Which Wich, Billadelphia, Menchies...

Summary of three visits last week: two hits and one miss.

WhichWich? on Berry Street.  I expected a Subway-type sandwich, (which actually I like sometimes but don't put in the great sandwich category) and was surprised by the better than expected combination of good crusty bread and a decent portion of meat rolled into a tasty sandwich. I liked it a lot. At almost $9.00 for a sandwich, drink and chips, it is a little pricey, but of the chain sandwich shops in Fort Worth: Subway, Potbelly, and Quizno's, I'll take the WhichWich? sandwich. WhichWich? is a young chain of "superior sandwiches" with stores in about twenty states. Dallas Observer voted them the best cheap sandwich in 2006. About the name . . . I don't like it, too cutesy for me, and as you can see, it makes writing about them confusing.

Menchies is a frozen yogurt store in University Park Village, on the southwest corner, next to the Apple store. Menchies, like Which wich? is another food franchiser growing into the South and the West. If you like the new frozen yogurt concept you will like Menchies. The yogurt is excellent, with about 10 flavors, and the toppings are plentiful. If the fro-yo concept is more than a passing fancy, Menchies will do well. The yogurt is very good and the location is great.

I was disappointed in Billadelphia's on Berry Street near Paschal High School because it was just okay. I grew up on the Philly cheesesteak and have my idea of a good one. Billadelphia's looked right but was missing some flavor and texture. The sliced steak is thicker than I like, and I prefer a little hardier roll, but the worst part was that it was kind of tasteless. A good cheesesteak combines the flavors of steak, cheese, bread and fried onions, and their steak part just wasn't right. I did like the fact that they served TastyKake cakes and Herr's potato chips. I hate to criticize anyone trying to promote the greatness that is the cheesesteak but it just wasn't that great.

Happy Thanksgiving, 2009.

Same post as last Thanksgiving Day.
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 Every Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day, for over 40 years, the Wall Street Journal has reprinted two essays on its editorial page. The first essay, "The Desolate Wilderness" is a brief chronicle based on William Bradford's account of the Pilgrim settlement. The second essay, "And the Fair Land," reminds us to remember our good fortune in a world not often so blessed.

I read them every year. The following are two excerpts from the Wall Street Journal essays, and the links if you desire to read the entire essay (both are short):

Here beginneth the chronicle of those memorable circumstances of the year 1620, as recorded by Nathaniel Morton, keeper of the records of Plymouth Colony, based on the account of William Bradford, sometime governor thereof: So they left that goodly and pleasant city of Leyden, which had been their resting-place for above eleven years, but they knew that they were pilgrims and strangers here below, and looked not much on these things, but lifted up their eyes to Heaven, their dearest country, where God hath prepared for them a city (Heb. XI, 16), and therein quieted their spirits.

To read the balance of the editorial: http://online.wsj.com/article
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Any one whose labors take him into the far reaches of the country, as ours lately have done, is bound to mark how the years have made the land grow fruitful. This is indeed a big country, a rich country, in a way no array of figures can measure and so in a way past belief of those who have not seen it. Even those who journey through its Northeastern complex, into the Southern lands, across the central plains and to its Western slopes can only glimpse a measure of the bounty of America.

And a traveler cannot but be struck on his journey by the thought that this country, one day, can be even greater. America, though many know it not, is one of the great underdeveloped countries of the world; what it reaches for exceeds by far what it has grasped. So the visitor returns thankful for much of what he has seen, and, in spite of everything, an optimist about what his country might be. Yet the visitor, if he is to make an honest report, must also note the air of unease that hangs everywhere.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119

San Antonio.

I've always been partial to San Antonio. I like it almost as much as I do Fort Worth. But I am partial to all things Franciscan, and San Antonio was settled by Franciscan missionaries a few hundred years ago, which makes it an old city and, like New Orleans or San Francisco, a city with an Old World feel.

Another big reason to enjoy San Antonio is the Mexican cuisine, which is not one thing but many things. I love Tex-Mex as much as anyone, but Mexico is a country with regional recipes for steak, seafood, breads, and desserts, and is a place with vegetables not commonly found north of the border. Except in cities like San Antonio.

Here are two of the restaurants we visited.

La Fonda. Excellent Mexican cuisine. I had the Milanesa de Pollo and it was delicious. La Fonda is downtown in the Alamo Heights area and serves the local San Antonio crowd. The best Mexican food is not on the Riverwalk but in the city where the locals live. It is not hard to find a good one.

Another restaurant we enjoyed was Fralos, the Art of Pizza, a pizza restaurant on the the northwest side of San Antonio in Leon Springs. Most of the seating is outside. The pizza is excellent and the atmosphere, on a cool San Antonio November night, is perfect.

Final suggestion for Fort Worth to travelers to San Antonio:
We visited the Whole Foods in Austin on the way back. Of the major specialty food retailers that I have visited, Whole Foods, Wegman's, and Central Market, Whole Foods is winning the battle of consistently good food quality and store innovativeness. It is true in the older stores, like the one we have in Arlington, and especially true in the new concept stores, like the store in Austin. The entire perimeter of the store is devoted to made-fresh foods with seating in each department. Bread, cheese, wine, coffee, fish, chocolate, sandwiches, tacos, sushi, you name it and it's there. And good. I tasted a chocolate and caramel covered apple in the chocolate department. Delicious.

My only complaint, and it is a minor one, is that it has limited street-level parking and it is crowded. We visited on a weekday afternoon around 2 p.m. and it was packed. Trust me on this one, it's worth a visit.

Shine Car Wash. Love that Place.

Every once in a while you come across a business that gets it. By "it" I mean low cost, quality work, good service, and ease of use. Thanks to my son, I found such a place at Shine Car Wash. Shine offers a five dollar self-drive-through carwash, and for an additional four bucks, wheel treatments and hand dry. It's fast, easy to use, and their machines do a good job.

And the best part: you do the vacuuming, which at Shine is odd kind of a joy. After the car wash, you drive around, signage easily guiding the way, to a bank of about 20 vacuum hoses neatly hanging from frames at about 10 parking spots. Each parking spot has two hoses, one for each side of the car. Pull the hoses out of their holders and vacuum away.

Warning: the vacuum is twice the power of the standard 50 cent vacuum cannister. Shine's vacuum gets every leaf, scrap of paper, penny, quarter, lonely french fry, and anything that isn't glued down. I hope they have a way of pulling out the money because I vacuumed up at least 15 cents.  I'll put it this way. I'd pay the 5 bucks just to use the vacuums. They are a work of engineering art.

Okay, I admit it, I am easily entertained but I really like this operation. Shine Car Wash gets the Food & Fort Worth, "I like it", seal of approval.

Shine Car Wash is just north of Berry Street, east of University about 1/3 mile, near the Blockbuster Video.

Comments on the Report: "Eight Restaurants that Get it Right."

US News and World Report did a piece on eight restaurants that are getting it right during the slow economy. Yahoo News had it as a lead story.  Following are my comments on their selections. I would love to hear yours.  I should mention that the "getting it right"  is related to growth, sales, and profit in a down economy and not necessarily the quality of food or service, although they are usually related.

I have never been to the first two restaurants mentioned in the report, please comment if you have.

Buffalo Wild Wings.  They have one location in Fort Worth, several in Tarrant County, and about 20 in DFW. All of them are pretty new, I think. Growing like mad at a pace of 60 restaurants per year. I haven't had the chance to visit one.

BJ's Restaurants.  I haven't been to this one either but the menu looks good. They serve pizza, burgers, salads, but also things like Thai wraps. If nothing else it shows you how broad the American palate is these days. BJ's have nearly completed the construction of their new restaurant at the NorthEast Mall.

Chipotle Mexican Grill. I like them. My only complaint is not the taste of the food, but the temperature. Everything has that "sitting in the warm-up bin" feel to it. If they could figure out a way to serve the burritos hot I would eat there every day. I have the same complaint at Boston Market. Who likes luke-warm chicken and green beans?

Olive Garden. I think I have been to an Olive Garden once, many years ago. Everything about the place, from the commercials to the faux Italian decor drives me crazy. I was in a bistro in Italy once and the background music was Kenny Rogers', Gambler. Only Americans play Italian music in their restaurants and paint gondolas on the wall.

Panera Bread Co.  1,400 stores and growing at a pace of 20 per year. It's a good company that hires good restaurant people to run their stores. The bread is good not great, as are the sandwiches. I like the vibe of Panera and the managers' attitudes.

Peet's Coffee & Tea. As far as coffee goes, I don't quite get Peet's. I'll take Dunkin Donuts or McDonald's.

P.F. Chang's. A nice restaurant to take guests who have never been to a Chinese restaurant with a nouveau American flair. Personally, I think the food is overpriced and over-rated. Sorry. P.F. Chang's is growing fast as well.

Texas Roadhouse. Anyplace that lets you throw peanut shells on the floor is alright by me. As far as the food goes, not that great.

After rereading this it seems I am being critical of all six of the eight in which I have eaten. But I'm not, really. I frequent Chipotle and Panera, because for what they do they are good, the others don't appeal to me but they do appeal to many others. The growth of these companies is proof of that.

Charleston's

There is a temptation to leave unmentioned the restaurants that are good, consistent, and unchanging.  Charleston's is such a place. It has served good food and provided good service since being established, I'm not sure how many years ago (10?).

The Fort Worth restaurant is part of a small chain of about twenty Charleston restaurants in the southwest. The menu is traditional American: steaks, hamburgers, salads, seafood, and a few pasta dishes. Charleston's separates itself from other restaurants by serving quality food, prepared well, and served professionally. They have a niche: casual, quality, simple. The menu is small, which I like. It makes what they do possible.

Last night, four of us visited the Hulen Street restaurant. Entrees ordered: two grilled chicken salads, one chicken fried steak, and one plate of rigatoni's. All of them were good and the portions, substantial. We also ordered a chips and queso appetizer which was excellent. Additionally, every guest is served a signature, honey-dripped dinner croissant with the entree. At some restaurants the bun is a throwaway. Not at Charleston's. I look forward to getting the croissant as much as I do the meal. It's a good thing they serve only one per person.

Can you find a cheaper steak or salad in town? Absolutely. Charleston's is in the high middle range on prices, but for the money and for dependability, I don't think you can do much better.

Charleston's is the like the front page news headline, "Sun rises in the east. Again."  Last night, they did what they do always do. You just expect it.

Hardwood Floors

I am working on a house remodel.

One part of the process has been removing the blue, yes, sno-cone blue, wall-to-wall carpet, and refinishing the fifty-year old oak floors. I have to tell you that I feel like I am doing Western Civilization some good as I remove the carpet and expose these beautiful floors to the world once again. But to my point -- in order to refinish the floors, I had to visit various rental facilities for the refinishing machinery; to my surprise Home Depot had the newest equipment and the best service.

I had noticed an improvement in Home Depot in the last few years but did not expect that to filter through to the rental equipment, which was not known for renting good equipment. I was pleasantly surprised and thought the process was as easy as it could get both in the renting and returning.

I visited Lowes, which contracts their rentals to Sunbelt Rentals, an independent rental company, and Home Depot. Home Depot had the best combination of good equipment, price and service.

What's this have to do with food in Fort Worth?

Nothing really, but if you are looking to rent home improvement equipment in Fort Worth, I liked what I saw at Home Depot -- and those grilled sausages and brauts sold at the exit are pretty good, too.