Whiskey Cake

Whiskey Cake Kitchen & Bar is one of my favorite restaurants in Collin County.  Since my wife is also a big fan, she is always willing to dine there any time that I ask.  I have dined at Whiskey Cake for lunch and dinner several times, but I had never had the pleasure of trying out their brunch menu until last week.  Their brunch menu is only available on weekends and one day we finally decided to pack up the kids and take the short drive to Plano.

Vermont Cheddar and Jalapeño Drop Biscuits

We arrived shortly after their 10 a.m. opening and were seated after only a short wait.  Luckily, Whiskey Cake is a kid-friendly place and we were able to order the kids breakfasts while we looked over the brunch menu.  When we placed the order for the kids pancakes, we also ordered a breakfast appetizer of Vermont Cheddar and Jalapeno Drop Biscuits.  They are served five to an order and each is topped with a slice of jalapeno and served with a bowl of sausage gravy.  They arrived within just a few minutes and were quickly devoured by my wife and myself.  We both agreed that it was a very unique and delicious twist on the traditional biscuits and gravy.

Kid's Pancake Breakfast

For my entree, I ordered the Chicken and Waffle.  The waffle actually had two pieces of bacon cooked into the batter and was topped with some excellent chicken tenders, eggs, and more of the sausage gravy that I liked so much.  Everything on the plate was absolutely amazing and I couldn't have been more pleased with my breakfast.  My wife ordered the Griddle Stack, which were pancakes topped with caramelized apples, maple syrup, almonds, and whipped cream.  She said it tasted like pancakes and an apple pie had a delicious baby.  In fact, I wasn't even able to snap a picture of her meal because she started eating it too quickly.  

Chicken and Waffles

Both of my kids cleaned their plates and my youngest even helped her mom finish off her whipped cream.  It seemed that everyone in my family enjoyed brunch on this day.  The only regret I had was that we were all too full to have a piece of their namesake dessert; whiskey cake.  This dessert is worth the trip alone, but I was very content and could not eat another bite of anything on this morning.

My youngest daughter finishing off her mom's whipped cream

Whiskey Cake's brunch menu lived up to our expectations.  The quality of food was top notch, much like their lunch and dinner menu.  The food was outstanding on this visit and we were very pleased with our service.  As we left, we noticed that the restaurant was packed and there were close to thirty people waiting to be seated.  Apparently we were not the only ones that had decided to do brunch at Whiskey Cake on this day.  Go give this place a try for brunch and arrive early if you don't like waiting.

Whiskey Cake (Picture taken on a previous visit)

Whiskey Cake Kitchen & Bar
http://www.whiskey-cake.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating = 4

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

Rusty Taco

Restaurants that specialize in tacos seem to be popping up everywhere in DFW these days.  It seems like every time I turn around, a new Tin Star, Fuzzy's, Torchy's, etc. is opening up.  Another joint that seems to be expanding rapidly in the last couple of years is Rusty Taco.  On a recent Saturday, I decided to pop in and see how good this place was.

I was in Plano a few days ago, so I stopped at the Rusty Taco on Coit Road around lunchtime.  The place was very busy and I had a short wait in line at the counter.  When I finally got to the cash register, I ordered Chips and Salsa and 3 different tacos.  I then went and got my drink as I waited for a table to become available.

Chips and Salsa

About the time two people left their table, my order was up.  I grabbed my order and sprinted to the table before someone else took it.  I then sat down to start eating.  The chips and salsa were somewhat disappointing.  The chips were okay, but the salsa was very bland and did not have much "kick" to it.

Brisket Taco

The first taco I tried was the Brisket Taco, which was shredded beef topped with queso fresca, onion, and cilantro.  It was very good and the ingredients blended well together.  The next taco I tried was the Picadillo Taco that included seasoned ground beef, potatoes, onion, and cilantro.  The beef was not seasoned enough to my liking, but once again the ingredients meshed well.  The cilatnro really gave it a lot of flavor that was lacking in the seasoned beef.  

Picadillo Taco

The final taco I tried was the BBQ Brisket Taco and it was spectacular.  It had the same shredded brisket as the other brisket taco, but it was topped with barbecue sauce and cole slaw.  The sauce was really good and had a hint of both chipotle and Dr. Pepper. This particular taco was by far the highlight of the meal.

BBQ Brisket Taco

Overall, I enjoyed my visit to Rusty Taco.  Although I was not impressed with the chips and salsa, the tacos were very good.  It was very busy when I dined there, but the staff gets your food out very quickly.  I will be going back, because I want to try some of the other tacos and get another of the BBQ Brisket Tacos.

Rusty Taco
http://www.therustytaco.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating =3

Casa Rita's Mexican Grill

My wife and I really enjoy eating Mexican food, but usually go to one of our four favorites; Pappasito's, Uncle Julios's, Abuelo's, or Cantina Laredo.  I haven't blogged about a new place I have tried, because we generally eat at the same places we always do.  Old habits die hard, but we finally decided to try a place in Frisco called Casa Rita's Mexican Grill.  It is located on Preston Road (they also have a location in Fort Worth) and we decided to give it a shot after work one day.

Queso

Casa Rita's has a large patio area and the dining area has several televisions all tuned to sports channels.  When you first walk in, it has a Southwestern sports bar feel to it.  While looking over the menu, we decided to start with a bowl of queso.  The Livin the Good Life Wife and I almost always get queso when we at Mexican food joint.  We hold it in such high esteem, that we think it should be it's own food group.  They also brought out some chips and salsa with the queso.  The queso was good, but not outstanding.  I prefer thin and crispy chips and these chips did not disappoint.  The salsa was outstanding.  It wasn't very spicy, but was bursting with flavors.  The flavor that stood out the most was cilantro, but it wasn't overpowering.

Baja Tacos

For my entree, I elected to get the Baja tacos.  The Baja tacos were crispy fried tilapia with spicy cole slaw in a crispy taco.  It was served with black beans and rice.  I really liked the spicy cole slaw, but the tilapia was a little too "fishy" tasting for me.  The beans were great too, but the rice was unremarkable.  My wife chose to get the brisket tacos, which were also served with the spicy cole slaw and avocado.  She gave me one to try and I was impressed.  They were some of the best brisket tacos I have had the pleasure of inhaling.  The brisket was smoked perfectly and was actual brisket, as opposed to what you normally get at Mexican food restaurants.  The fresh tortillas complimented the brisket well.

Brisket Tacos

Overall, we enjoyed our dining experience at Casa Rita's.  It had some hits, including the salsa and the brisket tacos.  It also had some misses, such as the Baja tacos and queso.  This place was better than your average Mexican food joint and will be worthy of another visit by me.

Casa Rita's Mexican Grill
http://www.casaritasmexicangrill.com/index.html
Livin The Good Life Rating = 3

Gather

Brunch may be my favorite meal.  Eating brunch is like getting the best of both breakfast and lunch.  The only problem with brunch, is the fact that a fat kid like me feels that they have to eat an entire breakfast portion and an entire lunch portion.  If they also have dessert, then I am really hurting by the time it is done.  I had been told that Gather, in downtown McKinney, serves a mighty fine brunch.  My family and my in-laws decided to "gather" at Gather for brunch following our church service last Sunday.  

Dining Room at Gather

Gather only serves Sunday brunch.  During the rest of the week, it hosts events such as weddings, showers, rehearsal dinners, etc.  We arrived a few minutes after 11:00 and were seated immediately.  After ordering coffee, I helped myself to the brunch buffet.  They had several items on the buffet that looked quite tasty and I regretted that I did not have enough room on my plate to get a little of everything on the first trip.  

Selfie of the girls while the men were in line.

With my first plate, I helped myself to some eggs, biscuits and gravy, bacon, chicken fried steak, and some chicken enchiladas.  The eggs were pretty basic, but everything else was absolutely wonderful.  The bacon was extremely crispy, the biscuits had great texture, the chicken fried steak had been fried in a tasty batter, and the gravy was very good with just the right amount of pepper.  The best item I tried on my first trip was the chicken enchilada.  It was one of the best I have ever had and was cooked with a top notch tomatillo sauce.

My first plate included eggs, biscuits and gravy, chicken fried steak, bacon, and an excellent enchilada.

During my second trip, I had to get more enchiladas and chicken fried steak, but I also got mashed potatoes, Eggs Benedict, and a large portion of the Pecan French toast casserole.  Again, everything on this plate was amazing.  The best thing on this plate, besides the chicken enchiladas, was the Pecan French toast casserole.  It was very rich, but the ingredients mixed together perfectly.  

Dessert plate with dessert bars, pineapple muffin, Pecan French toast casserole, and a Key Lime tart

Next, I had to try the dessert bar.  They had several choices and, once again, I tried to get a little bit of everything.  The pineapple muffin and dessert bars were terrific, but they fell well short of the greatness of the key lime tart.  The key lime tart got an A+ in my book and was the perfect ending to the meal.  I was too full to try the pecan pie, but my wife and mother-in-law said it was terrific.  

I ate so much for brunch, that I actually was still full seven hours later.  My family loved this place too.  I did not hear complaints from anyone and my wife loved the beautiful setting of the dining room.  After trying some lackluster restaurants lately, we were very pleased with our dining experience at Gather and anxiously await our next visit.

Gather
http://gathermckinney.com/brunch-menu/
Livin the Good Life Rating = 4

SoulFire PIzza

SoulFire Pizza opened about three months ago in Frisco, Texas.  I was looking for a place to grab a quick bite to eat one night and stumbled upon it.  I was actually on my way to another restaurant, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to try a new pizza joint.

You enter the restaurant and get in line to go through a three step process to order your pizza.  They only make personal pizzas, so everyone in your group or family can get their own pizza.  You first tell them what kind of crust you want, then choose your sauce, and finally add your toppings.  SoulFire has 4 crusts available and many different sauces and toppings.  I chose to get the thick crust with marinara, cheese, Canadian Bacon, and beef.  I also had them add some fresh basil to the pizza.  Once I was finished with the toppings selection, they put it in the oven and I paid.

Pizza Assembly Line

They brought my pizza out after only five minutes and it looked really good.  These pizzas are personal pizzas in the 10-12 inch range.  I liked the beef, but the Canadian bacon was top notch.  The sauce had a very nice flavor to it as well.  The "thick" crust was not deep dish, but it was thicker than your average pizza.

Finished Product

I wouldn't consider this "gourmet" pizza, but it is very good for the price of $6.89.  For your money, you will be hard pressed to find a better pizza.  If you are a husky person like myself, you could easily eat two of them (I know I could have).  If you want a good pizza at a low cost, SoulFire Pizza gets a thumbs up from me!

SoulFire Pizza
http://www.soulfirepizza.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating= 2

The Salad Stop

Believe it or not, I actually love to eat salads.  During the work week, I make my own salad to take to work almost every day.  I can't eat steak, barbecue, burgers, etc. for every meal and expect to fit through doors with ease.  I like to mix up my dressings and ingredients so my salads are not bland and monotonous.   Even when I go out to eat, I will often order salad.

I had a very short amount of time to eat lunch the other day and I had not been able to fix my lunch at home, so I decided to venture out and try The Salad Stop in Frisco.  This place has many different varieties of salads on their menu.  They also have soups, pastas, and baked potatoes.  With the salad, you get the choice of having it tossed or chopped.  The Salad Stop reminded me of a Chipotle for salads.  They start making the one you order and will add any additional ingredients you request.

Salad Assembly Line and Dining Area

I decided to get a tossed Chicken Caesar salad.  After going through the line and paying, I sat down to dig in.  The romaine lettuce was very crisp and the salad had plenty of Parmesan cheese.  Unfortunately, the Caesar dressing  and tiny little croutons was very bland.  The chicken was perhaps the worst I have ever had on a salad.  It was not the grilled chicken one comes to expect from Chicken Caesar salads.  Instead it was small cubed pieces of what tasted like chicken lunch meat.

Chicken Caesar Salad (Bonus points if you can spot the tiny pieces of chicken)

I can't speak for the pastas, potatoes, and soups, but I was very disappointed in the salad I had.  The salad was bland and tasted like some that I have had at fast food restaurants.  At a price exceeding eight dollars, I felt that I had severely overpaid for the quality I received.  I highly doubt I will be going back to The Salad Stop in the near future.

The Salad Stop
http://www.thesaladstoptexas.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating = 1

Hard Eight BBQ

I have been neglecting my favorite cuisine the last few weeks.  Inexplicably I haven't been to a barbecue joint in several weeks.  When I neglect my desire to consume barbecue, I start getting withdrawal symptoms that would make a crack addict cry.  I finally couldn't take it any more, so I got in my truck and drove to meet my brother at Hard Eight BBQ.

Hard Eight has three locations, but I always go to the one in Coppell because it is closest to my house.  You will not find find this restaurant on the Texas Monthly Top 50 Barbecue Joints list, but it is one of my local favorites.  In addition to your typical barbecue meats, they also have one of the best pork chops in DFW, chicken poppers, and shrimp poppers.  The behemoth pork chops are two inches thick and have a nice smoky flavor.  The poppers are bacon wrapped chicken or shrimp bites with jalapeño and onion.  Hard Eight has several impressive side dishes, but their complimentary beans are hard to pass up.  

The menu pit

On this particular visit, I ordered sliced brisket, turkey, ribs, and chicken brush poppers.  Although the brisket was lacking in the bark area, it was moist and had a very nice smoky flavor.  The turkey was very moist as well and all but melted in your mouth.  The ribs were smoked very well on this visit and had a particularly tasty rub on them.  Last but certainly not least, the chicken poppers were phenomenal.  They chicken was tender, the jalapeño and onion gave them a nice kick, and the bacon that surrounded them was crispy perfection.  I also had a small bowl of their free beans and they are hard to beat for the price.

Ribs, brisket, turkey, and chicken poppers

I have chowed down at Hard Eight BBQ several times and I have never been disappointed.  I can't speak for the other locations, but the one in Coppell serves up some very tasty barbecue.  Texas Monthly may not have included Hard Eight in their top 50, but I actually prefer it to three  of the DFW joints that made their list; Meshack's, Bartley's, and Cousin's.  In addition to the great barbecue, I am also a fan of their hand cut french fries, jalapeño cream corn, and desserts.  If you are in the Coppell area, I recommend a stop at Hard Eight BBQ.

Hard Eight BBQ
http://www.hardeightbbq.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating= 3

Cadillac Pizza Pub

Pizza is one of my favorite foods.  I have a few "go-to" pizza joints in the DFW area, but I always like to try new places.  Last week, I finally got around to trying Cadillac Pizza Pub in downtown McKinney.  Despite the fact that this place has been around for several years and I frequently eat on the Square, I have inexplicably never dined here before.  

My wife and I were absolutely starving when we arrived, so we decided to start with an order of the cheese bread.  In addition to mozzarella and fontina, it also had thinly sliced genoa salami.  We both loved the cheese bread and the salami had a nice flavor.  The marinara dipping sauce was really good too, but I would have preferred that it been served warm rather than cold.

Cheese Bread with Salami

I am usually a huge fan of pepperoni or Canadian bacon, but I decided I wanted to try one of the "house pies."  I ordered the Smokey Pie, which had brisket, bacon, barbecue sauce, mozzarella, and cheddar.  My wife ordered the Capri, which had spinach, roma tomatoes, onion, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, mozzarella, and feta.  I really liked the Smokey Pie....a lot!  I wasn't sure how I would like barbecue sauce and brisket on a pizza, but it was very good and combined my two favorite foods.  This brisket isn't going to break into the Texas Monthly Top 50 any time soon, but it worked well on this pizza.  My wife seemed to like her pizza until she ate a slice of mine.  From that point forward, she just continued to get slices of my pizza.

Smoky Pie

Capri Pizza

We found another winner in Cadillac Pizza Pub.  We found it to be a really fun place with excellent service.  They have a very large menu of "house pies" and if you are a fan of craft beer, they had several selections from local breweries.  They also have a kids menu that includes staples such as grilled cheese and chicken nuggets, which both of my daughters enjoyed.  If you haven't been to Cadillac Pizza Pub, I recommend that you give it a try.

Cadillac Pizza Pub
http://www.cadillacpizzapub.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating=3

Patina Green

Disclaimer-This blog post is going to be a little different from most of my previous posts.  I am going to be talking more about an item on the menu, rather than the restaurant itself.

Patina Green has claim to the best sandwich in Texas; at least according to the Food Network.  The network rated the restaurant's Ham and Cheese Sandwich as the best in Texas.  My wife has raved about this sandwich for over and year and has begged me to try it for some time, but I have never one to go out of my way to eat a sandwich.  She frequents Patina Green and almost always gets their highly acclaimed Ham and Cheese Sandwich.

Well, I finally let her talk me into eating this sandwich.  One bite of this sandwich was all it took to understand all the hype that surrounded it.  So what items make this sandwich so good?  It has ham, smoked cheddar cheese, jalapeno cheddar bread, and jalapeno peach jelly.  All of these items come from local producers in the North Texas area. 

Patina Green Ham and Cheese Sandwich

I am usually not a big fan of sandwiches, but I can tell you that I was very surprised by how amazing this sandwich actually is.  The ingredients blend into an unbelievably good sandwich.  The one item that I was skeptical about was the jalapeno peach jelly.  I love jalapenos and peaches, but I couldn't get my mind around how they would taste together.  The jelly has the sweet flavor of peaches, but also has a little kick from the jalapeno.  I obviously haven't tried every sandwich in Texas to verify that it is the best in Texas, but I can tell you that it is absolutely perfect. 

Patina Green's Ham and Cheese Sandwich
http://www.patinagreenhomeandmarket.com/real-food
Livin the Good Life Rating = 5

Neighborhood Services

The Livin The Good Life Wife and I recently celebrated our 7th anniversary.   Our main anniversary tradition is to treat ourselves to a "fancy" meal.  Being the wild and crazy suburbanites that we are, we decided it was once again time for us to venture South of 635 for some fine dining.  For this particular anniversary dinner, we decided to try Neighborhood Services.  This restaurant is a favorite of my in-laws and we have been meaning to try it for some time.  Recently D Magazine rated it the #1 restaurant in their 100 Best Restaurants in Dallas rankings.  I also want to apologize in advance for the horrible pictures.  The Livin The Good Life Wife apparently gets embarrassed when I use the flash to take pictures while we eat.  Since it was our anniversary dinner, I abided by her request to not use the flash.

We arrived right on time for our 7:30 reservations and were seated immediately.  The restaurant had a vibrant bar scene filled with people who didn't have reservations and every table was filled in the dining area.  I really wanted to try the fried asparagus for an appetizer, but my wife does not eat asparagus.  After discussing which appetizer we would share, we settled on the roasted green chile and jonah crab dip.  It turns out that we made an excellent choice.  The crab dip was one of the best crab dips I have ever had and the chips were crispy and lightly seasoned.  It also came with a charred tomato and cucumber salsa.  The salsa was good, but it could not hold a candle to the crab dip.

Green Chile and Jonah Crab Dip

Neither of us wanted to have a whole salad before the meal, so we split the Tennessee Bacon and Vital Farms Egg salad.  The spinach salad had bacon, candied walnuts, and a sherry vinaigrette.  A fried egg and crostini (toast) was served on top of it.  It was a very unusual combination of tastes, but it blended well.  We both enjoyed the salad, although it was hard to find the "salad" at first because the fried egg and crostini covered all of the spinach.

Tennessee Bacon and Vital Farms Egg Salad

For my meal, I got the pork chop, which was served on a bed of succotash.  My wife got one of the daily fish specials, which was swordfish and fingerling potatoes.  We also ordered a side of the Three Jack and Mac Casserole (aka mac n' cheese).  My pork chop was delicious and cooked to perfection.  The outside was charred, yet juicy and it had a great seasoning on it.  The succotash was somewhat disappointing.  I usually love blacked eyed peas, but they were undercooked for my taste and did not go well with the corn and green beans in the succotash.  My wife also enjoyed her swordfish.  She was kind enough to give me a bite and I was impressed with the taste.  We both thought the Three Jack and Mac Casserole was good, but it was very rich.  I don't think I could have eaten the whole thing myself.

Pork Chop and Succotash

Swordfish and fingerling potatoes

By the time we had finished our meal, we were both too full to sample any desserts.  I am not sure that I agree with D Magazine that Neighborhood Services is the best restaurant in Dallas, but I would definitely put it in my top 10.  The service was amazing, despite the fact that the place was packed to the gills.  We will return to Neighborhood services because there are many menu items that we both want to try.

Neighborhood Services
http://neighborhoodservicesdallas.wordpress.com/the-original/
Livin The Good Life Rating = 5