Eno's Pizza Tavern

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On a beautiful Sunday morning, my family and I decided to take a trip down to the Bishop Arts District again and try a place we have wanted to try for a while.  We arrived around 11:45 and the area was already packed, so we had to park on side street and hoof it.  Our culinary destination today was Eno’s Pizza Tavern.  Several of our friends have recommended this place, so we were eager to try the pizza.

Upstairs dining area

After walking about a half mile in the heat, I was anxious to sit down in some air conditioning.  When we arrived the hostess said we could take a seat anywhere, so my oldest daughter requested we sit upstairs.  As I looked up at the steep staircase and remembered the long walk, I immediately knew that I would not be doing any cardio workouts when we returned home.

My youngest enjoying our view of Bishop Ave.

We finally sat down at a table that had a window and a great view of Bishop Ave.  After having a few glasses of water and re-hydrating, I was able to browse the menu.  For starters we ordered the roasted bread with gastro butter and I ordered the soup du jour, which was baked potato.  The bread and butter were absolutely phenomenal.  It was a large order and I could not stop eating this bread.  The baked potato soup was pretty average and served in a tall cup with a shallow soup spoon, which made it hard to eat.

The roasted bread was a hit. 

The baked potato soup....not so much.

For pizzas, my wife chose the Moma’s Pie, which had tomato, herbs, olive oil, and basil.  I ordered the iPie and added the grass-fed beef and some Benton’s ham.  My pizza was delicious and perfectly cooked.  The only thing I had to complain about was the Benton’s ham was a little too salty for my taste.  I somehow ended up eating my whole 14-inch pizza, despite the fact I had already had soup and a loaf of bread.  My wife said her pizza was great as well.

Moma's Pizza

1/2 beef and 1/2 Benton's ham

Eno’s definitely lived up to expectations and we will add it to our restaurant rotation.  It is a fun place to take kids, but would also be an enjoyable place to go eat with friends.   In addition to great pizza, they had several pasta dishes that looked good and I will definitely be trying those on the next trip.

Eno’s Pizza Tavern

http://enospizza.com/

Livin the Good Life Rating=4

Family Field Trip to Klyde Warren Park and the Perot Museum of Nature and Science

My wife and I were both lucky to have a four day weekend last week, so we decided we would spend Friday taking the kids on a field trip.  We had originally planned to go to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science at 10 a.m.  I also thought I would be smart and buy my tickets online so we didn't have to wait in line.  What I didn't plan on and what I didn't notice until we got to the museum, was that the tickets had times on them and we were two hours early.  Luckily, we were just a few blocks from Klyde Warren Park, so we headed that way.  My oldest daughter had a blast, but I would have been miserable if I was there without kids.  It was probably the warmest day of 2013 so far and the humidity was in excess of 90%.  Thankfully, they had food trucks to feed me and ease my stress as we waited the two hours for our museum time.  I chose to get a sandwich from Ruthie's Rolling Cafe.  This blog post will be primarily a photo edition and I will let the photos tell the story.

Viewing deck

My oldest daughter enjoying the view.

Enjoying a spin

Outdoor Library

Hitching a ride with her little sister

Great view

An abundance of food trucks

I love food trucks, but I will pass on sushi from a food truck

Ruthie's Rolling Cafe

The Turkey Trot (Sourdough, Sharp Cheddar, Turkey, and Bacon) from Ruthie's Rolling Cafe

Noon finally arrived and I was much happier when we finally got to step foot inside the Perot.  Air conditioning was much appreciated after a hot day at the park.  I must say that I was very impressed with the Perot.  It is a far cry from the American Museum of Natural History or the National Museum of National History, but it had a lot more kid friendly activities.  I highly recommend this place to parents looking for a place to take their kids.

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science

View going up the escalator

Shopping in the 5 and under play area

Camping scene

First thing you see as you enter the museum

Big turtle

"Mommy, take our picture in front of the T-rex!"

Footprint

My oldest picked this as her souvenir

And a treat for dad!

Haystack Burgers and Barley

Haystack Burgers & Barley opened up in Richardson a couple of weeks ago.  When I first read an article about this burger joint, I  was intrigued by this restaurant and one particular item on the menu.  I also thought, “Does DFW really need another burger joint?”  I was in the area one day following a trip to Dallas, so I stopped in and grabbed a bite to eat.

The menu item that intrigued me so much was the Chicken Fried Burger with jalapeno-bacon gravy.  For those that regularly follow my blog, you know the fastest way to my heart is to deep-fry something.   The idea of a fried hamburger is enough to send my heart into palpitations, but then this place wants to go over the top and add jalapeno-bacon gravy?  As I waited in line to order the burger, I felt like a young man about to go on his first date.  I nervously ordered the burger along with an order of the fresh cut fries and the haystack onions.

Chicken Fried Burger with jalapeno-bacon gravy

Inside the chicken fried burger

After a short wait, my burger and sides arrived.  The chicken fried burger was very good, but it was a little messy and I had to eat it with a fork.  The bun had a sweet flavor to it that was a nice pairing with the gravy.  The fries were better than average and I was particularly fond of the house-made chipotle ketchup.  As good as the burger was, the real winner here was the side of haystack onions.  They were perfectly seasoned and had a delicious crispy batter.  I am not sure what ingredients were in the dipping sauce the onions were served with, but it was tasty and had a nice kick to it.  All this delicious grub was washed down with pineapple-lemon-orange iced tea.  Although somewhat unusual tasting, it was very refreshing.

The fresh cut fries were terrific

I was a big fan of the haystack onions!

I really liked Haystack Burgers and Barley and I would come back here for the haystack onions alone.  The burger I had was good, but I am curious as to how the other burgers taste.  If the idea of a fried burger does not appeal to you, they have several other menu options available that looked great as well.

Haystack Burgers and Barley

http://www.haystackburgers.com/

Livin the Good Life Rating=3

Hypnotic Donuts

My wife and I both had a rare Friday off from work, so we both wanted to do something fun with the kids.  Spending a day off with the kids doesn’t sound like much fun, but we made plans to make it as fun as possible for both adults and kids.  We eventually ended up taking them to Klyde Warren Park and the Perot Museum, but first we had to have breakfast.  I had heard great reviews about a place called Hypnotic Donuts, so we made plans to eat there. 

My youngest eating her first donut hole ever

This quaint little donut shop is located in a shopping center in the White Rock Lake area of Dallas.  It looks pretty similar to any other donut shop with the exception that it has hippyesque art on the wall.  When you look at the menu on the wall, you realize that this is not your average donut stop.  They have donuts with such names as Nutella the Hun, Zoo Ropa, Salvation, Peace, Mexico, etc.   They also have a wide variety of biscuits and chicken biscuits.

The Turtle and a chocolate donut

My family got some donut holes and a couple of donuts with sprinkles.  I chose a chocolate donut and one called the Turtle, which was a chocolate cake base donut that had ½ chocolate icing and ½ caramel icing.  I consider myself to be a connoisseur of donuts, and both of these were absolutely outstanding.  I also ordered Maribeth’s chicken biscuit, which had tator tots and peppered gravy on the chicken biscuit.  When it arrived, it was absolutely huge (about the size of a double quarter-pounder with cheese).  Eating one of these will make you reconsider your daily breakfast routine.  I actually considered the fact that if I woke up 90 minutes earlier every day, I could realistically make a trip here every morning before work.  With all do respect to Mr. Cathy and Chic-fil-A, this was the best chicken biscuit I have ever had.

Maribeth's Chicken Biscuit

My entire family absolutely loved this place.  Even though it is about a 30 minute drive from our house, we will be going back again here in the near future.  The donuts may have been the best donuts I have ever had and the chicken biscuit was out-of-this-world amazing.  I give Hypnotic Donuts an 5 on my 5-point scale.  I highly recommend a trip to this place for breakfast!

Hypnotic Donuts

9007 Garland Road

Dallas, TX

http://www.hypnoticdonuts.com/

Livin the Good Life Rating=5

Kenny's Smoke House

This weekend, I took a short trip to Plano to visit The Shops at Legacy.  Joining me on this trip were my brother and oldest daughter.  I had been told that there was some good barbecue to be found here at a fairly new joint called Kenny’s Smoke House.

My little brother and my oldest daughter before the meal.

I was a little skeptical about the claim of good barbecue being found at The Shops at Legacy.  Being a barbecue purist, I expect to find good barbecue in a place that has a strong smell of wood smoke, a line where you order and see your meat being cut, and a guy named Earl or LeRoy cutting your meat on a greasy cutting board.  The meat cutter might or might not be missing a finger or two from occasionally not paying attention to his job.  You will not find these things at Kenny’s Smokehouse.  There is no Earl or LeRoy that one can see, but they could have been out of sight in the kitchen area.  In my mind, I was thinking that this place is far too "swanky" to serve up any decent barbecue.

Not the look of a traditional barbecue joint.

Even though this did not look like a traditional barbecue joint, I decided to hold my judgment until I had tasted the grub.  I ordered a combo meal with brisket, ribs, and jalapeno cheddar sausage.  For my sides, I had fried onions and the smoke house bbq fries.  The brisket was average at best and very tough.  The jalapeno cheddar sausage was not impressive at all and a little undercooked for my liking.  The ribs were absolutely terrible.  They might have been pretty good, had they not been basted in a horribly flavored barbecue sauce.  The waffle fries were overcooked and had a somewhat flavorful barbecue seasoning on them.   Lastly, the fried onions had a really flavorful and crispy batter on them, but the onions were not cut in a uniform size and about half the batch were still partially raw.

Combo plate with brisket, ribs, and sausage.

Fried onions.

My brother had a brisket sandwich and a pulled pork sandwich.  He said the brisket sandwich was decent, but said the pulled pork sandwich was the worst he had ever had.  Just looking at the sandwich, it appeared to have a lot more fat than pulled pork.  Sadly, my daughter’s chicken tenders were the best item we sampled at this barbecue joint.

Pulled pork sandwich and smokehouse bbq fries.

Kids chicken tenders and fries.

There are many good restaurants at The Shops at Legacy.  Kenny’s Smoke House is not one of them.  The wait staff was friendly, but the food was very disappointing.  I give this place a 2 on my 5-point scale.  I was even less impressed with this restaurant than I was when I visited Kenny’s Burger Joint.  There are many people that swear by Chef Kenny Bowers and his restaurants, but I cannot understand what all the buzz is about.

Kenny’s Smoke House

http://kennyssmoke.com/home/

Livin the Good Life Rating=2

Ye Ole Butcher Shop

This past Saturday, I was in East Plano running some errands around lunchtime.  Looking for a place to grab lunch, I ran across Ye Ole Butcher Shop and decided to stop.  I have passed by this establishment several times, but I have never bothered to stop and grab a bite to eat.  Ye Ole Butcher Shop is an actual butcher shop, but they also have a kitchen and restaurant as well.

Inside the butcher shop.

The staff is extremely friendly and several people greeted me as I entered the establishment.  After looking at the menu board, I decided to order the buffalo burger with cheese and an order of fries.  After a short wait, they called out my number and I picked up my order.  The bun was perfectly toasted and the buffalo burger was very tasty and juicy.  Since buffalo is a lean red meat, buffalo burgers are often dry.  That was not the case with this one.  The fries were pretty average and I had to add a lot of salt to season them.

Buffalo Cheeseburger

Perfectly toasted bun and juicy buffalo burger.

Not bad, but needed extra seasoning.

While at the counter ordering my lunch, I happened to notice that they also had homemade fried pies.  Fried pies combine two of my favorite things; fried and pie.  They had several varieties on this day, including chocolate, coconut, apple, cherry, and pecan.  I wanted to order one of each, but I settled on the pecan and was very happy with my choice.  In addition to have pecan pie filling, it also had powdered sugar sprinkled on top. 

Fried pecan pie!

If I didn’t have other things I had to do that afternoon, I would have taken advantage of some of the meat specials as well.  The meat here looked to be far superior to what I usually see in grocery stores and it was cheaper as well.  I was very pleased that I stopped to eat here.  Although the fries were somewhat disappointing (I will get the sweet potato tater tots next time), the buffalo burger and fried pie were great.  Ye Ole Butcher Shop get a 7 on my 10-point scale and I will be going back here next time  I am in the neighborhood.

Ye Ole Butcher Shop

http://www.yeolebutchershop.com/home

Livin The Good Life Rating=3