Fish Net - Lake DeGray, Arkansas

Barely just east of Dallas County. The wifey and me had absolutely nutten to do this weekend. So it was time for a road trip. After a few minutes of thought, I came up with the idea to eat dinner at the Fish Net. We have been eating fish in this place for about 27 years. At one point, this was our favorite fish place. Of course that was before Doe Belly's. Just down the road from Fish Net is Lake DeGray state park. This is a beautiful park with a very nice lake. We have been coming here for years.

We ordered a small  catch each. This comes with a setup which is pinto beans, green tomatoes, hush puppies and cold slaw. The pinto beans have a nice flavor to them. Tonight they were a little salty, but very good. How can a redneck like green tomatoes, but not like regular tomatoes? One of the many mysteries of my life.  These are some good green tomatoes. You get a whole basket of hush puppies. I think at fish places from now on, the wifey will be referred to as Hushpuppy!!!, like she is chipper in Mexican restaurants. We ate the WHOLE basket of hush puppies. Man these are some good eats rat here. I was forced to eat cabbage as a kid, so as an adult I don't plan on eating any cabbage, which I believe cold slaw is made from. So not a fan of cold slaw, but I tasted this one just for your benefit. It was pretty good. I still won't eat because of my childhood trauma, but put that aside and it was good. So the setup gets a go.

The fish here is not as good as it has been. It had somewhat of a funny taste. The breading didn't taste like any breading I have ever had and that is not a good thing. Also, I would guess that the fish is from pretty large catfish. At Doe Belly's you basically get a side of a fish, not a small part of a large fish. I think size has an effect on taste. I may not be right, but that is my thought.

We have so many good memories here, I am sure we will be back.

Givem an 7.218.

Mitcho
©2015

Joe Willy's - Rockwall

Yesterday we kept some of the grands. Precious and Lil Bud. So at the end of the day we had to take Precious to a dance class. Now you know this redneck is really looking forward to tap, ballet, and jazz dance recitals. Of course if Precious likes it, I will be on the front row with my air horn, silly string, confetti and loud speaker. You know the routine.

Dance class was in Rockwall and we dropped Lil' Bud off in Rockwall so we had dinner in Rockwall. Rockwall is full of good restaurants, so this is not an easy decision for a simple brain. So we threw two options out each and Joe Willy's was in both of our options, so we did the Saunter over to Joe Willy's.

Joe Willy's is a hamburger joint. So you got it we ordered a hamburger each. Here you can choose between a 1/3 pound and 1/2 pound. I went for the 1/3 pound tonight.

This place let's you add the condiments of you choice from a bar. I like being in control of my burger.

The meat had a good flavor and I added plenty of mustard, onion!!!!, bread & butter pickles, lettuce, and bbq sauce. This was a good burger. We also ordered onion rings and they were very good. My favorites are the rings at Twisted Root, but these rank pretty high up there.

So grab your wife and few redneck buddies and get yourself on over to Joe Willy's, you won't regret it.

Given em a 7.968

Mitcho
©2015

Razzoos - Mesquite

Work has slowed down, so we have time to stretch our wings a little. So last night we drove 180 mile round trip for dinner. So I told the wifey that we need to go someplace out of our normal area just for variety. So after kicking around several suggestions including Judge Beans, we settled on Razzoos, which is one of the closest restaurants to our house. That is really stretching. (Judge Beans for you neophytes, was a hamburger joint on Northwest Hwy, close to Abrams which had some of the best beans we have ever grubbed on. It went out of business 25 years ago, oh well.) We really like Razzoos, but rarely go there. So go figure!

So we did the Cajun dance to Razzoos. "Sorry, I had to go get a few antacids". We decided on our order, while driving there. Fried pickles and Andoulle , Red Beanz and Rice. This just makes me hungry thinking about it.

In my mind, Razzoos is the founding fathers of fried pickles. This is the first place I ever had some and I have never found any better. This is the best fried pickles in this here parts of Redneckville.

We then went on to the Andoulle, Red Beanz and Rice. Now this is some great spicy sausage, cooked to perfection. Why don't I come here more often????? The red beans had a very nice flavor almost spicy and rice is rice.

I am telling you, this is some righteous good grub. Being an old man I have to overlook all of the teenage girl employees running around in Daisy Dukes. So not exactly a family atmosphere, but some good grub.

Givn em 8.483

Mitcho
©2015

Czech Stop Vs Slovacek - City of West, Texas

Czech stop on the left/Slocacek on the right.


A cold front blew through today and it cooled off to the mid 80's. So about 4:00 the wifey came in and asked if I wanted to put the top down on the convertible and polka down to West. Of course it took me less than 1 second to say let's polka. We have been going to the Czech Stop in West for about 25 years and it is a destination, not a stop on the way. About a year ago a new bakery was built across I-35 called Slovacek. I have a few friends that say I have to go to Slovacek's so since we are going that way this seemed like a good time to do a comparison of the two. I have never done this on the blog before, but it was a nice first.

So we hop into the convertible, put the top down and take off south. When we were about to get to West, it started raining. I told the wifey, don't slow down and it will be ok. You know if you run 80 mph in a hard rain, you won't get hardly wet. Of course you can't slow down for your exit.

We went to Slovacek's first. They obviously are trying to compete with BucEEs. Their store is only about two football fields short of a BucEEs. But it was a nice place. The bathroom here is much nicer than the one at the Czech Stop. But the bathroom is not the reason you stop here.

I had 90 miles to develop my plan for the comparison. So I decided the Hot Chubby with Cheese and a Fruit Kolache at each place. So I ordered a Hot sausage and cheese and Apricot Kolache at Slovacek. At Czech Stop it was a Hot Chubby with Cheese and an Apricot Kolache.

The bread is the main attraction to kolaches. The bread on the Hot Sausage and Cheese at Slovacek was mediocre at best. I can buy bread at Walmart that is just as good. The cheese was minimal and appeared to be similar to Kraft American, like you would put on a bologna sandwich. The spicy sausage was good, but not quite as spicy as the Hot Chubby.

Now for the big time. The bread on the Hot Chubby tasted like homemade bread, this is the reason you drive 90 miles for a meal. The cheese is a medium cheddar and plenty of it. The sausage is spicy!!!! Winner Winner Chubby Dinner.

Now for Apricot Kolaches. From Slovacek, the bread once again tasted very basic. The apricot was pretty good. However, the Czech Stop Apricot Kolache, the bread was a little sweet like a dessert item should be. The apricot filling was very tasty and just looked much better.

Overall, I would eat at Slovacek over the donut shop that I get my cinnamon roll in Mesquite. What the donut shop calls a kolache is a basic roll with store bought sausage link in it. Slovacek wins this contest with the donut shop, but across I-35 is The Czeck Stop. There just is no comparison. Czeck Stop wins this battle on all accounts.

When we drove up at Slovacek there were a couple of cars in the parking lot, but plenty of parking left. There were two other people ordering food when we were, no waiting. At Czech stop, we got the last parking place. We had to wait in a line to order our food. So the people have spoken, all accounts say Czech Stop rules.

By the way I looked at cinnamon rolls at Slovacek and they looked ok, but nothing special. The cinnamon rolls at Czech Stop look like they have 10 times more cinnamon and much more icing. I will tell you in the morning what they taste like.

Givn Czech Stop a 9.491
Slovacek gets a 8.002

Mitcho
©2015

Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.

Jesus Christ is my Lord and Saviour

Please attend church with me next Sunday. Where ever you are, go to the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwas2xFpEStMd06-59ggY7g

Atheneos - Mesquite

Dinner time rolled around and the wifey and me kicked around several options, then the wifey decided we were going to Atheneos. That's how we roll. Why does she even ask me where I want to go? Oh well.

Atheneos is a Greek food restaurant in Mesquite run by a family that is from Greece and still has family there. I have to admit that the first time I went here I was very doubtful that I would like anything in the house. But I sacrifice my slim and trim body for my readers pleasure. Surprisingly I like everything I have eaten in this place. As the owner says, Greek food is simple food using the same ingredients Americans are used to, just a different batch of spices. So rock on.

Tonight I ordered a Gyro pita. This is a good size and thick pita filled with Gyro (beef), onions, tomatoes (I don't eat tomatoes, so I had them left off), and a tzatziki sauce (a creamy sauce). I also ordered fries because the wifey wanted fries. They are less fattening if they are on my plate.
Man this Gyro meat is really good and the red onion and sauce really add a nice extra to the flavor. You need to get you some of this here grub. Forget that you have never eaten Greek food, or for that matter anything other than chicken fried steak and mashed tators, and grab you some Greek food, post haste (fast). The fries had a little spice on them so they were a little better than most fries.

I learned my first Greek word tonight. I have no idea what it means, but I know when to use it. I spilled my tea into my plate about half way through the meal tonight. You know I roll that way. The owner came by to check on me and offered to fix me a new batch of fries, but the wifey had already eaten all she wanted. But it was a nice jester. He also asked if I yelled "Opa". Of course I didn't, but next time I go, I plan on spilling my tea again so I can yell "Opa".

Given em a 8.379

Mitcho
©2015

Five Guys - Mesquite

The wifey suggested we try Five Guys. How can I review about 130 restaurants and miss one less than a mile from Mitchoville. So we sashayed to Five Guys. Now I had heard that it was pricey for a hamburger and they were right.

I ordered a hamburger, the wifey ordered a Little Hamburger and a regular order of fries. $21. We can eat at Whataburger for $10!!!!

The regular burger came with two meat patties and they were very tasty. About as good as a Whataburger. The little burger came with one meat patty. You can add your choice of a wide variety of condiments to your burger. I like being able to easily make the burger like I want it.

The regular order of fries were very good. Their texture and taste reminded me of my home made fries and they hare yummy yummy. Also, the regular order was enough to feed 4 at least. We ate the spill over from the cup and never got to the fries in the cup. Next time a personal order of fries.

This was a good hamburger and fries, but not any better than Whataburger and $10 is better than $21.

Givem a 7.883

Mitcho
©2015