We gave this place a try for carryout the other day. Had the deluxe, a
spinach, and a white sauce on thin crust, also cheezy bread and the
chicken dippers. The restaurant itself was very clean with standard
seating, so eating in is a possibility. They have slices prepared so
you can grab something quick if you want. The service was great--polite
and careful. When I picked up the order, the server opened each box
and we checked to see that I had what I ordered, which I did. I ordered
online, and the process overall went very well. There are lots of
options for how you want the pizza prepared, including how done you want
it and how it should be cut. We ordered one well done, and it was. I
checked out the restroom while I was there and it was very clean and
functional, with requisite funny sayings on the wall. They ticked every
box for restaurant function. I have not tried delivery but I'll bet
that works well too.
I wish I liked the pizza better. Nothing
was wrong with it, exactly. The pizzas were cooked correctly and had
plenty of ingredients. But nothing stood out about it as particularly
good. The whole family ate it and thought it was fine. The chicken
dippers are their boneless wings--reasonably well seasoned but slightly
dry, as they are at most places.
On price and menu Marco's looks
to be competing with the Big Three (Pizza Hut, Domino's, Papa John's).
I'd say they compete well on service, are about the same price give or
take specials. As far as pizza goes, it's personal preference and not a
lot to choose between them. My personal favorite recipe is Pizza Hut,
and Marco's didn't displace them, though Marco's does have better service.
My Yelp Review
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Jason's Deli at Grand Parkway Marketplace
I stopped in for lunch on a busy but not overwhelming
Saturday--the restaurant was a little over half full. The place was
clean and welcoming. Service was polite and effective, I ordered and
got what I wanted pretty quickly. The staff seemed to be working well
and not too stressed, so I think they have settled in from the opening
jitters.
I had the half sandwich and soup combo, with a Beefeater and chicken pot pie, chips and a drink. The Beefeater is their version of the French Dip. My sandwich was quite good--the beef was very tender and the cheese was well-distributed, so the sandwich held together when I dipped it in the au jus and took a bite. I hate it when the roast beef is stringy and pulls out. The au jus was fine, appropriately salty. Chips were OK but not special in any way. Maybe even just a slight bit stale, and it seems like they are like that at all Jason's locations.
The chicken pot pie was a cute presentation, with a little pastry pillow. Tasty but might have been slightly underseasoned, or perhaps that was the contrast with the au jus.
The free ice cream was good, kind of cheap and grainy but they had a gourmet chocolate sauce that balanced it out. This location has a drive through, which I have not seen at other locations but certainly makes sense for them. The restroom was clean and functional. They hit all the marks for me, which actually does not happen all that often.
Jason's has a very large menu that caters to a lot of different preferences (vegetarian, gluten-free, healthy, etc.), so we have often gone there as a compromise choice when we have parties including people with food sensitivities. Now we have one close by to cover that need.
My Yelp Review
I had the half sandwich and soup combo, with a Beefeater and chicken pot pie, chips and a drink. The Beefeater is their version of the French Dip. My sandwich was quite good--the beef was very tender and the cheese was well-distributed, so the sandwich held together when I dipped it in the au jus and took a bite. I hate it when the roast beef is stringy and pulls out. The au jus was fine, appropriately salty. Chips were OK but not special in any way. Maybe even just a slight bit stale, and it seems like they are like that at all Jason's locations.
The chicken pot pie was a cute presentation, with a little pastry pillow. Tasty but might have been slightly underseasoned, or perhaps that was the contrast with the au jus.
The free ice cream was good, kind of cheap and grainy but they had a gourmet chocolate sauce that balanced it out. This location has a drive through, which I have not seen at other locations but certainly makes sense for them. The restroom was clean and functional. They hit all the marks for me, which actually does not happen all that often.
Jason's has a very large menu that caters to a lot of different preferences (vegetarian, gluten-free, healthy, etc.), so we have often gone there as a compromise choice when we have parties including people with food sensitivities. Now we have one close by to cover that need.
My Yelp Review
 |
| Beefeater and chicken pot pie |
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Five Guys at Grand Parkway Marketplace
We've been to another Five Guys that was further away, and liked it
enough that I wanted to try this one closer to home. I stopped in on a
busy but not too busy Saturday.
Five Guys has something of a cult following, and some fairly high profile investors including Phil Mickelson. The decor of Five Guys is pretty spare, all white with exposed ductwork painted fire engine red. It actually fits pretty well with the Grand Parkway Marketplace atmosphere. All the restaurants put their potatoes and fry oil out in the dining area for "decoration". So the vibe is that of a really spare, inexpensive diner but in all other ways they want to be a gourmet hamburger place. The menu is quite simple--burgers, hot dogs, fries, milkshakes. You wait a bit for your food because they cook it when you order, and good hamburgers take a little time to cook, but you can eat the free peanuts for an appetizer. You always get your food in a bag, whether you eat it there or not.
I had a bacon cheeseburger with cajun spice fries, and a drink from the Freestyle machine. The burger itself was quite good--the bacon was very crisp and broken so that when you bite into the burger it didn't fall out. It's a tasty burger that eats relatively neatly. Very satisfying.
Five Guys makes a big deal out of cooking their fries in peanut oil. This means they have a different flavor from vegetable oil fries, but they will never be crisp. I like crisp fries so for me they are not such a big deal. The Cajun style fries are the regular fries seasoned with Cajun spice--to me it tasted like Tony Chachere's. Kind of a lot of seasoning, it was pretty overwhelming. A presentation note: I ordered the "little" fries for $3.29. They are put in the bag with a tiny cup and a lot of fries--about 2/3 of them stayed in the bag. Generous but it struck me as a little silly. You could definitely share even a small order.
I would have liked to try the milkshakes, many rave about them--but when I was there the restaurant was out of both spoons and straws! No way to get the milkshake out of the cup if you're eating there. So I would say the service was polite but apologetic. At least the Freestyle machine was working properly, which is not a given.
Some people complain about the prices, but I think they are in line for a gourmet burger. My burger was $8.99 but they have smaller versions that are not quite as expensive. It's not a fast food place. Overall I liked it fine except for lack of preparedness, and would probably give them another chance.
My Yelp Review
Five Guys has something of a cult following, and some fairly high profile investors including Phil Mickelson. The decor of Five Guys is pretty spare, all white with exposed ductwork painted fire engine red. It actually fits pretty well with the Grand Parkway Marketplace atmosphere. All the restaurants put their potatoes and fry oil out in the dining area for "decoration". So the vibe is that of a really spare, inexpensive diner but in all other ways they want to be a gourmet hamburger place. The menu is quite simple--burgers, hot dogs, fries, milkshakes. You wait a bit for your food because they cook it when you order, and good hamburgers take a little time to cook, but you can eat the free peanuts for an appetizer. You always get your food in a bag, whether you eat it there or not.
I had a bacon cheeseburger with cajun spice fries, and a drink from the Freestyle machine. The burger itself was quite good--the bacon was very crisp and broken so that when you bite into the burger it didn't fall out. It's a tasty burger that eats relatively neatly. Very satisfying.
Five Guys makes a big deal out of cooking their fries in peanut oil. This means they have a different flavor from vegetable oil fries, but they will never be crisp. I like crisp fries so for me they are not such a big deal. The Cajun style fries are the regular fries seasoned with Cajun spice--to me it tasted like Tony Chachere's. Kind of a lot of seasoning, it was pretty overwhelming. A presentation note: I ordered the "little" fries for $3.29. They are put in the bag with a tiny cup and a lot of fries--about 2/3 of them stayed in the bag. Generous but it struck me as a little silly. You could definitely share even a small order.
I would have liked to try the milkshakes, many rave about them--but when I was there the restaurant was out of both spoons and straws! No way to get the milkshake out of the cup if you're eating there. So I would say the service was polite but apologetic. At least the Freestyle machine was working properly, which is not a given.
Some people complain about the prices, but I think they are in line for a gourmet burger. My burger was $8.99 but they have smaller versions that are not quite as expensive. It's not a fast food place. Overall I liked it fine except for lack of preparedness, and would probably give them another chance.
My Yelp Review
Sunday, January 7, 2018
The Flying Taco
This tacqueria is where Hugo's Italian Restaurant used to be. It spent
several months getting open, but finally made it so I came in to give it
a try.
The interior of the place is quite plain--painted an appetizing shade of yellow but no other decorations on the walls at all. The menu is a plain vinyl sign suspended over the serving area. There is a TV up on the wall, but overall the appearance is very spare, which is in my mind not a bad thing for a place serving simple food. It is a family-run place and the staff were very friendly and helpful.
For my meal I had a plate--normally you would put one meat selection on a plate but since I couldn't decide they let me split it. I had the chicharrones and the carnitas asado (pork in a red pepper sauce). I wanted an agua fresca for a drink, so they let me try some Agua de Jamaica--hibiscus tea. I've had this before as an infusion and didn't much care for it, but their version is heavier and sweeter--it reminded me very much of grape juice. I love grape juice so I was pleased to order it. The sides were refried beans and Mexican rice, and I had corn tortillas and salsa to go with it.
Their corn tortillas are thicker and heavier than one usually gets. This means they held up well to the very soft, moist fillings, but they also didn't taste as light as normal corn tortillas. The salsas were served warm and were definitely homemade. They were labeled for heat range, something I always appreciate. The mild sauce was not spicy at all, while the "hot" sauce definitely did have a kick. I did not try the "extremely hot" sauce.
The chicharrones and carnitas asado were good but not amazing. They both had pleasing and classic flavor, very familiar if you've had them before. The salsas complemented them well. The refrieds were fine but somewhat on the runny side for my taste. The Mexican rice was tasty and helped hold the ingredients together in a tortilla. The rice suffers slightly by comparison to the amazing rice at El Rey Regio right next door. Maybe slightly above average for food.
The bathroom was clean and serviceable. Overall I would say it's a fine place but probably will not displace my favorites, Tony's Street Tacos and Laredo Taco Company.
My Yelp Review
The interior of the place is quite plain--painted an appetizing shade of yellow but no other decorations on the walls at all. The menu is a plain vinyl sign suspended over the serving area. There is a TV up on the wall, but overall the appearance is very spare, which is in my mind not a bad thing for a place serving simple food. It is a family-run place and the staff were very friendly and helpful.
For my meal I had a plate--normally you would put one meat selection on a plate but since I couldn't decide they let me split it. I had the chicharrones and the carnitas asado (pork in a red pepper sauce). I wanted an agua fresca for a drink, so they let me try some Agua de Jamaica--hibiscus tea. I've had this before as an infusion and didn't much care for it, but their version is heavier and sweeter--it reminded me very much of grape juice. I love grape juice so I was pleased to order it. The sides were refried beans and Mexican rice, and I had corn tortillas and salsa to go with it.
Their corn tortillas are thicker and heavier than one usually gets. This means they held up well to the very soft, moist fillings, but they also didn't taste as light as normal corn tortillas. The salsas were served warm and were definitely homemade. They were labeled for heat range, something I always appreciate. The mild sauce was not spicy at all, while the "hot" sauce definitely did have a kick. I did not try the "extremely hot" sauce.
The chicharrones and carnitas asado were good but not amazing. They both had pleasing and classic flavor, very familiar if you've had them before. The salsas complemented them well. The refrieds were fine but somewhat on the runny side for my taste. The Mexican rice was tasty and helped hold the ingredients together in a tortilla. The rice suffers slightly by comparison to the amazing rice at El Rey Regio right next door. Maybe slightly above average for food.
The bathroom was clean and serviceable. Overall I would say it's a fine place but probably will not displace my favorites, Tony's Street Tacos and Laredo Taco Company.
My Yelp Review
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)