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
 

Maggiano's Little Italy

My two daughters have recently started liking pizza and pasta.  This was a major event in my family, because my wife and I love Italian food and we can now have family meals at some of our favorite Italian restaurants.  Maggiano's Little Italy (Plano location) happens to be our favorite Italian eatery in Collin County, so one night we decided to take the girls there for Sunday dinner.

Mozzarella Marinara

We arrived hungry and immediately ordered an appetizer.  Although they have several appetizers that we like (the steamed mussels are a favorite), we decided to order the Mozzarella Marinara on this night.  Having never ordered this dish before, we really didn't know what to expect.  Rather than the typical cheese sticks you see at most Italian joints, this dish is large square pieces of mozzarella that are fried and served over their very flavorful marinara.  We enjoyed this appetizer and I would certainly order it again.

Chicken Picatta

Deciding what entree item to get is always a chore, because they have a long list of entrees to choose from.  On this visit, I ordered the Chicken Picatta and was pleased that I did.  The chicken was great and I loved the added flavor of the capers and the lemon butter sauce.  It was served with spaghetti aglio olio and I felt it was the perfect compliment to the chicken.  

Baked Eggplant Parmesan

My wife had the Baked Eggplant Parmesan and it was very good as well, but I certainly preferred my dish to hers.  Since this was one of the "On The House Classic Pastas", she also got to choose one of the other classics to take home and she chose the Baked Ziti.  We ate it later in the week and typical of Maggiano's dishes, it was big enough to feed two of us.  My kids were also pleased with their kid's menu meals of Spaghetti with Meatball and Cheese Pizza. 

We couldn't leave without dessert, so the four of us shared a piece of the Chocolate Zuccotto Cake and it was huge, very rich, and devoured to the last bite.  The service was once again impeccable and I don't ever recall having bad service at any of the Maggiano's locations.  If you haven't already visited Maggiano's, this place can be a great place for a date, dinner with friends, or even dinner with two rowdy little girls.  I am so glad my daughters will eat Italian cuisine now, because that allows us to more frequently visit some of our favorite places, including Maggiano's.

Chocolate Zuccotto Cake

Maggiano's Little Italy
http://www.maggianos.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=3

Gino's East

Earlier this year, famed Chicago eatery, Gino's East, expanded to the DFW area and opened a location in Arlington.  A second location recently opened in Dallas a couple of weeks ago and I was able to dine there with my brother the first weekend it was open.  The DFW area has some really good New York-style and Neapolitan pizza joints, but I have been unimpressed with the great majority of Chicago-style pizzerias in the area.  A couple of friends from Chicago told me that Gino's East was a "legit" pizza place from the  Windy City, so I was excited to give it a try.

Mozzarella Sticks

Our waitress told us that their deep dish pizzas take about an hour to cook, so we decided to get an appetizer while waiting on our pizzas to cook.  We debated getting the Cheesy Pizza Bread, but finally decided to order the Homemade Mozzarella Sticks.  After the first bite, we knew we made a good decision and I was quite impressed with the crispy batter and particularly liked the marinara sauce.  The flavor really was quite good and much better than your run-of-the-mill cheesestick.  

Mighty Meaty Deep Dish

The pizza I ordered, the Mighty Meaty, finally arrived about 55 minutes after I ordered it (which was less than the hour that our waitress informed us about).  This medium pizza* included six thick slices that had pepperoni, bacon, Canadian bacon, and Italian Sausage.  The pizza had plenty of meat and sauce, but I would have preferred more cheese.  Overall, I was impressed with the pizza and thought it was better than other Chicago-style pizzerias I have tried in DFW, but didn't love the crust as much as I thought I would.  My brother ordered a thin crust pizza with pepperoni and ground beef.  It was also good, but I preferred the deep dish variety to the thin crust pizza.

Thin Crust with Pepperoni and Ground Beef

We both thought the pizza was good, but the service was not impressive.  We only had our drinks refilled once and went thirty minutes without our waitress checking on us.  They were quite busy and the place had only been open for a couple of days, but the lack of attention was concerning.  The pizza was good enough for me to have a return visit and hopefully they will have all the kinks worked out.  

*This medium pizza is more than enough for 3-4 people.  I was only about to eat two slices at the restaurant and the other four slices provided me two additional meals as leftovers.  

Gino's East
http://www.ginoseast.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=3

Kolache Factory

The popular Texas breakfast destination, Kolache Factory, recently opened up a location in Frisco, Texas.  Although I have passed by several locations while traveling across the state, I have never actually sampled their kolaches until recently.  Kolaches are a breakfast favorite of mine, so I have now been to this location several times since they opened this summer.  

Right to Left-Bar-B-Q Beef and Sausage and Gravy

On my handful of visits over the last month, I have had a chance to sample several different kolaches.  Below is a rundown of the ones I have sampled and my opinion of them:

Apricot Kolache

Fruit Kolaches-solid item and comparable to the ones that I have had in places like West, Texas and central Texas bakeries.  I have tried several different fruit kolaches, but their apricot kolaches are my favorite.
Jalapeno Sausage Kolache-usually a favorite of mine, but I did not like these at all.  Instead of being a kolache with jalapeño sausage, it was a tiny thin sausage (similar to a Beanie-Weenie) that was surrounded by pickled jalapeños.  Strongly disliked their take on a favorite of mine.
Bacon and Egg Kolache-Meh...a kolache filled with what one would expect to find in a fast-food burrito.  
Bar-B-Q Beef Kolache-the brisket in these will not win any awards anytime soon, but the lightly sauced meat is a nice twist to the ordinary kolache.
Sausage and Gravy Kolache-this is my favorite of the non-fruit kolaches.  Lots of sausage and decent enough gravy.  

Jalapeno Sausage Kolache

This is a place where you can run in and expect to be out in 3-4 minutes without a problem.  Some kolaches I really liked, while others I didn't care for at all.  Now that I have been a few times, I know which ones I like and which ones that I do not like.  While not super impressed by this chain, the food is not terrible and I think your co-workers would be pleased if you brought them a dozen fruit kolaches for their breakfast.

Bacon and Egg Kolache

Kolache Factory
http://www.kolachefactory.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=2

Pink Magnolia

Pink Magnolia has been getting a lot of press since it opened in September.  After reading several reviews from local publications and seeing many pictures of the featured dishes, this restaurant went to the top of my "Must Dine List".  I was finally able to dine there on a recent weekend and I must say that I was quite impressed with Blythe Beck's new restaurant, despite the unassuming location in the Bishop Arts District.

Patio Area

The place was packed when we arrived and despite having reservations, we still had to wait about twenty minutes to get seated.  This is not an uncommon predicament at hot new restaurants, so we enjoyed a seat outside on the patio and enjoyed some libations on a nice fall evening.  After being seated, we ordered the Lobster Jalapeño Hush Puppies as an appetizer.  Although  I didn't intend to share, my wife helped me devour these amazing delicacies, which were served with a delicious Creole mustard aioli.  These hush puppies were a nice twist to traditional hush puppies and definitely set the bar high for the remainder of the meal.

Lobster Jalapeno Hush Puppies

For my main course, the Chicken Fried Ribeye beckoned me to order it and I obliged.  The batter was outstanding and the steak was a tender as any I have ever had.  A knife wasn't even necessary to use and I was able to eat the entire dish with a fork.  This chicken fried steak was amongst the best I have ever had in DFW, but the cream corn and beer braised mustard greens were up to the task of complimenting the dish.  Both the sides were extremely flavorful and I didn't leave a single bite on my plate.

Chicken Fried Ribeye

My wife ordered the Pan Seared Texas Redfish and it was equally incredible.  The fish was perfectly seared and seasoned to perfection.  It sat atop a very tasty side of lobster dirty rice, which did not skimp on the lobster.  The dish also came with a side of spinach, which was the only side that we didn't love.  The spinach was not bad, but I would have preferred it be sautéed a little longer and had a little less garlic.

Pan Seared Texas Redfish

The highly recommended Chocolate Fudge Waffle was ordered for dessert.  The waffle itself only had a mild chocolate flavor, but it  had a flavorful chocolate ganache that was drizzled over the waffle, peanut butter ice cream, and seared bananas foster.  Overall, the flavors went well together and I would have no problems ordering it again.  Although I enjoyed the dessert, I was slightly envious of the table next to us, which ordered the Maker's Mark Banana Pudding.  

Chocolate Fudge Waffle

Although we only sampled a small portion of the overall dinner menu, we really enjoyed the food we tried at Pink Magnolia.  The service was equally incredible and the staff was both friendly and informative.  After dining here, it is easy to see why the DFW foodie world is buzzing about this new restaurant!

Pink Magnolia
http://pinkmagnoliadallas.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=4

Soulman's Bar-B-Que

Watching football games is one of the few things I enjoy as much as eating barbecue.  Rarely do I get to enjoy both in the same evening, but I was able to do so on a night when I went to a high school football game in Allen, Texas.  I knew that a location of Soulman's Bar-B-Que was close to the stadium, so I popped in there prior to the game.

I wanted to try several meat options, so I ordered the three meat plate with turkey, pulled pork, and hot links.  If you read my blog, then you know that I rarely go to a barbecue joint in Texas without ordering brisket, but I decided to pass on brisket this night because the brisket on the block was lean and had all of the fat and most of the bark cut away.  The turkey was not good at all and had the texture and flavor of sandwich meat.  The hot links were fairly ordinary, but did have a little spice to them.  The pulled pork was the best of the three, but was far from great.

3 Meat Plate-Pulled Pork, Turkey, and Hot Link

The sides were a mixed bag for me.  The beans were bland and required the addition of salt and pepper.  I also had the cream corn, which was actually quite good and was the best item I tried on this evening.  It had  great flavor and had just enough peppers in it to give it a Texas kick.  The Texas toast was cold, stale, and needed more butter.

Banana Pudding

Soulman's has three different desserts available: Pecan Pie, Buttermilk Pie, and Banana Pudding.  I tried the Banana Pudding and felt it was lacking much of a banana flavor and had more whipped cream than pudding.  This place was not very busy on the night I visited, but it still took me over seven minutes to get through the line, despite the fact there were only two other people in front of me.  This place was a huge disappointment and will not get a return visit from me.

Soulman's Bar-B-Que

http://www.soulmans.com/

Livin the Good Life Rating=1

 

Rise

My wife and I recently celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary.  We usually try to celebrate by gorging ourselves on massive amounts of high quality food, but this year we were just back from some heavy dining during our vacation and were looking for a place that was both tasty and low in calories.  Having heard great things about Rise and their soufflés,  we decided to venture into Dallas and see what this casual bistro had to offer.

Marshmallow Soup

The Marshmallow Soup came highly recommended by our waitress, so we followed her advice and promptly ordered it.  The soup's name is somewhat misleading, because it is actually a tomato bisque with lumps of goat cheese that look like marshmallows and topped with pesto.  The soup was had a very rich flavor and tasted like it may have had a hint of carrots as well.  We both enjoyed this unique soup and the breadstick that accompanied it.

Southwest Chicken 

For my main course, I ordered the Southwest Chicken Soufflé which was topped with tomatillo sauce.  This was my first time eating a soufflé and it was really good, but somewhat bland except for the tomatillo sauce.  My wife ordered the speciality soufflé, which was Corn and Serrano Pepper.  I liked the taste of this one as well, but once again felt it was somewhat bland and a little more spongy than I anticipated.  My wife assured me that this was normal for these dishes and after reading up on soufflés when I got home, I found that this was quite normal and that most have a very "mild" flavor.

Corn and Serrano Pepper

The dessert soufflés were my favorite part of the meal.  My wife had the Praline and I had the Chocolate.  Both were very good, but I felt the chocolate was phenomenal.  The chocolate sauce that topped it was fantastic and I could have drunk a gallon of the thick sauce.  These dessert soufflés are not to be missed when dining here. 

Chocolate

Praline

We enjoyed our first experience at Rise and felt it was a perfect place for a romantic night out.  The friendly waitress was extremely helpful and the ambiance of the restaurant was perfect.  A great thing about this place is that you can have a fantastic date night here, but it is also casual and will not break the bank either.

Rise
http://www.risesouffle.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=3

Prairie House Restaurant

Driving home from a quick trip to West Texas, my wife and I decided to grab a bite to eat at Prairie House Restaurant in Cross Roads, Texas.  This restaurant, which is located on 380 between Denton and Little Elm, is always busy whenever we pass by.  Since the parking lot is always packed, we decided to stop on this trip and try the cuisine.

Dining area and bar

I was pleased to see that they had Burnt Ends as an appetizer.  Burnt Ends are a barbecue item that I cannot turn down and are absolutely amazing when done correctly.  Unfortunately, the burnt ends at this restaurant were a disappointment.  The burnt ends were from the point end of the brisket and had a decent smoke ring, but they were extremely chewy and were seriously lacking in the bark department.  

Burnt Ends

For my main meal, I ordered the Chicken Fried Steak with fries and onion rings.  The onion rings themselves were great, but the chicken fried steak was not tender and the batter was not cooked evenly.  The steak cut fries were horrible in flavor and tasted like they had been sitting under a heating lamp for a considerable amount of time.  My wife ordered the catfish basket and neither of us were impressed with the catfish, which was really bland.

Chicken Fried Steak 

Catfish

The food at the Prairie House Restaurant was extremely disappointing, but the service was worse.  Our server rarely checked on us and left me without refills on drinks for the duration of my meal.  Instead of checking on customers, the wait staff preferred to gather in groups and talk amongst themselves for most of the time we were there.  There will not be a return visit for me and I cannot recommend this place.

Prairie House Restaurant
http://www.phtexas.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=1

Cake Bar

After having lunch at LUCK, my family decided to have some dessert while we were visiting Trinity Groves.  Cake Bar came highly recommended by several people, so we went around the corner and popped into this quaint little bakery.  Fourteen different varieties of cake were available on the day we visited and they also had several varieties of cookies.

Old Fashion Chocolate

Since we couldn't sample them all on this visit, we settled for trying the Old Fashion Chocolate and the Wedding Cake.  The chocolate was my favorite of the two.  It had a dark chocolate icing between each layer of the yellow cake and was flavorful.  The wedding cake was a pretty basic white cake with buttercream frosting.  Both cakes were very moist and had a good texture to them.  

Wedding Cake

My daughters also had two of the large chocolate chip cookies and I can only assume that the cookies were good because they ate both of them and refused to share.  The Cake Bar was worth the visit while we were at Trinity Groves, but I certainly wouldn't make a special visit just to eat dessert here.  The cakes were good, but they were not earth-shattering special as I had been led to believe.

Cake Bar
http://cakebardallas.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=3