Food and Family Fun at McKinney's 2013 Oktoberfest Celebration

My family and I recently got to attend the Oktoberfest celebration in downtown McKinney.  When my wife first proposed the idea to me, I had some reservations.  I usually don't do crowds, but I changed my mind when I viewed the Oktoberfest website and looked at all the German food that would be sold by various vendors.  

We arrived at 10 a.m. to an overcast sky and the smells of delicious food being cooked.  My girls enjoyed seeing many of the people dressed in traditional German fashion and we enjoyed watching the girls have a good time.  My oldest particularly enjoyed the petting zoo and getting her face painted.  I had a good time eating and walking around.  They had many activities for kids and adult beverages from Franconia brewery for anyone wanting to partake in liquids made from hops and barley.  I highly recommend this event to anyone wanting to go next year.  I hope you enjoy my photos of the food and the fun we had.

Elk Jalapeño Cheddar Bratwurst.  I can't begin to describe how flavorful this was.

Potato Pancakes with Applesauce.  Tasted better than they looked.

Petting Zoo 

The girls after my oldest got her face painted 

Waiting in line for the best pretzel and best strudel I have ever had.

A very large Bavarian Pretzel

Apricot Almond Strudel.  Perfect dessert before we left.

SoulFire PIzza

SoulFire Pizza opened about three months ago in Frisco, Texas.  I was looking for a place to grab a quick bite to eat one night and stumbled upon it.  I was actually on my way to another restaurant, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to try a new pizza joint.

You enter the restaurant and get in line to go through a three step process to order your pizza.  They only make personal pizzas, so everyone in your group or family can get their own pizza.  You first tell them what kind of crust you want, then choose your sauce, and finally add your toppings.  SoulFire has 4 crusts available and many different sauces and toppings.  I chose to get the thick crust with marinara, cheese, Canadian Bacon, and beef.  I also had them add some fresh basil to the pizza.  Once I was finished with the toppings selection, they put it in the oven and I paid.

Pizza Assembly Line

They brought my pizza out after only five minutes and it looked really good.  These pizzas are personal pizzas in the 10-12 inch range.  I liked the beef, but the Canadian bacon was top notch.  The sauce had a very nice flavor to it as well.  The "thick" crust was not deep dish, but it was thicker than your average pizza.

Finished Product

I wouldn't consider this "gourmet" pizza, but it is very good for the price of $6.89.  For your money, you will be hard pressed to find a better pizza.  If you are a husky person like myself, you could easily eat two of them (I know I could have).  If you want a good pizza at a low cost, SoulFire Pizza gets a thumbs up from me!

SoulFire Pizza
http://www.soulfirepizza.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating= 2

The Salad Stop

Believe it or not, I actually love to eat salads.  During the work week, I make my own salad to take to work almost every day.  I can't eat steak, barbecue, burgers, etc. for every meal and expect to fit through doors with ease.  I like to mix up my dressings and ingredients so my salads are not bland and monotonous.   Even when I go out to eat, I will often order salad.

I had a very short amount of time to eat lunch the other day and I had not been able to fix my lunch at home, so I decided to venture out and try The Salad Stop in Frisco.  This place has many different varieties of salads on their menu.  They also have soups, pastas, and baked potatoes.  With the salad, you get the choice of having it tossed or chopped.  The Salad Stop reminded me of a Chipotle for salads.  They start making the one you order and will add any additional ingredients you request.

Salad Assembly Line and Dining Area

I decided to get a tossed Chicken Caesar salad.  After going through the line and paying, I sat down to dig in.  The romaine lettuce was very crisp and the salad had plenty of Parmesan cheese.  Unfortunately, the Caesar dressing  and tiny little croutons was very bland.  The chicken was perhaps the worst I have ever had on a salad.  It was not the grilled chicken one comes to expect from Chicken Caesar salads.  Instead it was small cubed pieces of what tasted like chicken lunch meat.

Chicken Caesar Salad (Bonus points if you can spot the tiny pieces of chicken)

I can't speak for the pastas, potatoes, and soups, but I was very disappointed in the salad I had.  The salad was bland and tasted like some that I have had at fast food restaurants.  At a price exceeding eight dollars, I felt that I had severely overpaid for the quality I received.  I highly doubt I will be going back to The Salad Stop in the near future.

The Salad Stop
http://www.thesaladstoptexas.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating = 1

Hard Eight BBQ

I have been neglecting my favorite cuisine the last few weeks.  Inexplicably I haven't been to a barbecue joint in several weeks.  When I neglect my desire to consume barbecue, I start getting withdrawal symptoms that would make a crack addict cry.  I finally couldn't take it any more, so I got in my truck and drove to meet my brother at Hard Eight BBQ.

Hard Eight has three locations, but I always go to the one in Coppell because it is closest to my house.  You will not find find this restaurant on the Texas Monthly Top 50 Barbecue Joints list, but it is one of my local favorites.  In addition to your typical barbecue meats, they also have one of the best pork chops in DFW, chicken poppers, and shrimp poppers.  The behemoth pork chops are two inches thick and have a nice smoky flavor.  The poppers are bacon wrapped chicken or shrimp bites with jalapeño and onion.  Hard Eight has several impressive side dishes, but their complimentary beans are hard to pass up.  

The menu pit

On this particular visit, I ordered sliced brisket, turkey, ribs, and chicken brush poppers.  Although the brisket was lacking in the bark area, it was moist and had a very nice smoky flavor.  The turkey was very moist as well and all but melted in your mouth.  The ribs were smoked very well on this visit and had a particularly tasty rub on them.  Last but certainly not least, the chicken poppers were phenomenal.  They chicken was tender, the jalapeño and onion gave them a nice kick, and the bacon that surrounded them was crispy perfection.  I also had a small bowl of their free beans and they are hard to beat for the price.

Ribs, brisket, turkey, and chicken poppers

I have chowed down at Hard Eight BBQ several times and I have never been disappointed.  I can't speak for the other locations, but the one in Coppell serves up some very tasty barbecue.  Texas Monthly may not have included Hard Eight in their top 50, but I actually prefer it to three  of the DFW joints that made their list; Meshack's, Bartley's, and Cousin's.  In addition to the great barbecue, I am also a fan of their hand cut french fries, jalapeño cream corn, and desserts.  If you are in the Coppell area, I recommend a stop at Hard Eight BBQ.

Hard Eight BBQ
http://www.hardeightbbq.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating= 3

Cadillac Pizza Pub

Pizza is one of my favorite foods.  I have a few "go-to" pizza joints in the DFW area, but I always like to try new places.  Last week, I finally got around to trying Cadillac Pizza Pub in downtown McKinney.  Despite the fact that this place has been around for several years and I frequently eat on the Square, I have inexplicably never dined here before.  

My wife and I were absolutely starving when we arrived, so we decided to start with an order of the cheese bread.  In addition to mozzarella and fontina, it also had thinly sliced genoa salami.  We both loved the cheese bread and the salami had a nice flavor.  The marinara dipping sauce was really good too, but I would have preferred that it been served warm rather than cold.

Cheese Bread with Salami

I am usually a huge fan of pepperoni or Canadian bacon, but I decided I wanted to try one of the "house pies."  I ordered the Smokey Pie, which had brisket, bacon, barbecue sauce, mozzarella, and cheddar.  My wife ordered the Capri, which had spinach, roma tomatoes, onion, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, mozzarella, and feta.  I really liked the Smokey Pie....a lot!  I wasn't sure how I would like barbecue sauce and brisket on a pizza, but it was very good and combined my two favorite foods.  This brisket isn't going to break into the Texas Monthly Top 50 any time soon, but it worked well on this pizza.  My wife seemed to like her pizza until she ate a slice of mine.  From that point forward, she just continued to get slices of my pizza.

Smoky Pie

Capri Pizza

We found another winner in Cadillac Pizza Pub.  We found it to be a really fun place with excellent service.  They have a very large menu of "house pies" and if you are a fan of craft beer, they had several selections from local breweries.  They also have a kids menu that includes staples such as grilled cheese and chicken nuggets, which both of my daughters enjoyed.  If you haven't been to Cadillac Pizza Pub, I recommend that you give it a try.

Cadillac Pizza Pub
http://www.cadillacpizzapub.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating=3