Rotolo's

Rotolo's is a Louisiana-based chain with a new location here in Spring.  We went to try them out on a busy Saturday night.  Lots of cars in the lot but the place is large inside and we were seated right away.

We went with the brussels sprouts appetizer, The Krewe cheese sticks, a Meat Feast calzone, and a root beer float to finish.  

There have been some mixed reviews on the service, so I'll say up front that our service was great.  They did not bring water out to start, and some people complain about that, but I don't think that's so unusual and is not noticeable if you're started quickly, which we were.

The food was more of a mixed bag.  The Brussels sprouts are cooked with bacon, and that's really the only flavoring.  They were cooked OK but kind of bland.  Thistle draft house does these a lot better.

The cheese sticks are a kind of thin crust pizza.  The Krewe comes with pepperoni, bacon, and cheeses.  It was not soft and it was not crisp--kind of in between in an awkward way, a bit chewy.  I actually like Cici's cheese sticks better.  These were OK, edible but not marvelous.

But the calzone...that was fantastic.  A generous portion that would easily feed two, with plenty of Italian sausage, pepperoni, and Canadian bacon.  The outside was nice and crisp, with chewy crust inside.  It came with marinara sauce for dipping, which was some of the best I've ever had.  On the sweet side but with more depth of flavor than Papa John's.  The cheese sticks came with that marinara also and it helped them a lot. This calzone brings the grease--there was a pretty good puddle of it on the platter.  Some of us consider this a feature.

The website advertises dessert, but they didn't have a dessert menu.  I was looking for the bread pudding bites (fried bread pudding) but this location didn't have them.  The root beer float was fine, and only $3 so it's a decent finish.

Based on my experience with the calzone I'd be ready to give the pizza a try.  There's a lot of different things on the menu (pastas, salads, burgers as well as pizza) but it's not consistent quality, at least not yet.  The place is seriously pricy ($23 for a 13" pizza, most other menu items around $15 per person) so you want a hit the first time.  The vibe is industrial--gray walls with no decorations, so not distracting.  TVs are discreetly placed so you don't have them in your face if you don't want to watch.  They have a full bar and craft brews. Will probably be a good place to go once they settle in their staff, which is challenging these days.

My Yelp Review

El Chapis Tacos y Mariscos

Stopped by this new food truck currently located in the Roger's Tire Shop lot.  The truck has a wide variety of proteins, including some interesting ones like birria and buche (pork stomach).  I went with one each of the carne asada, carnita, and tripa tacos, and washed it down with a pineapple agua fresca.  

The street tacos are $3 each, and you get small tacos with two corn tortillas.  They are, however, generously filled.  They have one red salsa that is pretty spicy but manageable.  No mystery meat here, each one was very identifiable.  The carne asada had great flavor, the carnitas were very tender, and the tripa had that earthy flavor you would expect.  The agua fresca was generous (24 oz) but a bit watery.

Inflation bites.  The meal was $15 including the agua fresca and tax.  Service was polite and effective.  I've been watching the place for a few weeks and it seems to be consistently open, and I've seen a sign saying they are open as early as 6am, so if you stop in it should be available.  Their social game is not strong--can't find it on any social media.  A decent choice if you're hungry, but they might have to up their game to compete with Fatima's Pupusas and Snacks up the road.

My Yelp Review