I recently had a week in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and got to re-discover a lot of my old haunts. I used to go to Dallas all the time, but haven’t really spent a lot of time there over the last couple of years. I was staying near the airport, so I was relatively central to the area. Although I’ve never in all my years been to downtown Dallas, I did make it into downtown Fort Worth this trip (although very briefly).
When you have a week in Dallas, you have four dinners that you need to cover off. In my mind, four dinners in Dallas means the following (in no particular order): Texas barbecue, steak, Mexican, and Brazilian churrasco at Fogo de Chao. In keeping with tradition that’s exactly what I did. However, I wasn’t leaving Dallas until the Saturday morning, so I got a bonus dinner this trip. Sweet!
Esparza’s - 124 E Worth St., Grapevine, TX
For years, my business partner and I had been hearing rumours about a great Mexican place near the airport. Since we had never really been staying in that area, we didn’t look into it. After asking around, the general consensus was that Esparza’s is probably the place they meant. Esparza’s is a small Mexican restaurant in a little house in Grapevine, just kind of north and west of the airport. The margarita was great, but I’ve got to say that I wasn’t blown away by my dinner. I kind of “went outside the box” on this one and ordered seafood enchiladas (which is not what I would usually get at a Mexican joint). Maybe I should have stuck with one of the old standbys like pork with salsa verde, or carne asada. Don’t get me wrong; it was pretty good, but my expectations were pretty high. I’ll have to give them another chance next time I’m back in DFW.
Angelo’s Barbecue - 2533 White Settlement Rd., Fort Worth, TX
Until I came to Angelo’s, I had never had beef that was so tender I could cut it with a plastic fork. Unbelievable. I’m going to go out on a limb here, and say that Angelo’s has displaced my old favourite barbecue place – Rudy’s in San Antonio. Although I still prefer the sauce at Rudy’s, the meats at Angelo’s are so tender, juicy and smoky, that the sauce barely comes into play anyhow. I still love Rudy’s, but I now dream of Angelo’s. Unfortunately, I am probably ruined for all other barbecue for the rest of my life. Oh ya – the beer comes in big frosty glasses, too. Chalk up one more point for Angelo’s.
The building looks exactly like a good barbecue place should; barn board and pickup trucks with a big stack of wood out back to keep the smokers going. The smell of the smoke hits you as soon as you get near the entrance.
The ambiance is pretty plain, and the décor includes melamine tables and dead animals on the walls (including alligators, turkeys, fish, boar, moose, various antelope-thingy’s, and deer). Probably not a good date spot, unless your date is into melamine, dead animals, or really great barbecue.
As a side note, I came within an inch of losing my wedding ring down the sink. Thanks goodness for all those years I spent training to be a ninja!
The Silver Fox - 1235 William D. Tate Ave., Grapevine, TX
The Silver Fox, also located in Grapevine, is a sister restaurant to Three Forks. The menu is the same, the locale is different. The food and service were all fantastic, but a little on the pricy side. That being said, I also didn’t cut any corners; cocktail, appetizer (the Three Forks Salad has apples and pecans and totally rocks), steak with Oscar sauce, glass of wine, and dessert brought me up to nearly 100 dollars with tip. Still, I’d go back in a second.
Fogo de Chao - 4300 Beltline Rd, Addison, TX
I love Fogo. If you haven’t had Brazilian churrasco before, you really should try it. The idea is this: You have a little card with red on one side and green on the other. If you turn the green side up, flocks of waiters (often wearing traditional Brazilian clothing) with large skewers of different meats flock to your table and offer you different cuts of beef, lamb, pork, sausage, chicken, and sundry other animals. When you turn the card over they leave you alone. On top of this, there’s usually a trip to a salad/vegetable bar and side dishes such as fried polenta and bananas, bread puff things and so on.
I would hazard to say that Fogo’s salad bar alone is worth the visit. It includes things like marinated vegetables, roasted peppers, prosciutto and salamis, and cheeses, as well as just regular old salad. If I ever turned vegetarian, I would go there just for the salad bar.
The big danger with Fogo is that it’s difficult to stop. Unlike a buffet where you have to make an effort to go and get one last plate, there are always skewers of meat wafting past, so it’s too easy to try just one more little bit. Know your limits or you’ll regret it (trust me on this).
Fogo is a little on the expensive side (one person can usually get out for around $70 with a glass of wine), but it’s something you should try at least once: especially if your dinner is being heavily subsidised with a meal limit.
Blue Goose Cantina - 14920 Midway Rd., Addison, TX
Ahhh… The Goose. Since I got a bonus meal this week, I decided to go back to the good old Blue Goose in Addison (right around the block from Fogo). I hadn’t been there in years and wondered how the food would compare to my memory of it. I’ve had a lot of good Mexican food over the years, and hadn’t really been back to The Goose since my early days of travelling. I was happy to see that it stacked up to everything I feel Tex-Mex food should be. The top-shelf margarita was the money and the tacos al carbon totally kicked it (they’re big enough that you definitely don’t need an appetizer with them).
The Blue Goose has made it back in as a permanent part of my four-day Dallas rotation.
No comments:
Post a Comment