Burger 21

The DFW area has no shortage of upscale burger joints, but more seem to open daily.  Florida-based, Burger 21, joined the DFW market with it's first Texas location opening up in the Frisco on the Downtown Square.  While I think the upscale burger market is over-saturated in my area, I still wanted to try this place out and I have been a couple of times since it opened.

Below are my opinions of what I have tried:

Bacon Cheesy- basic bacon cheeseburger on a brioche bun.  Good, but not great.  

The Tex-Mex Haystack- served with lettuce, tomato, applewood-smoked bacon, Gouda, onion strings, guacamole, and chipotle-jalapeno sauce on a brioche bun.  This burger was really good.  In fact, I would say it had the most flavor of any burger I have had thus far in 2016.  I Highly recommend this burger.

Fries- I have tried both the regular french fries and the sweet potato fries.  Of the two, the sweet potato fries are the better choice here, but both are serviceable.

Kids Grilled Cheese- Served on thick bread and perfectly toasted.  It was a big hit with my youngest daughter and myself.  

Key Lime Pie Milkshake- Absolutely amazing milkshake.  It tasted just like a key lime pie and was even served with a lime, whipped cream, and graham cracker crumbs.  They had a lot of other options on their milkshake menu, but this one was the most intriguing to me and I was not disappointed.

Although I have barely scratched the surface of their menu, the food (and shakes) are good enough to where I would certainly go back again.  While the beef patties on the burgers are somewhat bland, the restaurant has a lot going for it in the toppings and sauce department.  I have never had to wait over 10 minutes for any order and the staff is polite and helpful.   Definitely a good edition to the Frisco Square area.

Burger 21
https://www.burger21.com
Livin the Good Life Rating = 3

The Barrymore

One of my friends I met in Vegas really wanted to try out a restaurant call The Barrymore.  I had also heard good things about it, so we all agreed to dine there on our second night in Vegas.  The restaurant is owned by Block 16 Hospitality, which is a restaurant conglomerate that owns three other restaurants that I like, being Holstein's, Public House, and Flour and Barley.  Since I liked the other restaurants, The Barrymore came with high expectations.

Below are the menu items we tried and my opinions of them:
Oysters Rockefeller- served with creamy spinach, prosciutto, Pernod, and bread crumbs.  They were very rich, but extremely flavorful and some of the best I can remember in recent memory

Barrymore Caesar- romaine, serrano ham, garlic Caesar dressing, and a split anchovy.  I get the fact that Caesar dressing is traditionally made with anchovies, but I didn't care for the anchovy on my salad.  The ham was good and the lettuce was crispy, but the salad did have a taste that was a little too fishy for my personal taste.

Bone-in Ribeye- Without a doubt, this is my favorite cut of steak and I am a firm believer in the greatness of most dry aged ribeyes, however, this steak was a huge disappointment.  I love a well-marbled steak, but this one was overly-fatty, tough, and under-seasoned.

Sides- the table shared three sides, which were the creamed spinach, the mashed potatoes, and the lobster cream corn.  The spinach was the best of the three, but barely memorable.  The mashed potatoes were tasteless and the lobster and cream corn just tasted funny to me.

While I have had worse dining experiences in Vegas, this certainly wasn't one of the best i have had.  The service was good enough, but the food was a disappointment, with the exception of the Oysters Rockefeller.  While we all liked the feel and vibe of the place, it just didn't hit a home run with our picky crew.  I don't mind spending money on nice meals, but this meal was not worth the money we spent.

THE BARRYMORE
http://www.barrymorelv.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=2

Secret Pizza

In addition to our love of college basketball and the NCAA Tourney, one of my Vegas buddies also happens to be a foodie. When we arrived in Vegas, he started telling me about a pizza joint inside The Cosmopolitan.  He said the name of the place is called Secret Pizza  and that it is supposed to be legit pizza and gets it's name from the fact it doesn't have a website or any signage that signifies where to find it.  In fact, The Cosmopolitan doesn't even list it under the restaurants in the hotel.  

Entrance to Secret Pizza

Basically, you have to wonder aimlessly in search of it or ask somebody that knows where it is.  Not wanting to look like cheaters, we went in search of it and decided not to ask anyone where it was.  After about 5 minutes, we saw a man carrying a pizza box out of an unassuming hallway and we knew that we had found what we were looking for.  The line was fairly short and we both had a couple of slices in hand within five minutes of entering the hallway.  The pepperoni pizza was simply outstanding and some of the best I have had in recent memory.  The pizza was piping hot and bursting with flavor.  

Pepperoni

Since we liked it so much, we actually made a return trip in he wee morning hours approximately 14 hours after our first visit.  Luckily for us, it was still open, but we were unlucky in the fact that the line was all the way down the hallway and took 30 minutes to place our order.  On the second visit, I ordered sausage and it was comparable in quality to the pepperoni I had previously.  Although spicy sausage pizza at 3:00 AM might not have been the best decision I made in Vegas, I have certainly made worse decisions.  If you like pizza and want to go looking for this place, you will not be disappointed in this speakeasy-like pizza place.

Sausage Pizza

Secret Pizza
https://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=4

B&B Burger & Beer

Although I have my favorite restaurants that I enjoy visiting while in Vegas, I also like trying new restaurants.  While in town for the opening weekend of March Madness, my buddies and I decided to try out B&B Burgers & Beer, which was conveniently located across from the sportsbook at The Venetian.  Although the restaurant was packed, my friends and I were able to secure some seating where we could still watch the big TVs at the sportsbook.  

In addition to a few speciality burgers, the menu also boast a build your own burger menu with various buns and toppings.  I chose to create my own with bacon, cheddar, and garlic aioli on a pretzel bun.  It was a good burger with quality ingredients.  Whereas most pretzel buns are somewhat tough, this one was extremely light and fluffy, yet still had the pretzel taste.

Bacon Cheeseburger on a Pretzel Bun w/fries

Several sides are offered, including fries, onion rings, slaw, chips, warm potato salad, and lettuce wedges.  I was able to sample both the fries and the onion rings.  The fries were pretty good, but the tempura onion rings were really good.

Onion Rings

It ended up being a pretty good meal and I would go back there again.  While not my favorite burger joint in Sin City, it was certainly above average.  While we were pleased with the food, we were not pleased with the outcome of the game we were watching and had put money on.  Oh well, you win some and you lose some.  The food was was winner.

B&B Burger & Beer
http://www.venetian.com/restaurants/american/b-and-b-burger-and-beer.html
Livin the Good Life Rating=3