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

On the Border - North Garland

Now Mitcho and the fam spent last week hanging on the beach at Gulf Shores, Al. Now picture a real redneck on a beach. Yep, embarrassing to the rest of the fam.

In my opinion when you cross the Texas state line going any direction, except to Mexico, you are saying goodbye to Mexican food. Now I have eaten Mexican food in many states of this here somewhat great US of A and none of it qualifies as Mexican food. On the road home from this trip we stopped at a Taco Bell, but that doesn't count as Mexican food. So one of the first things you do is go straight to a Mexican restaurant and pig out. (No I didn't eat any pig!!!)

So part of the group did the Mexican Hat Dance to On The Border in North Garland. Now Darlin' and Sax Man/Bean Counter live in Sachse and there just isn't much in the way of choices for Mexican food, so we travel to North Garland for Mexican Food.

So at ordering time, Chipper suggested that we order 3 enchiladas and split them. So we ordered two cheese enchiladas and a beef enchilada. Chipper took one of the cheese enchiladas, which left me with a cheese enchilada and a beef enchilada. We also got charro beans and rice.

The chips here are much larger than other places, so you get two or three bites per chip. So be careful who you share salsa with because there will be some double dipping going on. The salsa was a pretty normal salsa, tasted pretty good, but could be a bit more spicy.

The cheese enchilada was pretty good and was covered by a cheese sauce. The beef enchilada was covered in chilli sauce. The beefer was also pretty good, not outstanding but better than anything in Alabama. You know the song is Sweet Home Alabama, not Spicey Home Alabama.

The charro beans had pretty good flavor. Now for the rice. They should be calling this rice and corn. On the Border is fanatic about putting lots of corn in their food. Being an old man, I have one of those old man diseases and can't eat corn. So I have to pick out all of the corn. Man this was a lot of work. Otherwise the rice was just rice.

Overall, this was a pretty good meal, givn em a 7.75.

Mitcho
©2015

Pizza Getti - the only real one on Buckner in Dallas

As I have indicated before, there are many Pizza Getti's on the East Side of Dallas, but there is only one real Pizza Getti that is awesome.

The wifey said she was not very hungary tonight so I could pick the place to eat. It didn't take me but about 3 seconds to figure out that I could get a Deluxe Pizza at The Getti and could eat all of it I wanted. So immediately I suggested Pizza Getti. This is one of the those places where I feel like Norm on Cheers. We walk in and everyone knows us. It feels like home eating here. I can promise you that if you eat there 3 or 4 times, you will become one of the family and it is a pretty good family.

So of course I ordered a Deluxe Pizza (see picture above). This pizza has every meat available at a pizza place and every vegetable. You can see all of the onion (and you know Mitcho luves his onion) and plenty of bell pepper. But mainly the great tasting sausage and pepperoni brings it on. Yum Yum. Remember to get silver ware, there is so much topping on this pizza that part of it is going to fall off. So you need a fork to scoop up the loose fall offs. This is one good kind of miserable.

Grab your pizza eating dog, family and friends and get yourself to Pizza Getti. You won't regret it.

Givn em a 10!!!!

Shout to Kyle and Karla, congratulations on the new little girl. We are looking forward to seeing her at the Getti.

Mitcho
©2015

Black Eyed Bean - Mesquite

It's Saturday night and I was takin the wifey out on the town tonight. We were going to see American Sniper at 7:00 and it was 6:00 when we made these executive decisions. You know Mitcho does not miss meals, so we had to eat at something close and fairly fast. After a short discussion we decided on Black Eyed Bean. So we did the Sarabande to the BEB.

Just as we thought, we walked in and was seated immediately. There were quite a few empty tables.

When it came time to order, I didn't even bother reading the menu because I knew the wifey was going to tell me what I was eating. After she did her deep analysis she decided we would split the Texas Sized Chicken Fried Steak. They were not kidding. This thang was the size of the plate. We split that baby in half and I couldn't eat all of my half. This puppy was breaded heavily, just like Mitcho likes it. The meat was a little greasy, but with so much crust it didn't matter. You can't go wrong here, this was a pretty good CFS.

The wifey ordered green beans and I ordered red beans and rice. They don't tell you that it is going to be loaded with sausage also.. The beans had a real good flavor and the sausage was real good. This was a definite plus.

The meal also came with rolls and corn bread. The rolls were almost as big as the CFS. So I never got to the corn bread, I could barely finish my roll. Oh by the way, it was yummy.

Now normally I don't go into much detail  about drinks. What can you say about unsweetened tea that nothing is put into it. Not exciting, unless you are a born and bread Texan and consider tea the national drink. Tonight we order Peach Tea. Oh my. Olive Garden has the best peach tea bar none. But this was the next best I have ever had. If you go to The Bean, get Peach Tea.
(NOTE: 4 days later we went back to the Bean and the Peach Tea had a definite peach taste, but it was really sour. How can it be so great one time, and so bad the next????)


Overall this was a good meal.

Givn em a 8.09.

American Sniper was a gory movie, but it did show the effects PTSD had on our servicemen and women. Also, all of the injuries they have to carry the rest of their lives. Of course we are thankful for Chris Kyle's service to our country and saddened by his unfortunate death. The earth is a better place because of men like Chris Kyle. The wifey said later that we (all Americans) should pay for his kids college education. My answer is that we should do a much better job of taking care of all of our servicemen. Remember this terrorist war is going to be fought. We can fight it in the middle east or we can fight here in the States. Just remember Garland a few weeks ago. Off the soapbox for now.

Mitcho
©2015

Cheesecake Factory - Allen

So CBoss was in the 3rd grade this year. So it was time to take the Starr test. Since we are a family of school teachers and teacher wanabe's, we take these things serious, which is a new experience for me.
In my time school was something you did if there were no sports to play or you couldn't play in the creek. So we spent many a night at Darlin's house helping CBoss with his homework to get ready for the Starr test. So he finally took the test a couple of weeks ago and we got his scores back this week. He passed with good scores. It's time to party. I think all of the adults suggested a party at the same moment. So it was on. After about 10 seconds of discussion we decided to hold the party at the Cheesecake Factory. We decided Allen was easier for us to get to than Northpark. We have been to Northpark a number of times, but we have never been to the one in Allen. So we did the skank dance to Allen.

First of all, we walked in and was seated immediately. That never happened at Northpark. So we are off to a good start. So the party was me, wifey, Sax Man/bean counter, Darlin', CBoss (of course), Lil Darlin', and Big Guy.

As we negotiated what we would have for dinner, I made it clear that I would share an entrée, but I was getting my own cheesecake. A man has to have priorities. So the wifey and me decided to share a Crusted Chicken Romano. This is a chicken breast in a romano-parmesan  cheese crust, served on pasta. The crusted chick is very good, you would almost go here just to eat dinner sans cheesecake. However, since this is the cheesecake capital of Texas, why? The pasta was very tasty also. The waiter brought us plenty of bread which was pretty tasty. So things are going real good here.

Finally it is time for cheesecake. The waiter asked me if I needed a menu. Nope, I walked in the door knowing what I wanted. I ordered Dulce de Leche Caramel Cheesecake. This is caramel cheesecake loaded heavily with whipped cream. Man oh man, I need a six pack of these. The meal just went from real good to out of this world. To make things better, wifey paid for the meal out of her slush fund. It is a little pricey here, but after you have had cheesecake, you don't seem to worry about minor issues like money.

So I recommend that you grab up your foodies and bust a move to The Factory. While you are there get me a Dulce de Leche to go.

Givn em a 8.75 (it's all about cheesecake)

Mitcho
©2015