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

Cane Rosso - Fairview

Having dined at the two Cane Rosso locations in Dallas, my wife and I were excited to hear that the mini-chain was going to open up a location in Fairview.  This new location of this pizzeria is located at The Village at Fairview and is only a short 10 minute drive from my house.  D Magazine has called Cane Rosso the best pizzeria in Dallas for three straight years and Eater.com has named it one of the top 15 pizzerias in the nation.  I have reviewed the White Rock location and was very impressed with this restaurant.

Bar and Kitchen

When this location first opened in September, I had heard that it was jam packed every night the first couple of weeks, so I waited until October to try out this location.  My family visited the restaurant on a Saturday morning just as they were opening and we were seated immediately.  I had heard that they have brunch specials on the weekend, so I was anxious to see what items they were going to offer that were not usually on the menu.

Garlic Knots

My family decided to share some appetizers before ordering pizzas.  We ordered the garlic knots and mozzarella fritta.  The garlic knots were larger than those you usually see at pizza joints or Italian restaurants and they were served with a red chile marinara that had a little kick to it.  The mozzarella fritta  consisted of house made mozzarella that was fried and served with a side of marinara.  Both appetizers were tasty and quickly consumed by the four of us.  

Mozzarella Fritta

After looking at the menu and hearing the brunch specials, I decided to order the breakfast pizza.  This pizza was topped with their house-made mozzarella, eggs, potatoes, speck, prosciutto, and grape tomatoes.  These ingredients blended into what I believe was the best breakfast pizza I have ever had.  Every bite was a masterpiece and I particularly liked the flavor of the speck and the potatoes.  My wife and girls shared a Margherita pizza, which is her favorite pizza.  Although they ate almost the entire pizza, my wife said it was not as good as Margherita pizzas she has had at other locations.

Breakfast Pizza

Sadly, we were all too full to eat dessert.  I had really wanted to try the S'Mores Calzone, which my wife had raved about after dining at one of the Dallas locations with a friend.  The food was fantastic and the service was just as good.  Cane Rosso Fairview will be getting more visits from me and my family.  It is easy to see why this restaurant is considered to be one of the top Neapolitan pizzerias in DFW.

Margherita Pizza

Update 2-2-15
TIP:  I have gone back several times since this first visit and have fallen in love with an off-the-menu pizza.  When you visit, ask for the Honey Bastard.  It has mozzarella, spicy sopressata, bacon marmalade, and habanero honey.  We have also tried the S'Mores calzone and I highly recommed that as well.   

Cane Rosso (Fairview)
http://ilcanerosso.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=5

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

Ten50 Barbecue

Ten50 Barbecue recently opened it's doors in Richardson, Texas.  I am always eager to try out new barbecue spots, so I was very pumped when I found out that Ten50 had opened up after a lot of media hype in the spring and summer of 2014.  My brother is also a barbecue junky, so we decided to try it out on a recent Saturday morning.

Meat Station

This self proclaimed Central Texas-style barbecue joint allows you to choose what meats you want and have your meat weighed prior to going inside the restaurant.  The ordering experience is very similar to the setup at Hard Eight Barbecue.  For my meats, I chose fatty brisket, St. Louis style pork ribs, smoked turkey, and jalapeño cheddar sausage.  For my sides, I chose to get the fresh cut fries and an ear of corn.

Dining area

The brisket had a nice smoke ring and decent bark, but the overall flavor was lacking and it was a little too chewy for my taste.  The ribs were lacking in the smoke department and could have used some more salt on the rub.  The turkey was somewhat bland and I would have preferred more of a smoky flavor.  I felt the jalapeño cheddar sausage was the winner of the four meats I tried.  It was a course ground sausage with great texture and just enough jalapeño to give it a little kick.

Fatty Brisket, Turkey, Jalapeño Cheddar Sausage, and St. Louis Style Ribs

Closeup of the brisket

The sides were a pleasant surprise.  The corn was drenched in butter and perfectly cooked.  I am a sucker for fresh cut fries and the ones at Ten50 were great.  The restaurant also serves up fresh homemade bread that was much better than I had anticipated.

Homemade Bread, Corn, and Fresh Cut Fries

I left Ten50 with a glass half full feeling.  The sausage was the only meat that I really loved, but the sides were fantastic.  The restaurant has plenty of seating, a bar area, and plenty of TVs to watch games on a weekend.  I believe this place has some potential, but they really need to up their game a little bit to compete with the premier barbecue joints in the area like Pecan Lodge or Hutchins.

Ten50 Barbecue
http://ten50bbq.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=2