Urban Rio

Urban Rio has been one of the restaurants that I have been wanting to try for some time.  Urban Rio is located in downtown Plano and is owned by the same people that own the fantastic pizza restaurant, Urban Crust.    The restaurant is very popular with residents of Collin County and made the D Magazine 2013 list of The Top 100 Restaurants in DFW.  Despite the fact that the restaurant is located within 15 minutes of my house, I had not tried it until just recently.   

My daughter (the salt junkie) enjoying her tortilla chips

My family and I arrived at Urban Rio early enough to beat the dinner crowd.  Like most Mexican food restaurants, they gave us a bowl of chips and salsa to munch on while we looked over the menu.  In addition to the salsa, they also provided the table with a small bowl of a black bean dip.  I was not impressed with the salsa, but the black bean dip was a nice addition to the chips.

Chips, Salsa, and Black Bean Dip

While looking over the menu, we started with our traditional treat of queso.  We ordered their queso blanca with the chorizo flavored ground beef.  The queso was above average and the beef gave it a little extra flavor and texture that really added a little something to each bite.  We also ordered an order of the chimichurri chicken skewers to share.  I was disappointed in the skewers because they were very bland and I expected them to have more flavor.

Queso Blanca with chorizo flavored ground beef

For our entrees, I ordered the chile relleno and my wife ordered the tortilla soup.  The chile relleno was a fried poblano pepper stuffed with ground beef, potatoes, and Serrano peppers.  It was served over rice, refried black beans, and topped with Mexican crema.  The flavor was absolutely spot on and it was perhaps one of the top three chile rellenos I have ever had.  

Chile Relleno

I also ordered a side of the street corn, which was grilled corn that had been cut off the cob and topped with cheese and what appeared to be the same cream that was on my chile relleno.  The flavor was good, but it was not served warm.  My wife was not impressed with her tortilla soup either.  It was served to her at room temperature and like most people, she usually prefers her soup hot.  She only had a couple of spoonfuls before pushing it aside.

Street Corn

Tortilla Soup

My wife and I experienced mixed feelings on our first visit to Urban Rio.  I loved the queso and the chile relleno, but my wife was not a fan of her tortillas soup.  Neither of us cared much for the grilled chicken skewers.  We had wanted to try the s'mores for dessert because we thought it would be fun for the kids to cook them over the tableside fire, but I was too full after my meal and my wife was just ready to leave.  The service was lacking somewhat too because we had to wait a good ten minutes for any waitstaff to come and take our initial drink orders.  We found out when we arrived that they do not have a kids menu, but there were several options on the menu that kids would enjoy.  Despite my wife's feelings about the restaurant, the chile relleno was good enough for me to desire a second visit to Urban Rio.

Urban Rio
http://www.urbanrio.com
Livin the Good Life Rating = 3

Mash'd

I rarely have a Friday night where I am not working, so it was a special treat that I was actually off on a Friday.  This particular Friday also happened to be my birthday.  Not wanting to let a rare opportunity like this slip by, my wife wanted her and the girls to take me out to a birthday dinner somewhere close to work.  After vetoing several restaurants that my wife mentioned, we finally decided to try Mash'd.  Based on some good reviews from friends, I had been chomping at the bit to try this new restaurant and moonshine bar that had recently opened in Frisco.  When we first entered the restaurant, it had a very energetic vibe to it but I could still hold a conversation with my family. 

TVs aplenty at Mash'd

I was somewhat worried that this place might not be family friendly, but it turns out I had no reason to worry because we were quickly seated and asked if we wanted to go ahead and order for kid's dinners.   The entire night, our waitress seemed to know what we needed before we asked for it and she quickly took the kid's order and brought out our drinks.  While looking at the entrees, I decided to go ahead and start with bowl of gumbo. The gumbo arrived two minutes later and was excellent.  It was made with andouille sausage and chicken, but I was surprised to see that it had corn in it.  I have never had gumbo with corn in it, but it blended in well with the other ingredients and was certainly above-average in the gumbo department.

Andouille Sausage and Chicken Gumbo

For my entree, I decided to get the fried chicken.  The dish came with a boneless breast, boneless thigh, and mashed potatoes.  It also came with a half of lemon and jalapeño marmalade.  My waitress recommended squeezing the lemon on the chicken prior to dipping it in the marmalade.  It sounded like a weird combination of  flavors, but it was absolutely fantastic.  The boneless fried chicken was great by itself, but I particularly liked the jalapeño marmalade.  The mashed potatoes were not bad, but the certainly played second fiddle to the fried chicken.  

Fried Chicken with Jalapeño Marmalade

My wife ordered the BELT (Bacon, Egg, Lettuce, and Avocado) sandwich with fries.  She said it was really good, but would have preferred the cherry tomatoes to be cut into smaller pieces.  She shared her fries with me and I thought they were very tasty.  Both kids enjoyed their meals of grilled cheese on a pretzel bun and chicken strips.

BELT and Fries

The best part about this entire meal was the fact that we were in and out of the restaurant in forty minutes.  We certainly enjoyed our first trip to Mash'd because the food was terrific and the service was even better.  The restaurant is in a great location (off Preston and close to Stonebriar Mall), so I expect that it will do well.  Good food and a good location usually translate into restaurant success.  If our next visit to Mash'd is this good, we will certainly put it in our regular restaurant rotation. 

Mash'd

http://www.mashd.com/

Livin the Good Life Rating = 3