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

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

iCream Cafe

Several friends have been telling my family that we need to take our girls to get ice cream at the iCream Cafe.  The ice cream store combines chemistry and ice cream to produce a fun experience for kids.  iCream takes milk, a flavor of your choice, and other ingredients you can add to the mixture to make instant ice cream with the help from a blast of liquid nitrogen and a mixer.  My kids enjoyed getting to see their ice cream being made and we were all suprised to watch our ice cream be made in less than a minute.

Making Ice Cream

One kid enoyed vanilla bean ice cream with sprinkles, while another enjoyed chocolate ice cream with sprinkles.  Since it is the season for Girl Scout Cookies, iCream had three varieties of their famous cookies that one could mix in their ice cream.  I chose to have chocolate mint ice cream with Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies.  It isn't every day that you can find an ice cream store that combines girl scout cookies with you favorite flavors.

Chocolate Mint with Thin Mints

If you prefer shakes or frozen yogurt, those are available at iCream as well.  I felt the flavor was comparable to most other ice cream parlors, but it seemed much smoother than your basic ice cream.  The staff was very friendly and seemed more than happy to walk first timers through the process of ordering and making their ice cream.  My kids had an absolute blast and I would highly recommend this place for families with young children.

Vanilla Bean with Sprinkles

iCream Cafe
http://www.icreamcafe.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=2

Ace's Ice House and Chop Shop

One of DFWs newest restaurants, Ace's Ice House and Chop Shop, opened it's doors in January.  The Frisco eatery claims to have a chef driven menu that serves up some Texas favorites.  Chad Brown and Cutter Brewer serve as executive chefs and they do have a menu that puts some interesting twists on some classic Southern dishes.

Bar Area at Ace's-My youngest saw me taking a picture and assumed she needed to be in the pic

One of the appetizers that intrigued me was the Bird and Waffle.  The dish included 4 petite waffles, habanero maple syrup, and the choice of hand breaded chicken or quail breast.  I actually ordered it with the quail, but they ended up bringing out the chicken.  Since I was hungry and love chicken and waffles anyway, I decided to eat what was brought out.  The chicken had a terrific batter and the habanero maple syrup was great, but the waffles were pretty basic.

Bird and Waffle

The first entree I tried was the Chicken Fried Wagyu Steak.  The hand breaded 7 oz. Wagyu sirloin was topped with whiskey mushroom gravy and served with garlic mashed potatoes.  This chicken fried steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare and had outstanding flavor (both the breading and the steak itself).  As good as the steak was, the whiskey mushroom gravy was even better.  My only complaint with the gravy is that I wished they would have included more gravy on the dish.  The mashed potatoes were disappointing in comparison to the chicken fried steak and were a little bland.

Wagyu Chicken Fried Steak and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

The second entree we sampled was the Big Block Grass-Fed Angus Burger.  I elected to get the burger with bacon and cheddar cheese as add-ons.  The burger had a nice charbroiled flavor and was extremely juicy.  I also really enjoyed the large pieces of bacon and the sourdough bun.  Steak cut Cajun fries were served with the burger and they could have used a little more Cajun seasoning.

Big Block Grass-Fed Angus Burger

I only sampled three items on my first visit to Ace's, but I think the place shows a lot of promise.  The food was mostly good and outside the mix-up on my order of bird and waffle, the service was commendable as well.  Ace's has a fun ambiance, a good-sized bar area, and a patio.  The restaurant would be a good place to eat with the family or hang out with friends for a Happy Hour.  In a city that has more than it's fair share of chain restaurants, it is nice to see an original restaurant that puts a little twist on some classic dishes.

Ace's Ice House and Chop Shop
http://acesicehouse.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=3

Perry's Steakhouse and Grille

It has become a yearly tradition for my wife to take me out on a dinner date for my birthday.  My wife claims that I am hard to shop for, but she knows that I will always appreciate a good meal.  Unfortunately, we waited a little long to make reservations and my two favorite restaurants were booked.  We decided to go to plan B and try Perry's Steakhouse and Grille.  The Frisco location of Perry's opened up in late 2014 and we were looking forward to trying the restaurant's second DFW location.

Dining Area

We started our dinner date by splitting the crab cake appetizer.  The dish came with two crab cakes of medium size and were cooked perfectly.  The breading had great flavor and they were served with an excellent buttery-flavored sauce.

Crab Cakes

The Perry's Famous Pork Chop came highly recommended by several people, so I knew I had to order it on this visit.  It arrived as one of the biggest pieces of cooked pork I have ever seen, but our waiter carved it up table side and cut it into manageable pieces.  The pork chop was very tender,  had exceptional flavor, and was one of the top 3 pork chops I have ever eaten, but it was very fatty.  I love great marbling on beef, but don't care for excessive fat on my pork.  Considering the fact that it costs as much as a steak, I highly doubt I would order this item again.  That being said, I am still glad that I ordered it so I could see what all the fuss was about. 

Perry's Famous Pork Chop

My wife ordered the filet and it was cooked to a perfect medium rare.  As you might expect, the filet was very lean and extremely tender, but I particularly liked the flavor of the melted butter on the pepper-crusted steak.  I love steak and if I had to do it over again, I would have ordered a steak instead of this very good pork chop.

Filet

For our sides, we ordered roasted cream corn and the night's special, which was lobster mac n' cheese.  The cream corn was excellent and had some peppers to spice it up, but the lobster mac n' cheese was disappointing considering the fact it alone cost as much as many entrees.  The lobster mac n' cheese was seriously lacking in the lobster department and was flavorless to boot.

Roasted Cream Corn and Lobster Mac n' Cheese

For dessert we ordered the Rocky Road Bread Pudding.  My wife loves bread pudding and I love chocolate, so we thought it was the perfect compromise.  The butterscotch bread pudding was packed with chocolate chips and topped with a caramel sauce, candied walnuts, and the biggest house-made marshmallow I have ever seen.  This dessert was huge, but neither of us could stop eating it.  This was the most delicious item we had all night and the best dessert I have had so far in 2015.

Rocky Road Bread Pudding

Overall, I was very impressed with the service and the restaurant is a beautiful venue.  For the most part, the food was very good as well.  I was somewhat disappointed with the high fat content on the famous pork chop and was very disappointed in the Lobster Mac n' Cheese, but the appetizer and dessert more than made up for it.  The food, the location of the restaurant, and the great service should keep this restaurant very busy.

Perry's Steakhouse and Grille
http://www.perryssteakhouse.com/menu-locations/dallas/frisco/
Livin the Good Life Rating=3

The Egg and I

Having some time to kill on a recent Saturday morning, my family and I decided to go eat breakfast.  We were already in Frisco after dropping off my oldest daughter for a day camp, so we decided to eat at The Egg and I.  My wife had dined at this chain before, but it was my first time to darken the door at this particular restaurant.  

Although it was very busy when we arrived, we were still seated after only a few minutes.  The restaurant has a fairly extensive breakfast menu with a lot of my favorites on them.  They also has several traditional breakfast items with their own little twist to them.

Biscuits and Gravy

I went with the basic breakfast of biscuits and gravy, which was served with eggs and ranch potatoes.  The sausage gravy was thick, flavorful, and fully covered the biscuit.  While I was impressed with the biscuits and gravy, the scrambled eggs and ranch potatoes were disappointing.  

Eggs, bacon, ranch potatoes, and English muffin

My wife had the two egg breakfast and she chose the English muffin and bacon to go with the eggs and ranch potatoes.  She said her meal was "okay", but nothing special.  My youngest daughter did seem to thoroughly enjoy her kid's pancakes with bacon.

My little bacon lover couldn't even wait long enough for me to take a picture

 Although I wasn't overly impressed with The Egg and I, it wasn't terrible either.  The service was good and the coffee was above average.  In the quality department, I would compare it to an IHOP.  While I wouldn't go out of my way to eat at this chain again, I wouldn't be opposed to giving it another go if I was in the area.

The Egg and I
http://www.theeggandirestaurants.com/index.html
Livin the Good Life Rating=2

Stan's Main St. Grill

Stan's Main St. Grill is located in an old house in downtown Frisco.  This location formerly housed Frisco City Grille and, before that, Manny's.  Although I was not a huge fan of the previous two occupants, I jumped at the opportunity to meet a couple of work colleagues there for dinner one night.

View of the bar from one of the dining areas

Stan's is a very casual joint with a huge outdoor patio.  The restaurant serves sandwiches, burgers, salads, and a variety of fried entrees.  Several appetizers seemed appealing, but we decided to start with the Chips and Queso.  The queso was good, but we all loved the salsa which tasted like it was freshly made.

Chips, Queso, and Salsa

Being a sucker for fried food, I went with the chicken fried steak for my entree.  The diner has a choice of cream gravy or jalapeño cream gravy.  I had to go with the jalapeño cream gravy and it went really well with the hand battered and tender chicken fried steak.  I would have preferred that the jalapeño pieces be diced to a smaller size, but it was still very tasty.  The fries were lightly seasoned and went well with the chicken fried steak.

Chicken Fried Steak with Jalapeño Cream Gravy

Although I was too full for dessert, I felt that Stan's definitely was an upgrade from the previous restaurants housed at this location.  The food was good, the portions were ample, the prices were reasonable, and the service was commendable.  Stan's is centrally located and within a 10 minute drive of almost anywhere in Frisco.  With the large patio and numerous televisions, Stan's would be a great place to hang out with friends or a perfect place for a casual dining experience with the kids.

Stan's Main St. Grill
http://www.stansfrisco.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=3

Ernesto's Fine Mexican Food

As new families continue to move to Frisco, the city continues to grow.  New houses and new restaurants go up so fast that they seem to magically appear before your eyes.  Mexican food is one of my top cuisines, so I always try to dine at any new Mexican restaurant that opens in Collin County.  While Ernesto's is not brand new, it is "newish" and I recently tried it for the first time.

Queso

If you follow my blog, you know that I am a big fan of queso and I order it almost every time I eat Mexican food.  At Ernesto's, I ordered the chile con queso with ground beef.  The queso here was pretty good and they were generous with the beef.  Although it wasn't super spicy, it was flavorful.  

Chile Relleno with Brisket filling

For my entree, I ordered the chile relleno with brisket.  Instead of the ranchero sauce, it had them top it with chile con queso.  The poblano pepper was larger and filled with brisket, but I would have preferred the batter to be cooked a little more.  The rice and beans were pretty basic and very bland.  The buddy I was dining with had the chimichanga and he said his entree was good, but felt the same way about the rice and beans.

Sopapillas

I also ended up ordering sopapillas for dessert.  They were also pretty basic and were covered with too much cinnamon for my liking. The queso ended up being the highlight of this dining experience.  While I wasn't overly-impressed with the food, I felt the service was very good.  My first visit to Ernesto's left me with the impression that it was very basic and had average tasting food.  Although my first visit wasn't impressive, I wouldn't be opposed to giving it another try.  

Ernesto's Fine Mexican Food
http://www.ernestosfinemexicanfood.com/index.html
Livin the Good Life Rating=2

Hutchins BBQ-Frisco

One of my favorite DFW barbecue joints and Texas Monthly Top 50 Barbecue Joint, Hutchins BBQ, recently opened up a second location in Frisco.  A couple of months ago, the restaurant opened it's doors on Preston Road in the space that previously housed Randy White's Hall of Fame Barbecue.  I have been eating at the McKinney location of Hutchins for over 6 years and I have previously blogged about it's greatness.   Unlike the McKinney location which is open for lunch and dinner, the Frisco location is only open on Wednesday-Sunday from 11 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. (or until sold out).

Brisket 

St. Louis Style Ribs

On the day I first dined at the Frisco location, I ordered 1/2 pound of brisket, 1/2 pound of St. Louis style pork ribs, and and order of fries.  I chose lean brisket on this visit and couldn't have been happier.  The brisket had an excellent smoke ring, a thin layer of fat that kept the meat moist, and a bark that was so tasty that I might have closed my eyes and made involuntary moans.  St. Louis style ribs might be my favorite cut of ribs and the ones at Hutchins were terrific.  They had an excellent rub applied to them and the meat easily pulled off the bone with each bite.  Although I only bought two meats on this visit, a co-worker let me try their smoked turkey and it was fantastic as well.

Smoked Turkey 

Jalapeño Corn Muffins and Fresh Cut Fries

Sides are usually of little concern to me when eating quality barbecue, but I absolutely love the hand cut fries at Hutchins.  They are always freshly cooked and cut to just the right thickness (in my opinion).  Most burger joints could learn a thing or two about cooking fries from Hutchins.  This restaurant also offers free bread (hot rolls or jalapeño corn muffins) and free dessert (peach cobbler or banana pudding) for dine-in customers.  You can't go wrong with either bread, but I love the jalapeño corn muffins.  I am also a fan of the light and flavorful banana pudding, but many of my co-workers absolutely love the peach cobbler.

Banana Pudding

I was very pleased that the smoked meats were every bit as good as the McKinney location.  If you haven't been to either location of Hutchins barbecue, I recommend that you give them a try.  The barbecue is top notch, most of the sides are great, and the dessert is free.  It is really hard to beat a combination like that.  The new Frisco location is only a five minute drive from my work, so I see frequent forays in my near future.

Hutchins BBQ
Livin the Good Life Rating=4