Chop House Burgers, Arlington, Texas. The Best?

First, let me thank Lynn for the suggestion. I don't first-time-try Arlington restaurants much these days and wouldn't have found the Chop-House if Lynn hadn't said something.

The Chop House Burger is as good as you can get. Period. I could stop there, give you the link, and say, next time you are in Arlington, stop by.

But for those interested, Chop House Burgers is the venture of long-time steakhouse chef Kenny Mills, who, among many other things, ran one of my favorite steakhouses in the country, The Capital Grille, in Washington, DC. I mention that because after you have tasted one of the Chop House burgers you know that this is a hamburger that has had some thought put into it.

The "Best" burger in the area? I don't know, but it should be an entrant in any DFW competition. If you have been, or you go, PLEASE, tell me your opinion. Am I missing something or is that a great burger?

The fries, by the way: medium-thin cut, fried perfectly, hot, and delicious. One order is enough for two people, at least for Marian and me. The prices are similar to any of the better hamburger places in the area, about $10 per person for a meal. They do have soups and salads, as well.

Chop House Burgers is in a little strip shopping center at the corner of Park Row and Fielder.

I'll be going back. What else can I say.

Chop House Burgers Link: Here

...

Zestfest, 2011. Irving, Texas.

I'm not sure why they moved Zestfest to the Irving Convention Center. No offense, but Irving...Zestfest? Something wrong with that.

Anyway, here are a few reminders from my last year's visit and some general information. It is a great show for taste testing and for buying.

1. There is a $10 entrance fee but you can come and go all day.
2. It can get crowded, if you want more space, ask when the "down" times are.
3. There are drinks to purchase, including Coors beer, but no food except 1 concession stand serving hotdogs and such. Of course, there are hundreds of sauces, salsas, and relishes to try with plenty of tortilla chips.
4. Try the super hot peanuts. Wow.

DETAILS:

Friday, January 28, 2011 11:00-3:00 TRADE ONLY
Friday, January 28, 2011 3:00-7:00
Saturday, January 29, 2011 10:00-5:00
Sunday, January 30, 2011 10:00-4:00
--------------------------------------------
Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas
500 W Las Colinas Blvd.
Irving, TX 75039

http://zestfest2011.com/

..

Super Bowl XLV. A Few Random Thoughts.

Super Bowl XLV at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, on February 6, in Arlington, Texas will be the biggest sporting event in the country in the year 2011. That's saying something. Super Bowl numbers are staggering: the number of people watching, the number of pizzas consumed, rooms and cars rented, the list is endless.

In the video, they say that 150,000 people will be visiting North Texas Super Bowl weekend. I hope they all feel welcome and that North Texas looks good.

We have no single-ticket draw here. No mountains, beaches, or slot machines. No French Quarter, or Colosseum, or natural wonders of the world. We do have amenities that match nearly every city in the nation. Great restaurants, hotels, parks, lakes, rivers and the like. And lots of wide open space.

In many ways, I think Fort Worth has more to offer SuperBowl visitors than Dallas, even though it is smaller in scope. Fort Worth has a model downtown with plenty to do and see. Traffic is a little lighter, it's closer to the Stadium and it's not quite as overwhelming as Dallas. Plus, it has an authentic western quality to it. We like the nickname, Cowtown.

I know many people are opposed to the intrusiveness of events like this and maybe the cost is a little daunting. But in my mind, the end does justify the means. The benefits are not just the immediate monetary bump, but the exposure that brings people and businesses back for years to come. Billions of people watch the Super Bowl on TV and they all will be seeing the mural at Sundance Square as ESPN plays SuperBowl host. We couldn't get that kind of exposure with twenty years worth of advertising.

I love the Super Bowl being right next door to me. Love it. And anything I can do to make it come off a success I will.

Oh, and Jerry, have your people call my people. I might have time to stop by your luxury suite on Sunday.

Sprouts Farmers Market. New in Fort Worth. Opening Wednesday.

Remind me never to go into the grocery business.

I'm serious.

The competition begins with the old-line Albertson/Kroger/TomThumb stores, and is followed by Walmart and Target super stores, Sam's and Costco bulk-discount stores, plus, Whole Foods and Central Market on the high end, and Aldi, Trader Joe's, and a cast of thousands on the low end. It's a tough world for selling a can of beans these days.

Entering this not-so-friendly fray: Sprouts Farmers Markets.

Spouts fresh produce department

Sprouts is a grocery store devoted to fresh foods, some local, some organic, but not solely so, and healthy-living products, like vitamins, supplements and skin care products.

I visited the my first Sprouts store Saturday, at the Hulen and I-20 store's pre-open. I liked it and for what my opinion is worth, I think they will do well in Fort Worth. Healthy living and environmentally safe products are the new normal. And the lower prices at Sprouts makes shopping there very attractive.

Sprouts has a meat department with some grass-fed beef selections, a fish department, a bakery, fresh produce, and two hundred bins of fresh nuts, grains, beans, chocolates, etc. They also have their own private-label products, peanut butter and spaghetti sauce are two that I saw as I walked around. And they have special sale days every Wednesday. I noticed raw almonds for $3.99 a pound, on sale, and granola for $1 a pound, again on sale. Coffee beans normally at $8.99 a pound on sale days will be $5.99 a pound when they are on sale.

Final somewhat random observation: the store seems more set-up for the female shopper than your average grocery store. I don't know if that is the intentional vibe or just my reaction from shopping at Home Depot too much lately.

Anyway, Sprouts' stores are in four states and based in Phoenix, Arizona. They currently have fifty stores, this is the first in Fort Worth. There are four in Austin (weird). They are a privately held corporation.

To the folks at Sprouts Farmers Markets --- welcome to Fort Worth.
---------------------------------------
Store Details
Opening day: Wednesday, January 26. (Special prizes for first 500 visitors)
Website: Sprouts
4650 SW Loop 820
(NW corner of I-20 and Hulen the old Albertson's)
Fort Worth, TX

Disclosure: at the end of the tour I was given a "thank-you" tote-bag with a few treats like berries, puffed rice chips and lotion samples. It was thoughtful and appropriate.

...

Cost of gasoline adjusted for inflation.

I noticed gasoline over $3.00 per gallon today. And I hear talk of 50 or 75 cents more per gallon by the summer.

Painful? Yes, especially for long-commuters.

But when adjusted for inflation the price is not not much different than other "above average" times in the last 90 years. Gasoline was 25 cents per gallon back in the '60's, but when adjusted for inflation, that is, when adjusted to the buying power or value of the today's dollar, the price today is not wildly different from the price back then.

That being said, 2011 prices at $3.00+ a gallon are on the high side of the mean.

Want to feel better? In London, gasoline works out to be over $8.00 a gallon, US.

Inflation Adjusted Average Gasoline Prices, from InflationData.com

Chart: © Copyright 2010.  Timothy McMahon and InflationData.com
For more information on this chart please go to: InflationData.com

Share: 

The Wall Street Journal's New Books Section

Some readers will not find this post very interesting -- but, since I have yet to write anything very interesting anyway, I thought, why change now.

If you haven't picked up a copy of the Wall Street Journal's Weekend edition, you should. If you haven't seen one in a while, and you like newspaper reading, you ought to give it a try.

The Weekend Edition is especially good, partly because it is new, and has started with a "clean slate" of ideas, and partly because it has taken parts of the old Friday edition, my old favorite, and expanded them.

Within this Saturday edition, the one section I would like to talk about is the Books Section. In the old Friday edition, the Books section was barely a page, last week the Books Section was a full eight pages. Here's a sample of what they covered.

1. The Greatest of Them All -- a review of three books on Alexander the Great. A summary of eight other books of the same subject.

2. Mysteries Chronicles -- Dorothy Sayer's, Lord Peter Whimsey lovers will be glad to know that the Sayer's estate has deputized someone to finish her last novel. There's a brief essay on that.

3. Joseph Brodsky. A Literary Life. A full review of a new book on the Russian poet and writer.

4. Growing Pangs. A half-page review on the Maud Hart Lovelace books.

5. Five Best: Fury and Terror at the High Seas. Each week WSJ does a brief review of the five best books in a field. This week, they reviewed the five best books on sailing and the high seas. Coincidentally, I had just downloaded one of them for my Kindle. Free.

So, if you like books and book reviews, including the classics, you can't do much better than the Wall Street Journal Saturday Books Section.

(While I am at it, and just in the off-chance somebody from the basement level of the WSJ reads this: if you are going to publish a magazine once a month, do you think you could broaden the appeal to more than the NYC crowd? Thanks.)
..
..

For Want of a Bar of Soap.

I have lived in my house, "lo these many years."

I have paid for my house, or contributed towards its payment, I have painted its wood, mowed its lawn, and washed its windows. I have, for over thirty years, added my sweat and equity to this house in which my wife and I have lived. And she has turned out rather nicely, if I do say so myself.

Yet . . . yet, when I am searching, in this modest little house of ours, for a bar of soap, a simple, little bar of shower soap -- I can find not a one.

Oh, we have soap. We have soaps in many colors and shapes. Soaps wrapped in fancy papers, bearing fancy names. Some even wrapped in rough, corrugated paper with hemp bows tied around them. Impostors. Wolves in sheep clothes. I do not want these soaps.

I do not want to smell like oatmeal, or wheat, or honeysuckle, or shea butter. I do not want soap made from goat's milk or peaches. I do not want sand, or salt, or pieces of maple bark in my soap, and I certainly do not want lavender. But, right now, in my house I find all of the above and not one that bears the old names in which I am familiar.

Dial, Irish Spring, Zest . . . oh we few, we happy few . . . I know you are out there somewhere . . .

,,,,,

Best Of Fort Worth. 2010

Food and Fort Worth's 

Best of Fort Worth

(and a few worst, and one I'm really upset about) 
2010

Best new retail and restaurant development: The West 7th and So7 (South 7th) developments have to be the biggest, and in my opinion the best, mixed-use development we have seen for many years. What the Target area south of Montgomery Plaza did wrong, West 7th has done right. The area south and west is developing now and adding to the whole cool vibe. Sundance Square, if I may say respectfully, feels a little touristy compared to what's going on at 7th Street.

Best Mexican Restaurant / upscale: I still think Mi Cocina's downtown is the most enjoyable upscale Mexican restaurant, when you look at it from food quality, service, location and price. Their recent corporate problems notwithstanding, I like to go there. Cantina Laredo is a pretty close second, but doesn't have quite the buzz of Mi Cocina's. Chuy's is a step down in atmosphere, but I liked their sauces and will be returning. Antonio's near the NorthEast Mall is an excellent upscale restaurant. I don't care too much for the location, though. I have not been to Lanny's.

Mexican Restaurant / larger, family owned: Benito's is a local favorite. I agree, it deserves the support it receives. Same with La Familia and La Playa Maya. I have tried dozens of locally owned Mexican restaurants but I always go back to one of these three. Maybe it's because I did not grow up in Fort Worth, but Joe T's has never been on my radar.

Sunni: El Asadero (Stockyards). 

Mexican Restaurant / small building. Salsa Fuego was selected 3 of 50 in the "Best Mexican" in Texas Monthly magazine and it too deserves the praise it gets. It's a long way from my house so I have been only twice. But it's good. Melis, on Vickery is good for a quick taco or burrito. And El Pollo Regio on Belnap is really good -- okay it's not going to win any restaurant design awards but I love the half-chicken with beans and rice.

Mexican / Taco stand or coach

I like the coach at Lancaster and about Oakland. It's been rolling in and out forever. Three tacos, beans and rice for about $4, and man it's good. There's a new taco stand on Berry across from Fuzzy's. I have heard that it is good.

Mexican restaurant opening soon downtown: Los Locos? I think. Kind if hard to see and read the sign. I hope the food is better than the sign design.

Fajitas: The best fajitas in town, in my opinion, are at Pappasito's. Their Wednesday night two-for-one fajitas is a ridiculously good deal. Many of Pappa's dishes, including the cabrito and shrimp, are really good, as well. Uncle Julio's is a Pappasito's knock-off. It's good and well attended but it's just too noisy for me

Worst Mexican: Last year, I criticized the Yucatan Grill. They are, by all appearances, surviving well without me. This year we are giving the You call this Mexican food? award to Habenero's in south Arlington. It makes Yucatan Grill look good. God-awful food, with guacamole that I swear was made without an avocado.

Pizza: Cavalli's in Irving is the best in the DFW area. Il Cane Rosso, is a very close second. Patrizio's is good. Many of you like Rocco's. It's okay by me. The great thing about Cavalli's is that it is the least expensive and it is the best. Fireside Pies? Well, we won't go there for now. All of the above are southern-Italy style thin-crust pizza. The New York style pizza which I like is getting harder to find.

Jake: Il Cane Rosso at Times Ten Cellar

Frozen Yogurt: Yogurtland is my favorite because it is good and it is inexpensive. Only 30 cents an ounce. Yogolait and Menchies are both excellent, as well. I hope the fro-yo trend sticks. I love the stuff.

Bread: Let's talk about bread for a minute. Most of us love a good loaf of bread. In my opinion, Artisan Baking Co. bakes the best bread, cookies, scones and assorted baked goods in town. Period. The more I shop there the more I believe that. Artisan's bread has a wholesome, clean taste, it stays fresh five or six days when covered, it's moist, it has a perfect texture, and it works great for toast, sandwiches, or just sliced with butter. Proprietors Gwin and Mark Grimes have a bigger vision, though, for which they can be commended: they use locally grown products, like eggs, wheat, and milk. That's not an easy commitment to make when you are competing with modern "economy of scale" purchasing, but they do it nevertheless, and for the consumer it means a fresher, better tasting product.

Jake: Sweet Potato Rolls at Artisan Baking.

 

Red Rooster Bakery. We have been to Red Rooster twice and I like their traditional French bread. Crusty exterior and great texture. Red Rooster promotes their use of a 24 to 48 hour fermentation which gives their bread a distinctive flavor. I'm not a baker. I don't know what that means. But I like their bread.

Public Service Announcement: Please continue to support our local bakeries, coffee shops, farmer's markets, restaurants, and merchants of all kinds. Large and small. 

Burgers: My current favorite is M&O Grill. Consistently good hamburgers. Five Guys on Hulen is new, and also one of my favorites, Smashburger is good, they are new, on University and in Arlington, and, drum roll please, In-N-Out Burger will be on 7th Street in 2011. I have not been to an In-N-Out, but everyone tells me they are good. Not new, but still good: Fred's, Kinkaids, Tommy's, Love's, Jakes. My least favorite "gourmet" burger is Dutch's and Pappas. Sorry, nothing personal, but that's the way I see it.

Sunni: Love Shack So7 Great burger with great atmosphere. Great place to take the kids.

Jake: M&O Station Grill

Coffee: Buon Giorno. New, with very good coffee. Buon Giorno roasts their coffee beans at their store in Grapevine. The Grapevine location has been operating for several years, in contrast to most independently owned coffee shops which have the lifespan of a tsetse fly. They must be doing something right. Avoca on Magnolia opens soon.  Aduro Bean is a local roaster with excellent coffee for home brewing. Cafe Brazil will be coming to Fort Worth at TCU, soon. More on that as it develops. I still like McDonald's coffee in the morning. Starbucks: I have loved you, but please bring Sumatra back. Pike's Place is nasty.

Steak and "Finer" Dining: I'm just not doing much anymore in this category. People tell me good things about Bonnells and Eddie V's. And of course, Saint Emilion. Your comments most appreciated in this department.

Becca (E): We love Eddie V's bar for drinks, dinner, and music.

Jake: Bonnells. Fantastic, their grits are insanely good..

Sunni: Eddie V's- I just haven't uncovered any weaknesses yet. For cocktails, Tillman's bar area. Warm peanuts, good drinks and selection of beers on tap. For a girl's night out: Winslow's, especially on the patio by one of the fires if it's a nice evening.

Italian Restaurant: My father and grandfather owned and operated an Italian restaurant. It's hard for me to get spaghetti and meatballs out even today, probably because I want to to taste my grand-pops sauce and never do. Nonna Tatta, La Piazza, Ruffino's (under new management) get good reviews. I have heard good things about Taverna, downtown.

Stephen: Patrizio's for everything. Our favorite restaurant.

Newcomer of the Year: I'm going with Il Cane Rosso. That's good pizza.
Jake: Lunch at Terra Mediterranean Grill (started in Austin). Their babaganuesh is fantastic.

Barbecue: Angelo's on White Settlement is my old favorite. Cousins is good. Wilson's in the Meadowbrook area is my new favorite. Sorry Jenn, please don't stop reading.

Thai: Suk a Thai, in Arlington, is a repeat favorite of ours. Thai Tina gets good reviews from friends I trust, but I prefer Suk a Thai. I am never disappointed there.

Chinese: Like always: Help! I don't get Chinese food.

Best Hang-out restaurant-bar: Buttons on Hulen at I30.

Ice Cream: Braum's, $1.50 for a single dip of good ice cream.

Jake: Sweet Sammies (though they keep raising prices)

Favorite new fast-food: Jack in the Box Steak and Burrito taco. Not bad, not bad at all. I also like the KFC baked chicken breast. Very tasty.

Favorite Food Event of the Year: I doubt anything will ever surpass the Hatch Chili Festival at Central Market. I love the chili peppers, I love the pepper-filled air, and I especially love a hot, Hatch Chili sausage wrapped in a flour tortilla.

Best Developing Street, 2010: 7th Street has developed far more and more enjoyably than I expected. I still love to walk along Magnolia and think its development is the most promising in the long term. But right now 7th has it locked up.

Best Developing Street Still in Development. South Downtown near the Convention Center, St Patrick's, and Houston Place Lofts.That will help tie together all of downtown.

Best Retail News of the Year: Barnes and Noble on University is staying open. Great news. Second best retail news: Central Market has been painting, cleaning and generally updating the store. And speaking of  Central Market. I was pretty hard on them last year. The Fort Worth store, after nine years of pretty hard use, was looking run down and not quite maintaining the standard they had established -- but -- it's improving. They've cleaned, painted, and even repainted some of the needy areas. The aisles are less cluttered, the outdoor dining area is cleaner, the outdoor tables and chairs have been cleaned and varnished, and, the fresh food section has been updated a little. They had "set the bar high" nine years ago, maintaining that standard is harder than starting it, no matter what business you are in.

Hippest New Store I Will Never Visit: Anthropologie. New at University Plaza. The Anthropologie in Philadelphia is in the old Drexel family mansion on Rittenhouse Square. It's a beautiful building, but when I walked through the store a few years ago I got weird looks.

Hippest New Store I Do Visit: Apple

Hippest Store that I hope does well because she works hard marketing it but that I won't frequent because I'm too old: Dean-Kingston off 7th near La Familia. It's hard competing with the big clothing retail chains, you have to like it when someone does. 

Best Beer in the USA: Stephen: Dogfish Head IPA. Wins national awards, too.

Fast-food I do not get: Chick Fil A. What is it about a bad slab of chicken, a pickle slice, and a cold, white bun that people like?

Places that give me the eeba-jeebas: Chick Fil A, World Market, Ulta, any mall, Marble-Slab, IHOP, Waffle House, old Burger-Kings, Wal-Mart, TCC campus in Hurst. I have no idea why, maybe some psycho-analyst will find a connection.

Places that give me good vibes: Omni Hotel, Apple Store, Barnes and Noble on University, Magnolia Street, So7, Central Market, St Mary of the Assumption, Downtown Fort Worth, Trinity River Walking path just north of downtown,

Kevin Buchanan

Best post by a Fort Worth weblog writer: Steven Wade Smith's, piece on the family dog, Cassie. Also, Kevin Buchanan's work on the light rail.

Best New-to-Me Fort Worth Blog: Horsebits. Filled with interesting links, book reviews, charts, business-related information, and opinion.

Coolest Fort Worth related graph of the year: Where Americans are moving?

Almost Best Addition to Downtown: Light Rail. Didn't happen. I wish it would have. Yes, I'm a Republican, yes, I prefer a limited civil government, yes, I wanted the light rail to pass, and no, I don't want to talk about it.

Favorite TV ad of the year:  Apple TV ad. Apple gets advertising. Steve Jobs understands the TV "stimulus-response" medium. All the iPhone4 ads were good.

My favorite Radio Sports Talk: The Ticket, 1310 am. The Fan is making a run at them with the Ticket's former host, Greggo. Tough to beat Reins and Co. and I sincerely doubt they will.

Most Impressive Architecture: Dallas Cowboys Football Stadium. It may not be hosting a very good football team but it is one impressive piece of engineering. Best in Fort Worth is So7. It just works.

Greatest Sports News of the year: The Rangers beating the Yankees and making it to the World Series is not only my favorite event of the year but one of the highlights of my sports enjoying life. I still think about it. Second: ESPN's announcement to host their SuperBowl XLV show from Sundance Square. Very cool.

Favorite New Product of the Year (for us): Netflix, wireless, via the Wii. Love it. Cut the cable, too. Number two is the Kindle 3.

Worst Chain Restaurant Meal of the Year: El Chico's in Arlington on Collins. Just terrible.

Worst Movie I saw This Year. Expendables. The name says it all. Hey Sly. Dude. It's over.

Worst on video: Have You Heard about the F'ing Morgans? Booooring. And stupid, stupid, stupid. 

Worst Sound of the Year: Click here 

Trainwreck We Couldn't Stop Watching: Click Here

Best New Wine by the Glass: Becca: Times Ten Cellars, but don't forget Zambrano's.

Worst Tech Decision of the Year: GroupOn was offered $6 billion by Google and turned it down. Their IPO comes out late 2011. They're expecting to gen-up around 7 Bil from the offering, a little more than Google offered them. It all comes down to continued coupon sales which I do not think is a sure thing. Sorry, boys, there's already competition nipping at your heals. A $6B bird in the hand is worth more than . . .

 

Local Retail Store on My Pissed-me-off Radar: Half-Price Books.  My son-in-law had his expensive graduate school classroom books stolen from the trunk of his car. A few weeks later my son found one of the books at Half-Price with the original purchase receipt in it, and with my son-in-law's signature on the receipt. It was his book. So... Half Price Books buys books that have been stolen and resells them? I thought that was illegal.

Food-related Words I will Never Use: Foodie and Yum. As I have said before, if you are a guy and you are using the word Yum, you need to stop.

What I would like to see in Fort Worth about once a year: 

                                                                           Getty Images

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unchanged from last year's "Best of". Still the best:

View of Fort Worth: From the hilltop at Channel 5.

Best Bicycling: the bicycle/walking path on the north side of downtown.

Bagels: Yogi's on Hulen. They are good. The breakfasts are a little expensive for what you get but the bagels are still good.

Best Donuts: Pauls, off Magnolia. Good people, good donuts. Dale's gets lots praise from our readers. I love Dunkin' Donuts but the closest is in Hurst. Kountry Donuts on NW Hwy in Grapevine are the biggest donuts I've seen and very good. Whatever happened to the Krispy Kreme craze? They were always a little too sweet for me. My favorite donut is a fresh cinnamon and sugar cake donut, if you want to know.

Sandwich: Carshon's makes a good sandwich. Whichwich sandwich is a pleasant surprise for a chain store. For the money, Central Market probably still has the best sandwich in town, although I wish they had a "double the meat for a buck" deal like Subway.

Most Dependable Good Meal: Charleston's on Hulen. Okay, I'm 58 and 5 years younger than the average diner, but the food is still good.

Only Good Pool Tables in DFW: Dave & Busters / Dallas (also, real snookers table)

Beer Downtown: The Flying Saucer is still going strong. The Pour House opened on 7th St. this year and is busy, as did many others along 7th, like Durty Murphy's. Ginger Man still gets good reviews.

My favorite sushi: has always been Hui Chuan Sushi, on Camp Bowie. Blue Sushi Sake Grill on 7th is getting a lot of buzz. Confession: I haven't been out for sushi in a while.

Best Intimate Dining: Zambrano's downtown. Lili's on Magnolia. Both places: good people, great atmosphere, and good food.

Best Traditional Fine Dining: Since 1985, Saint Emilion has been serving Fort Worth traditional French cuisine. Same owner, same location. Great food, honestly priced. If you like a quieter atmosphere, good food, and personal treatment, this is the place.

Best Bookstore in North Texas: The used bookstore in Denton.

Best Bicycle Shop: Colonel's, on University. Panther City on Magnolia is closing, sorry to say, Trinity Bicycles is now open in the Magnolia Street area.

Most Under Appreciated Great Amenity: Trinity River Park, Botanical Gardens, Trinity River Trail. About 30 miles of paved walking and bicycling along the river and improving every year. Parks along the way. Tough to beat and not used much except along University.

Places that need your support:

1. Fort Worth Opera Festival, 2011.

2. Cowtown Farmer's Market.

3. Locally owned and operated shops, restaurants, bars, cafe's, bakeries, etc. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Best Of" ground rules:

1. Some restaurants or shops are my favorites every year. I separated these selections and placed them at the bottom of the list so that I am not boring you with what you already know.
2. Comment at will, please. Disagree at will, please. But mean-spirited or personal attacks will be deleted without comment.
3. The list is not exhaustive. If your favorite is not on the list, please tell me. I want to know.
4. The posts on this blog are my opinion. Sometimes it's an educated opinion, sometimes it's an impulsive reaction. I try to be civil and to treat every "reviewee" with respect, especially the ones I criticize. Sometimes, I get a little horsey, but not often.
5. With the above in mind let me say this: some weblogs, magazines, and newspapers, are one puff review after another. I find that annoying and dishonest. If everybody is the best then nobody is the best.
6. Names in blue are the favorites of friends and family: Jake, Sunni, Becca, and Stephen
7. Please add your favorites in the comment section and disagree at will. Thanks for stopping by.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Congratulations, TCU. Rose Bowl Champs, 2011.