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Archive for the 'American' Category

Swensen’s Ice Cream

Saturday, August 26th, 2006

Swensen’s, an established ice cream and food diner, is located right next to the Movies 10 dollar theatre on Coit and Park. It’s been there for as long as I can remember which was since the early 90’s when we first moved to Plano. This particular Swensen’s is the last to be operating in this area, but in other cities like San Francisco, the restaurant chain is quite popular.

Front View

Probably the first thing we noticed upon entering the restaurant was some of the decorations that clashed with the ambiance. In a local neighborhood diner like this, we didn’t expect to see a Hispanic piñata hanging from the ceiling not too far from our table. On top of that, just the overall atmosphere seemed a bit awkward. The lighting and wall decorations almost seemed spontaneous. Nonetheless, we were willing to forgive the appearance so long as everything else was good or decent. But to our disappointment, we came upon red X’s, red X’s, and more red X’s on our grading checklist of Swensen’s. The first X we gave was for the cleanliness. Upon sitting down at our table, we noticed that it wasn’t wiped down thoroughly and there were even straw wraps scattered around the near-empty sugar holder. The second X we, unfortunately had to give, was to the service as our water (which incidentally was never re-filled throughout the evening) came out after our food. Then we had to wait for a little bit because the waitress had forgotten to provide silverware and utensils for us to eat with. At the end of the meal, we waited roughly 15-20 minutes for our check until finally we were forced to walk up to the counter and request to pay for our food. As for the food, we were disappointed in the fact that everything was just unfresh and the portions were rather measly. The price wasn’t too high, roughly around $6-7 per entree, but it was almost equivalent (in our opinion) to getting a #4 at Braum’s Ice Cream for less than $5. Swensen’s emphasize quality over quantity but in this particular case, neither was adequately achieved. And because everything had been unsatisfactory up to that point, we decided not to try the ice cream menu they had to offer.

Chocolate Shake

Chocolate Shake with whipped cream

Original Burger with fries

Swiss Melt Crispy Chicken with fries

Turkey & Avocado Melt with cole slaw

One thing I do want to make clear about Swensen’s is this - personally, I’ve been somewhat of a fan of Swensen’s since I was a little boy. In my opinion, the management of any restaurant is vital to the success of its business and in this case (or maybe that evening), they may have lacked in scheduling enough employees or they may have just been running on a bad night. In any case, Swensen’s has been able to offer great food (I love their Caramel Turtle Fudge ice cream) in the past and the service I was accustomed to a while ago, had been sublime. It’s too bad that particular evening just wasn’t quite up to par.

Swensen’s Ice Cream
1820 Coit Rd # 115A
Plano, TX 75075
972-519-0178

Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
Cleaniness: 3
Value: 5
Overall: 4.0

Posted in Eating Out, Restaurant Reviews, American | No Comments »

Gatti’s Pizza

Monday, August 14th, 2006

We had planned on going to Ruby Tuesday, but when we got there the wait was 45 minutes for a table. Not wanting to wait that long, we drove for 15 minutes or so until I spotted the word BUFFET in large red letters. I was getting pretty hungry, so the decision was easy. Turned out the sign was for Gatti’s Pizza.

gattis_main

I remembered going to a Mr. Gatti’s Pizza in Richardson years ago, and they charged $8.99 per person for all-you-can-eat food and drinks. So when I walked in and saw that the price was $6.47 per person I was pleasantly surprised…at first. I realized why after I saw the selection they had in their buffet line. You’d think that for a pizza buffet restaurant they would showcase their specialty, which is pizza. All I will say is, their salad bar is bigger than their pizza display.

gattis_pizza

And the pizza wasn’t too great either, but I sort of expected that from an all-you-can-eat. It’s only marginally better than CiCi’s Pizza, and at least half of them tasted like they’ve been sitting out there for hours. The salad was a bit better. A tiny pasta station completed the buffet line.

gattis_salad

Though we were disappointed by their offerings, we were hungry. By the time I realized it, I had gone through three plates. I suppose it’s a good deal if you’re just looking to fill up. The $6.47 price also included drinks too, so it’s actually pretty cheap.

Gatti’s Pizza Buffet
2107 El Dorado Pkwy.
McKinney, Texas 75070
214-504-9100

Ambiance: 6
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cleanliness: 7
Value: 6
Overall: 5.6

Tags: Gatti’s Pizza, buffet

Posted in Eating Out, Restaurant Reviews, American | No Comments »

Half Shells

Monday, July 31st, 2006

halfshells_sign The name of the restaurant, Half Shells, hinted at something other than the food it served. Half. You’ll immediately realize it when you step inside. I’ve seen McDonald’s or Wendy’s bigger than this, and nearly half of the space is taken up by a bar. To no surprise, we had to wait for a table. This was at The Shops at Legacy, so luckily we were able to pass the time outside enjoying live music and wandering in and out of nearby stores.

Eventually we got a table and were soon greeted by our waiter. He started off by listing the specials for the day, and had it not been for the fact that the list was posted on a giant blackboard for all to see which he practically read off from, I would’ve been somewhat impressed. Fortunately he elaborated on some of the dishes, like how certain items are prepared, so at least he did a little homework.

It didn’t take long for us to decide on three entrees. For all the “value” eaters out there, other than a bucket of crackers, don’t expect any free bread or appetizers because there won’t be any. It didn’t take long for our food to arrive, and it was met with mixed reactions. The first dish we ordered was a special, a pistachio crusted tilapia topped with a mango salsa, served with rice pilaf and vegetables ($12.99). The crunchy pistachio crust gave a nice texture to an otherwise light and flaky meat. The saltiness of the crusted fish, the sweetness of the mango salsa, and the acidity from the lemon combine for a good tasting as well as a visually colorful dish.

halfshells_tilapia
Pistachio Crusted Tilapia with Mango Salsa

Next was their Serafin’s Fish Tacos touted as the “Best Fish Taco in Town” on their menu. I was a bit disappointed when I saw the product. Sticks of fish and cole slaw were wrapped in flour tortilla and grilled, serve with rice and some greens. It tasted okay but was average at best. I couldn’t help but wonder if I might have ate something similar at Taco Bell the other day and paid only half the $8.99 we paid for this dish. Silently I kicked myself.

halfshells_fishtaco
Fish Tacos

Final dish was the Louisiana Pot Roast, and it was definitely the least of all three dishes. My first thought when I saw it was, “Man, I could’ve made this at home.” I think we were lured by the mention of “Cajun spices” on the menu for this item, somehow thinking that it would offer us something unique. At the very least they should throw in some bread to balance out the dish because it was pretty salty by itself. Silently I kicked myself again.

halfshells_potroast
Louisiana Pot Roast

I want to point out that their restroom was actually pretty nice, even the men’s. Only drawback was that you had to wait for it, one user at a time.

Half Shells
http://www.fishcitygrill.com
5800 Legacy Drive - Suite C-2
Plano, Texas 75024
469-241-1300

Ambiance: 5
Food: 5
Service: 6
Cleanliness: 8
Value: 5
Overall: 5.7

Tags: Half Shells, seafood, grill

Posted in Eating Out, Restaurant Reviews, American | No Comments »

Mimi’s Cafe

Tuesday, July 18th, 2006

There’s a Mimi’s Cafe in Allen that I’ve noticed a couple times when I happened to be driving by the area and for some reason the bright red sign outside the restaurant along with its consistently packed parking lot always made me want to give the restaurant a try. The opportunity arose so I finally did visit the place, and I must say I wouldn’t mind going back again for a second visit. The food here is pretty good and a decent value too if you consider the size of the portions for the entrees.

The menu is fairly typical with entrees such as pot roast, grilled pork chops, top sirloin steak, a couple of seafood dishes, and a bunch of sandwiches and salads. But there are a few unique items that you don’t typically see in many other restaurants. For instance, the chicken pot pie and lamb shank entrees caught my attention - the lamb shanks in particular because I don’t see lamb served at very many American restaurants. Lamb has a unique taste and smell that some are repelled by, but if it is cooked well, it is actually a very palatable meat that I think is a welcome change from the customary beef and chicken you get everywhere else. Lamb is also supposedly one of the healthiest red meats available because of its low saturated fat content, so I’m always on the lookout for restaurants that can serve up a decent lamb dish.

The chicken pot pie unfortunately was already sold out that day so I wasn’t able to try it out. However, I was able to try the lamb shank and it turned out pretty good — very tender and the flavor was just right. I guess I’ll have to go back again later to try the chicken pot pie.

Enough writing. I know you’re waiting to see the pictures so here they are!