La Zona Pupuseria

This is the latest food truck to occupy the space between Falvel and Roseville on Spring Stuebner. Stopped in the other day and picked up 3 tacos (beef, chicken, al pastor) and 3 pupusas (pork, beef and loroco). Added an elote (cup of corn) and a jamaica agua fresca.

The tacos are the type where the meats are well done and chewy, but cut small so that's not a problem. They were all nice and tasty, with cilantro and onion. They came with two salsa, an orange salsa that was seriously spicy and a milder green one. The tortillas were fresh and tender. Good representations.

The pupusas were also fresh and tender. One minor hiccup--instead of the pork and cheese pupusa, we got one with just cheese. They were nice and savory, easy to eat. They came with an orange sauce that was in between the salsas on spice level and complemented the pupusas well. The loroco pupusa is a unique item. Loroco is a central american flower bud with a mildly bitter and nutty flavor. The pupusa had a nice texture and good flavor, and it was interesting to try something new.

The elote was a classic preparation and a generous serving. The agua fresca was particularly good--nice and strong jamaica. Overall it's a good choice. Their competition is tough--Taqueria El Rancho up the road is also a nice place with a tree-shaded eating area and a broad menu. La Zona has a broad menu as well--lots of different Mexican snacks, along with hot dogs and burgers. Not a cheap place--the elote was $8. But there's a nice seating area. Worth a stop.

My Yelp Review

Common Bond Bistro

The Common Bond places are mostly known for breakfast and lunch, but this one is open in the evening so we went in for dinner. We got a Nashville hot chicken sandwich with Asian slaw, the pork belly deviled eggs, chicken pozole soup, and finished with a tropical cheesecake entrement.

The pork belly deviled eggs are a snack item. The filling does not have vinegar in it so no bite, and they are generously glazed in hot honey. They are topped with a savory and salty cube of pork belly that was cooked just right. I scooped mine up with a fork and ate it whole, and it was a delicious bite. Savory, crunchy and sweet all together. I can recommend them but keep an open mind.

The Nashville hot chicken sandwich was a good representation--the breading was nice and crisp and the chicken was tender. There was a drizzle of hot honey and the breading had some spice, so overall I would say medium spicy--not quite Dave's Hot Chicken but that's fine with me. The Asian slaw was very tasty, sweet with a strong peanut component.

The chicken pozole soup is good for gluten sensitive folks--it has hominy and gluten-free tortilla strips, some cabbage and onions, and lots of chicken. The bowl is a very large serving, plenty for two meals. I found it very lime-forward but enjoyed it--I would say it is a chicken tortilla soup without the avocado. At $9 it is one of the best values on the menu.

I got the tropical cheesecake entrement because it was so pretty. It's passion fruit cheesecake mousse with a crunchy guava coconut filling on a coconut cookie, with coconut chantilly, passion fruit jelly and guava jelly decorations. The bright and enticing appearance makes it taste better. It comes on a little bronzed platter that complements it well. A must-see and very worth trying.

The interior is colorful and appetizing. The restrooms were clean and ready. At this point you can tell that the staff is still training but everyone had a great attitude. I would give it a 4.5 and round up. The menu is huge, they serve breakfast all day and there are lots of choices for meals. Panera had gone downhill and this is a very good replacement.

My Yelp Review

Papa Peter's Steak and Seafood

This place first leased their space at least 2 years ago. I despaired of their ever opening, and am glad they got the doors open. We stopped in the other night for a nice dinner out. Got the gator bites for an appetizer, the King Ranch ribeye with asparagus and a side salad, and the fried catfish with a loaded baked potato. We had a Moscow Mule and raspberry iced tea for drinks, and finished with the carrot cake. We also got hush puppies--more on that below.

Usually I start with the food, but this time I need to start with the service. The people were friendly, enthusiastic and helpful. But there were a lot of issues, too many to gloss over. 1) We came in the side door from the back parking lot. There's a booth right next to this door, and that's where we were seated. You don't want this spot. Every time new patrons entered we got a blast of hot air, so we were a bit sweaty for the meal. 2) When we were seated we were asked about drinks, but not appetizers. The drinks were dropped off without an opportunity to add anything. We were ready for our mains when I got the chance to order the appetizer. So it delayed things. A minor miscommunication. 3) When the order came to the table it had fried crawfish instead of catfish. So I ate my steak while they corrected the order. Awkward. 4) I never got the side salad mentioned above. Would have asked but I forgot about it. We did get offered something to make up for the order mistake, and settled on hush puppies.

The food was a mixed bag. The gator bites were great--done perfectly with a tasty breading. This is not easy for gator, it dries out quickly. The server told us you can get other preparations if you ask, and recommended blackened. Would get that next time. The steak was decent. The ribeye had a lot of gristle, which is not unusual for that cut. It had a nice dollop of butter on it. The asparagus that came with it was great--nicely seasoned and done perfectly. The catfish was a large helping, three good-sized filets so there was plenty to take home. The breading was good. The fish itself was slightly chewy and fishy, just OK. The potato was fine. The hush puppies arrived after the mains. I'm glad we got to try them, they were very good--crispy but not hard outside, fluffy inside, and slightly sweet. Would order a dish with those for sure.

The Moscow Mule was OK, kind of heavy on the lime. I asked about mocktails but they don't have those, so I got raspberry tea. The raspberry tea was sweeter than I expected. When I got a refill I was asked if I wanted sweet or unsweet, and I asked for unsweet. But either there was no option or what I got was in fact the unsweet tea. Either way it hit the spot--I finished two glasses. The raspberry is quite strong. I liked it. The carrot cake was drizzled with a sweet caramel sauce, so it was sweet on sweet. I like a sweet dessert, so this worked for me. Can't tell if the carrot cake was homemade, it was dense like a purchased one but quite tasty.

Why am I even giving this 3 stars? The friendliness and good intentions count, and the bright spots tell me that there are better things on the menu. Maybe we just had bad luck on the service.

The interior is nicely decorated in a Texas theme. The bathrooms were clean and ready. Papa Peter's seems to be positioned as a mildly upscale value place, about like Outback. Is it better? Can't say that. For about the same price you get two sides with an Outback entree, with solid quality. And while I liked the gator bites, I do love the blooming onion. But I can see that lots of folks do like Papa Peter's, and I hope they do well.

My Yelp Review

Del Tejano

This business has changed hands--relatives of the previous owners purchased it. It is now named Del Tejano but the menu and recipes are the same. We came in to give it a try under the new owners. We got a chicken gordita, a chicken tostada and the Parrillada Regia plate. We finished with a canoa.

The gordita and tostada were good representations. The gordita was tasty and the tostada was firm enough to pick up, though it was fully loaded so that was awkward in a good way. But the star was the Parrillada Regia plate.

This plate comes on a sizzling fajita skillet with beef, shrimp, sausage and a pork chop as proteins, grilled onions and peppers, and rice, beans, tortillas, avocado and pico de gallo on the side. The beef was good, the chicken fine but slightly on the dry side, the sausage had lots of flavor, and the shrimp was well cooked. But I recommend this plate for the pork chop. It's a thin chop but it was cooked just right, done but nice and tender. There's a very narrow window to get chops right, and most places miss it, but this one was great. The portions of the proteins are about right for one taco, I would call it a sample plate. But it's under $20 so I think it is a great value as well as a good dish. Am getting that again.

We may have failed to appreciate the canoa. It's a fried plantain topped with whipped cream and cinnamon. My wife thought it was too sweet, and I thought it wasn't sweet enough. Your mileage will obviously vary.

The place has been fully decorated since my last review and is quite attractive inside. The bathrooms were clean and ready. Service was good. I think the place will be successful under the new owners.

My Yelp Review

Starbucks at Panther Creek

 I decided to have a light lunch at this location on a moderately busy Saturday.  I got a bacon, sausage and egg wrap, a slice of lemon pound cake, and their new horchata frappucino.

The wraps and sandwiches are not made there, and they are microwaved, but having said that it was a decent wrap.  Maybe a little light on sausage but the outside was more crisp than I expected.  The lemon pound cake is very good, a nice treat to go with your coffee.  I usually get a mocha frappucino but the horchata one is just as good and a nice new flavor.  The coffee makes the horchata taste somewhat close to the mocha, but there's a noticeable difference.

Service was friendly and prompt.  The interior is quite nice.  Some of the places in the Panther Creek Shopping Center have a bit of a tired look, but this place fits the area vibe without being shabby.  Nice outside seating under the trees.  The restrooms were clean and ready.  Two identical all-gender restrooms, no gender based waiting. There is a long statement on them about being for customers only, stemming from a lawsuit from several years ago.  The tables are comfortable, though I only saw a couple with outlets so there could be competition.  It's a Starbucks, and it's fine.

My Yelp Review https://yelp.to/wmdmgLRaTP

Nomad Eats

We tried out the latest food truck in La Plaza de los Food Trucks, behind the Gosling Express on Gosling Road. We got the grilled wings and the grilled chicken shawarma plate.

The wings come highly recommended and I can confirm that they are delicious. The truck has a flame grill (they say charcoal, but the cook was cooking inside the truck and I hope they are not using charcoal that way) and the wings were cooked just right on it. Tender with a nice char. We got all four sauces with our meal and they each bring something different to the food. The harissa sauce is aggressively spiced, you really taste the harissa. The Nomad Sauce is a spicy mix that I believe also has some harissa in it, though not as much. The garlic sauce has plenty of garlic. And there's ranch for the rest of you.

The chicken shawarma was cooked very well with authentic spices, topped with the harissa and garlic sauces. It's a nice big portion so you can share or save some for later. Both of our orders came with saffron basmati rice. It was nicely cooked and quite delicious. You can mix the sauces with it and enjoy it that way too.

The truck has a nice selection of Mediterranean foods. They have lamb on skewers and as chops. They also have a burger and chicken tenders for those wanting comfort food. They have some specialty drinks on the menu (hibiscus, Mangonade, and a Nomad tea) but those were not available when we came. Service was friendly. The food is cooked to order so be prepared to wait a bit. Definitely worth a try.

 

My Yelp Review 

Jeremiah's Italian Ice at Kuykendahl and Rayford

Jet's Pizza subdivided their space and a new location for Jeremiah's Italian Ice is now on the end. I stopped in the other day and got a layered Blue Raspberry and vanilla ice cream treat.

It was a good one. Hit the spot with what I was looking for, including a nice helping of sprinkles. The staff was friendly and I got my treat quickly even though it was busy. The space definitely feels narrow--there are tables but I don't know that you could get a wheelchair past them to the single bathroom at the back. The bathroom was clean and ready. It's nice to know there's another ice cream option in that area. Jeremiah's is the main alternative to the many yogurt shops around here and they do a good job.

My Yelp Review