Pecan Lodge BBQ

Pecan Lodge BBQ has been getting a lot of publicity the last few years.  After a recent article I read in the Dallas Morning News that ranked Pecan Lodge as the second best BBQ joint in the state, I decided to make a trip to downtown Dallas.  This restaurant, located in shed #2 at the Dallas Farmers Market, has also been reviewed very favorably by several other publications.  It even appeared on a episode of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network.  Below are some of the accolades it has received since opening its doors in 2010:

Texas Monthly BBQ Newcomer 2012

Five Stars- Full Custom Gospel BBQ

South's Best Butt -Southern Living Magazine, June 2012

Best BBQ in Dallas -Best of Big D 2011, 2012, D Magazine 

Best BBQ in Dallas- Best of 2011 List, Dallas Observer

Best New Restaurant Award Winner 2010, D Magazine

Diners Choice Award Winner, Chefs For Farmers 2011 

Best Ribs Award Winner, 2010 Oak Cliff BBQ & Bandits Cookoff

Dallas Eater's 38 Essential Restaurants List- # 4: Pecan Lodge

City of Ate's 100 Favorite Dishes List- # 27: Sliced Brisket at Pecan Lodge

BBQ Posse’s Top BBQ Restaurants in Texas-#2: Pecan Lodge

My wife and I decided to see what all the buzz was about and headed that direction on a recent Thursday morning while we were off on spring break.  We arrived at 10:30 and there was already a line of about 75 people in front of us, anxiously awaiting the 11:00 a.m. opening.  I had heard rumors of long lines and waits up to 2 hours, but I never imagined this would be the case on a Thursday morning.  Don’t these people have jobs?  Who knows, maybe they are all educators off on spring break too. 

The line behind me prior to the restaurant opening

By the time Pecan Lodge opened at 11:00 a.m., the line was well over 200 people deep.  My wife thought I was crazy for wanting to get there at 10:30, but it turns out we were lucky we got there when we did.  We also had some friends that met us at Pecan Lodge and kept us company in line.  The line did not move very fast, but time did seem to fly by while we conversed with our friends.  My wife kept my oldest daughter occupied by giving her ice cream.  Yes, she gave my daughter ice cream before lunch.  I know that my wife just wanted to make sure my daughter was getting her proper servings of calcium. We are both waiting for the official notification of her Mother of the Year Award for 2013.

As they run out of items, they place an x on the chalk board beside the item.

A little after noon, we finally arrived at the register to place our order.  I was disappointed to find out that they were already out of pork ribs, which were highly praised.  No worries, there were plenty of other items on the menu I wanted to try.  We ordered brisket, beef ribs, “Hill Country” sausage, jalapeno cheddar sausage, Fried Okra, and West Texas Pinto Beans.  Since I had been waiting in line for over an hour and a half, I couldn’t wait to dig in.

Brisket and Beef Ribs

Loved this sausage!

The brisket was absolutely smoked to perfection, had a perfect smoke ring, and was one of the top three briskets I have ever had.  The beef ribs were perfectly seasoned, very juicy, and the meat was falling off the bone.  I was also impressed with their two types of sausages, which they make themselves unlike most of the other BBQ joints.  Both were flavorful, but I particularly liked the extra kick that the jalapeno cheddar sausage had.  Even the beans were out of this world tasty.  The fried okra was good too, but paled in comparison to the beans.  If you absolutely have to have BBQ sauce on your meat, their sauce was pretty good but you are doing this meat a disservice by adding any sauce to it.

My meal on a plate.  Everything on here was delicious.

After eating at Pecan Lodge, I can honestly say that I finally found a great barbecue restaurant in the DFW area.  Ever since I moved to the area in 2002, I have looked far and wide for good BBQ and finally my search has paid off.  This place was far better than any of the DFW barbecue places I have tried and rivals some of the best in the central Texas.  I would rate Pecan Lodge a 5 on a 5 point scale.  I thoroughly enjoyed this dining experience and believe this place lived up to the hype.  My wife raved about it on the way home and our friends seemed to really enjoy it as well.  I don’t know how soon I will be willing to go back and stand in line for 90 minutes, but I will do it again sometime and order extra to take home!

The owner came out and put this sign on this gentlemen to inform those behind him that they were most likely out of luck today!

The Fat Kid Field Trip and The Break for Dessert

La Duni's Coffee Studio

Recently my mom came to visit and volunteered to keep the the kids for the day.  My wife and I ended up having 10 kid-free hours to do whatever we wanted.  We decided to take a Fat Kid Field trip that started out with lunch at Maple and Motor and culminated with a dinner date at Sissy's Southern Kitchen.  In between these dining experiences, my wife also drug me on a shopping "adventure" to NorthPark Mall where she spent too much money and drug me to a chick flick.  Before going to see the movie, we decided to go for a cup of coffee and some dessert at La Duni.

A tasty cappuccino

Normally I wouldn't blog about a short dessert break, but this one was a truly memorable experience that caused me to have "sweet" dreams for a couple of days afterwards.  I have eaten at La Duni a couple of times and have always enjoyed the experience, but I have never been to their coffee studio or had dessert there.  We both ordered cappuccinos and ordered the first two items we saw on the dessert menu.  My wife ordered a slice of the the Cuatro Leches Cake, which was apparently made for those who think Tres Leches doesn't have enough leche in it.  I ordered a slice of the Venezuelan Triple Chocolate Truffle Cake.

Venezuelan Triple Chocolate Truffle Cake

Cuatro Leches Cake

We could not have been happier with our choices.  The coffee was fantastic, the Cuatro Leches Cake gave new meaning to the word sweet, and the Venezuelan Triple Chocolate Truffle Cake was the best chocolate cake I have had in some time.  I would rate both of these desserts a 4 on a scale of 5.  Although it was amazing, it was a little pricey.  Both desserts were fantastic and helped add to the 5000+ calories I consumed on the Fat Kid Field Trip!

Book Review: The Dinner by Herman Koch

My last few posts have all been about restaurant reviews, so it is only appropriate that this review is about a book titled The Dinner.  In addition to being a foodie, I also love reading books.  From time to time, I will write a book review on his blog if I come across a book that I truly enjoyed.

I absolutely loved The Dinner. Without a doubt, this was the best piece of fiction I have read in some time.  In fact, this is the best novel  I have read since I finished The Millennium Series by Stieg Larsson.

The Dinner was an international bestseller and debuted on the New York Times Bestseller list the week it was first printed in the U.S.   In its third week on the list, it is currently ranked number 8 on the hardcover fiction list and is continuing to climb.  After reading the reviews, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this novel and I was not disappointed. Some critics even dubbed it "The European Gone Girl" or the "Gone Girl of 2013. "  Those comparisons do not do this novel justice. The Dinner is a much better book in my opinion.


Herman Koch has written a novel where the major story slowly revealed itself during a family dinner between two brothers and their spouses. Reading The Dinner is much like peeling an onion, layer by layer. With each page you learn more about the characters and finally ascertain the reason the couples are really meeting for dinner at the upscale restaurant. This novel is an interesting character study in family dynamics and how far parents will go to protect their children. Some people might not like the ending and some will find it disturbing. After getting to know the characters, I thought it was the perfect ending to this novel. This is a very dark novel, so if you are looking for a fairy tale with a happy ending, this may not be the book for you.  I highly recommend this book and cannot begin to describe how great this book really is!

Sissy's Southern Kitchen and Bar

Front Entrance

Sissy's Southern Kitchen and Bar came highly recommended by my in-laws.  It is one of their favorite restaurants in the DFW area.  It is located right off US 75 at 2929 Henderson Ave. in Dallas.  Parking can be an issue in the Knox/Henderson area, but Sissy's does have valet parking available.  Sissy's specializes in "Southern Style" cooking, so there are plenty of fried items on the menu.   It has been a trendy place lately and was reviewed favorably by The Dallas Morning News and D Magazine.

My beautiful wife with the "Southern" decor in the background

The hostess and wait staff were very friendly and helped make Sissy's warm and inviting from the start.  The decor has a Southern feel with both plates and whitetail deer on the wall.  In addition to the regular menu, they have a chalkboard on the North wall with the daily specials.  For an appetizer, we started with the one of the daily specials, fried green tomatoes, which were served with a shrimp salad.  The batter was tasty and they were fried to perfection.

Fried Green Tomatoes with Shrimp Salad

For our main course, I chose the Chicken Fried Flat Iron Steak, served with whipped potatoes and a boat of cream gravy.  The chicken fried steak was a little tough, but that was expected since flat iron steaks are cut with the grain.  The batter was crispy and not too thick.  The whipped potatoes may have been the best whipped/mashed potatoes I have ever had.  They cream gravy was excellent as well and was matched perfectly with both items.

Chicken Fried Flat Iron Steak

My wife chose the Gulf Shrimp and Grits for her entree.  The shrimp set on a bed of tomato, piquillo pepper, tasso ham and onion with organic stone ground cheddar grits.  My wife was kind enough to let me try a couple of bites of her meal and I was very impressed.  The tasso ham was very spicy and gave it a little Louisiana kick!

Shrimp and Grits

Following the meal, we perused the dessert menu which included several tasty sounding selections.  My wife let me pick dessert since I let her pick the appetizer.  I chose their version of the chocolate cake which was called "Better Than Sex Chocolate Cake".  It was served with whipped creme and a peanut butter sauce.  The cake was good, but I wasn't overly impressed with it.  In retrospect, I wish I would have chosen the bread pudding or the pecan pie.  I hate having buyer's remorse when it comes to dessert, but I certainly did on this night.

"Better Than Sex Chocolate Cake"

Sissy's was good and my wife and I will be going back so we can try some of the other menu items.  We couldn't agree on a rating for the restaurant.  She said she would give it a 5 on a scale of 5 and I said that I would rate it a 4.  Either way, the food was terrific.  The food, the ambiance, the noise level, and the wait staff were all pleasing.  The only thing I didn't like about Sissy's, was that it was very dark in the main dining room (hence the poor picture quality).  Next time I go, I really want to try the fried chicken.  One of the tables in our vicinity got a bucket of fried chicken and it looked absolutely scrumptious.