Whataburger's Pancakes. Yes, They're Good.

August 2020 UPDATE

Whataburger continues to produce their hamburgers more or less the old-fashioned way: on a grill, to order. And unlike McDonald's, their pancakes are the same, not pre-cooked and steamed but grilled to order. It takes longer, is more labor intensive, and is more expensive because of the prior two points. But in my opinion their breakfast is a much better buy than McDonald's, Wendy's, Chik-Fil-A or any other fast food franchise. They recently sold the company so that they would have the cash to expand. I hope they keep the original strategy.

For now, if you're going out for fast food pancakes, breakfast burritos, etc, in my opinion Whataburger is best.

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Original post:

Bear with me here.

I have now posted two fast food posts in a row, sorry, it just happened that way.

I took a few of my grandchildren to Whataburger for pancakes today. We usually go to McDonald's but we thought we'd try WB. I was shocked. Three large, fresh-poured on the skillet, served-hot pancakes with syrup, real butter and two slices of bacon: $4.00.

And this picture from the Whatburger website doesn't do them justice because they're not that pretty. They're imperfectly formed like the home-made kind the way they ought to be.

They tasted good, too.

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Movie Tavern at West 7th

I made my first Movie Tavern on West 7th visitation yesterday.

X-Men.

I probably would not have gone except that I was accompanying two of my sons, one of whom is home for the summer, and the other leaving soon to work in Azirona. And I like comic book themed movies.

The following are the pluses and minuses of the afternoon.

Movie Tavern, plus:
1. Great seats with mini-tables for your food.
2. Great service. Lots of wait staff, quick and unassuming service. Our waiter was more uncaring than unassuming, but more on that later.
3. Great location.
4. Good matinee price and serve-yourself, no line tickets. I like that.
5. Reasonable food prices compared to other movie theaters.

Movie Tavern, minus
1. Small screen. After the Rave theater's huge screen, it's not so much disappointing, as underwhelming for this kind of movie.
2. The food. I can't speak to all the food but the chips and queso are god-awful. I'm not sure if the yellow liquid they serve should be called queso. It's really bad. I have heard reports that the other menu items are bad as well.

X-Men, plus.
1. The Wolverine cameo where he tells Magneto and Dr X, "to go xxxx yourselves," when an attempt was made to recruit him into mutant service. That was his only line, the only memorable line of the movie, and the only scene worth seeing.

X-Men, minus.
1. Who cares about the antics of spare teenage mutants? I sure don't. A girl with mini-wings who can fly and shoot fire spitballs? Most of the movie was spent developing the characters of mutants no one cares about. And the dialogue? "Mutant and proud?" Magneto getting all tongue-tied and teary-eyed after moving a metal satellite tower?

2. This is the worst comic book movie since Daredevil, my favorite comic book hero, by the way. There was not one funny line in the whole movie except for Wolverine's, and there was no drama until the last fifteen minutes. The first hour and a half is spent watching weirdo teenage ninja mutants and b-roll of Kennedy-era, Spy vs. Spy war games with Soviet characters that were approaching campy. At one point I though I was watching a satire of Austin Powers satirizing James Bond. Seriously. It was that bad.

X-Men, plus.
I was with two of my sons at a movie theater laughing, making fun of each other, and cutting-up, which included my promise to order the queso and chips by saying kwee-so and cheeps in stead kay-so and chips. I did and the waiter didn't blink, smirk, or even look disdainfully at me; something we all found very amusing, until son-one said that he, the bored waiter, was going to spit in my drink, which worried me until I discovered that the food deliverers are different than the food-order takers.

The word, "winnnninnng" was used several times in the course of the afternoon, with some good laugh effect. We did make it through the day without any bathroom humor (John), but over-large breast humor was invoked at the appropriate moments. All of this said to prove my sister's dictum that most males never get past age fifteen in the maturation process.

Meg, we proved you right once again. I had a great afternoon.

Movie Tavern at West 7th

Agree or disagree on X-Men or the Movie Tavern?

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Trader Joe's coming to town?

Word is grocer, Trader Joe's is coming to DFW.

As far as I have been able to tell it's just the D and not the FW. If you know differently let me know.

We shopped at Trader Joe's several times a week during our two year stay in Philadelphia. Trader Joe's is kind of a smaller, discount Whole Foods with tatts. Body markings, as well as ear, nose, and tongue jewelry were employee de rigueur. I am fairly certain I was the only Republican in the store at any given time.

But as non-hip as I am, I liked it. The prices are great and some items like the big bars of chocolate, the coffee, and the peanuts-only peanut butter are very good and inexpensive.

I hope they make it to Fort Worth.

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Best Of Fort Worth. 2010 (updated to 2020)

It is 2020

We're all beaten down by the Covid and its effects

But  it did give me some time to update the Best of.

Food and Fort Worth's 

Best of Fort Worth(

(2020)

Best new retail and restaurant development: The West 7th and So7 (South 7th) developments have to be the biggest, and in my opinion the best, mixed-use development we have seen for many years. What the Target area south of Montgomery Plaza did wrong, West 7th has done right. The area south and west is developing now and adding to the whole cool vibe. Sundance Square, if I may say respectfully, feels a little touristy compared to what's going on at 7th Street.

I wrote that in 2010. In 2020, I would say that the hottest area of development is the near Southside and South Main. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops, apartments, etc. It's booming. Second to that in the "developing fast" is the number of young people moving to the Meadowbrook area on the eastside. Watch that. New start-ups like Coffee-Folk are doing very well.

Sundance Square is the realcenter of downtown since they made a formal square with fountains. It still tend to draw the corporate/tourist crowd but with the shopping, restaurants, entertainment, hotels, and bars are right there it is a great place to spend an evening
 
Best Mexican Restaurant / upscale:

2010: I still think Mi Cocina's downtown is the most enjoyable upscale Mexican restaurant, when you look at it from food quality, service, location and price. Their recent corporate problems notwithstanding, I like to go there. Cantina Laredo is a pretty close second, but doesn't have quite the buzz of Mi Cocina's. Chuy's is a step down in atmosphere, but I liked their sauces and will be returning.

2020:We still go to Mi Cocina but for the money Benito's is the best in town. Their pork verde asada is spicy and delicious. It's not in the upscale category but for good Mexican food it's our favorite. Also, Lucita's on 1st Streetat Beach is good.

Mexican Restaurant / small building.

2010: Salsa Fuego was selected 3 of 50 in the "Best Mexican" in Texas Monthly magazine and it too deserves the praise it gets. It's a long way from my house so I have been only twice. But it's good. Melis, on Vickery is good for a quick taco or burrito. And El Pollo Regio on Belnap is really good -- okay it's not going to win any restaurant design awards but I love the half-chicken with beans and rice.

2020: "Street tacos" like Fuzzy's" are everywhere. Personally, I think they're overpriced and I prefer to take my chances with the taco trucks that sell the same thing at half the price. Want good inexpensive Mexican food? Go to the grocery stores like Mi Tierra get in line with the locals and you'll get pretty good food at a great price.

Fajitas:

2010 and 2020:

The best fajitas in town, in my opinion, are at Pappasito's. Their Wednesday night two-for-one fajitas is a ridiculously good deal. Many of Pappa's dishes, including the cabrito and shrimp, are really good, as well. Uncle Julio's is a Pappasito's knock-off. It's good and well attended but it's just too noisy for me.
Still the best fajita meal in town.

Worst Mexican:

2010: Last year, I criticized the Yucatan Grill. They are, by all appearances, surviving well without me. This year we are giving the You call this Mexican food? award to Habenero's in south Arlington. It makes Yucatan Grill look good. God-awful food, with guacamole that I swear was made without an avocado. 

2020: Yucatan Grill is under new management. I'm not sure if it is being renamed.

Pizza:

2010: Cavalli's in Irving is the best in the DFW area. Il Cane Rosso, is a very close second. Patrizio's is good. Many of you like Rocco's. It's okay by me. The great thing about Cavalli's is that it is the least expensive and it is the best. Fireside Pies? Well, we won't go there for now. All of the above are southern-Italy style thin-crust pizza. The New York style pizza which I like is getting harder to find.

2020: We go to Picci Pacci. It's the best New York style pizza in town.

Bread:

Good luck. In my opinion there is not anywhere in Fort Worth that you can get an honest Artisan loaf of bread. So, I started making my own.

Burgers: 

2010: My current favorite is M&O Grill. Consistently good hamburgers. Five Guys on Hulen is new, and also one of my favorites, Smashburger is good, they are new, on University and in Arlington, and, drum roll please, In-N-Out Burger will be on 7th Street in 2011. I have not been to an In-N-Out, but everyone tells me they are good. Not new, but still good: Fred's, Kinkaids, Tommy's, Love's, Jakes. My least favorite "gourmet" burger is Dutch's and Pappas. Sorry, nothing personal, but that's the way I see it.

2020: When we want a good burger we go to Five Guys.

Coffee:

2010: Buon Giorno. New, with very good coffee. Buon Giorno roasts their coffee beans at their store in Grapevine. The Grapevine location has been operating for several years, in contrast to most independently owned coffee shops which have the lifespan of a tsetse fly. They must be doing something right. Avoca on Magnolia opens soon. Aduro Bean is a local roaster with excellent coffee for home brewing. Cafe Brazil will be coming to Fort Worth at TCU, soon. More on that as it develops. I still like McDonald's coffee in the morning. Starbucks: I have loved you, but please bring Sumatra back. Pike's Place is nasty.

2020: Coffee Folk and only Coffee Folk. The best cappuccino in DFW. I kid you not.

Italian Restaurant:

2010: My father and grandfather owned and operated an Italian restaurant. It's hard for me to get spaghetti and meatballs out even today, probably because I want to to taste my grand-pops sauce and never do. Nonna Tatta, La Piazza, Ruffino's (under new management) get good reviews. I have heard good things about Taverna, downtown.

2020: I don't even try to buy Italian food in Fort Worth.

Town Talk. The Grocery Store.

Speaking of grocery store discounters.

The biggest discounter of them all is Town Talk. They are the anti-Central Market -- in every way -- except the one way that matters: name brand food products, sometimes the really good stuff, at bargain prices. I am not saying all the food is high quality, or even that most of it is, but occasionally the deals there are better than imaginable.

For instance, Marmite. I like Marmite. My wife is British. She introduced it to me and I like it. Most Americans don't. It's a yeast extract and it's tangy. It's about $7 for a small jar. She picked up 4 of them at Town Talk for $10.

How do they do it? Town Talk takes department and grocery store overstocks, item close outs, and store closings, and consolidates it by category for resale. The aisles are changing all the time.

They have no cappuccino bar to stop and relax while shopping, the floor needs sweeping, and the warehouse spills over into the aisles.

But it's kind of fun, you never know what you will find and sometimes the cuts of beef are just too good of a deal to turn down. It's an acquired taste and sometimes they sell things past shelf-life date. But if you haven't tried it, it is worth a visit.

http://www.towntalkfoods.net/

Town Talk Foods
121 North Beach St.
Fort Worth, TX 76111

Good Bread in Fort Worth?

Rambler's last comments got me thinking about bread. Not that I need a comment to get me thinking about bread, but his mention of Brueger's bagels on Camp Bowie brought back fond memories of them and of the old, original La Madelaine's down the street. If asked to give up a category of food, bread would be the last that I wanted to give up. I like them all: whole wheat, rolls, biscuits, cornbread, bagels, french bread, sourdough, rye, pumpernickel, you name it, if it has flour and yeast, I like it.

Bad news: it is also the one category I think needs improving in Fort Worth. I have talked about this before, and talked critically about what used to be a real bakery, La Madelaine's, and was criticized by some for it. Bit in my opinion, La Madelaine's hasn't made a good loaf of bread in years, or since the original owner and founder sold it. Corner Bakery is only slightly better. Panera's is a great store, I love it, but their bread is average, at best. Central Market? They have a loaf or two worth buying, but do they have a local bakery style killer loaf? Not IMHO. Whole Foods has good bread for certain items, whole wheat especially. Yogi's has a good bagel. Einstein's is okay -- but we really do not have a knock your socks off bakery of any kind.

What if someone could put together a hundred thousand dollars or so and buy a little warehouse off Magnolia, put in some good bakery ovens, and start baking breads for the public and for restaurants? Put a little coffee shop in. Open at 7 close at 2. How many local Fort Worthians would find it and how fast?

I think it would be an instant success. Maybe, I'm wrong, maybe, the supermarket's inexpensive, all-taste-the same-breads drives quality out. The business of restaurants is different than the aesthetics. It could be that there just isn't enough demand for an old fashioned bread bakery.

Any thoughts?
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Central Market: The Festival of Chocolate.

Today and tomorrow, Central Market hosts their pre-Valentine's Day weekend with a festival of Chocolate, and it's one of those things that makes Fort Worth a great place to live. The movie for two and dinner sounds good, too.

From the CM website:

The Festival of Chocolate
Central Market is all about celebrating food, and chocolate is one of our favorites. Coming this weekend, February 6-8, is our annual Festival of Chocolate, an indulgent, decadent and delicious devotion to everything chocolate! Just in time for Valentine's day, come in and taste our chocolate-inspired recipes, plus learn new ideas for how to use this versatile food. Savory or sweet, chocolate can be useful in so many ways – and we'll show them to you!

Valentine's Day Candlelight Dinner and a Movie for Two
Valentine's Day should be about romance and the one you love – not fighting for a reservation at a restaurant! Central Market's Valentine's Day Candlelight Dinner and a Movie for Two lets you spend Valentine's night celebrating, not waiting in line. We offer four entrée options to choose from, and each comes with an appetizer salad, dessert, taper candles and your choice of two romantic films on DVD. Call (817) 377-9307 to place your order.

Edible Dallas & Fort Worth

I learn a lot from our local Fort Worth weblogs and besides the good old fashioned newspaper, it is the best place for local news.

I discovered the soon to-be-published, Edible Dallas & Fort Worth, on the eatthisfortworth blog. The Edible website is in development and a magazine is announced for spring 2009.

I like the idea of promoting the locally-grown food business for a lot of reasons, including the obvious one that it supports the local economy. I also think locally grown food is healthier and tastes better, which is the best reason to buy locally grown foods. A small-farm egg from free range chickens tastes better. So do tomatoes, peaches, peppers, etc. We had chickens in our Eastside backyard for years and the eggs (when I found them) were unbelievably tasty.

Eating what is in season and locally grown makes sense to me gastronomically -- and it supports local farmers -- and it's better for us ecologically. So how can you go wrong? And if you shop wisely it can save you money, too.

Here's a quote from the upcoming Edible Dallas & Fort Worth website.

Edible Dallas & Fort Worth is a community-based publication that promotes the abundance of local foods in the greater Dallas & Fort Worth areas including counties all the way to the Oklahoma border. We celebrate the growers, producers, retailers, artisans, chefs, bakers, home cooks and gardeners, vintners, brewers and all who energize our community with authentic, locally based food choices.

http://www.edibledfw.com/content/

The 20 Best Steaks in America ?

Did you read the Esquire Magazine/Yahoo article on the 20 Best Steaks in America? I clicked on it to see if any Texans made the list and to see how many of these establishments I had frequented. I stopped around number 15:

Paris Coffee Shop on Magnolia in Fort Wort, Texas. For the chicken fried steak.

I was feeling kind of chuffed for old Fort Worth until read a little further and found Pat's Cheesesteaks in Philadelphia and realized the writer doesn't know his steaks. Pat's is the one of the most popular cheesesteak establishment in Philadelphia, but it is nowhere near the best. Tony Luke's is much better, as well are dozens of others that serve the real thing.

I'll take the Fort Worth compliment nevertheless (though I preferred the Black Eyed Pea's chicken fried steak). In case you didn't see it here's the review of Paris Coffee Shop:

There's no resisting the conceit of a dish like chicken-fried steak, which begins with a lesser cut of meat that's pounded into oblivion. Once tenderized, it's battered and deep-fried, and comes out a minor wonder of everyman cuisine. The Paris, a booth-and-counter diner, is the kind of place to eat it. Preferably followed by a slice of warm custard pie. 700 West Magnolia Avenue; 817-335-2041.

Speaking of steaks, I am looking forward to trying the new Ruth's Chris. Years ago, I always loved going to Lawry's in Dallas for the Prime Rib, but the best steak I have ever had was from Papa's Steaks in Dallas.

Dallas Farmers Market

I hate to admit that Dallas has something better than Fort Worth, but in one thing they do. I am referring to the Farmers Market in downtown Dallas. http://www.dallasfarmersmarket.org
Before the summer fresh produce months are over do yourself a favor and go to the Farmers Market, and one suggestion, look for the farmers stands which are marked and color coded differently than the resellers. It's enjoyable walking by all the produce stands, trying before you buy, and you can find great deals and fresh fruits and vegetables.
Take the train and walk a little.