Slightly shorter show this week. Steve-o couldn’t be here, so it’s just me and Bernie. Good discussion of the latest city council meeting, our shared disdain for inappropriately sized infill housing, and a few other tidbits.
Jenna and I had dinner at Milano’s Restaurant on 7th Street tonight. It was my first time, but Jenna has been there for lunch before. Our meal was excellent! It wasn’t as decadent as Nonna Tata, it was more “down home” Italian. I had sausage pizaola over spaghetti. Jenna had cannelloni al forno, both were excellent, not to heavy, but very filling. The sausage was just the right amount of spicy, not overpowering like so many places do these days.
The decor was about what you’d expect for a neighborhood storefront Italian restaurant. Actually, no, it wasn’t. I was impressed by the total lack of kitsch. So many Italian places around here go out of their way to remind you that the owner (or at least the decorator) isn’t from around here. They’re from Italy or New York, and don’t you forget it! Milano’s was more like I think a real Italian restaurant in Italy might be like. A place where the food, atmosphere, and service are enough to remind you that you’re having a good meal in a good place, you don’t have to be constantly bombarded with how “Italian” it is.
The service was excellent, and the prices were very reasonable; our meal (no alcohol) was less than $18. I highly recommend it the next time you’re in the Cultural District and are looking for a good place for dinner!
Technorati Tags: cultural district, fort worth, italian, restaurants
So, I’ve been to the original location at Ridgmar Mall, and I have to say that I wasn’t impressed at all. I love how this press release says that they offer “chef prepared” American classics. I guess you could call anyone who’s in charge of the cooking a chef, but I have to say that there was nothing at all special about my cold chicken strips which didn’t get to my seat until almost 45 minutes after I ordered them.
The only good thing about that trip was the 1 liter stein of beer they offer, which you can take home and bring back on future visits.
Also, since it’s a more traditional non-stadium setup, the seating is pretty bad, and is definitely showing its age. It was the same setup at the new Studio Movie Grill in Arlington Highlands. The food there was a little better but again nothing special. The seating there really sucked, though, because there were two rows of seating per tiered platform, so if you got stuck with one of the back tables, you might have to strain to see over the people slurping beer in front of you.
Nevertheless, we will probably visit this new location, since both of us like movies and food.
Movie Tavern to Debut New Flagship Location at Hulen Mall in Fort … - Earthtimes.org:
Technorati Tags: fort worth, new construction, movies
Great news, food fans!!! A branch of The Flying Fish (a member of the 8.0 family, which also includes The Flying Saucer) has opened here in Fort Worth! It’s almost directly across the street from Railhead BBQ, and is worlds away in terms of quality.
I’d been to the Addison location; it opened while I was still a bartender at The Flying Saucer there. The menu is simple - essentially it’s catfish, shrimp, crawdads (in season), and oysters. Of course there are the outlyers and the “froofy” stuff like hamburgers and chicken and salmon. All of it I’m told is outstanding, PARTICULARLY after a trip to the Rahr Brewery for the Saturday morning tour. I have a confession, though; I hate catfish, and I don’t eat invertebrates, so I had a hamburger. Jenna had the shrimp boil plate, another member of our party had oysters on the half shell (they’re 25 cents on Sundays), yet another had calamari and seviche, and the last had a po’ boy. Everyone agreed that it was the best “down home” seafood they’d had in a long time.
Prices are probably market, the shrimp boil (at least a pound of shrimp) was around $12, my bucket of 6 cold beers was $13, so it’s not ridiculously priced like so many of the new restaurants in Fort Worth.
It’s on Montgomery across from Railhead, and unlike BBQ joints in Texas, it’s not afraid to be open on Sundays when you’re really craving some “down home” food. Check it out, it’s totally worth it!
Technorati Tags: fort worth, new places, restaurants
I had intended to try Dutch’s on July 4, but they were closed for the holiday. Still, I kept hearing stories about how great it was, so I finally went there for dinner tonight.
For those of you who have not heard the stories, Dutch’s is a new burger joint opened by well known FW Chef Grady Spears. It’s located at 3009 S University Drive, in the space where Jon’s Grille once operated. The place is named after a legendary TCU football coach.
For me, the atmosphere was a little squeaky clean for a college-campus burger & beer joint. It lacks that worn-in, crayon-writing-on-the-walls, hole-in-the-wall authenticity that Jon’s had. It’s like they white-washed Jon’s, added a fancy bar and some trendy Chipotle-style seating, hung some shiny new reprints of old TCU football photos, and called it a day. Not that any of that is terrible; it just doesn’t have the character I was hoping for.
The food, though, it great. We started with an order of the roasted green chile queso, just because the menu mentioned homemade tostadas. What a great choice! The freshly made chips were fantastic, and the queso had a style all its own. Just unique enough to make an impression, yet traditional enough to please the Tex-mex fan inside all of us.
The burgers were a hit too. I ordered a burger called “the lineman.” It was an impressive burger, but if you aren’t a lineman you probably would be better served by another burger. I had no problem finishing it (fat boy gotta eat), but I’m still feeling inexplicably full writing this review 3 hours later. The buns were robust enough to handle my two huge patties, cheddar cheese, bacon, and fixin’s without crumbling or becoming a soggy mess. These are beef-lovers’ burgers, without a doubt. The patties are thick and hearty, and are clearly ground from high-quality beef. Suddenly after eating it, $8 for a burger didn’t seem so out of line.
Our meal: 
I was glad to see that Dutch’s serves Rahr and Sons beer, as well, because I like having the opportunity to support my local brewer.
That’s it for the review; check Dutch’s out for a killer burger… here’s to hoping that in a few years the place can build a little “atmosphere!”
Yes, you heard right: DINNER! Lili’s is finally open for dinner during the week, and it was worth the wait.
Jenna and I went last night with some friends and had a GREAT time. I had the Beef Tenderloin Tips, everyone else had something different off the menu, and it was all really great. We even had a couple of bottles of wine, probably the first bottles sold on their new liquor license. 
Great job again, Vance and Marnie!
Technorati Tags: magnolia ave, fort worth, restaurant
Lili’s Bistro is EXCELLENT! It is a great addition to Magnolia Ave. Jenna and I stopped in on opening day (which was May 9th, I’m a total tool for not posting this sooner).
I had the hamburger (if you click on the “menu” page, you’ll see a picture of it in the slideshow - my ACTUAL burger), it was HUGE and perfectly done. The bun was AMAZING! It was supposed to be sourdough, and it might be, but it’s really sweet sourdough if it is. I could eat two or three of the buns by themselves! I’ve never been impressed with waffle fries, but Vance got them exactly right, they weren’t mushy or crunchy, just perfect.
We will definitely be back for lunch again and dinner once they start opening for it in July!
Technorati Tags: fort worth, Magnolia, 76104, restaurant
Remember at the beginning of the year when I said I was going to make an effort to live more sustainably?
In general, I’d say we’ve done okay. Thanks to switching (and then losing) jobs, I’ve GREATLY cut down on the number of miles we’re driving. In the last 8 weeks, we’ve driven just about 1000 miles, and that’s only because of a couple of trips to Denton.
Today, however, I threw a lot of that out the window with one little decision…
We went to Babe’s Chicken Dinner House in Roanoke. I just found out that they had other locations, but Roanoke is the first and most have said the best. So, not only did we drive 30+ miles for dinner, we also had fried chicken (one of the most environmentally harmful of livestock).
I have to say that the menu at Babe’s helped a lot with Jenna’s normal indecisiveness. Having only 2 choices (chicken fried steak or chicken fried chicken) sure makes it easy to find something. I had the chicken, of course, and so did Jenna, and I have to say, it’s probably the best I’ve ever had. Perfectly crispy, not too greasy. The sides (normally the part of a meal like this that sucks) were excellent, as well. The perfectly moist biscuits and the REAL mashed potatoes and gravy were just what we were looking for.
Now if only there was one in my neighborhood that served chicken-fried tofurky…
Technorati Tags: sustainable, restaurant, roanoke
While I was taking Jenna to work this morning, we noticed 2 fire trucks outside The Old Neighborhood Grill on Park Place. The firemen were pulling furniture out, but I was too far away to see if it was charred.
I hope this was a minor incident and that not only was no one hurt, but that ONG will be able to open again soon.
Technorati Tags: 76110, fire, restaurant
Finally tried La Familia. It’s another of those Ft. Worth institutions. It wasn’t bad at all, just not as impressive as it was kind of built up to be.
And it was more expensive than it should have been. $8 for two small tacos? The beef in the tacos was good, but the tacos were still pretty small.
Anyway, I’ll go back, I’m sure, but it’s not first on my list of lunch places.
Technorati Tags: Fort Worth, mexican, 76102, restaurant