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

Buc-ee's - Terrell

Dinner time came and the wifey suggested we bust a move to Buc-ee's in Terrell to check out the new digs. We had been to Buc-ee's in New Braunfels, but oh my gosh, I haven't ever seen anything like this. Talking about redneck heaven. You could fully furnish and decorate your double wide and buy all of the gaudy clothes you would ever need here. And talking about junk food, there is every option known to man here in mass quantities. I am now going to change my retirement plans and just move in and live at Buc-ee's. They will never know. I would be able to visit with all my friends when they are passing through and make many new friends everyday. Beats the nursing home. Nobody is going to come see you there. I bet you could eat for a month and not eat the same thing twice. I didn't know there were that many versions of jerky. This place is the Super-Walmart of convenience stores. 2/3's of the way across the store, we changed time zones.

 

 

Buc-ee was out front just hanging so I had my picture taken with him. We look like twins don't you think. The only real draw back here is there are no tables inside our picnic tables outside. They assume you are going to gas up and eat on the run.

 

So I took a picture on the trunk of the wife's hot rod before we ate in the car. You could cop a squat outside, but since it was 104 degrees, it was way too hot for that option. So we ate in the car with the a/c running.

 

Tonight we opted for the Pepperjack & Sausage Kolache. Now this is some pretty good eats. If you haven't been to The Czeck Stop  in West then this would be a great Kolache. Of course The Czeck Stop is better, but short of driving 90 miles, this is a good Kolache. The wifey went for the Chocolate Bunt Cake for dessert and was disappointed. Now it must of not been very good, because she just doesn't dog chocolate. I went for a Cinnamon Roll. This was an above average Cinnamon Roll this side of West. Of course The Czeck Stop Cinnamon Roll is the best, bar none. Speaking of West, it is time for me to make a dinner run south.

 

Overall, this is an above average meal for a reasonable price. Giv'm a 7.834.

 

Mitcho

©2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

Olive Garden - Mesquite a recnecks delight

Dinner was an easy choice tonight. I had a $50 gift card to Red Lobster. Now if you have read the blog much you will know that the only fishy thing I go for is Catfish and the only Catfish I want is Doe Belly's. So needless to say I wasn't excited about going to Lobster. So we did the drag to Red Lobster. When we got in the parking lot, I decided to read the fine print on the gift card to make sure Red Lobster was my only choice. Well my lucky day, in fine print 3 lines down it indicates that it can also be used at Olive Garden, SCORE. It didn't take us but a second to do the Skidaddle over to Olive Garden.

So we sashayed in and was seated immediately. Things are looking up. Going in the door the wifey is already moaning about how big all of the entrees are and that she can't eat all of any of them. I been here before, we are splitting so there is no need for me to even look at the menu. So I suggested we go for the Taste of Italy. With 3 entrees on one plate, I can split and get full and sassy.

We ordered peach tea. This is the best peach tea in Texas. If you haven't tried it, you better get yourself over there and try it. Of course the garlic bread is very very good.

It is time for salad. I really like the OG salad. I am not sure what the dressing is, but I really like it.  Lettuce, onions, black olives, croutons, etc. This is some good stuff. When it came time to start my salad, I opened my silverware. Uh oh, Houston, we have a problem. 3 Forks. 3 Forks. Is this a family reunion?? I haven't seen this many forks since the last family reunion and 3 was the total for everyone. They also throw in a knife. Now I am a grove rat redneck. I have a pocket knife that is rusty and has notches on it. Why would I need a knife?? Seriously.

Then came the Italy tour. You pick 3 entrees from 9 choices. We (the wifey) chose fettuccini alfredo, chicken parmesan, and lasagna. Of course lasagna is one of my favorites, the fettuccini and parme chicken are very good. The total package here is good.

Givem a 8.29

Mitcho
©2015

Outback Steakhouse - Mesquite

Now according to the wifey it was time to celebrate 38 years of bliss. On the actual date, we will be in another land outside the fine country of Texas and will have CBoss with us.

I had accumulated a $50 gift card to Outback. Now the wifey really loves a steak from Outback. (Of course the Kensington Club at Steak N Ale is our all time favorite.) So time to score some friendly points. So we did the moonwalker to Outback.

Now Mitcho grew up poor and redneck. So steak came in a round tube with red rind around the outside. Now I still like tub steak fried to the crisp. Mitcho has a hard time digesting quality steak as I never experienced it growing up. So Mitcho ordered Firecracker Salmon. Now I don't know about you, but Firecracker means it's going to explode. This is something to look forward to. It also was covered in mangos. I also got a fully loaded bake potato, salad and of course bread.

The salad at Outback is one of the best we eat in the area. So we are off to a good start. Of course I eat way too many slices of bread (if there is such a thing as too many).

The salmon and potato arrive looking yummy. So I dive in. The Firecracker sauce was disappointing. It had a nice minor flavor and the mangos added a little flavor to the salmon, but nothing like I expected. There was a very small amount of burn, but I was expecting a 4th of July display. Not going to happen here. Salmon has a little flavor, but the additives give it the most flavor. This was ok, but not exciting. The bake potato was loaded nicely.

Finally, if you are going to celebrate, it needs to end with a Thunder from Down Under. This is whipped cream, ice cream and a fudge brownie. Yum Yum.

Overall, it was a pretty good meal and the wifey really enjoyed it.

Givm a 7.27 (remember I did have a Thunder from Down Under).

Mitcho
©2015