A Boomer Returns . . .

Here's an email from a reader who has recently moved back to the city; included are some pluses and minuses of the move. Raised on the eastside, he and his wife lived in Summerfield, Texas for 20 years. A few years ago they sold the Summerfield house and moved to the Fairmount area of downtown.

Why? His email message:

I worked on the far west side, my wife worked downtown. I rode (bicycles) with a bunch of guys in Benbrook during the week. I would drive down to ride the Trinity Trail or meet guys in Westcliff on the weekends. We had some favorite restaurants in town like Fuzzy's and Cafe Express and we would pick up hard-to-find items at Central Market. We began to realize we LIVED in the city, only our house was in the suburbs. While out and about, we would constantly say, "You know, if we lived here, we'd be home by now."
. . . . Before one year was up, the house felt more like our home than the previous home of 20+ years. Other pluses:

• Cool, non-chain restaurants on Magnolia I can ride over to the Trinity Trail
• It takes my wife 7 minutes to get to work.
• A yummy Taqueria nearby
• Not far from Colonel's Bikes and Gorecki Auto (Volvo specialist on Vickery)
• Fuzzy's, Paul's Donut's, Carshon's
• More Halloween trick-or-treaters in one night than 20 years combined in the 'burbs
• Swing dancing at Preservation Hall Neighbors you actually talk to
• I ride my bike to work once or twice a week (12 mi each way)
• An active neighborhood association minutes from downtown and cultural district activities.
• Easier to East Side and Arlington, when necessary

Minuses:

• Still a few panhandlers and ratty rent properties around Gunfire heard in close proximity on New Year's and July 4th (so far, it's amusing) The number of possible home improvement projects can get overwhelming (and takes time from riding).
• Critters: a raccoon got into the garage and chewed up my bike saddle and I had to pull a dead rat from under the house.
• Graffiti on our back fence from the alley
• Train horns crossing Hemphill at all hours.
• No Boopa's Bagels.

That seems to be a common story. Get out of the car, have a short commute to work and relaxation, let someone else tend the big yard, and begin enjoying the activity of the city.

Thanks Martin.

Who you are. What you like.

It is the baffling characteristic of polls. A relatively small number of answers predict the results of millions of answers with uncanny accuracy (assuming similarity in those polled).

Here are the facts of F&FW readers:

1. 80% live in Fort Worth, but only 23% were born in DFW area.
2. 90% of you read the FW Star-Telegram. That's fascinating to me. Just as interesting is that 30% get all their newspaper-type information online.
3. 30% of you get your coffee from Starbucks. That is very good news for Starbucks. I doubt any other retail establishment would have that much market share from a group of readers. So far, no one selected a once popular Fort Worth coffee bar: Four Star.
4. You like Kinkaids, Fred's, Mi Cocina, Del Frisco's and La Familia.
5. If the presidential primary were held today, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Guiliani would be Fort Worth choices.
6. Trading Dirk for Kobe would definitely not be popular. 84% opposed.
   
7. We are not sure who is the King of the Jungle but the King Cobra polled a lot better than I thought it would. It is virtually tied with the Rhino and the Elephant.

Any polling ideas? Let me know.

Last Chance: Sandwiches. Breakfast. Comments.

When it comes to favorite foods, mine is the old-fashioned sandwich. Good bread, good meat, a little mayo or mustard, a slice of avocado maybe, lettuce, fresh tomato. When all the ingredients are fresh, I love them. A suggestion was made that Carshon's has good sandwiches. I have found that the readers of this poor excuse for a blog know good food, so I will be going soon. Unfortunately, I will not be able to get there until the first week of December. If anyone else goes before then, I would like a report.
The "Best of" list that I re-post once every few weeks is my list after 25 years of dining in the town of the cow. It is just my opinion. I appreciate all the suggestions that I get and all reasonable suggestions will be visited. Please send more.

Breakfast, from most favorite to least favorite:
Yogi's: Great bagels. Good pancakes, good food. Way too crowded when I go.
Paris Cafe: Standard fair and good.
Ol South: Haven't been in a while, once was good.
La Madelaine: Nice atmosphere, fair food, fair bread, fair coffee. A shell of its past.
Denny's and IHOP: IHOP is too expensive and Denny's, I don't know, I just can't go there.
Waffle House: Hmmm. No. Actually the new ones in the suburbs aren't bad. But I don't go the the suburbs. It's scary up there.

My favorite outdoor cafes:
Nonna Tata, on Magnolia. (changed: see October 27, 2007 review. Editor)
Zambrano's, downtown.
Mi Cocina, downtown.
Railhead BBQ, on Montgomery.

Brunch: If you really like brunch, there is one and only one that is 4 star. Easter brunch at the Marriott DFW. Eat a light dinner the night before, make a reservation, and Easter Sunday enjoy the smorgasbord buffet, including the standard omelettes made to order; but also prime rib, cheeses, fresh waffles and pancakes, even things like peel and eat shrimp. Fresh pastries, chocolates and fruits are the desserts. Less extravagant and less expensive: the Blue Mesa on University has had a good brunch on Sunday for many years. I honestly don't know if they still do. But I have been and it is good.