Super Chix

I was in Richardson, TX for work one day and decided to head to the newish CityLine development to see what they had to offer.  Several restaurants now occupy this new area, but I decided to have lunch at Super Chix.  Several food bloggers and foodies have posted reviews and pictures of this restaurant on social media lately, so I thought I would see what all the buzz was about.

The restaurant offers chicken sandwiches and chicken tenders.  I couldn't decided between the two, so I ordered both.  For my sandwich, I ordered the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich, which was marinated in spices and tossed in their Nashville Sauce.  It was spicy, but not overly spicy and was served with a few thick-cut kosher pickles.  The sandwich was definitely in the upper tier of fried chicken sandwiches.

Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich

The chicken tenders were  crispy and had great flavor.  Patrons can choose between 4 different sauces and I chose the Mississippi Come Back Sauce, which tasted a lot like Thousand Island dressing.  If I had a do-over, I would have chosen the Alabama White Sauce.  I ordered the fries for a side and had them tossed in Rosemary Black Pepper seasoning.  As great as the chicken was, the fries were absolutely incredible and the portion was huge!

Chicken Tenders and Rosemary Black Pepper Fries

I was too full to try the frozen custard, which I hear is spectacular, but I did enjoy a grapefruit soda that was very refreshing.  This place is a little pricier than most fast food chicken joints, but the quality is better too.  If this place was closer to my home, I would certainly eat here often.  Next time I am in Richardson, I definitely plan a return trip!

Super Chix
http://superchix.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=4

Top Pot Hand-Forged Donuts

Seattle based, Top Pot Hand-Forged Donuts, has expanded into the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  The DFW area has no shortage of donut stores and coffee houses, but the donuts and coffee here are both highly praised by critics and foodies.  CityLine, a new development in Richardson, recently opened a location and I loaded up the whole family and  took them to breakfast there one morning so we could try out the donuts.  

Chocolate Bar

We tried several varieties of donuts and we really liked most of what we tried.  My two kids loved the chocolate ring donuts, which were about double the size of the average donut and had great chocolate icing.  The same chocolate icing was also used on the bar donut I had, but even the plain old fashioned donut was quite tasty. But of all the donuts we had, the blueberry fritter was the absolute best of the lot.  Apparently it is not on their regular menu, but I would order it again in a heartbeat.  

Blueberry Fritter

The coffee was also very good and had a rich flavor.  As good as the donuts were, the coffee was equally impressive.  For some reason, Top Pot reminds me of a Starbucks that serves donuts.  Although these weren't the best donuts I have ever had, I would certainly eat here again and would even make a special trip to do so if I knew they had the blueberry fritter available.  This donut shop receives a lot of hype and I think it is mostly warranted.  

Old Fashioned Donut

Top Pot Donuts
http://www.toppotdoughnuts.com
Livin the Good Life Rating= 3
 

Shady's Burger Joint

My family and I happened to be in Richardson, Texas for a sporting event and wanted to find a place to grab dinner.  After browsing my phone for a few minutes, I found that Shady's Burger Joint was close by and had a favorable diner rating.  I have heard good things about this place from others as well, so we decided to dine there.

Bacon BBQ Burger

Although it was crowded, we quickly placed our order and found a table that had just been cleaned off.  I ordered the Bacon BBQ Burger with cheese fries.  The burger was a little on the small side, but was topped with bacon, a large onion ring, barbecue sauce, and lettuce.  The burger looked better than it tasted.  The patty itself was flavorless and I didn't care for the taste of the barbecue sauce.  The highlight of the burger was the large and crispy onion ring.  The serving of bacon cheese fries was quite large and was much better than the burger I had.

Bacon Cheese Fries

My wife got the Shady's Burger (basic burger) with onion rings.  She felt her burger was also lacking in flavor, but said she did like the bun.  The order of onion rings were probably the best thing we had on this visit.  The onion rings were the same large rings that were on my burger and they had an outstanding batter that was very crispy.  Both my kids ordered from the kid's menu and enjoyed their grilled cheeses, fries, and chocolate chip cookies.  

Onion Rings

Although my kids seemed to enjoy their entire meal, my wife and I both felt the onion rings and bacon cheese fries were far superior to our burgers.  The staff was friendly and attentive, but it took the restaurant close to twenty minutes to get our order to us.  The tables were also very close together and it was cramped, which led to a lot of chairs bumping into one another.  Shady's wasn't bad, but I would not go out of my way to eat here again.  If I did eat here again, I probably wouldn't order a burger either.

Kids Grilled Cheese Meal

Shady's Burger Joint
http://shadysburgers.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=2

Ten50 Barbecue

Ten50 Barbecue recently opened it's doors in Richardson, Texas.  I am always eager to try out new barbecue spots, so I was very pumped when I found out that Ten50 had opened up after a lot of media hype in the spring and summer of 2014.  My brother is also a barbecue junky, so we decided to try it out on a recent Saturday morning.

Meat Station

This self proclaimed Central Texas-style barbecue joint allows you to choose what meats you want and have your meat weighed prior to going inside the restaurant.  The ordering experience is very similar to the setup at Hard Eight Barbecue.  For my meats, I chose fatty brisket, St. Louis style pork ribs, smoked turkey, and jalapeño cheddar sausage.  For my sides, I chose to get the fresh cut fries and an ear of corn.

Dining area

The brisket had a nice smoke ring and decent bark, but the overall flavor was lacking and it was a little too chewy for my taste.  The ribs were lacking in the smoke department and could have used some more salt on the rub.  The turkey was somewhat bland and I would have preferred more of a smoky flavor.  I felt the jalapeño cheddar sausage was the winner of the four meats I tried.  It was a course ground sausage with great texture and just enough jalapeño to give it a little kick.

Fatty Brisket, Turkey, Jalapeño Cheddar Sausage, and St. Louis Style Ribs

Closeup of the brisket

The sides were a pleasant surprise.  The corn was drenched in butter and perfectly cooked.  I am a sucker for fresh cut fries and the ones at Ten50 were great.  The restaurant also serves up fresh homemade bread that was much better than I had anticipated.

Homemade Bread, Corn, and Fresh Cut Fries

I left Ten50 with a glass half full feeling.  The sausage was the only meat that I really loved, but the sides were fantastic.  The restaurant has plenty of seating, a bar area, and plenty of TVs to watch games on a weekend.  I believe this place has some potential, but they really need to up their game a little bit to compete with the premier barbecue joints in the area like Pecan Lodge or Hutchins.

Ten50 Barbecue
http://ten50bbq.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=2

Texas

We recently celebrated my mother-in-law's 60th birthday at the restaurant Texas.  My wife an I had never dined at Texas before, so we were looking forward to eating there and celebrating with family and friends.  Texas is owned and operated by Dale Wamstad, who founded Del Frisco's and III Forks.  With his excellent track record in the steakhouse department, we were looking forward to this particular birthday dinner.

The Monte Cristo Private Dining Room

Our party dined in one of the private dining rooms, the Monte Cristo room, and we ordered from the private party menu.  Each guest was given an appetizer trio with Bang Bang Shrimp, Crabcake Croustade, and a Devil's Tongue.  The shrimp were slightly spicy and had a robust flavor.  The Devil's Tongue (beef tenderloin on a toast point) was very tender and and went well with the toast point.  My favorite of the three was the Crabcake Croustade.  This item was a tiny crabcake on a thin pastry.  I don't know what ingredients went into making the crabcake, but it was simply delicious.  We were also given a choice of soup or salad.  I had the house salad with vinaigrette dressing and I thought it was one of the better house salads I have had in quite some time.

Appetizer trio of Bang Bang Shrimp, Devil's Tongue, and Crabcake Croustade

For my entree, I ordered the 16 ounce Delmonico cut ribeye.  This particular steak was a boneless ribeye, had perfect marbling, and was very tender.  I have eaten a lot of ribeyes this year, but this was one of the best I have had this year.  The entrees on the private party menu were all served whipped potatoes, burnt corn, and roasted vegetables.  Of the three sides, I liked the whipped potatoes were the best.  I also cannot say enough about how great the bread was at Texas.  Our table was served several long French Baguettes that were absolutely fantastic and served piping hot from the ovens.  

Delmonico Ribeye

Although we brought our own cake, we were also given a choice of desserts.  I had the bread pudding, which was very tasty and had a hint of bourbon flavor to it.  It was a great pre-dessert before our final dessert of birthday cake.

Bread Pudding

Everyone at the party seemed to really enjoy their meals.  The food was fabulous on this visit and the service was absolutely spectacular.  Both our servers were very attentive and answered all of our questions about the menu items.  Dale Wamstad himself even came to check on our party several times throughout the night.  The value was good as well and I think you will be hard pressed to find a better bang for your buck at local steakhouse.  This restaurant will certainly be added to our list of "go-to" restaurants for date night or dinner with friends.

The Birthday Girl

Texas
http://thesonoftexas.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=4