Jack Mac's Swill & Grill

There are times when I extensively research a restaurant before dining there.  At other times, my family and I just see a restaurant and choose to dine there.  When we dined at Jack Mac's Swill & Grill, the later was the reason we chose to dine there.  We happened to be in North Dallas, we were hungry, and decided to try it out since we were in the area.

Not knowing much about the place and not knowing their specialities, we just ordered what sounded good to us.  Below is my opinions of what we ordered:

Cabrito Stew - interesting combination of flavors with the goat, tomatillos, green chiles, potatoes, and carrots.  The dish was served with tortillas, but could have been eaten like a regular stew.  I felt the stew could have used some more meat, but it wasn't bad.

Breakfast Brisket Tacos- my wife ordered this dish and gave one of the tacos to me.  The brisket wasn't great and the flavor was bland, despite the fact it had green chiles, eggs, and potatoes too.

Basic Burger - of the items we tried, I thought this was the best.  The burger had good flavor and plenty of cheese, but was a little on the small side.  The  seasoned fries were average at best and their portion size was small as well.

Kid's Grilled Cheese- Both kids ate this and didn't seem to care for the grilled cheese on ciabatta bread, but I thought it was good.

I can honestly say that I was not impressed with this place.  It wasn't terrible, but I would certainly go someplace else if I was in the area again.   Our waitress did a nice job and was friendly, but the food failed to impress.

Jack Mac's Swill & Grill
http://jackmacs.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=2
 

Tokyo Joe's

Colorado-based Tokyo Joe's recently opened up a couple of Texas locations in McKinney and Richardson.  They pride themselves on being a Japanese style restaurant that is a healthy alternative to fast food and Chinese food, which is often fried or wok cooked.  Since the McKinney location is right by my house, I have had a chance to sample this restaurant a couple of times.

Peanut Skewers

For starters, I really like their edamame and peanut skewers.  The edamame was perfectly steamed and had just the right amount of salt.  The peanut skewers had chicken breast on a skewer that is topped with peanut sauce, green onions, and cilantro.  The peanut sauce itself might be the best that I have ever had.  

Chicken Spring Rolls

As much as I liked the edamame and peanut skewers, I really did not care for the chicken spring rolls.  I like the ingredients, but I did not care for the chilled rice paper wraps.  Perhaps I just prefer the fried spring roll, but I am not a big fan of this appetizer, which reminds me of a wrapped salad.  

Although the restaurant offers sushi and bento boxes, I have ordered bowls as entrees on both of my visits.  I have had the MoJoe bowl (chicken, pineapple, eggs, red onions, red pepper, and sweet and spicy sauce) and a Build Your Own Bowl (BYOB) that included chicken, brown rice, peanut sauce, broccoli, bean sprouts, edamame beans, cilantro, green onions, and carrots.  Both were outstanding and I wouldn't hesitate to order either again.

BYOB-Build your own bowl

I was pleased with both of my visits to Tokyo Joe's.  The food is fresh and at least, somewhat healthy.  The staff is friendly and well versed in regards to their menu.  I would certainly go here over about 90% of the other Asian restaurants in McKinney and I will make a point to try out their sushi on my next visit.

Tokyo Joe's
http://tokyojoes.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=3

Guero's Taco Bar

On our last morning in Austin, we decided to have breakfast at Guero's Taco Bar.  My wife was in the mood for Mexican food and she told me that this place was supposed to be very good.  Parking is sometimes an issue on South Congress, but we were fortuitous and found a parking spot less than a block away from Guero's.

Our party of four was famished so we ordered quite a bit for breakfast.  Below are my thoughts and opinions of what we ordered:

Queso - Regardless of the time of day, I have to order queso when I see it on the menu.  Unfortunately this queso was very bland and tasted similar to what one would get at a concession stand while watching 7th grade basketball.

Breakfast Tacos - Basic breakfast taco that was nothing special.  I only tried the chorizo and bacon, but neither were very flavorful.

Migas-Decent portion, but could have used a little more pico de gallo.  The flour tortillas were the only bright spot of this dish

Huevos Mexicanos - Like everything else we tried, this dish was super bland.  We got corn tortillas with this dish and I didn't like them as much as the flour tortillas.  Everything was once again tasteless, from the  eggs to the potatoes.

I ate some outstanding meals while I was in Austin for this particular weekend, but this meal was not one of them.  In addition to the bland food, the service was super slow too.  I would not go back here for breakfast and I cannot recommend it.  This might also be the last time I let my wife pick a restaurant while we are on the road!

Guero's Taco Bar
http://www.guerostacobar.com
Livin the Good Life=1

Lonesome Dove Bistro-Austin

Tim Love owns and operates one of my favorite restaurants in Fort Worth, Lonesome Dove Bistro.  Recently he opened up a second location of in Austin.  Since my wife and I are big fans of the Fort Worth location, I decided that we must visit the new location while in Austin and see how it compared.  Lucky for us, the Austin location of Lonesome Dove Bistro was just 3 blocks from our hotel where we were staying, the JW Marriott Austin.

Fettine Trio

While dining there with some friends from Houston, we sampled several items.  While looking over the menu, we started with the Fettine Trio.  The Fettine trio included duck-rattlesnake sausage fettine, elk-pork fettine, and lamb-quail fettine.  Although I didn't love the version with the lamb, the other two were absolutely amazing.

Nilgai Antelope Nachos

For appetizers, we ordered several items to share for the table.  The three that we ordered were the Nilgai Antelope Tenderloin Carpaccio Nachos, the Blue Corn Lobster Hushpuppies, and the Deviled Gulf Coast Blue Crabs.  The deviled blue crabs were my favorite of the three, but they were all exceptional and I would not hesitate to order any of the three again.

Blue Corn Lobster Hushpuppies

Following appetizers, I also ordered the Winter Squash Soup.  The soup had great flavor and texture.  It was one of the best soups I have had in recent memory and it had a sweet taste that I really liked.   It was also topped with the shaved grana padano cheese, which was also flavorful.

Winter Squash Soup

For our main course, all four of us ordered the house speciality, which is the Roasted Garlic Stuffed Beef Tenderloin.  This cut of meat was especially tender, had excellent flavor, and was topped with a great mop sauce.  The Western plaid hash and grilled asparagus were both very good as well.  My wife and I also chose to share a side of the burnt carrots, which were about as good as carrots could be.  

Roasted Garlic Stuffed Beef Tenderloin

Burnt Carrots

For dessert, the table share an order of the Ancho Chile Chocolate Cake and the Churros.  The chocolate cake was very moist, topped with ice cream, and you could even taste a slight hint of ancho chile.  The churros were good in their own right, but were even better when dipped in the raspberry, chocolate, and caramel sauces.

Churros

Ancho Chile Chocolate Cake

Since we made our way through such a large portion of the menu, I was about as full as I could ever remember being.  The service was spectacular, but the food was even better.  This location lived up the high expectations I had experience of the Fort Worth location and I would highly recommend anyone to try this place out.  You will not be disappointed.

Lonesome Dove Bistro
http://lonesomedoveaustin.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=5

Terry Black's Barbecue

Quality barbecue is getting much easier to find in Austin, TX.  The barbecue revolution there is really amazing when you think back to a decade ago and there not being any truly great barbecue joints in the city limits.  On my most recent visit to Austin, I visited Terry Black's Barbecue.  Terry is a relative of the family that operates the famous Black's Barbecue in Lockhart, TX.

I ate there on a recent Saturday and sampled several items while eating with my wife and some friends from Houston.  Below is my thoughts on what I tried:

Brisket- This brisket was very tender, moist, had well rendered fat, and was perfectly smoked.  It was heavy on the pepper and the bark tasted very similar to what you would find at Louie Mueller's Barbecue in Taylor, TX.  

Brisket, pork ribs, cream corn, and mac n' cheese

Pork Ribs- These were tender, had a nice glaze, and easily pulled off the bone.  They had a slight peppery taste, but not near as much as the brisket bark.

Turkey- I had this in a sandwich, but ate several slices on their own.  Great smokey flavor, moist, and lightly peppered to perfection.  

Turkey Sandwich

Beef Rib- This was one of the top 3 beef ribs I have ever had.  It had a similar flavor to the brisket, but was extremely tender.  A lot of beef ribs are chewy, but this one was not like that at all.  It was so tender that you could literally pull it off the bone with a fork.  This meat was the highlight of my visit to this barbecue joint.

Beef Rib

Sides-I tried the cream corn, mac n' cheese, cole slaw, and potato salad.  The cream corn was my favorite item, but the mac n' cheese was good as well.

Banana Pudding

Desserts- I tried the banana pudding and the peach cobbler.  The pudding was rather bland, but the cobbler was really good.  I would definitely order the cobbler again!

Peach Cobbler

The meats were great and the sides were decent enough as well.  While there may be a few people in line, the line moves really fast because Terry Black's has multiple cutting blocks and registers to get your food, rather than everyone waiting on one cutting block and register.  The ten minute wait for quality barbecue is an excellent alternative to waiting hours at some other joints in town.  Terry Black's will now be on my rotation of restaurants to visit when I am in Austin!

Terry Black's Barbecue
http://terryblacksbbq.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=4