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