Lately the wifey has been talking about fried pickles at Razzoo's. So as we discussed dinner options tonight, I threw out Razzoo's and that was that. So we did the shiver and shake (it's cold outside) to Razzoo's. For me this is the home of the fried pickle. My first experience with fried pickles was probably 10 years ago at Razzoo's. I had never heard of fried pickles before that.
So we ordered fried pickles and the sausage, red beans and rice. The fried pickles here are the absolute best, bar none. The batter is spicy and pretty thick on a very dill pickle. They serve a dipping sauce that is a spicy version of ranch. Spicy good stuff. This is why you go here.
The sausage had a real nice flavor. Some pretty good spicy and it was grilled. I wanted it a little more spicy so I added some of their hot sauce. It is very interesting, I was reading the label on the hot sauce waiting on the fried pickles to come out and the first ingredient is hot sauce. So the first ingredient of hot sauce is hot sauce. This tells me a lot. The sausage is a good.
The red beans had a real good flavor, some of the best in Mesquite. Rice was rice. The meal also came with a slice of Texas toast which is always a plus.
So overall this was a good meal. One observation, they must fire all of their employees on their 20th birthday. I have never seen so many young kids running a restaurant. Second observation, with it 25 degrees outside, it probably is not a good night to be wearing short shorts, but most of the employees were.
Overall, givn em an 8.00
Mitcho
©2015
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Milano's Pizza - Daingerfield, TX
We've been in Daingerfield for a couple of days, so we had eaten in almost every restaurant. So we were down to pizza. Milano's pizza is the best pizza in town. The other pizza place has closed. So the competition is not that tough.
So the wifey and me did the vintage dance to Milano's.
After reviewing the menu, we ordered the Milano's special. In reading the menu, this pizza looked a lot like the Deluxe Pizza at Pizza Getti. Trust me it wasn't. The pizza had beef, sausage, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, onion, bell peppers, etc. On the Deluxe, they put as much beef as they put on a hamburger pizza, as much sausage as they put on a sausage pizza, etc. The Deluxe comes out loaded several layers deep with toppings. It makes me hungry just to think about it. At Milano's the Supreme had a couple of pepperoni's, a few sausage, etc. Most of the pizza was cheese. Now the cheese was tasty. But I paid extra to get toppings and I think I am missing most of the toppings here.
So overall, we were disappointed here. The pizza taste pretty good, but it did not come close to our expectation.
So givn' Milano's a 5.5. Still the best pizza in Daingerfield.
Mitcho
©2014
So the wifey and me did the vintage dance to Milano's.
After reviewing the menu, we ordered the Milano's special. In reading the menu, this pizza looked a lot like the Deluxe Pizza at Pizza Getti. Trust me it wasn't. The pizza had beef, sausage, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, onion, bell peppers, etc. On the Deluxe, they put as much beef as they put on a hamburger pizza, as much sausage as they put on a sausage pizza, etc. The Deluxe comes out loaded several layers deep with toppings. It makes me hungry just to think about it. At Milano's the Supreme had a couple of pepperoni's, a few sausage, etc. Most of the pizza was cheese. Now the cheese was tasty. But I paid extra to get toppings and I think I am missing most of the toppings here.
So overall, we were disappointed here. The pizza taste pretty good, but it did not come close to our expectation.
So givn' Milano's a 5.5. Still the best pizza in Daingerfield.
Mitcho
©2014
Vaughan's Catfish - Pittsburg, TX
Now Mitcho has a long history with Vaughan's catfish. Until a few years ago, this was my favorite catfish restaurant. There use to be 3 locations, Tyler, Linden and Pittsburgh. Both the Tyler and Linden locations have closed to various family reasons, not lack of business. The Pittsburgh location is chugging along. The Pittsburgh location is across the road to the entrance to Bob Sandlin State Park. Follow the road through a number of winding turns down to the restaurant. You will think you are wandering back into an old country neighborhood and is going to lead to no good. You are in East Texas! However, if you go long enough you will get to Vaughan's.
Vaughan's is all you can eat for catfish. You can order a specific meal when ordering shrimp, frog legs, etc.
These people are smart. When you walk in, they load the table with green tomato relish, pinto beans, coleslaw, and a basket of hush puppies. If you don't watch yourself, you will eat way too much of this cheap food (as I call it) and not eat much fish. So we have to practice some restraint here. Mitcho doesn't believe in using restraint when it comes to good food. So I am struggling here.
Mitcho is not all that fond of coleslaw, so I pass on it. The pinto beans here are some of the best. I have been known to order a refill of beans instead of fish in the past and I really like the fish. I usually mix the green tomatoes with the pinto beans and slap my mammy, that is some good eats. We have always liked the hushpuppies here and you get a whole basket of them.
The catfish is normal catfish not spicy. The catfish is battered up nicely, is fried perfectly and has a very good taste. This catfish has no oily taste to it at all. This is some good catfish. They also bring French fries, but you didn't come here to eat fries. So I pass on them. They are pretty good fries, but I am paying for catfish. Until I discovered Doe Belly's in Forney a few years ago, this was my number 1 catfish place. Now it is number 2.
Vaughan's is a little expensive. But if you drive 30 miles each way, like I did to eat catfish, a few dollars is not that important.
Mitcho is givn Vaughan's a roaring 7.5.
Mitcho
©2014
Vaughan's is all you can eat for catfish. You can order a specific meal when ordering shrimp, frog legs, etc.
These people are smart. When you walk in, they load the table with green tomato relish, pinto beans, coleslaw, and a basket of hush puppies. If you don't watch yourself, you will eat way too much of this cheap food (as I call it) and not eat much fish. So we have to practice some restraint here. Mitcho doesn't believe in using restraint when it comes to good food. So I am struggling here.
Mitcho is not all that fond of coleslaw, so I pass on it. The pinto beans here are some of the best. I have been known to order a refill of beans instead of fish in the past and I really like the fish. I usually mix the green tomatoes with the pinto beans and slap my mammy, that is some good eats. We have always liked the hushpuppies here and you get a whole basket of them.
The catfish is normal catfish not spicy. The catfish is battered up nicely, is fried perfectly and has a very good taste. This catfish has no oily taste to it at all. This is some good catfish. They also bring French fries, but you didn't come here to eat fries. So I pass on them. They are pretty good fries, but I am paying for catfish. Until I discovered Doe Belly's in Forney a few years ago, this was my number 1 catfish place. Now it is number 2.
Vaughan's is a little expensive. But if you drive 30 miles each way, like I did to eat catfish, a few dollars is not that important.
Mitcho is givn Vaughan's a roaring 7.5.
Mitcho
©2014
Outlaws BBQ - Daingerfield
The day after Christmas, it was time to get out of town and relax for a few days. So the wifey and me wandered east to Daingerfield where we rented a cabin for a couple of nights. We got to Daingerfield at lunch time, so you know, we just had to grab some grub. So we did the clogging dance down to Outlaws BBQ. When we arrived, there weren't many people here and the staff was very friendly. The wifey ordered up a two meat plate (sliced beef and sausage) that we were going to share. The plate came with two sides, so she chose pinto beans and potato salad. The staff told us we could get a third side if we wanted, but we knew two would fill us up. Note: Once Mitcho drove up, the place filled up. We call this the Mitcho Effect.
The sliced beef was pretty lean and very tasty. Now Mitcho is not a big fan of eating fatty meat, so lean is very good. The meat was smoked to a very good taste. This sliced beef is much better than Pecan Lodge!!!!!!!
The sausage is a peppered sausage which has a good amount of black pepper. Now Mitcho likes his sausage to be a little spicy and this was it. Good to go here.
The pinto beans were spiced better than most. I would come back just for the beans.
The potato salad was a little weird. It tasted ok. No real complaints, but not the best.
Overall, we were very pleased with our BBQ meal and will be going back to Outlaws when we are in these parts.
Givn Outlaws a 8.0.
Mitcho
©2014
The sliced beef was pretty lean and very tasty. Now Mitcho is not a big fan of eating fatty meat, so lean is very good. The meat was smoked to a very good taste. This sliced beef is much better than Pecan Lodge!!!!!!!
The sausage is a peppered sausage which has a good amount of black pepper. Now Mitcho likes his sausage to be a little spicy and this was it. Good to go here.
The pinto beans were spiced better than most. I would come back just for the beans.
The potato salad was a little weird. It tasted ok. No real complaints, but not the best.
Overall, we were very pleased with our BBQ meal and will be going back to Outlaws when we are in these parts.
Givn Outlaws a 8.0.
Mitcho
©2014
Sunday, December 21, 2014
In and Out Burger - Firewheel Mall
So the wifey had some potent bidness that had to be tended to at Firewheel Mall which involved a meal of popcorn for her. So I was all alone for dinner. Being at Firewheel Mall, I decided the most interesting blog possibility was N N OUT. So I did the swing by dance to N N Out. First of all it is my understanding that there is an unofficial menu that you have to be on the downlow to know how to order. The menu in the store is pretty basic. Mitcho just doesn't care much for off menu ordering. I am pretty much black and white in this area.
I ordered a cheeseburger, fries and a drink. The cheeseburger is smaller than a Whataburger Junior. Which is not a good thing. You could barely see the meat patty in this burger. I have never seen a patty that thin!! I do like the special sauce on the burger, which is probably a variation of Thousand Island. My burger came with a good size slice of onion, which Mitcho likes his onion. However, the onion is usually smaller than the patty. There were way to many bites on this burger that was bread and onion, with meat missing. The price of this order was about the same as a Whataburger combo, which the burger is twice this size and much better.
The fries are a very thin fry and very crispy. I really liked the fries. However, you don't go to a burger joint because they have good fries. You go there for burgers.
So if you are in the Firewheel area and it is meal time, go about 1/2 mile east down 78 to Whataburger. You will be much happier and better fed.
Givn N N Out Burger a 6.0. Where's the meat.
Mitcho
©2014
I ordered a cheeseburger, fries and a drink. The cheeseburger is smaller than a Whataburger Junior. Which is not a good thing. You could barely see the meat patty in this burger. I have never seen a patty that thin!! I do like the special sauce on the burger, which is probably a variation of Thousand Island. My burger came with a good size slice of onion, which Mitcho likes his onion. However, the onion is usually smaller than the patty. There were way to many bites on this burger that was bread and onion, with meat missing. The price of this order was about the same as a Whataburger combo, which the burger is twice this size and much better.
The fries are a very thin fry and very crispy. I really liked the fries. However, you don't go to a burger joint because they have good fries. You go there for burgers.
So if you are in the Firewheel area and it is meal time, go about 1/2 mile east down 78 to Whataburger. You will be much happier and better fed.
Givn N N Out Burger a 6.0. Where's the meat.
Mitcho
©2014
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Cheesecake Factory - Northpark
Early this week we had decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory but on the way out of the door, Darlin' called and it seems she was responsible for preparing the party supplies for all of the classrooms at CBoss's school. I really thought she was smarter than to volunteer for insane amounts of volunteer work. But, she isn't, so she was sinking and needed help, so there went Cheesecake Factory. So tonight was our makeup night. You know making up for not going Thursday night. So we did the hustle to Northpark. This is not a good decision to do on the weekend before Christmas. The traffic going and coming home was horrible. I was really worried that parking would be even worse and surprisingly we went right to a parking place. Rock on!
The place was crowded all of the way to the door, wall to wall. So I sent skinny wifey to fight the crowd to get on the list. I couldn't believe it, the wait was only 20 minutes. So finally we were seated.
When we go to Cheesecake Factory, we split an entre and get our own cheesecake. So it was decided before we left that wifey would be ordering the entre for us. So she ordered Crusted Chicken Romano. This is a chicken breast that is coated with Romano-Parmesan cheese crust. The pasta is covered in a light tomato sauce. I believe the tomato sauce probably had more cheese than tomatoes. Overall, this is a pretty good meal. The food came on a plate the size of a cafeteria tray. When we split it, both of our plates had a bunch of food on them.
Now we came to the real deal. Wifey ordered the Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake and I ordered the Dulce De Leche Caramel Cheesecake. The Reese's Cheesecake had layers of chocolate cake, Reese's peanut butter, chocolate, vanilla frosting, with chocolate chips coating the outside, covered in whipped cream. I didn't hear a work from her for about 10 minutes. She plowed through it on a mission. Of course she only ate 2/3's of it. She is taking the remainder home for later, but there was no mention of sharing the leftovers later.
I really like the Dulce De Leche Caramel, it is a caramel cheesecake, covered in whipped cream, on a very tasty vanilla crust. I want the whole cheesecake. Man this was good.
Overall, you can't go wrong with a trip to the Cheesecake factory. It is almost always crowded and very busy, but the food is always to die for. It is a little expensive, you either spend it on you or your kids will waste it when you are gone. So go ahead and splurge.
Givn The C Factory a rousing 8.888
Mitcho
©2014
The place was crowded all of the way to the door, wall to wall. So I sent skinny wifey to fight the crowd to get on the list. I couldn't believe it, the wait was only 20 minutes. So finally we were seated.
When we go to Cheesecake Factory, we split an entre and get our own cheesecake. So it was decided before we left that wifey would be ordering the entre for us. So she ordered Crusted Chicken Romano. This is a chicken breast that is coated with Romano-Parmesan cheese crust. The pasta is covered in a light tomato sauce. I believe the tomato sauce probably had more cheese than tomatoes. Overall, this is a pretty good meal. The food came on a plate the size of a cafeteria tray. When we split it, both of our plates had a bunch of food on them.
Now we came to the real deal. Wifey ordered the Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake and I ordered the Dulce De Leche Caramel Cheesecake. The Reese's Cheesecake had layers of chocolate cake, Reese's peanut butter, chocolate, vanilla frosting, with chocolate chips coating the outside, covered in whipped cream. I didn't hear a work from her for about 10 minutes. She plowed through it on a mission. Of course she only ate 2/3's of it. She is taking the remainder home for later, but there was no mention of sharing the leftovers later.
I really like the Dulce De Leche Caramel, it is a caramel cheesecake, covered in whipped cream, on a very tasty vanilla crust. I want the whole cheesecake. Man this was good.
Overall, you can't go wrong with a trip to the Cheesecake factory. It is almost always crowded and very busy, but the food is always to die for. It is a little expensive, you either spend it on you or your kids will waste it when you are gone. So go ahead and splurge.
Givn The C Factory a rousing 8.888
Mitcho
©2014
Friday, December 19, 2014
Pecan Lodge - Main St Downtown
Me and the wifey had some bidness to tend to in downtown this evening so we decided we would eat dinner downtown someplace. The wifey decided she wanted to eat some American food, which I thought meant a Luby's, Boston Market, etc. She finally says she wants to try Pecan Lodge again. Now in my books, Pecan Lodge is Texas BBQ, which is not associated with American food. Of course it is totally American, but you get the drift. Pecan Lodge is rated #2 BBQ place in Texas by Texas Monthly. So you would think this is some pretty good Que. If you review my blog you will note that I reviewed this joint once before back in June, but obviously my review then was greatly effected by Texas Monthly's rating. I do have some BBQ credentials hanging over my belt. I have gouged myself to misery at Snow's BBQ in Lexington a perennial top 10 in Texas. I have supped with buds at Louie Muellar's in Taylor, a Top 10. I have slithered into Cooper's in Junction with some running buddies. Now these guys listed before hand got some serious Que.
So the wifey and me order a two meat plate of sliced BBQ and sausage. Mitcho is a big fan of the BBQ sausage. We had the choice of 1 side, so for blog purposes we chose the pinto beans.
The sliced BBQ was very fatty. I mean way tooooo fatty. This just didn't do much for me or the wifey. The sausage was very fatty inside and fell apart when cutting. It just didn't have a consistency that looked any good. I am sure they are proud of their BBQ sauce, it is some variation of vinegar and something to sweeten it a little. It was OK, but pass the Rudy's BBQ sauce please. (I wonder what they would say if the next time I go here, I smuggled a 1/2 gallion bottle of Rudy's finest with me???)
The pinto beans was just your bare bones basic beans. Now beans can make or break a place if they are fixed right. Here, it would break em, there just isn't much point (flavor/taste) in em.
When we was here back in the summer soon after Texas Monthly anointed them god of BBQ, the line for early Saturday lunch was about 1/2 block long. Tonight, we walked right up to the cashier and ordered. There was some people in the place, but not that many. I am thinking Mitcho might not be the only one around these parts that are not impressed.
So in North Texas, Mitcho's best BBQ place is Hutchins in McKinney!!!! Don't miss the peach cobbler here. Also, I would rate Rudy's, Springcreek, Dickey's, and just about any other BBQ place ahead of Pecan Lodge. Just not a fan here.
Givn em a 6.1 (The wifey said not a point over 5, but how can you rate the #2 BBQ place in Texas a 5???, but I sure can giv em a 6.)
Mitcho
©2014
So the wifey and me order a two meat plate of sliced BBQ and sausage. Mitcho is a big fan of the BBQ sausage. We had the choice of 1 side, so for blog purposes we chose the pinto beans.
The sliced BBQ was very fatty. I mean way tooooo fatty. This just didn't do much for me or the wifey. The sausage was very fatty inside and fell apart when cutting. It just didn't have a consistency that looked any good. I am sure they are proud of their BBQ sauce, it is some variation of vinegar and something to sweeten it a little. It was OK, but pass the Rudy's BBQ sauce please. (I wonder what they would say if the next time I go here, I smuggled a 1/2 gallion bottle of Rudy's finest with me???)
The pinto beans was just your bare bones basic beans. Now beans can make or break a place if they are fixed right. Here, it would break em, there just isn't much point (flavor/taste) in em.
When we was here back in the summer soon after Texas Monthly anointed them god of BBQ, the line for early Saturday lunch was about 1/2 block long. Tonight, we walked right up to the cashier and ordered. There was some people in the place, but not that many. I am thinking Mitcho might not be the only one around these parts that are not impressed.
So in North Texas, Mitcho's best BBQ place is Hutchins in McKinney!!!! Don't miss the peach cobbler here. Also, I would rate Rudy's, Springcreek, Dickey's, and just about any other BBQ place ahead of Pecan Lodge. Just not a fan here.
Givn em a 6.1 (The wifey said not a point over 5, but how can you rate the #2 BBQ place in Texas a 5???, but I sure can giv em a 6.)
Mitcho
©2014
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