I heard recently that Chubby's Burger Shack is open now for breakfast at 6 am with burritos and breakfast plates. If they do breakfast as well as they do burgers, this is a good thing for makers of large pants.
Nonna Tata provides to-go service. You get the salad, the meal and some bread. That's not bad if you want the good food but don't care to wait for a table.
Three places have recently expanded or are expanding.
Thai Rice N' Noodle has expanded into the space adjacent to the original location. The service is catching up to the crowds so be patient.
La Familia may or may not have expanded into its adjacent space as well. That's a real gem of the West 7th area as those buildings fill up with dallasesque places.
Salsa Fuego has recently expanded into the kitchen to add an additional 4-5 tables. The service is getting the hang of there new fame so peak lunch time crowds are still going to slow you down a bit. FWHITW's recommendation would be to create a somewhat limited lunch menu to speed up the process. The rumor mill also says that Fuego is looking to take over the old Covey location but they currently want too much for rent.
I'm working on a review of some of the new bars in the West 7th area. If you've got some thoughts or insight, post them here or email me at fortworthholeinthewall@yahoo.com
Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas to all of you.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Taco Heads
The Beatles once asked if you want a revolution. And, of course, we all want to change the world. But what about changing Fort Worth? Are we experiencing a revolution? A taco-lution perhaps? Fort Worth now has two well known food truck options in the urban core. Yum Yum has a couple taco trucks in downtown from 7am-2pm and now West 7th has Taco Heads, available Wednesday-Saturday from 7pm-2am.
Many of you have surely noticed that 7th Haven on West 7th has an addiction - an addiction to addition. First it was the remodel with the front porch, and the rooftop patio, and now the back porch. They will soon have a basement porch from what I hear. And perched alongside that back patio, four nights a week, is the trendy looking trailer, known as Taco Heads, purveyor of Damn. Fine. Tacos.
I'm not as much of a night owl as many of you, so making it to seven p.m. is a daunting task, but one night, after a pound of chocolate chip cookies and a six pack of big red, I was awake enough to make it to Taco Heads for some grub. The missus and I arrived, expecting to be alone, but instead found the patio occupied by a number of people, a small line at the Taco Heads trailer, and us - unprepared for what was ahead. Many people are afraid to try new things like this for fear that their ignorance of the procedures will get them called out by all the cool people (not me) who frequent these places. Relax my dear readers, for the Taco Heads people are a bastion of comfort and cool when it comes to answering your seventy stupid questions (what is your slaw made of? how big are the tacos? who pulls the chicken?).
For $2.50 a taco, you can get Pork Carnitas, Beef Brisket or Pulled Chicken. Then add your choice of Taco Head slaw, pico de gallo, or cilantro and onions. You can also add grilled jalapenos and/or avocado for an additional fiddy cent. On the first visit (the first of many), we tried an array of tacos. Carnitas with slaw, brisket with cilantro and onions, pulled pork with pico, pulled pork with slaw, carnitas with pico - etc. We also got avocado on some and a cup of grilled jalapenos to toss onto others.
The taco fillings are wrapped in soft, warm tortillas (approx. 5 inch tortillas), and you can choose between flour or corn. The fillings, depending on which you get, range from spilling out of the sides, to neatly tucked into the tortilla. You are also provided with a red (mild, i guess) and green (spicy) sauce. Both are delicious with the red being a typical smooth red hot sauce and the green being somewhat creamy.
In no particular order, except that my favorite is listed first and my third favorite is listed third, I like the pulled chicken, the carnitas and the brisket. With carnitas being close to my first favorite. All of the toppings are great but I'd recommend getting the slaw (which I can't adequately describe) and the pico. The cilantro and onions are fine, but there's so much more to explore. I also liked the grilled jalapenos. The avocado was good, but for me, the jalapenos add a bigger flavor boost.
Starting at midnight Taco Heads begins serving breakfast tacos to bar weary patrons. Rumor has it, that you can probably get a breakfast taco a little earlier on Wednesday nights though I haven't tried them yet. I will work to report back on that.
Many of you are thinking - is this guy still doing this non-sense? Yes. But you're also thinking, how are two taco trucks a revolution? Well, first, its three taco trucks - Yum Yum has two in downtown. Second, it's four taco trucks. As I sat on the porch recently awaiting my Taco Head tacos, I noticed a new taco trailer. Much like the creepy people that stare at you rather than talk, a taco trailer sat behind Taco Heads, across the alley, staring at me in hopes that I'd make a move and ask for some additional tacos. While Taco Heads is lit up with decorative lighting, a bow, and a trendy look, this other taco truck normally sits outside the gas station at Henderson and Lancaster and looks like it. It looked a bit creepy back in the dark, but its the sign of a growing trend. Maybe we can even get food trucks that serve non tortilla wrapped foods.
If you're interested in trying a Taco Head taco, head (see what I did there?) to the corner of West 7th and Carroll between the hours of 7 pm and 2 am. The trailer is located behind 7th Haven and faces Carroll Street and the Montgomery Plaza. They take credit cards, cash, and hugs (no guarantees on this).
You can find Taco Heads on Facebook, and check out their video at the Taco Heads website. Right now there's nothing else on the site but the video is cool.
Taco Heads receives four holes because its a trailer, with unusual hours, and the creepy trailer in the dark adds to the ambiance - if you like being watched.
Many of you have surely noticed that 7th Haven on West 7th has an addiction - an addiction to addition. First it was the remodel with the front porch, and the rooftop patio, and now the back porch. They will soon have a basement porch from what I hear. And perched alongside that back patio, four nights a week, is the trendy looking trailer, known as Taco Heads, purveyor of Damn. Fine. Tacos.
I'm not as much of a night owl as many of you, so making it to seven p.m. is a daunting task, but one night, after a pound of chocolate chip cookies and a six pack of big red, I was awake enough to make it to Taco Heads for some grub. The missus and I arrived, expecting to be alone, but instead found the patio occupied by a number of people, a small line at the Taco Heads trailer, and us - unprepared for what was ahead. Many people are afraid to try new things like this for fear that their ignorance of the procedures will get them called out by all the cool people (not me) who frequent these places. Relax my dear readers, for the Taco Heads people are a bastion of comfort and cool when it comes to answering your seventy stupid questions (what is your slaw made of? how big are the tacos? who pulls the chicken?).
For $2.50 a taco, you can get Pork Carnitas, Beef Brisket or Pulled Chicken. Then add your choice of Taco Head slaw, pico de gallo, or cilantro and onions. You can also add grilled jalapenos and/or avocado for an additional fiddy cent. On the first visit (the first of many), we tried an array of tacos. Carnitas with slaw, brisket with cilantro and onions, pulled pork with pico, pulled pork with slaw, carnitas with pico - etc. We also got avocado on some and a cup of grilled jalapenos to toss onto others.
The taco fillings are wrapped in soft, warm tortillas (approx. 5 inch tortillas), and you can choose between flour or corn. The fillings, depending on which you get, range from spilling out of the sides, to neatly tucked into the tortilla. You are also provided with a red (mild, i guess) and green (spicy) sauce. Both are delicious with the red being a typical smooth red hot sauce and the green being somewhat creamy.
In no particular order, except that my favorite is listed first and my third favorite is listed third, I like the pulled chicken, the carnitas and the brisket. With carnitas being close to my first favorite. All of the toppings are great but I'd recommend getting the slaw (which I can't adequately describe) and the pico. The cilantro and onions are fine, but there's so much more to explore. I also liked the grilled jalapenos. The avocado was good, but for me, the jalapenos add a bigger flavor boost.
Starting at midnight Taco Heads begins serving breakfast tacos to bar weary patrons. Rumor has it, that you can probably get a breakfast taco a little earlier on Wednesday nights though I haven't tried them yet. I will work to report back on that.
Many of you are thinking - is this guy still doing this non-sense? Yes. But you're also thinking, how are two taco trucks a revolution? Well, first, its three taco trucks - Yum Yum has two in downtown. Second, it's four taco trucks. As I sat on the porch recently awaiting my Taco Head tacos, I noticed a new taco trailer. Much like the creepy people that stare at you rather than talk, a taco trailer sat behind Taco Heads, across the alley, staring at me in hopes that I'd make a move and ask for some additional tacos. While Taco Heads is lit up with decorative lighting, a bow, and a trendy look, this other taco truck normally sits outside the gas station at Henderson and Lancaster and looks like it. It looked a bit creepy back in the dark, but its the sign of a growing trend. Maybe we can even get food trucks that serve non tortilla wrapped foods.
If you're interested in trying a Taco Head taco, head (see what I did there?) to the corner of West 7th and Carroll between the hours of 7 pm and 2 am. The trailer is located behind 7th Haven and faces Carroll Street and the Montgomery Plaza. They take credit cards, cash, and hugs (no guarantees on this).
You can find Taco Heads on Facebook, and check out their video at the Taco Heads website. Right now there's nothing else on the site but the video is cool.
Taco Heads receives four holes because its a trailer, with unusual hours, and the creepy trailer in the dark adds to the ambiance - if you like being watched.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Ellerbe Fine Foods
Okay ladies and gentlemen, its time to put your fancy pants on. We're headed on a trip to an upscale restaurant, that is also a hole in the wall, that is also on many gourmands' bucket list, and is also one of the top ten new restaurants in the United States according to this blog* and Bon Appetit**.
*The other nine are here in Fort Worth.
**The other nine from BA are not here in Fort Worth.
The Hole family (get it?) went to Ellerbe Fine Foods (EFF) to celebrate numerous events, the most important of course, was the free meal for yours truly so this review could be provided. There has been much talk amongst local foodies and people who just generally prefer eating over not eating, regarding EFF. It is either the best restaurant they've been too, or it doesn't live up to the hype. Before discussing my meal, I think its important to address this issue. EFF, like many new restaurants we're seeing in town is an upscale restaurant that isn't a steakhouse. For many, that's unusual and the idea of paying a high restaurant tab and not getting a filet mignon confuses people. However, what EFF lacks in steaks, it more than makes up for in carefully considered and prepared dishes which use a variety of ingredients that many have not experienced before. So lets get into exactly what that means....
The visit involved a highly adventurous attitude from the entire family. We had four different starters, five different entrees, and 3.5 desserts. To begin with, we had a Scott Farm Heirloom Tomato Panzanella, the Doak Farm Pears and Brazos Valley Blue salad, Warm Red Wine Crimini Mushrooms and Housemade Rye Crisps and the Rabbit Terrine. I didn't get to try the Tomato dish, but it was reportedly delicious. In fact, they were all delicious and none of the food made it back to the kitchen. We also had the crimini mushroom dish. To begin, I hate mushrooms. They taste like alien eyes. Why people eat them is beyond me. The EFF mushrooms are working to change me. I didn't get a sense of any alien eyes and the flavors were very vibrant. The pear and blue cheese salad was also very good. It tasted like a great version of a typical steak house salad.
I had the rabbit terrine and will attest to the uniqueness of it. A rabbit terrine is made by setting a trap under the Easter Tree to catch a fresh rabbit. Terrine is french for "pate" which is french for "smeared". The Easter rabbit smear was delicious by a 2 -1 vote. One person was afraid the crunch in the terrine was possibly rabbit foot. We confirmed that it was something else.
For the entrees, we each tried a different dish, and, with one exception, I had a bite of all of them. We had the Langoustine (inbred lobster), the Veal Involtini, the Chili rubbed Wild Boar (my dish), the Paneed Redfish and the Duck Confit. The Langoustine came with a delicious homemade pasta and sauce that was easily one of the most flavorful pieces of any of the meals. The Redfish was also very flavorful and came with a few delicious green beans. The duck was tender, flavorful and came with gruyere bread pudding that disproved my hatred of soggy bread. Finally, the Chili Rubbed Wild Boar. This was my dish and was by far, my favorite item of the entire evening.
The boar is served with mesquite bean blinis (food thong), crispy nopalitos (cacti), and a house made jelly. My fancy pants were stretched tight after I licked the plate clean. The boar was tender and fell apart at the touch of a fork. I've never had mesquite beans or blinis but I think they both could cure a minor disease based on their deliciousness. The fried cactus bites, while spiky, were delicious as well. This dish wasn't what earned EFF a "best restaurant in the universe" award, but it will when that award comes out.
We also had desserts. I used the menu to give the details above, although the entrees and starters are still vividly dancing around in my vast mind. But there was so much to take in and this sponge of a mind I have was filled with funny jokes about rabbit smears and images of Wylie Coyote falling on cacti, that I can't remember all the details about dessert. I know we had ice cream that was more flavorful than anything you can buy in a store. We may have also had some bread pudding and some sort of pumpkin thing. It was all delicious but it was good food overload for me. This meal should have been spread out over about three days so that I could fully enjoy the awesomeness that was Ellerbe Fine Foods.
If you haven't been, the holidays are approaching and this place would be a wonderful place for a Christmas/Holiday event. That is, if your idea of a special meal doesn't require your traditional steak place. They do offer a steak at Ellerbe Fine Foods, but there is so much more to explore here.
If you've been - let me know how right or wrong I was. EFF earns a three hole rating because its not scary in any way when you approach but the unique menu, and the use of an old gas station keeps it real, yo.
Ellerbe Fine Foods is located at 1501 West Magnolia Avenue and is not open on Sunday or Monday.
The website is Ellerbe Fine Foods.
*The other nine are here in Fort Worth.
**The other nine from BA are not here in Fort Worth.
The Hole family (get it?) went to Ellerbe Fine Foods (EFF) to celebrate numerous events, the most important of course, was the free meal for yours truly so this review could be provided. There has been much talk amongst local foodies and people who just generally prefer eating over not eating, regarding EFF. It is either the best restaurant they've been too, or it doesn't live up to the hype. Before discussing my meal, I think its important to address this issue. EFF, like many new restaurants we're seeing in town is an upscale restaurant that isn't a steakhouse. For many, that's unusual and the idea of paying a high restaurant tab and not getting a filet mignon confuses people. However, what EFF lacks in steaks, it more than makes up for in carefully considered and prepared dishes which use a variety of ingredients that many have not experienced before. So lets get into exactly what that means....
The visit involved a highly adventurous attitude from the entire family. We had four different starters, five different entrees, and 3.5 desserts. To begin with, we had a Scott Farm Heirloom Tomato Panzanella, the Doak Farm Pears and Brazos Valley Blue salad, Warm Red Wine Crimini Mushrooms and Housemade Rye Crisps and the Rabbit Terrine. I didn't get to try the Tomato dish, but it was reportedly delicious. In fact, they were all delicious and none of the food made it back to the kitchen. We also had the crimini mushroom dish. To begin, I hate mushrooms. They taste like alien eyes. Why people eat them is beyond me. The EFF mushrooms are working to change me. I didn't get a sense of any alien eyes and the flavors were very vibrant. The pear and blue cheese salad was also very good. It tasted like a great version of a typical steak house salad.
I had the rabbit terrine and will attest to the uniqueness of it. A rabbit terrine is made by setting a trap under the Easter Tree to catch a fresh rabbit. Terrine is french for "pate" which is french for "smeared". The Easter rabbit smear was delicious by a 2 -1 vote. One person was afraid the crunch in the terrine was possibly rabbit foot. We confirmed that it was something else.
For the entrees, we each tried a different dish, and, with one exception, I had a bite of all of them. We had the Langoustine (inbred lobster), the Veal Involtini, the Chili rubbed Wild Boar (my dish), the Paneed Redfish and the Duck Confit. The Langoustine came with a delicious homemade pasta and sauce that was easily one of the most flavorful pieces of any of the meals. The Redfish was also very flavorful and came with a few delicious green beans. The duck was tender, flavorful and came with gruyere bread pudding that disproved my hatred of soggy bread. Finally, the Chili Rubbed Wild Boar. This was my dish and was by far, my favorite item of the entire evening.
The boar is served with mesquite bean blinis (food thong), crispy nopalitos (cacti), and a house made jelly. My fancy pants were stretched tight after I licked the plate clean. The boar was tender and fell apart at the touch of a fork. I've never had mesquite beans or blinis but I think they both could cure a minor disease based on their deliciousness. The fried cactus bites, while spiky, were delicious as well. This dish wasn't what earned EFF a "best restaurant in the universe" award, but it will when that award comes out.
We also had desserts. I used the menu to give the details above, although the entrees and starters are still vividly dancing around in my vast mind. But there was so much to take in and this sponge of a mind I have was filled with funny jokes about rabbit smears and images of Wylie Coyote falling on cacti, that I can't remember all the details about dessert. I know we had ice cream that was more flavorful than anything you can buy in a store. We may have also had some bread pudding and some sort of pumpkin thing. It was all delicious but it was good food overload for me. This meal should have been spread out over about three days so that I could fully enjoy the awesomeness that was Ellerbe Fine Foods.
If you haven't been, the holidays are approaching and this place would be a wonderful place for a Christmas/Holiday event. That is, if your idea of a special meal doesn't require your traditional steak place. They do offer a steak at Ellerbe Fine Foods, but there is so much more to explore here.
If you've been - let me know how right or wrong I was. EFF earns a three hole rating because its not scary in any way when you approach but the unique menu, and the use of an old gas station keeps it real, yo.
Ellerbe Fine Foods is located at 1501 West Magnolia Avenue and is not open on Sunday or Monday.
The website is Ellerbe Fine Foods.
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