Sweetie Pie's Ribeyes

Sweetie Pie's Ribeyes has been on my foodie wish list for a couple of years now.  A couple of my friends highly recommended this steakhouse that is located in Decatur, Texas.  This restaurant is owned by the same family that owns the Babe's restaurants scattered across the Metroplex.  Since Babe's is one of my favorite places to eat some "home cooking," I was excited to try a steakhouse in the same family of restaurants.

Dining area of Sweetie Pie's and one of my little sweetie pies

Sweetie Pie's Ribeyes is located on the square in downtown Decatur.   Parking in front of the restaurant can be hard to find, but we were able to find ample parking behind the building.  Our waitress took very good care of us from the moment my family arrived at the restaurant and was extremely attentive throughout our visit.   While we perused the menu, she brought our drink orders and a big basket of  some fantastic hot rolls.

House Made Hot Rolls

Several items on the menu looked appealing, but I was here to eat steak.  I ordered the 8 oz. thick cut ribeye, cooked medium rare, with fresh cut fries and mac n' cheese.  My steak arrived cooked to order  and was as good as advertised.  Even though it was a small cut, the steak had excellent marbling and was very tender.  The fries were also fantastic and I wished I would have ordered double fries rather than the mac n' cheese, which was a little runny for my taste.

Ribeye, Fries, and Mac n' Cheese

My wife had the chicken fried ribeye with a lunch salad and mac n' cheese.  She ordered her lunch salad with bacon vinaigrette dressing.  I tried some of her salad and I absolutely loved the dressing.  Although I was unable to try her chicken fried ribeye, she assured me that it was very good.  She also liked the mac n' cheese much more than I did.  Both kids had the chicken strips from the kids menu.  Since they both had clean plates and faces covered in ketchup, I can only assume they enjoyed them.

Chicken Fried Steak, Mac n' Cheese, and Gravy

I couldn't leave this place without trying a dessert of some sort.  On this occassion, I decided to order the apricot fried pie and forgo the vey tempting pecan pie.  The apricot fried pie had one of the best crusts I have ever had on a fried pie.  It was very sweet, yet perfectly flacky.  The apricot filling was commendable as well.

Apricot Fried Pie

My family thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Sweetie Pie's Ribeyes.  The restaurant is very causal for a steakhouse and very kid friendly.  Our waitress was spectacular and even did magic tricks for my daughters.  The food was excellent and a great value.  Next time I am passing through Decatur, I will be stopping for another meal at this local jewel.
Sweetie Pie's Ribeyes
http://www.sweetiepiesribeyes.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=3

Allen Cafe

When I am not dining out, I enjoy spending time outdoors.  Outdoor activities can often work up an appetite, which usually leads me to searching for a place to grab some grub.  On a recent day that I had done a little fishing at Bethany Lakes Park in Allen, I decided to try out the Allen Cafe.  I really hadn't heard that much about the place, but it had a high rating on Urbanspoon.  Since I was already in the area, I stopped by the restaurant on my way home.

I arrived around 11 a.m. and saw that about half the patrons were ordering breakfast and the rest of them were ordering lunch.  Breakfast didn't sound appetizing on this particular morning, so I began to scan over the lunch menu.  As I was looking over the menu, the waitress informed me of the daily specials.  Chicken Fried Steak was one of the specials and it came with a soup or salad, your choice of potatoes, and a vegetable for $8.59.  That sounded like a very good deal, so I ordered went ahead and ordered the special.

Salad with House Dressing

My salad arrived within a couple of minutes of placing my order and I liked the taste of the house dressing, but would have liked some croutons on it.  Shortly after I finished my salad, my entree was placed before me.  The chicken fried steak was tender, but it was very bland and the batter was not crispy.  It was quite possibly the worst chicken fried steak I have had all year.  That is saying a lot when you consider the fact that I had a chicken fried steak in a school cafeteria just a few months ago.  The fries and okra were very basic, but the okra was far superior in taste and I enjoyed the batter on the okra much more than the batter on the chicken fried steak.

Chicken Fries Steak Special with Fries and Okra

I cannot say that I was very impressed with the Allen Cafe.  My waitress was very friendly and gave outstanding service, but I was not impressed with the food.  Although the chicken fried steak special was only $8.59, I did not feel like it was a very good value due to the poor quality of the chicken fried steak.  The salad was delicious, but my meal went downhill quickly after finishing off my salad.

Allen Cafe

http://allen-cafe.com

Livin the Good Life Rating=1

Poor Richard's Cafe

My father-in-law recently had a birthday and my wife wanted to meet him for breakfast to celebrate.  We wanted to meet somewhere in Plano because it was halfway between our home in McKinney and their home in Garland.  After much discussion, my father-in-law chose Poor Richard's Cafe and we loaded up the family to meet him and my mother-in-law for a birthday breakfast.

When we arrived, my in-laws had already secured us a table.  Poor Richards was packed on this Saturday and had a short line waiting to be seated, but the restaurant is very large and I don't believe anyone had to wait longer than ten minutes to be seated.  I started with coffee while we visited the family.

The Big Tex Breakfast

The menu is quite extensive, but I finally decided on the Big Tex Breakfast.  The Big Tex is a chicken fried steak served with your choice of eggs, potatoes, and bread.  I got scrambled eggs and toast with my order.  When the chicken fried steak arrived, I was very impressed with the size.  I would estimate the size of the chicken fried steak to be twelve long and it literally took up the entire platter.  My scrambled eggs and potatoes had to be served on another platter.  The batter on the chicken fried steak was great, the gravy was creamy, and it was tender enough to cut with fork.  The potatoes were fantastic and reminded me of the ones my grandmas used to make.  The toast was buttery perfection as well.

Bacon, Eggs, Grits, and Gingerbread Pancakes

My wife ordered a breakfast platter than consisted of bacon, fried eggs, grits, and gingerbread pancakes.  She gave her meal the stamp of approval and refused to even share a bite of pancakes with me.  My oldest daughter enjoyed her gingerbread pancakes and my toddler ate all of her eggs and some of mine.

Poor Richard's is a really good family friendly restaurant that serves a quality breakfast at a reasonable price.  The service was spectacular on our visit and we never had to ask to have any coffee refilled.  The kitchen is fast too and we had our food within ten minutes of ordering.  My first visit to this restaurant was much better than I had anticipated and I really want to try out their lunch menu as well.

Poor Richard's Cafe
http://www.poorrichardscafe.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=3

Barnlight Eatery

Barnlight Eatery recently opened in East Frisco.  I was pleased to see that the East Frisco/West McKinney area was getting a new restaurant, because the majority of the restaurants in this area are either fast food joints or chains.  At the moment there are only a handful of quality restaurants in this area, so I was anxious to sample the goods at Barnlight Eatery.

Dining area and bar

Since the restaurant opened in May, I have actually eaten there twice and I have been able to sample several items. Some items were very good and more impressive than others.  On one of our visits to Barlight Eatery, we ordreded the chips and queso.  The dish is also served with a very good roasted salsa, which I actually preferred over the queso.  The queso itself is pretty basic, but the mild salsa is very flavorful.  My wife liked the queso, but I prefer either pico de gallo, chopped peppers peppers, or some type of meat to be included in my queso to give it a little substance.

Chips, Queso, and Roasted Salsa

The chicken fried chicken sandwich is probably my favorite thing that I have tried off the menu.  A perfectly seasoned and fried chicken breast is served on a toasted artisan bun with chipotle cream, lettuce, onions, and lime vinaigrette.  The sandwich is one of the best sandwiches I have had in recent months.  I really was surprised that you could actually taste a hint of lime with each bite, but it didn't overpower the outstanding flavor of the chicken, the batter, or the chipotle cream.  When I had this sandwich, I substituted the chips for herb fries.  I am not a big fan of potato chips and felt that the very flavorful fries were a nice addition to the sandwich.

Chicken Fried Chicken Sandwich with Herb Fries

On one visit, my wife ordered the artisan grilled cheese and tomato soup.  The sandwich has Swiss, Boursin, and Monterrey Jack cheese served together with bacon, seared green tomatoes, and frisee.  I didn't have any of the soup, but I did eat half her sandwich and was impressed with the overall flavor of all the ingredients.

Artisan Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

The other entree that I have ordered is the chorizo meat loaf.  The meatloaf itself had a good flavor, but it was a little dry in my opinion and didn't taste much like chorizo. With the brown gravy topping it, the dish actually reminded me more of Salisbury steak than meatloaf.  It was served with buttermilk mashed potatoes, green beans, and corn relish.  Of the three sides, I liked the potatoes the best.

Chorizo Meat Loaf

I have also sampled several of the desserts at Barnlight Eatery and I highly recommend the Key lime pie.  The pie is silky smooth with an outstanding crust and just the right amount of tartness.  We have also tried some cookies and cupcakes from their bakery area.  The chocolate chip cookies are large and I recommend you get them with a glass of milk.

Key Lime Pie

Barnlight Eatery is a much needed restaurant in this area.  The restaurant serves quality food, the staff is attentive, and the kitchen prepares meals quickly.  I really hope the restaurant builds enough of a customer base to stay in business, because there is not another restaurant like it in the immediate area.  Like any restaurant, some items are better than others and I highly recommend the fried chicken sandwich.  Barnlight Eatery has recently started serving lunch, so I will be going back soon to try their lunch menu.

Chocolate Cupcake (to go)

Barnlight Eatery
http://barnlighteatery.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

Sam's Restaurant

A hunting trip with my brother in early January, found me in Fairfield, Texas.  My brother and I had been drawn for a public hunt at Fairfield Lake State Park.  Although we didn't have any luck getting a deer, we did enjoy our visit to the town and found some good food.  One of the places we tried, Sam's Restaurant, was very impressive.

Great Loaf of Bread

Sam's has a regular menu, but they are best known for their buffet.  The restaurant sits right off I-45 and sees many a hungry traveler in addition to the locals that frequent the restaurant.  We arrived right at 11:00 a.m. and the restaurant was already getting full.  Since we had skipped breakfast, we were starving and elected to get the buffet.

Trip #1

The buffet had a fairly extensive salad bar, but I only had a little salad as I wanted to save room for all the meats and sides.  The thing I remember the most about the salad bar was the fact it had delicious croutons.  I am not sure if they were homemade or not, but they were great.  While we were making our way back from our first trip to the buffet, the waitress delivered a very good loaf of bread to our table.  We ended up making several trips each to the buffet and tried a little bit of everything.

Trip #2

Trip #3

The buffet had fried chicken, chicken-fried steak, meatloaf, brisket, sausage, etc.  They also had an extensive selection of sides.  I usually don't have high expectations for the quality of food at buffets, but Sam's is not your typical buffet.  Most of the food here was actually really good and I particularly liked the fried chicken and chicken-fried steak.  With the exception of the brisket, I was impressed with everything I tried.  Sam's also had an extensive selection of desserts as well.  Even though I was incredibly full, I was able to sample a piece of chocolate sheet cake to top off my meal.  The chocolate icing was really rich and it was liberally topped with chopped pecans.

Trip #4-Chocolate Cake

My first visit to this feed trough was a memorable one and I certainly didn't leave hungry.  The food is excellent and the staff is great.  Next time I am traveling down I-45, I will certainly plan a stop at Sam's.  If you are ever in the Fairfield area, I recommend that you stop by and give Sam's a try.

Sam's Restaurant
http://www.samsoriginal.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating = 3

AllGood Cafe

When it comes to comfort food and Southern cuisine, it is hard to beat a great chicken-fried steak.  I am constantly on the lookout for a good CFS.  This Fall, D Magazine published it's list of five restaurants that had The Best Chicken-Fried Steak in Dallas.  I had sampled the chicken-fried steaks at three of the five restaurants on the list, but I had never had the chicken fried steak at the AllGood Cafe.  My wife was also interested in giving this place a try, so we mad a family trip to Deep Ellum to eat at the AllGood Cafe.

Origami hanging from the ceiling

Our family arrived at a perfect time for a late breakfast or early lunch.  The restaurant was very busy, but they had one booth available and we took it.  After being seated for ten minutes, we finally had a waiter arrive and take our drink orders.  While he was there, we also requested a high chair for our toddler.  After a five minute wait, our drinks arrived without the high chair.  I reminded our waiter that we still needed a high chair and he finally brought us one.  

My girls as we patiently await a high chair to arrive

We went ahead an ordered while the waiter was at out booth.  I ordered the chicken-fried steak with mashed potatoes and black eyed peas. My wife was in the mood for breakfast and she ordered the breakfast #2, which was two scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes.  We also ordered chicken strips for my oldest daughter and some pancakes for the toddler.  The place smelled delicious, so we had high hopes for the food and waited patiently for it to arrive.

CFS, Mashed Potatoes, and Black-eyed Peas

Luckily, our food arrived much faster than our drinks and high chair did.  My chicken fried steak was delicious and had a crunchy batter that was not soggy even with the gravy on it.  The steak was a little on the small side, but it had outstanding flavor.  The mashed potatoes were nothing special, but the black-eyed peas had some small chopped peppers mixed in that gave it a nice kick.  My wife said her breakfast was pretty basic and wasn't overly impressed with anything except the bacon.  

Breakfast #2

Once our waiter delivered our food, we did not have anyone come to the table again for over thirty minutes.  We had actually been finished with our meal for over twenty minutes before my wife finally just went to the kitchen area counter and said we were ready to pay.  The waiter she spoke to (not our waiter) apologized and said they were short staffed that morning.  I am not sure if that was the case, because every table around us had waiters stop by frequently.  The only difference between us and the other tables, was the fact that we had children.   The service at the AllGood Cafe was the worst I have had in close to a decade.  I really thought the food was pretty decent, but I cannot recommend this place due to the poor service that we received.

AllGood Cafe
http://www.allgoodcafe.com/index.php
Livin the Good Life Rating =1

Jean's Feed Barn

Deer hunting is one of my favorite things to do when I have a little free time.  Although I don't get to hunt as much as I would like, I cherish the time that I do get to spend away from the urban environment.  When I am away on these trips, I enjoy getting to try the local restaurants.  While hunting with some buddies in Cross Plains, we decided to grab a bite to eat at Jean's Feed Barn one night.

Chips and Salsa

Despite the fact that we arrived just thirty minutes before closing time, we were warmly greeted by our waitress when she came to bring us some chips and salsa.  My two buddies ordered the daily special, which was a 10 oz sirloin, baked potato, and salad for $11.95.  I ordered the small chicken fried steak with fries, salad, and toast.  While we waited on our order to arrive, we munched on the chips and salsa.

Chicken Fried Steak and Fries

When my chicken fried steak arrived, I was surprised that the "small" chicken fried steak covered three-fourths of a my large oval plate.  The chicken fried steak was very tender and had a batter on it that was very similar to the batter on the chicken fried steak at Mary's Cafe in Strawn, Texas.  The fries were fresh cut and absolutely delicious, while the toast was cooked to perfection with just the right amount of butter on it.  Both of my buddies enjoyed their meals as well.   I was stuffed, but one buddy ordered the coconut creme pie for dessert and said it was great as well.

Biscuits and Gravy

We enjoyed our meal so much, we went there again for breakfast the following day after our morning hunt.  I ordered the pancakes with bacon and two biscuits and gravy.  When my food arrived, the biscuits were each about the size of a hamburger bun and much larger than I had expected.  They were very tasty and could have been a meal by themselves.  The bacon was the highlight of this breakfast because it was very crispy and had a nice smoky taste with a hint of brown sugar.  The pancakes were pretty basic, but still tasty.

Pancakes and Bacon

If you are ever in the Cross Plains area, I highly recommend Jean's Feed Barn.  The food is fantastic and the service is spectacular.  In addition to the fantastic food and great service, the price of food is fairly cheap considering the large portions that diners receive.  I know I will be stopping by again next time I am in the area to hunt or just passing through Cross Plains.

Jean's Feed Barn

Livin the Good Life Rating = 4

Kelly's at the Village

On a recent Sunday evening, my wife and I were very extremely tired; her from shopping and me from a stressful afternoon of following my fantasy football teams.  Neither of us wanted to cook, so we decided to go out for dinner. We didn't want to go to far, so we decided to venture to the Allen/Fairview area around Stacy Road.  I wanted to go somewhere that I could continue watching football, so we decided to give Kelly's at the Village a try.

Patio area at Kelly's at the Village

We had never been to this restaurant before, but we had dined at Kelly's other restaurant, Kelly's Eastside, in downtown Plano.  It was a nice evening, so we sat on the patio area.  They had a pretty decent selection of appetizers that included chips and queso.  Never being one to turn down this particular appetizer, we ordered chips and queso and added spicy beef.  The queso had excellent flavor and the spicy beef gave it a mild kick, but it was a little too runny for my particular tastes.

Chips and Queso with Spicy Beef

For my entree, I ordered the chicken fried steak with fries and dirty rice.  The chicken fried steak itself was fairly avererage.  The batter had a nice flavor, but it was somewhat tough and didn't come topped with much gravy.  The fries had a great seasoning to them, but were very chewy and made me think that they had been sitting out too long prior to being served.  The dirty rice is not something that I would usually order with chicken fried steak, but it had great flavor.  My only complaint was the fact that it was a little too dry and made me think that it too had been sitting out too long under a heat lamp prior to being served.  The meal was also served with cornbread which was flavorful, but somewhat cold.  

Chicken Fried Steak with Fries, Dirty Rice, and Cornbread

My wife ordered the grilled chicken club with cheese, bacon and avocado.  She said the it was delicious, but she also didn't care for the fries either.  My oldest daughter had the kids chicken fingers with fries and didn't seem to have any complaints.

Grilled Chicken Club 

Kids Chicken Tender Basket

Our first visit to Kelly's at the Village had mixed results.  Some items were really good, while other were less than desirable.  The service was decent and the patio areas was very comfortable with plenty of TVs for me to watch the game.  I would be willing to go back here again and try some other items.

Kelly's at the Village
http://www.kellysatthevillage.com/HomeVillage.html
Livin the Good Life Rating =3