Joe’s Italian Bistro Allen, TX

Had a great dinner Thursday night at Joe’s Italian Bistro in Allen Texas accompanied by Allen & Debbie (great friends). They said it was their kind of place and we had met there for dinner before. Now that I have enjoyed two visits at Joe’s it is my kind of place.

The thing that strikes me the most about Joe’s is the neighborhood clientele. You immediately feel at home here and most of the customers live nearby and make this an frequent dinner place, where they stick around and talk for quite a while.

 

Joe’s grandparents came to the U.S. in 1942 from Kosovo. He and his family have been in the restaurant business since they opened their first restaurant in 1972 in New York. This location has been open since September of 2005. They have another location in Keller and Watauga. He has family that helps him in Allen and the rest of the family works the other locations. This is a solid 3 page story, maybe a 4 since we got to meet big Joe. Allen, Debbie, what do you think? Big Joe is Joe’s father who is here visiting for the winter.

Most of the recipes are Mom’s (Joe’s grandmother) recipes. Our food has always been excellent. They do have several seafood selections that sound very tempting as well. Next time I must try one. I especially like the homemade bread, doesn’t it look delicious:

It actually tastes even better than it tempting looks.

 

I ordered a bowl of Tortellini soup that was fantastic. My wife and I split the Chicken Jerusalem (Artichokes, mushrooms in a Sherry wine sauce). It was quite rich and creamy and we enjoyed every calorie filled bite. Allen had angel hair pasta with alfredo sauce and despite deciding to only eat half of it, he ate four fifths of it. Debbie had ravioli with meatballs. She was much better disciplined, ate half and took the other half home for later. The food is very good, freshly made and mouth watering specials fill a small chalk board.

 

Our waitress Emily has always been great. She is very friendly and attentive. It really adds to the feel of the place when you know the waitress. It provides a more relaxing feeling. Emily is always smiling, very efficient, and helpful with our questions and provides consistent service. Here she is:

Check out the Blue’s Brothers in the background!

 

I like the murals that are painted inside, even the one in the bathroom, all are of Venice. If they had some Italian music playing in the background you might forget you’re in Allen and be transported to Venice. It is definitely a nice hole in the wall and receives a 4 hole rating.

 

Neighborhood feel, 4 hole in the wall rating, 3/4 page story rating, Emily, good food, Venice feel and meeting big Joe all add up to make this my kind of place.

Taqueria El Fuego Richardson, Texas

It doesn’t get any better than Taqueria El Fuego, great tasting authentic Mexican food, homemade corn tortillas, salsa bar – all freshly made, husband, wife and son to greet you, beautiful color inside, great authentic furniture and aguas (natural fruit drinks – lime, orchata, tamarindo etc.). Thanks Russ for introducing me to this place several months ago. This is definitely my kind of place!

I had to do some good talking to convince John to go eat at Taqueria El Fuego with me today. He doesn’t like Tex-Mex food. I told him this is not Tex-Mex, nothing at all like it. You will taste the difference immediately. Well, as we were leaving he said I’ll definitely be back, he cleaned his plate and he did it before I cleaned mine.

When Aquiles was growing up in Mexico City, his Mother cooked all the meals for the week on Sunday. If that weren’t enough she cooked something different for each child because they were pretty picky eaters. Needless to say she got lots of practice and Aquiles said she was quite an awesome cook. Because of that beginning he and his siblings talked for years about opening up a restaurant with Mom’s recipes, recipes that came from all over Mexico. In Mexico, there are significant regional differences in what and how authentic food is prepared. Since they lived in Mexico City where people from all over
Mexico live, their Mom used recipes from nearly every region.

 

Despite all their talk the siblings never acted on starting their restaurant. Finally, Aquiles decided he would start a small, to go, Taqueria. However, when this location (1891 N. Plano Rd.; corner of Campbell & Plano Rd. 972-231-3456) became available he liked everything except the size (too big for his original idea). At 2:00 AM one morning he woke up and said ‘I know what we’ll do’. His wife said ‘great, tell me in the morning’. He said ‘no, I might forget. Wake up and let’s talk’. He shared with her his idea of them cooking many authentic Mexican dishes each day that they could vary daily as well. They would offer a special, where each customer could choose 2 entrees, rice (Cilantro or normal), beans (black or pinto), tortillas (corn or flour) and then the salsas of their choice. Here is my lunch plate from today:

Doesn’t that look awesome? Taqueria El Fuego has been delivering this kind of lunch for the past 2.5 years. Talk about clarity of vision and excellent execution, they have nailed it. The story is a 4 page story; the 5 page story must be extremely unique (see Star of Siam entry).

 

He made two other unique comments today as we were talking. He mentioned the ethnic diversity of his customers (Hispanic, white, African American, Asian etc.). In fact, he said that a customer told him this was the only restaurant they had seen with such diversity. He also mentioned that the Salsa bar gives his customers the choice which one and how much they want on each dish. He did not want to force a salsa or an amount of salsa on his customers. Here is the salsa bar and tortilla station:

I also really like the fact that they do not serve chips and hot sauce. He asked, ‘what’s the point, plus the chips most places serve are nothing like real baked corn tortillas used in Mexico’. Now, I have to admit, my wife has rubbed off on me and I actually have acquired a taste for Tex-Mex and do enjoy the chips and hot sauce. However, I really appreciate Aquiles’ desire to be completely authentic and I do not miss my chips and hot sauce when I eat there.

 

The place is definitely a hole in the wall. There are only eight tables. Check it out:

Aren’t those colors vibrant?

 

I have seen two different parties share the same table, a normal occurence at a hole in the wall. There may be the rare exception that I find later, but for now… envelope please. Taqueria El Fuego is the first restaurant to receive the coveted 5 hole in the wall rating!!

 

I could go on and on about how much I like this place, but this entry is long enough. Taqueria El Fuego is my kind of place!

Bangkok City Plano, TX

You know a place is good when …. Before Bangkok City Thai food found its new location at 75 and Park Blvd. in Plano the location had changed hands multiple times. In fact, I used to joke about this location as the Gorilla location. Every time the inflatable gorilla appeared on the building then you knew the restaurant would soon go out of business. It changed hands every year for 4 years (Italian,Pizza, Brazil etc.). And then Bangkok City landed at the location 4 years ago and it is doing quite well thank you. It even ran the Toni Roma’s next door out of businessJ. Even though the location is challenging to get to it is well worth the extra effort. You can read what guidelive has to say about it. So, today Kishore, Richard, Sarvesh and I went to eat at Bangkok City and it is my kind of place.

Sarvesh, Richard and I had been before and keep on returning to enjoy the great tasting Thai cuisine. Kishore, who is a realtor and a strict vegetarian, had never been. He liked the food, although he thought the Tom Kha soup was a little to sweet. However, he was very appreciative that everything is made with a vegetable broth which opened up the menu for him.

How is it that a good family owned place seems to create fertile ground for great conversation to spring up?

 

I had the Flat Noodle with Chicken, Kishore had the Red Curry with veggies, Richard had the Basil fried rice and Sarvesh had the Basil Chicken. We thoroughly enjoyed quickly cleaning all four plates. They have a 1 to 4 spicy rating and everyone but Sarvesh tried the 3 (Adventurous) rating. It is just the right amount of spice for me, great kick, but did not overpower the other flavors. Sarvesh, jump in as to your theory on choosing the 3 spicy rating instead.

Check out the great desserts they provided for us:

The first is fried ice cream and the second is coconut rice with a ring of mangos. The coconut rice with mangos is awesome. Nice flavor, great contrast of textures and one of the best desserts I have ever had.

The story is a great one. Lisa came to the US to attend University in 1985 and graduated in 1989 with a Masters in Business Administration. Their first location was downtown, then they moved to Greenville Ave. north of Mockingbird and for the last four years they have been at Park & Central. The entire family is involved at the restaurant. Her mother and one sister are the chefs. The other sister helps as the hostess. And not to be outdone by the women, her brother also participates as a waiter. Despite this being the third location for the restaurant, many of their clients have faithfully followed them. Given this full family affair story I will give it a 4 page story rating.

The restaurant is quite large and in a stand alone building. It is very nice inside. 

Sorry about the dark picture. It also has a fantastic room to host parties or other events. This will negatively affect the hole in the wall rating. I’ll only give it 2 holes.

The warm reception, colors, story and food make Bangkok City my kind of place.

Lee’s Catfish Richardson, TX – teaser

I can’t wait until I can post the complete entry for Lee’s Catfish. This is definitely my kind of place and potentially the prototype for my kind of place! I had lunch there today with Hooman and Hal. I have been eating here for many years and simply love it. Here is a picture from the outside.

Hopefully I can complete this post by early next week at the latest.

Ramsi’s Cafe on the World Louisville, KY

Where can you go in Louisville KY and choose a dish off a menu with options from around the world? Ramsis Café on the World of course. This is my kind of eclectic place.  It sits in a hip, urban and diverse neighborhood while delivering freshly cooked food from around the world.

 

Right when you walk in you know you are in for a treat. The décor is international. There is a Jamaican wall hanging next to an African picture with a beautiful British painting in between. There is a huge (12 foot) door leaning on a wall, a great water fountain in the outdoor covered seating area and many unique statues and trinkets on the wall. I bet there is a story behind each item. I would love to hear about each one of them. Every table in the restaurant is different, each with their own table cloth and many of them are handmade or imported. Even the chairs are different. But that is not all, each table setting is unique as well – plates, forks, knives, spoons and glasses.

 

The food is great. I enjoyed it so much on the first night of my trip that I went back on the second. I started the night with the Tuna Tartare (Fresh marinated Yellow fin tuna with red onions, peppers, green onions, avocado & cilantro). It had such a fresh, light and tangy flavor. For my entrée I tried the Coconut Scallops served with spinach Alfredo and fried plantains. What a great combination. The scallops were perfect, crisp on the outside and soft and juicy on the inside. On the second night I tried the 1001 Arabian lentils. It was served with caramelized onion marmalade, yogurt and cucumber-tomato relish. Again, quite a unique combo that my taste buds couldn’t get enough of.  I also had the soup of day, which unfortunately I cannot remember what it was. All I know is I finished it off.

 

I recommended the place to a couple of co-workers (Vishal & Hooman) who went to
Louisville a week after I had gone in September. Guys, please tell us what you thought.

 

This place earns a 4 page rating for the story. The owners are both Arabs who grew up in
Jerusalem and their Mother is Catholic. Their Mother owns a small grocery store and they both have engineering degrees. In 1994 they decided to start a unique restaurant that would provide a place for people to feel at home, enjoy international food while they engage in great conversation. What a fascinating story.

 

It started out very small and every few years has had to expand in order to keep up with the demand due to the tremendous popularity. So, it is actually quite large and therefore only has a 1 hole in the wall rating.

 

I must mention the wait staff. I have never seen a more eclectic collection of folks – some very young, some with pink hair, others more middle aged, but all were totally into serving their customers. One of the hostesses spent a little time with me and gave me the pieces of the story that I shared above. If anyone has more information on the story, I would love to hear it.

 

Next time I am in Louisville, I will definitely go back to one of my kind of places, Ramsi’s Café on the World.

Dining Hall in Buddhist Temple in Richardson, TX

When was the last time you went to eat lunch at a Buddhist temple? I went Monday, accompanied by Hooman and Malcolm, to the dining hall of the Buddha’s Light International Association. It is located in Richardson at 1111 International Parkway. From the outside you think you are at a normal 3 story office building. The only indication is the sign on the building that says “International Buddhist Progress Society”. Walk in the front door by the playground (there is a preschool for children inside) go up the elevator to the 2nd floor and you will find the dining hall.

They serve a buffet of all vegetarian dishes for only $6 per person. Additional donations are accepted in a large wooden donation box. In years past they had a big screen TV on with a Buddhist priest teaching. The last couple of times I’ve gone the TV has been off.

The food is always very good. There is a large pot holding white rice and two buffet tables holding a great variety of your favorite veggie recipes including: broccoli, tofu brown sauce (for the noodles), noodles, fried rice, spring roll (cabbage), a tasty seaweed, tofu dish, thin noodles (Hooman called them nano-noodles) – these are my personal favorite, fried balls (carrot, cabbage & potato) hot & sour soup, some veggie that I thought was sweet potato, but Malcolm said it is a type of gourd with green skin and grapes for dessert. There is also a nice black spicy sauce that is my kind of sauce (nice flavor and good kick). The menu does change often. Hooman, Malcolm what else did I miss?

The temple has been at this location since 1992 and has been serving food since 1994. They decided to serve food to provide a convenient place for their church goers to eat and experience good vegetarian food and for others to experience a meal where no animals had been killed. I received all this information from a lady who also served as a translator from one of the leaders there in the temple. She told us that a vegetarian meal is more peaceful (since no animals were killed). Another thing I learned while talking to her is that they do not serve garlic or onions either. Both can alter your mood and since in Buddhism you are trying to reach a state of peace you would not eat mood altering foods (garlic & onion) or meat (you have participated in killing a living creature). Interesting thoughts, maybe I need to start another blog related to philosophical and religious discussions (why do other animals eat animals… why do humans have many carnivorous biological features… is it wrong to kill mosquitoes who carry west Nile virus…why do we do evil things… who can help us and how), but that is for another day.

The hole in the wall factor is challenging for the Buddhist temple. As mentioned before the building looks like an office building and you would never know there is a restaurant there unless someone told you (that’s pretty ‘hole in the wall’ ish). The décor is next to nothing; a few Chinese character posters and then one wall with several posters and sayings. For example: “Relax and indulge yourself with vegetarian food and determine to be a noble person.” However, there is a lot of room and it is in a large 3 story building. So, taking all things into consideration, I will give it a 3 ‘holes in the wall’ rating.

The story rating is also challenging. It is not an official mom and pop restaurant. However, eating in a Buddhist temple is quite a story in and of itself. I will give it a 3 page rating (save the 4 & 5 page story rating for more interesting personal stories) since it is only one of the two Buddhist temples of the Buddha’s Light International variety in the country that serves food.

So, next time someone says lunch, tell them ‘have I got a place for you’ and take them to the Buddhist temple dining hall, my kind of place.

Roti Mediterranean in Arlington Heights IL

When you think of Chicago you automatically think about good Mediterranean food, right? Ok, that might be a stretch, but after my dinner tonight at Roti Mediterranean I will think Mediterranean when thinking about Chicago (or Arlington Heights to be precise). Roti was started by three guys that have been in the restaurant business for quite a while (Bill, Barry & John). They are looking to make it into a chain (next one opens in November in downtown Chicago), but since it still isn’t a chain yet, and since I liked the food, it qualifies for my blog. Learn more about it from the article in the Chicago Tribune, also posted on their webpage (www.rotiusa.com).

 

The clean, crisp and simple Mediterranean décor (Ceramic pitchers and copper cookware), light yellow walls and light orange stained concrete provide a warm, international, but not too wild feel. Less adventurous eaters will actually come and enjoy this place. You walk up to the bar and order your food and participate in choosing your options for your plate, shawarma (learn more about this at their website) or salad. The service was quick and very friendly.

 

Based on the advice of the server I ordered the Venetian platter and John prepared it for me. The center of my plate was loaded up with some very tasty light Hummus. It was then surrounded with chicken, steak, Spanish eggplant, Orzo pasta and my personal favorite, Tomato, onion & cucumber salad. I love eating the tomato, onion and cucumber salad with the chicken or steak. That combination is great. You also receive a slice of Pita bread. All their food is made from scratch. My taste buds were quickly dancing with delight and thoroughly enjoying the various flavors. I quickly cleaned my plate. Oh, I almost forgot. Since it was Thursday night the special is a free side bowl of soup. I love soup, all kinds of soup. And this soup, the lemon chicken vegetable soup, was great. There is a vegetarian alternative in addition to many salads and skewered meats.

 

From a story perspective Roti gets only 1 page, because it is simply about three guys tired of corporate restaurant business doing it on their own and not a family only placed where you meet Mom & Pop. However, John, whom I spoke with tonight, was very friendly, open and fun to talk to about he and his partners endeavor with Roti.

 

Hole in the wall factor is 3 holes. It was in a strip mall, had 12 tables and 7 chairs at a window facing bar. But way to spacious and crisp to be a great 5 hole place.

There were a couple of ladies who had been there a while when I arrived and did not look like they were leaving anytime soon when I left. A family (Mom, Dad and older daughter) hung out leisurely and discussed the day’s affairs. And younger couple sat at the bar and chatted a way. Any restaurant that fosters a ‘good, stay for a while, conversation’ and serves tasty international food is my kind of place.

Star of Siam in Richardson TX

I am glad that Star of Siam is the first entry in the Eating In Harm’s Way blog. This is a great Thai food restaurant in Richardson TX owned by Mark & Ann. Their story is what makes this my kind of place. Mark and Ann met at this restaurant on a blind date. They dated long distance for a season when Ann went back to Thailand. After her return to Texas they married. They wanted to get into the restaurant business and bought Star of Siam. Isn’t that great, meet on a blind date, get married and buy the restaurant you met in. Mark joked with us at the table that he was glad they did not meet at Trump TowerJ. They have been the owners for over 10 years. Mark & Ann, thank you for sharing your story with us! Now that is a 5 page story. I will rank every story by giving it 1 to 5 pages. Five pages being the most unique and 1 page being the least unique.

The décor is simple, comfortable and definitely reflects Ann’s interest in Thai royalty. There are several framed pictures of Thai royalty, framed drawings of Thai royalty and even some snapshots when Ann met Thai royalty. In addition, there are some fans, elephant carvings and a few more knick knacks. At the entrance you are greeted by a couple of statues of native Thai women that warmly greet you.

 

Outside there is a big sign that simply says “Thai Food”. Star of Siam delivers. Check out the extensive menu on their website. Today I visited with Hooman, MT and Bob. We had Thai Tea, which was very good. The big decision at the table is how hot to get our food: 1 star ‘good warm spice’, 2 stars ‘will bring a sweat’, 3 stars ‘native thai’, 4 stars ‘burn your tongue’ or 5 stars ‘eat at your own risk’ (more on 5 stars to come). I ordered the Siam Big Noodle with just 2 stars (I had previously ordered the 3 stars and it was pretty spicy). Hooman had the Fried Chicken with Cashews also 2 stars, MT had the chicken Thai fried rice with 1 star and Bob had the pork chow-mein with 1 star. Each person said their entrée was very tasty and they really liked it, Hooman commented on the fact that Thai food is very aromatic. The quantity of food is perfect for lunch. We all enjoyed it very much.

 

I especially like the soup and salad you can have with your lunch order. They are at a table near the entrance and it is self-serve. The soup is a nice coconut soup served in a crock pot and the salad is quite simple (lettuce, tomato, green pepper) with a peanut sauce for salad dressing. Very nice.

 

As far as the hole in the wall factor, it only receives 3 out of 5 holes. It has 11 booths and 5 tables and each table has nice table clothes under the glass covered tables. These are too many tables to receive the coveted 5 holes in the wall. However, it is in a non-descriptive strip mall with a big Thai Food sign outside. It is very charming and the friendly and prompt service you receive is exceptional. Hooman, Bob & MT what do you think? Should we give it a 3 or 4 hole in the wall rating?

 

One great unique aspect is the 5 Star wall of fire bulletin board. When you order a meal with 5 stars, ‘eat at your own risk’, they take a picture of you and place it on the bulletin board aptly named wall of fire. They have filled up two bulletin boards and are working on a third. I will give you an update once my picture is on the wall. It is ineluctable (word of the day).

 

Star of Siam is my kind of place!