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

La Barbecue

I absolutely love the food scene in Austin, Texas.  It seems that everywhere you turn, there is either a restaurant or food truck around.  The city has also become a hotbed for quality barbecue in the last few years and La Barbecue has been getting a lot of buzz lately.  Pitmaster, John Lewis, helped work the pits for Aaron Franklin at Franklin Barbecue prior to coming to work for Leann Mueller at La Barbecue.  With the pedigree of the pitmaster and the owner (sister of Wayne and John Mueller), I had La Barbecue set as my #1 dining destination while I was in Austin.

Last year, La Barbecue made the Texas Monthly list of the Top 50 Barbecue Joints in Texas and recently the Austin American Statesman rated it number one on their list of The Best Barbecue in Austin.  Another blog I follow, Fed Man Walking, also ranked La Barbecue as the best in Austin.  Considering the outstanding quality of barbecue in Austin,  this is high praise indeed.

View of the line of people  waiting to eat at La Barbecue

A friend and I arrived at La Barbecue fifteen minutes prior to it opening and found that more than fifty people had already formed a line to eat barbecue.  When La Barbecue finally opened at 11:00 a.m., the line began to move at a steady pace.  In recent years, I have waited in a lot of lines that now seem a requirement to eat great barbecue.  Smelling smoked meats and getting to see other people eat barbecue can be torture.  If I am ever sent to a dark cell to be tortured, my captors should forget waterboarding or extracting fingernails.  All they would need to do is just sit there and eat barbecue in front of me.  I would not be able to take it and give them all the information they needed in seconds.

Close up of the terrific bark and smoke ring on the brisket at La Barbecue

We finally arrived at the window, where I placed an order for brisket, turkey, pork ribs, and hot guts (La Barbecue's housemade beef sausage).  It was starting to get a little warm, so we found a nice spot on a picnic table in the shade.  I tried the brisket first and it was simply outstanding.  The brisket had some of the best bark I have ever tasted and every piece was like eating a little bit of smoked heaven.  Both the lean slices and the moist slices melted in your mouth and had great smoke rings. 

I don't always get turkey at barbecue restaurants, but I will try it occasionally.  The turkey was outstanding at La Barbecue and was extremely moist.  Turkey tends to dry out quickly on the smoker, so I am not sure how John Lewis keeps his turkey so moist while also getting the great smoke flavor I tasted in each bite. 

Clockwise from top left-Turkey, Brisket, Spare Ribs, and "Hot Guts", a.k.a. sausage

The ribs were commendable as well.  Although I didn't taste as much smoke on the ribs as I did in the brisket and turkey, the flavor was good and the meat easily pulled off the bone.  The hot guts sausage was the only menu item that I was somewhat disappointed with.  I generally like a little kick to my sausage, but I didn't care for the unusual flavor of this sausage.   Taste in sausage can be very subjective and others I have spoken to absolutely love this sausage.

Still a lengthy line as we were finishing up

My buddy and I both enjoyed our visit to La Barbecue.  Even after waiting in line for an hour, I felt that the barbecue was worth the wait.  The brisket was fantastic and the turkey was some of the best I have ever had.  I personally don't think La Barbecue is the best barbecue in Austin, but it is certainly in my top four Austin barbecue joints I have visited thus far.

La Barbecue
http://labarbecue.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=4

Health Camp

Whenever I am passing through Waco around lunch or dinner, there are a couple of restaurants that I like to visit that are favorites of mine.  One is George's, and the other is Health Camp.  Health Camp is a classic restaurant that has been serving up burgers and shakes for close to seventy years.  The food is always solid and the shakes are great.

On a recent trip through Waco, I stopped and grabbed a quick bite to eat at Health Camp.  On this visit, I ordered the bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a peach milk shake.  My shake came out first, so I got to enjoy some dessert prior to my meal.  When the burger arrived, I immediately dug in.  The burger had great flavor and the fries were tasty too.  As great as the burger and fries were, the peach milkshake was even better.  It is hard to find restaurants that serve peach milkshakes, but Health Camp has close to thirty different milkshake flavors to choose from.  They also have great onion rings, although I didn't order them on this visit.

Bacon Cheeseburger and Fries

The meal was just the right size to fill me up, but not so filling that I felt the need to take a nap while driving to Austin.  Health Camp is just a short distance of Interstate 35, so it is easy to exit and grab a bite to eat here.  I was in and out in less than 20 minutes, which was good because I was wanting to get to Austin before the afternoon traffic got bad.  If you haven't been to Health Camp, stop by next time you are passing through Waco.

Peach Milkshake

Health Camp

http://www.health-camp-waco.com/index.html

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