Subway at Rayford Crossing

Between the indulgence past of Christmas dinner and the indulgence to come of New Years' Eve, I wanted something lighter for lunch so I stopped in for a sandwich at Subway on the way to shopping. Had the rotisserie chicken with spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, and red onions, with sweet onion dressing on wheat bread. A great combination, tasted quite fine, and I always enjoy Subway's soft fresh bread. I also had the chicken noodle soup instead of my usual chips. The soup was somewhat different--I kind of expected it to be like Campbell's but it wasn't. Not as salty and had more of an umami taste than I was expecting. I wasn't sure at first but it grew on me. Service was just fine as there was only one other person in there. The bathroom was clean and serviceable. All told I was happy to be there.

My Yelp Review

Alicia's Mexican Grille

We have started a tradition (twice is a tradition) of going out to dinner at Alicia's Mexican Grille on Christmas Eve.  We appreciate that they are open, even though that's more common now.  Service was OK, not great (we had a mixup with a drink order), but perfectly fine for a busy holiday evening.  We noticed an unusual offering on their menu--Hawaiian Sand Fish.  I did some research (Google) and I can't find anywhere else that calls it this, but I suspect it's parrotfish.  The name seems to come from the fact that parrotfish poop sand, and it's a major constituent of Hawaiian beaches.  In any case it was reasonably priced so two of us ordered it.  Mine was tender and well cooked, and came with delicious vegetables and a bed of spinach.  It is slightly oily and "fishy", but I don't mind fish flavor so I enjoyed it, as did the other diner.  We also had the mushroom enchiladas, which are not spicy at all but have a good mushroom flavor and are somewhat sweet.  I've had fajitas there before and they are good also.

Alicia's aims for a more upscale vibe and is somewhat expensive for Mexican food, so we don't get there often.  They now have competition from Uncle Julio's in this space.  But it's a solid choice in our neighborhood.

My Yelp Review

Russo's New York Pizzeria

Russo's New York Pizza got rave reviews from Ken Hoffman of the Chronicle several years ago when he ate with the owner at one of their locations that (at least at the time) had a coal-fired oven.  Our location in Tomball (Spring Marketplace) does not have the coal-fired oven but does advertise brick-oven pizza.  I went in on a Saturday to give it a try.

I was the first customer, so I can't comment too much on service speed, but it was relaxed. I was alone in the place the whole time and they didn't seem to get any delivery orders. I ordered a drink, some garlic bread, and a Paesano Napoletana pizza.

The garlic bread was nicely presented and came with marinara dipping sauce (a $4.50 appetizer). I like mine a bit more crisp and with more butter, but this was fine. Service was attentive while I was waiting, maybe not too surprising since I was the only one there. The pizza was plenty for 3 people, though it should have been for $17 (that's for a medium). The menu says this has romano cheese on it, but it came without any cheese. I could have sent it back, but I prefer to review food as I get it.  I have had cheeseless pizza before and liked it, so I went with it. The crust seemed to be underdone, it was a thin crust but was light colored and was not at all crisp. The flavor was just OK, they used crumbled sausage instead of the sliced sausage on the menu, and in my opinion not enough of it.  Overall, not too close to what I ordered.

Russo's has a full Italian menu, and the prices for the entrees seem in line with Olive Garden or better restaurants, but I can't speak to their quality. The dining room is nice in a typical dark Italian restaurant way (NOT like Olive Garden). It has one TV over the bar but the rest of the place would be congenial for conversation. Unfortunately the rest room, while clean, had no towels in the dispenser, which is not acceptable, especially right after opening.

With expensive, poorly made pizza and inadequate attention to detail in the rest of the place, I won't be going back.  Any of the Big Three delivery places, and plenty of others, would do a better job on the pizza itself, for less money, and Crust Pizza in the Woodlands is a much better choice for eating in.

My Yelp review

The Cajun Stop

There aren't many Cajun places to eat in this area, and I do like a good gumbo and/or po'boy.  I looked up the menu then stopped by on my way to do grocery shopping.

First off, don't visit thecajunstop.com.  My ISP reports the site as suspicious.

I was greeted and served with reasonable politeness.  The food took some time to get to me, for which they apologized, but I wasn't overly put out by the wait.

The place offers a wide variety of po'boys and other dishes, including hamburgers and steaks.  I am not a big fan of fried seafood, so I was intrigued by their description of the "extra sloppy roast beef" po'boy.  I ordered a regular, with onion rings, a cup of seafood gumbo, and a drink.

The sandwich was huge, it actually would have easily fed two and maybe four people.  I should have ordered the small.  Overall they have generous portions.  But it was not an "extra sloppy".  No gravy or juice that I could detect, though the meat was tender and reasonably tasty.  Just roast beef with mayo and pickles.  The bread was very good, crusty and chewy and fresh-tasting.  Overall it was OK. 

The onion rings were a mess--obviously the fry cook didn't know how to make onion rings.  If you put too many in the basket and they crowd each other, they stick together in wads.  The onion pile on my plate had some parts that were near burnt, some parts underdone, and nothing that resembled a ring.  On the other hand--I like my fried food well done, and the batter was actually pretty tasty.  I finished most of my onion mess.

The seafood gumbo was--not a gumbo.  When I think of gumbo, I think of a thick soup--common thickeners are okra, file, or roux.  This had none of those.  It was shrimp and rice soup with some celery.  It wasn't bad shrimp and rice soup, the shrimp was cooked well and the broth had a decent peppery flavor, but it definitely didn't resemble a gumbo at all.

As for ambiance, there's not much.  The drink machine was broken when I ate there, so our drinks were from the cooler.  This place used to be The Tamale Pot, and the decor has not changed except for a few framed articles on the walls and a kind of tired attempt at Christmas decorations.  They have some kind of upscale dishes on the menu, but it's not the sort of place you would linger at.  Better for take-out.  Value for the dollar is pretty low--the meal cost $23 before tip, though it would have fed two so that's an option.

It looks like the owner is trying to franchise the place.  She will have to pay a lot more attention to quality control.  The food was edible and not terrible, but it was not authentic at all.  I might eat a hamburger there, but not Cajun food.  If you want great gumbo in this area, Big Cab's is your choice.

My Yelp Review

Uncle Julio's at Grand Parkway Marketplace

Uncle Julio's has just opened a new location in our area, serving Tex-Mex that I'd compare to Alicia's or Mi Rancho, though they are aiming to be more upscale.  We have been to Uncle Julio's in Arlington and were ready to try one close to home.

The place is hugely popular, it's arrival was highly anticipated in the neighborhood and it is constantly packed.  Obviously they are going to be successful here.  I went in on a Saturday for lunch.  The wait for a table was 25-30 minutes.  I was by myself so the bar was an option, but it was packed also.  A seat at the bar opened up within a couple of minutes so I was able to avoid the long wait.

I was quickly greeted and started by a friendly bartender.  Bar service doesn't always work that well, especially when places are busy.  She started me with some thin, crispy tortilla chips and a pleasingly spicy salsa.  The menu has mostly standard Tex-Mex offerings, with a few interesting upscale choices like fajitas and lobster.  That says something right there--this place is not for the faint of wallet.  I'd say prices are 25-30% higher than comparable Tex-Mex.

I went for the carnitas tacos.  Carnitas is a good test--it's hard to do well, usually comes out dry.  It was on corn tortillas with cheese and cilantro.  There was cilantro-lime rice on the side, along with black beans and the usual pico and guacamole.

The tacos were decent, I'd say a little above average--only slightly dry.  OK flavor but not spectacular.  I did not care for the beans, they were very plain.  The rice was OK, I like it better than, say, Chipotle's version, but I personally prefer saffron or traditional Mexican rice.

My food and service were OK, but there were other people around me sending food back.  My wife went recently and found her food to be bland.  I would say they might have some consistency issues.

The ambiance is very nice--comfortable seating and an attractive interior, and it didn't seem to get overly loud even though the place was full.  It would be a pleasant place to share a meal with family and friends.  The bathroom was spotless and fully functional even with such a large crowd.

Overall I think the place will do very well, but I can only give it 3 stars based on value--decent food and good service but way pricey.

My Yelp Review

Tacqueria Los Tamales

This tacqueria went in where Tamales Con Cafe used to be. I stopped in for "brunch" tacos the other day. I had a barbacoa taco, a sausage and egg taco, and a bistek (chopped beef) taco, and a cup of coffee. Took a couple of salsa to try with them.

I was served by very sweet folks that appear to be a family working together. The coffee is just caffeine delivery, nothing special. The barbacoa taco was tasty and squishy as it should be. I have to say that I found the sausage and egg and bistec tacos a bit dry.

The homemade salsas were the most interesting. The hot one appears to be made from habaneros, and has a serious kick--if you get irritated by "hot" salsas that aren't really hot, this is your choice. The milder one was good but not exceptional.

The single bathroom was clean but lacked towels. The decor is not quite finished--appetizing colors but no pictures. No surprise for a very new family-run place.

Overall, it's fine but didn't make me want to drive out of my way to go back.  There are now four casual Mexican options at Kuykendahl and Dowdell, including three tacquerias--Los Tamales, El Rey Regio (grilled chicken), Tacos Puro Guererro (food truck) and Flying Taco (just opened, will review next month).  Similar businesses don't always hurt each other, but you have to have a reason to go to one over the other.  I wish these folks well, but I haven't seen or had the menu item that makes them stand out.  For me, Tony's Street Tacos and Laredo Taco Company are still the best.

My Yelp Review