18th and Vine

The city of Dallas and the greater DFW area has really been upping it's game in the barbecue department lately and new barbecue restaurants are opening in an attempt to compete with the heavyweights like Pecan Lodge, Lockhart Smokehouse, and Hutchins.  One of the newcomers, 18th and Vine, had several critics, like Daniel Vaughn, raving about the place. The Dallas Morning News even awarded it as one of the Best New Restaurants 2015.  What separates this place from the others is the fact that pit boss Matt Dallman has opened a Kansas City style barbecue joint with influences he brought from his hometown.

On a recent Saturday, I was with a party of four and we were able to sample several of the menu items. Below is my opinion of what we tried:

Burnt Ends - We ordered these as an appetizer and they were incredible.  These delicacies are a favorite of mine and I order them whenever I see them on a menu.  The burnt ends were amongst the best I have had in DFW and were the best smoked meat we had on this night.

Fried Okra - This was also ordered as an appetizer and we loved this dish as well.  The batter was fantastic and the okra was perfectly seasoned.  The dipping sauce served with the okra was a prefect compliment.  

Brisket - Although we loved the burnt ends, the brisket left a lot to be desired.  The brisket had a smoky flavor, but it was tough, the fat was not well rendered, and the slices were much thinner than I prefer.
Pulled Pork -  This item was fairly pedestrian and I didn't get much bark, which is my favorite part of pulled pork.

Pork Ribs-  The ribs had a nice smoke ring and a tasty glaze, but, like the brisket, they too were a little tough.  
Jalapeño Cheese Sausage -  The house-made sausage had a good flavor, a lot of cheese, and the jalapeños gave it a nice kick.

Smoked Chicken - This meat was only surpassed by the burnt ends.  The chicken had a great smoky flavor and the skin was well seasoned.
Seasoned Fries -  The seasoning was good, but the fries were barely warm and tasted like they had been sitting out a while.  

Jalapeño Cheese Grits -  Grits are one of my favorite sides and these were really spicy and had a lot of cheese.  That gets a big thumbs up from me.  

Pit Roasted Mushrooms -  This was the first time I remember seeing mushrooms on a barbecue restaurant menu, but they were better than I expected.
Assorted Cookies -  Four types of house-made cookies (chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, snickerdoodle, and sugar) were served and none were overly impressive.  

Fried Apple Pies -  This dessert was much better than the cookies.  The miniature pies had a great flavor, a nice dusting of sugar, and were served piping hot.

18th and Vine has a really cool atmosphere and the service is great. The meal started off with a bang with the appetizers of burnt ends and fried okra, but almost everything else was very underwhelming.  While a few of the other items were also good,  the rest was far from great.  This place is certainly a little more upscale than most barbecue joints, but I am sure that this place will do well amongst the other high end casual restaurants in Oak Lawn.

18th and Vine
http://www.18thandvinebbq.com
Livin the Good Life Rating = 3

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
 

Jarams Donuts

I am not a person that just absolutely loves eating breakfast and I frequently skip breakfast.  That being said, I do have a few weaknesses involving breakfast foods, and one of those would be donuts.  After reading an Eater article about the best places to find donuts in Dallas, I decided to try out Jarams Donuts, which was one of the places they recommended and was the one closest to my house in McKinney, TX.  Thrillist also ranked them among The Best Donut Shops in Dallas.

Jaram's Donuts has a huge variety of speciality donuts, kolaches, and other breakfast items, but I was only able to try a fraction of the items available.  Below is my descriptions and opinions of the ones that I tried:
Chocolate Croissant Donut-This donut was about twice the height of a normal donut and had the light texture of a croissant.  The chocolate icing was delicious and the powdered sugar was plentiful.  If a chocolate donut and a beignet had a love child, this donut would be the result.

Creme Brûlée Donut-Hard to imagine, but it actually tasted a lot like creme brûlée.  The exterior was actually caramelized and the inside was filled with custard.  This donut gets two thumbs up for originality.

Chocolate Donut Holes with Sprinkles-My daughter ordered a dozen of these and allowed me to have one.  The same chocolate icing I had on the croissant donut was on these as well and they were high quality for donut holes.  
Sausage Kolache with Bacon- In my opinion, it was closer to a pig-in-a-blanket than a kolache.  The bread was good and the sausage was decent, but I really liked the crispy bacon that adorned the top of it.

Jalapeño Sausage Cheese Bread-By far, this was the most interesting items I tried here.  The bread had sliced jalapeño sausage and cheddar cheese that was intertwined in bread.  As good as the donuts were, I think I actually liked this item the best. 

As you can probably tell, I loved this quaint little donut shop in North Dallas.  The donuts were great and and the jalapeño sausage cheese bread was incredible.  I would rate this place in my top three  donuts shops that I have tried in DFW alongside Hypnotic Donuts and The Donut Kitchen.   

Jaram's Donuts
http://www.jarams.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=4
 

The Theodore

Tim Byers is one of the hottest chefs in DFW and his most recent brainchild, The Theodore, recently opened at NorthPark Mall.  Normally I shy away from mall dining, but this particular mall tends to be the exception to the rule and houses several quality restaurants.  Since I am a huge fan of another Byers restaurant, Smoke, I couldn't wait to try out this menu.  

Dining Area

The menu at this causal restaurant includes such items as sourdough toasts, salads, sandwiches, pizzas, desserts, etc.  Since it opened in November, I have had the opportunity to try several items.  Below is my opinion of the items I have tried:

Sausage and Chervil Sourdough Toast-This toast was generously topped with sausage, chervil, bacon, onions, and a spread which I could not identify.  I usually have an aversion to light colored sausages, but this one had a unique taste and was better than most.  The toast was flavorful in it's own right and was toasted just enough to hold up all the toppings.

Corned Beef Brisket and Cabbage Sandwich-  This open faced sandwich was topped with a delicious corned beef and plenty of cabbage.  This was some of the best corned beef I have had in recent memory and it was served atop the same delicious sourdough bread as the toast above.  Although I would have preferred less cabbage, it was cooked well and added to the flavor of the sandwich.

Burger on Sweet Yeast Roll-Quite basic, but extraordinary in it's simpleness.  The meat was juicy and flavorful, the roll was truly sweet, and the veggies were crisp.  It is refreshing to see a burger that is delicious without adding a bunch of toppings other than cheese, bacon, lettuce, pickle, onion, and tomato.

Beef Wellington- The fleet was cooked to perfection and the pastry was nice and crispy, but I really didn't care for the foie gras that sat atop the filet.  I have never been a fan of foie gras and thought even this small sampling of it, detracted from the meat itself.  Mashed potatoes accompanied this dish and they were amazing, but I would have preferred a larger sampling.  The gravy was also delicious.  

Crab Apple Toffee Cake- Loved the toffee cake, but felt the crab apple was a little too sour for my taste.  I was also disappointed in how small the dessert was.

Dark Chocolate Tart- Chocolate perfection.  The tart made me question ever eating anything else chocolate again besides this dessert.  In fact, it was so good, I considered ordering a second tart.

Most of the menu items I have sampled were good, but not all lived up to expectations.   The service was spectacular and what one comes to expect from a Tim Byers restaurant.  I do think Byers has another winner in The Theodore and I truly believe it is a nice addition to NorthPark Mall.

The Theodore
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

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

LUCK-Local Urban Craft Kitchen

Trinity Groves seems to be one of the hottest dining areas in Dallas these days.  There are no shortages of highly recommended restaurants at this relatively new development and I have been wanting to visit for some time.  As "luck" would have it, my family and I finally ventured into this area of Dallas and dined at LUCK, which is the acronym for Local Urban Craft Kitchen.

Patio at LUCK

After a morning field trip to the Perot, we arrived hungry and started with the Hand Twisted Soft Pretzels.  They arrived quickly and were served with beer cheese fondue and stone ground mustard.  This appetizer was very good and even the kids loved them.  My wife preferred dipping hers in the mustard, while I preferred the beer cheese fondue.

Hand Twisted Soft Pretzels

For my main meal, I ordered the North Texas Hot Brown.  This open face sandwich was served with thick turkey, bacon, grilled tomatoes, and topped with white cheddar beer cheese sauce.  Impressive does not begin to describe the greatness of this sandwich.  The turkey was great, the thick cut bacon was crispy, and the beer cheese sauce was tasty as well.  The house-made chips were also much better than average.

North Texas Hot Brown

My wife had the Signature Pastrami Sandwich on sourdough and she graciously gave me half.  The brisket pastrami had been cured for three days and smoked for fifteen hours.  It was served with caramelized onions, stone ground mustard, and Swiss cheese.  As good as my sandwich was, this sandwich blew mine away in the flavor department.  It had the taste of pastrami, but the texture and bark of brisket.  This was the first time I have had pastrami like this and I am not sure I can ever go back to eating regular pastrami again.  

Signature Pastrami Sandwich

The kids enjoyed their grilled cheese and chips as well.  LUCK was busy on this Friday afternoon and we had to sit outside on the patio, but the fans and breeze made it a pleasant dining experience.  The servers aim to please and do a commendable job, but the food is the real hero here.  I was impressed with my first dining experience at Trinity Groves.  LUCK was as good as advertised and I need to plan a return trip in the near future!

LUCK-Local Urban Craft Kitchen
http://www.luckdallas.com
Livin the Good Life=4

Abacus

DFW Restaurant Week is one of my favorite weeks of the year.  Think of it as Christmas in August for foodies.  This event is a week where participating restaurants offer a prix fixe dinner of three courses (or a two course lunch) and donate a portion of the proceeds to the North Texas Food Bank.  Over the last few years, my wife and I have made it a point to visit a restaurant or two for the benefit of charity and our bellies.  For the first night of DFW Restaurant Week, we chose to meet some friends at Abacus, which is a restaurant that I have wanted to try for quite some time.

Comanche Buffalo Potstickers

Between the four of us, we tried Comanche Buffalo Potstickers and the Cornmeal Crusted Calamari for the first course.  The potstickers were flavorful and tender, with the buffalo having a texture close to barbacoa.  The calamari was outstanding as well and I particularly liked the crunchy batter which was a nice balance to the tender texture of the calamari.  This dish was also served with thinly sliced fried green tomatoes which I also loved.

Cornmeal Crusted Calamari

The table also decided to order a side of the Lobster Scallion Shooters, which were served six to an order and were not included as part of the three-course dinner.  This dish was a fried lobster dumplings which were served in a shot glass and topped with a red curry-coconut creme.  We all agreed that this dish was incredible and even asked for a second order prior to our entrees.   The curry sauce was extremely flavorful and went well with the lobster dumplings.  

Lobster Scallion Shooter

Abacus had six different entrees available on the prix fixe menu and I went with the Beef Tenderloin, which was served with a Black Truffle Potato Puree and Brussels Sprouts.  The tenderloin itself was somewhat lacking in flavor, but the sides were both great.  I particularly enjoyed the Brussels Sprouts, which were amongst the best that I have ever had.

Beef Tenderloin

My wife ordered the 44 Farms Flat Iron Steak, which was served with Green Beans and Sweet Potato Gratin.  While not as tender as my tenderloin, her steak was better seasoned.  Both sides were good, but I was particularly intrigued and pleased by the unique flavor and texture of the sweet potato gratin.  

44 Farms Flat Iron Steak

For dessert, each couple was given a dessert trio that included a slice of Salted Caramel Tiramisu, a slice of Blackberry Upside Down Cake, and a Dark Chocolate-Peanut Butter Tart.  My wife liked the blackberry upside down cake the best and I preferred the tart, which was extremely rich and bursting with the flavor of dark chocolate.  Neither of us particularly cared for the tiramisu and we both agreed that we would have preferred a more traditional tiramisu.  

Clockwise from Top Left: Salted Caramel Tiramisu, Blackberry Upside Down Cake, and Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart

We had a great time catching up with friends and enjoying the menu at Abacus.  I preferred the appetizers and dessert to the entrees, but none of the food was bad.  The service was more than adequate and the entire staff was friendly and welcoming.  The restaurant has a nice atmosphere that would make it a fun place to dine with friends or a great place for a romantic night with a spouse or significant other.  

Abacus

http://www.abacus-restaurant.com

Livin the Good Life Rating=3