years of life under the alien's rule. We'll be resting peacefully in our lard filled mausoleums.
So all in all, the food was a big hit. I have never been so giddy about eating something unusual. This place is really good and it provides a great break to the usual flavors people always eat. Luckily, if you're boring and don't want to broaden your horizons, you can eat safely here as well. They have Italian food for the people they laugh at when back in the kitchen.
I also have to tell you about the baklava. It was a really hard praline type substance with a phyllo topping and some ice cream. The honey infused phyllo was great. The ice cream was great. I couldn't eat the hard stuff. Literally, my restaurant supplied utensils couldn't cut it. I'm blaming this on their failure to give me a chainsaw. What I could taste from licking it was good, but that seemed odd and made the couple next to us move away. I'm going to try it again in hopes that this was a fluke.
I give this place twenty three thumbs up. You get culture, a good meal at a great price, an experience to hold over all your hamburger eating friends, and a trip to Lebanon along with a number of jokes to make about the type of food. Notice that I failed to make a single joke tying the name of the food to a segment of the female population with a similar sounding name.... Bravo me.
Check it out and let me know if you've ordered the Ablama. It looked good on the menu but I don't think it was available on the buffet. Also, I would like to ask the restaurant family to put tabbouleh and pita bread into the buffet options. I was really looking forward to that.
But if any of you have been to Carshon's recently, you'll notice restaurants don't take my recommendations seriously (no chocolate coconut pie yet).
So enjoy your trip to Lebanon. Make jokes about the name. Lick your baklava. And come here to tell me what you think about the place. I hope this connection between the Fort Worth and Lebanese community can grow and strengthen. Maybe someday we'll have a Taste of Lebanon here in Fort Worth.
Edit: Welp, I messed up this one. I ate at Chadra Mezza, not Cafe Chadra, so any of you that read this before now saw the wrong name. I apologize. From now on I'll actually read the signs of the restaurants I go into. Thanks for the heads up anonymous. I have changed all references...hopefully.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Updates
The BBBBQ eat off has begun. I wont reveal which places have been ranked yet but I will say that after my little run in with the Railhead I wont be allowed back. Get it? Because that guy (not me) ran into the restaurant. Poor guy. Is it too soon to joke?
I ate at Hui Chuan the other day. I'll have a review on that pretty soon.
As per Michael's (commenter, not everybody's favorite arts and crafts shop - yea beads!) request, I need to find some places with cheap lunches. How about some recommendations? His comment was spot on as to how some of us probably justify dining out at lunch - is the cost close to what my home brought lunch cost?
Another factor for me is whether or not my wife will realize I'm dining out all the time and thats the real reason I'm getting fat.
So let me have them. This wont result in a formal overall review like the BBBBQ-off, but it will provide some ideas for everybody. Remember, if you don't tell me and I find out about it, this trust we've developed will be destroyed. I'll have trouble opening up to you. Sometimes I feel like you shut me out and I wish you would just open up a litt...wait, the Big XII Basketball Tournament is on...can we talk later?
Look below for my new review of the Scat Jazz Lounge. I apologize for not eating there. But lets be honest, who wants to eat at a place called Scat?
I ate at Hui Chuan the other day. I'll have a review on that pretty soon.
As per Michael's (commenter, not everybody's favorite arts and crafts shop - yea beads!) request, I need to find some places with cheap lunches. How about some recommendations? His comment was spot on as to how some of us probably justify dining out at lunch - is the cost close to what my home brought lunch cost?
Another factor for me is whether or not my wife will realize I'm dining out all the time and thats the real reason I'm getting fat.
So let me have them. This wont result in a formal overall review like the BBBBQ-off, but it will provide some ideas for everybody. Remember, if you don't tell me and I find out about it, this trust we've developed will be destroyed. I'll have trouble opening up to you. Sometimes I feel like you shut me out and I wish you would just open up a litt...wait, the Big XII Basketball Tournament is on...can we talk later?
Look below for my new review of the Scat Jazz Lounge. I apologize for not eating there. But lets be honest, who wants to eat at a place called Scat?
Scat Jazz Lounge
Have you been here yet? If not, is it because you're not a cool cat? I would say so. But only because I have been.
Last week Rick Derek and his Big Band played the Tuesday night set and upon hearing about this from FWHITW's good e-friend West and Clear, I had to go. Ricki Derek is one of the owners but he's also a swingin' singer, showman and gracious host.
I'm a huge fan of the big band sound, classics from the days when Vegas wasn't for kids and basically anything that reminds of Frank Sinatra. I'm too young to have actually experienced any of that first hand but as soon as I was legal, I was hooked on Vegas (thanks dad!!).
The Scat Jazz Lounge reminds me of what I imagine the hip cool times of the Rat Pack were like. That sentence actually makes no sense but you get the idea.
The Scat, as I'll call it is located in the basement of the Woolworth building which is the really cool old building facing one of the beautiful downtown parking lots. The entrance is in the alley, under a retro neon sign, but for now you'll enter through the main entrance of the building. Once you get inside, its very cozy. There are booths up against the wall, a stage is up against a wall across from the bar and there are small tables and columns throughout.
A large group of us went to see Ricki Derek and were given the VIP booths on the side. That probably had something to do with this blog's notoriety. Or the fact that Ricki didn't want us sitting too close to him.
The performance was great. Ricki has a great voice and definitely sounds the part. He talked about a CD that he'll never release because of his love of the sauce. He sang. The band played. All had fun.
But the thing I really dug about this place was that it felt classy. You wouldn't expect to see people in shorts here. Don't get me wrong, when 8.0's starts the free summer concerts again, I'll be in shorts before I leave work. But this place just had a cool vibe that made the slightly more formal atmosphere seem ok.
The Scat has all sorts of other performers and none all fall along the lines of screaming/crying emo bands. I think this will be a nice reliable place to go for after dinner drinks and weeknights out.
I kind of want to go in a tux and drink martinis while the girls go giggle in the corner. Me and the boys will discuss the days affairs in the mens room.
They don't actually have a guys only room so we'll have to hang out in the bathroom.
Check it out. We had to pay a cover, which I'm really not a fan of, but I let it slide because we were actually seeing a band. The rule still stands though - cover to go into a bar without a band is a reason to leave whereever you are (dallas, City Streets) and come back to earth.
Last week Rick Derek and his Big Band played the Tuesday night set and upon hearing about this from FWHITW's good e-friend West and Clear, I had to go. Ricki Derek is one of the owners but he's also a swingin' singer, showman and gracious host.
I'm a huge fan of the big band sound, classics from the days when Vegas wasn't for kids and basically anything that reminds of Frank Sinatra. I'm too young to have actually experienced any of that first hand but as soon as I was legal, I was hooked on Vegas (thanks dad!!).
The Scat Jazz Lounge reminds me of what I imagine the hip cool times of the Rat Pack were like. That sentence actually makes no sense but you get the idea.
The Scat, as I'll call it is located in the basement of the Woolworth building which is the really cool old building facing one of the beautiful downtown parking lots. The entrance is in the alley, under a retro neon sign, but for now you'll enter through the main entrance of the building. Once you get inside, its very cozy. There are booths up against the wall, a stage is up against a wall across from the bar and there are small tables and columns throughout.
A large group of us went to see Ricki Derek and were given the VIP booths on the side. That probably had something to do with this blog's notoriety. Or the fact that Ricki didn't want us sitting too close to him.
The performance was great. Ricki has a great voice and definitely sounds the part. He talked about a CD that he'll never release because of his love of the sauce. He sang. The band played. All had fun.
But the thing I really dug about this place was that it felt classy. You wouldn't expect to see people in shorts here. Don't get me wrong, when 8.0's starts the free summer concerts again, I'll be in shorts before I leave work. But this place just had a cool vibe that made the slightly more formal atmosphere seem ok.
The Scat has all sorts of other performers and none all fall along the lines of screaming/crying emo bands. I think this will be a nice reliable place to go for after dinner drinks and weeknights out.
I kind of want to go in a tux and drink martinis while the girls go giggle in the corner. Me and the boys will discuss the days affairs in the mens room.
They don't actually have a guys only room so we'll have to hang out in the bathroom.
Check it out. We had to pay a cover, which I'm really not a fan of, but I let it slide because we were actually seeing a band. The rule still stands though - cover to go into a bar without a band is a reason to leave whereever you are (dallas, City Streets) and come back to earth.
Kincaids is in Trouble
The Startlegram is reporting that Kincaid's is under fire right now. The landlord is apparently trying to triple their rent and the Gentry's (owners) are looking for a new place to go. You know what this means right? Triple your hamburger consumption.
Its the only way. If we all vow to eat three times as many Kincaid's burgers, the difference wont be felt. So start this week. Today is thursday so you'll need to go today, tomorrow and saturday.
According to the coolest guy the paper interviewed, the store has been around for 250 years. I like that he not only exaggerated, but the paper also put it in, without any correction. The article discusses the family and when when the store opened, but never outright corrected the guy. Cool.
Gentry family, if you're reading this, we're all hoping the best for you and if you have to move, we'll find you. Not in the creepy way.
Also, could you open for breakfast? If we've got to make iy there three times as often, a breakfast burger might help.
http://www.star-telegram.com/743/story/527000.html
Its the only way. If we all vow to eat three times as many Kincaid's burgers, the difference wont be felt. So start this week. Today is thursday so you'll need to go today, tomorrow and saturday.
According to the coolest guy the paper interviewed, the store has been around for 250 years. I like that he not only exaggerated, but the paper also put it in, without any correction. The article discusses the family and when when the store opened, but never outright corrected the guy. Cool.
Gentry family, if you're reading this, we're all hoping the best for you and if you have to move, we'll find you. Not in the creepy way.
Also, could you open for breakfast? If we've got to make iy there three times as often, a breakfast burger might help.
http://www.star-telegram.com/743/story/527000.html
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
10,000 Hits - Whoohoo
Thanks to everybody who helped fortworthholeinthewall make it to 10,000 hits. According to my sources, this is now the most highly read fort worth hole in the wall blog in central Tarrant County.
Way to go readers. We're #1! We're #1!
I would also like to thank all of you who comment on the blog regularly or irregularly. Without you, I would have to work harder during the day.
Keep checking back (4-5 times an hour) because sometime today or early tomorrow I'll have a post on either the Scat Jazz Lounge or Hui Chuan.
Thanks,
FortWorthHoleInTheWall
Way to go readers. We're #1! We're #1!
I would also like to thank all of you who comment on the blog regularly or irregularly. Without you, I would have to work harder during the day.
Keep checking back (4-5 times an hour) because sometime today or early tomorrow I'll have a post on either the Scat Jazz Lounge or Hui Chuan.
Thanks,
FortWorthHoleInTheWall
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
BBBBQ News
Apparently this was in Friday's Startlegram, but I caught on today. Cooper's BBQ from Llano, Texas is opening a location in North Fort Worth.
If you've never been, Cooper's, to me, is the quintessential Texas BBQ joint (even though you don't see them everywhere in Texas). I can remember going to Cooper's and similar places (Hard Eight) back when my dad and I would go to Acuna or to West Texas for any number of reasons.
When you get to one of these pit BBQ places, you don't go inside first. You go to a giant pit smoker with a guy there in an apron and a camo hat. He'll ask what you want. Point to whatever type of meat you want in the pit and he'll cut you off an appropriately sized piece. Take that inside, where a sweet lady with a drawl will weigh it and ask if you want some sides.
Every decent pit BBQ place has free beans, so don't look like a fool by ordering some. Get your sweet tea and have a seat. You'll have a hunk of meat on a tray, some white bread at the table, some beans, and maybe some potato salad. It all looks manageable, but its not. It doesn't really matter though, because you'll be obese soon enough so fill up, you'll need the fuel.
For the vegetarians out there, I'm sure they have goat. Does that count?
Anyways, this place is opening in North Fort Worth and I've got mixed feelings. Its kind of like how you probably felt when Kincaid's starting expanding. You're happy for the owner but you know the replicas will probably fail in comparison. So if you go to Cooper's in Fort Worth and you don't like, go down to Llano and give it another chance.
If you've never been, Cooper's, to me, is the quintessential Texas BBQ joint (even though you don't see them everywhere in Texas). I can remember going to Cooper's and similar places (Hard Eight) back when my dad and I would go to Acuna or to West Texas for any number of reasons.
When you get to one of these pit BBQ places, you don't go inside first. You go to a giant pit smoker with a guy there in an apron and a camo hat. He'll ask what you want. Point to whatever type of meat you want in the pit and he'll cut you off an appropriately sized piece. Take that inside, where a sweet lady with a drawl will weigh it and ask if you want some sides.
Every decent pit BBQ place has free beans, so don't look like a fool by ordering some. Get your sweet tea and have a seat. You'll have a hunk of meat on a tray, some white bread at the table, some beans, and maybe some potato salad. It all looks manageable, but its not. It doesn't really matter though, because you'll be obese soon enough so fill up, you'll need the fuel.
For the vegetarians out there, I'm sure they have goat. Does that count?
Anyways, this place is opening in North Fort Worth and I've got mixed feelings. Its kind of like how you probably felt when Kincaid's starting expanding. You're happy for the owner but you know the replicas will probably fail in comparison. So if you go to Cooper's in Fort Worth and you don't like, go down to Llano and give it another chance.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Lucille's
Do you remember back to college when you were hanging out with your friends and one would say, "hey lets get together over the summer because some of my high school friends throw this really big bash that is always a blast"? Do you remember how your friends would tell you how awesome they were and how you'd get excited to meet some more cool people? Then do you remember meeting the friends and thinking your friend must have really low standards? Then you wonder about his or her friendship with you. Remember that? But you still had a good time because you got drunk, right?
Thats sort of how I feel about Lucille's. Everybody I've talked to has made this place out to be the Holy Grail of restaurants. There could be no better place. Except that everybody sort of curbs their review a little so as to not totally brown nose the restaurant. They always put in a catch like, "yeah its really good, but just kind of heavy" or "its great, but not for lunch". My review, if somebody asked, which nobody will, would be "I would go to The Original instead."
The building and the interior are cool. I really like that it fits the lot and has a nice dark interior that makes it feel intimate and neighborhood-ly-esquei-sh (geniuses routinely use more than one suffix - i read it on the internet). By dark interior, I'm referring to the lack of lights. The restaurant is probably very light during the day.
We ordered a couple dishes and some fried green tomatoes. I'm not a big FGT eater but I do like them. These were enhanced mainly by the fact that they were fried and came with a side of ranch. The tomatoes were hard and a bit sour. I was hoping they would have used a fresher tomato.
The pasta dish I had was very dry. It was the cilantro pesto pasta with salmon, or something similar to that. It was dry and you couldn't really taste any of the flavor in the pesto. My wife had a salad with salmon in it and it tasted fine. The salmon was cooked nicely (as was mine) and the salad was nice, but there was just something off about it all. It was like the high school friend of your college friend who seemed to be hitting on you, but maybe was drunk. Very similar experience. Couldn't tell if the lack of flavors were intentional or uncontrollable (maybe the vat of flavor in the back didn't spill into my dish). By vat of flavor, of course I mean queso.
I'm willing to give this place another try because they had some other items on the menu that looked good. That was actually an initial problem. The restaurant has so many items that look good that picking one was kind of difficult. Seeing as how so many people give restrained glowing reviews, I figure it deserves another shot. It will probably be awhile, but I can't give up on such an institution this soon.
If any Lucille's-aholics are out there, please let me know if there is something else I should be ordering. As you all know, I'm pretty easy going in my reviews and I'd like to have a reason to give the place a glowing review without any restraints.
On a positive note, this place has an awesome location and the food wasn't horrible. It just wasn't what I expected. I'm sure to other diners there, the food was great. They, however, don't run the most powerful hole in the wall blog in the Universe, dedicated to Fort Worth hole in the walls, that uses the hole in the wall picture, and is written by a lawyer...who is me (is that specific enough to prevent any other competitors for that category?)
On a side note, thanks to everybody for all the BBBBQ suggestions. I think I've got enough to make a good review of Fort Worth. I will happily take your reviews on places you like and include them in the final review. Please email me at fortworthholeinthewall@yahoo.com if you would like more information or would like to send in your reviews.
Thats sort of how I feel about Lucille's. Everybody I've talked to has made this place out to be the Holy Grail of restaurants. There could be no better place. Except that everybody sort of curbs their review a little so as to not totally brown nose the restaurant. They always put in a catch like, "yeah its really good, but just kind of heavy" or "its great, but not for lunch". My review, if somebody asked, which nobody will, would be "I would go to The Original instead."
The building and the interior are cool. I really like that it fits the lot and has a nice dark interior that makes it feel intimate and neighborhood-ly-esquei-sh (geniuses routinely use more than one suffix - i read it on the internet). By dark interior, I'm referring to the lack of lights. The restaurant is probably very light during the day.
We ordered a couple dishes and some fried green tomatoes. I'm not a big FGT eater but I do like them. These were enhanced mainly by the fact that they were fried and came with a side of ranch. The tomatoes were hard and a bit sour. I was hoping they would have used a fresher tomato.
The pasta dish I had was very dry. It was the cilantro pesto pasta with salmon, or something similar to that. It was dry and you couldn't really taste any of the flavor in the pesto. My wife had a salad with salmon in it and it tasted fine. The salmon was cooked nicely (as was mine) and the salad was nice, but there was just something off about it all. It was like the high school friend of your college friend who seemed to be hitting on you, but maybe was drunk. Very similar experience. Couldn't tell if the lack of flavors were intentional or uncontrollable (maybe the vat of flavor in the back didn't spill into my dish). By vat of flavor, of course I mean queso.
I'm willing to give this place another try because they had some other items on the menu that looked good. That was actually an initial problem. The restaurant has so many items that look good that picking one was kind of difficult. Seeing as how so many people give restrained glowing reviews, I figure it deserves another shot. It will probably be awhile, but I can't give up on such an institution this soon.
If any Lucille's-aholics are out there, please let me know if there is something else I should be ordering. As you all know, I'm pretty easy going in my reviews and I'd like to have a reason to give the place a glowing review without any restraints.
On a positive note, this place has an awesome location and the food wasn't horrible. It just wasn't what I expected. I'm sure to other diners there, the food was great. They, however, don't run the most powerful hole in the wall blog in the Universe, dedicated to Fort Worth hole in the walls, that uses the hole in the wall picture, and is written by a lawyer...who is me (is that specific enough to prevent any other competitors for that category?)
On a side note, thanks to everybody for all the BBBBQ suggestions. I think I've got enough to make a good review of Fort Worth. I will happily take your reviews on places you like and include them in the final review. Please email me at fortworthholeinthewall@yahoo.com if you would like more information or would like to send in your reviews.
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