Avila's

This week for Meal of Food Friday, we ventured to Avila's Restaurant near downtown Dallas. By a narrow margin, Avila's beat out Cozymel's (which I voted for) and Jojo Eating House. Avila's is near where my husband works, so we decided to save gas and meet at the restaurant rather than riding together. No problem, right? Well, i'm not known for my keen sense of direction. I let my google maps app guide me and I got a little lost. I ended up about a block down from where I was supposed to be outside of an extremely sketchy restaurant with bars on the windows. I get out, go to the door and in a space of 5 seconds, I opened the front door, peeked inside, closed the door and was back in my car. I called a friend who IS known for his keen sense of direction, and he was able to help me get back on track. Just so you all know, the Avila's is a converted house and this is what the sign looks like:

Do NOT enter a building with bars on the windows on the next block down.

 Lucky, things improved from there. We had queso and (of course) chips and salsa to start. I wasn't into the salsa - it was way to spicy for me. I had a margarita, which was tasty, and brisket tacos for dinner. They were good, but not the best that I've had. I asked for sour cream on the side, and it came with pico de gallo mixed in. It wasn't bad, just not what I expected. I neglected to take any pictures. Sorry!

Here's a picture of my puppy instead - isn't she precious?!?

Overall, it was good. If it was in my neighborhood and I could get there easily, I'd go back. I probably won't just because it was a bit of a drive from home and I am a little freaked out by the sketchy place I originally walked into instead.

 

Joe's Italian Cafe

The nominees for this past week's Meal of Food Friday were Jack Mac's Swill in North Dallas and Grill and Joe's Italian Cafe in Addison. I was happy with both choices since neither one involved driving all the way to uptown from our house in Carrollton. After voting, Joe's Italian Cafe came out on top.

Joe's is a a bit of a whole in the wall. We got there right around 7:30 and there was no wait, which was nice. Overall, the food was just okay. We started with an appetizer that was half bruschetta, half caramelized onion pizza. I much preferred the bruschetta to the onion stuff. It was too sweet for me.

No one was that crazy about the appetizer, but it didn't stop us from eating it!

For dinner, I had penne pasta with chicken, mushrooms, and artichokes in a cream sauce. When I ordered it, I was picturing the Pasta Da Vinci from the Cheesecake Factory. Joe's version was not as good. I mean, I liked it and I ate it, but it was no Cheesecake Factory. I had the feeling that the rest of the table had the same feeling.

And now I'm craving Cheesecake Factory

We finished off the meal with cannoli, which was the best part. Sadly my phone died before I could get a pic. The other best part was that the dinner was pretty inexpensive, especially considering that Ryan and I each had a couple of beers. We tried Peroni, which as new for me.

Italian brand from an Italian restaurant. When in Rome, right?

We had fun and the food was decent but overall, Joe's wasn't my favorite and I probably won't go back.

Smoke

I had to miss the last couple MealOfFoodFridays, so I was excited to get out and enjoy some good food this past week. The nominees were Capitol Grille or Smoke. Smoke had been nominated at least five times before and this week it finally won. When it was first suggested a while ago, I wasn't all that interested. It seemed pretty high price for BBQ. But I started to hear good things and it eventually got my interest. I'm glad that it finally won because it was pretty great!

Smoke is a upscale BBQ restaurant near downtown Dallas that uses local ingredients and unique recipes to create some pretty delicious dishes. I had the Texas BBQ Coffee Cured Beef Brisket with Bread/Butter Pickles & Mustard Seed Potato Salad. The brisket came both sliced and chopped, so you get the best of both worlds there. And the potato salad was really good - little different from your typical variety, but in a good way. Dinner came with a selection of 4 sauces - I stuck with the original, which I highly recommend.

Amazing

Ryan had the Dry Rubbed Pork Spare Ribs with Mac n Cheese & Pickled Green Beans. We shared a little bit and both dishes were pretty fantastic. The meat pretty much fell off the bone and had a nice smokey flavor. I wasn't so crazy about the pickled green beans, but the mac & cheese was GREAT. Like best I've ever had.

As Ryan pointed out, the mac&cheese didn't actually have macaroni noodles....I didn't notice. I was too focused on how amazing and cheesy it was.

Overall, we had another successful MoFF! If your looking for a slightly fancy dinner out with some great food, Smoke is a great choice!

Kel's Kitchen

This week for Meal of Food Friday, we celebrated my husband Ryan's birthday. He got to choose any place he wanted to go, and he picked Kel's Kitchen, which serves homecookin' style food and is known for fried chicken and great breakfast.

We've been to Kel's for Ryan's last two birthdays, so it has become something of a tradition. We keep going back because the food is delicious and the atmosphere is great for a big group. Every time we have gone, the restaurant has been pretty quiet and we've had no trouble getting a big table. It's a great deal too - you get tons of food and it's BYOB!

So we came prepared!

 But you don't need to BYOB to enjoy your meal! Everyone at the table was happy with their order.

I had the chicken strip meal with mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and broccoli - soooo good!

Ryan had chicken and waffles - it's not specifically on the menu, but they have chicken and they have waffles. There is just a little self-assembly required.

Even though repeats are not usually encouraged for MoFF, I was happy to make another visit to Kel's! It's a great spot that not enough people know about.

Magic Time Machine

This week, Meal of Food Friday went to the Magic Time Machine, which is a theme restaurant in Addison, TX where the server's dress like fairy tale characters. It's the kind of place that you went as a kid for birthday parties and you thought it was awesome.

Sadly, we didn't actually go back in time - not enough gigawatts

I was a little skeptical when Magic Time Machine beat out Smoke, Island Spot, and Saffron House, becuase kid restaurants usually aren't nearly as fun when you go as an adult - mostly because the food just isn't as good as you remember. To my very pleasant surprise, we had a great time! Our waiter, Mario, was really fun, and completely comfortable with making inappropriate jokes. I had the sliced brisket meal (which I ordered from the young adult menu) and it was really good!

Plumber by day, them restaurant waiter by night

All in all, it was a successful MoFF! I can't remember the last time that I laughed so hard. Just goes to show that you age appropriateness should not be a factor when you choose a restaurant!

Meal of Food Friday

Welcome to my new blog! I decided to create this blog to chronicle Meal of Food Friday, our Friday night dinner group. But first, some background on MoFF.

Meal of Food Friday is the brainchild of my husband, Ryan. About two and a half years ago he had the idea to start trying a new restaurant around the Dallas area every Friday night. It's basically a way for our friends to get together, eat, have a beer and unwind from the work week. And because he loves Will Ferrel, Ryan decided to name this event after a line from the movie Old School.

It's a very diplomatic process. Anyone can nominate a place to try. Then we all vote on where we want eat and the majority rules. There are just a few restaurant requirements: 1. No large chains - local chains are okay, but the idea is to try new, local places. 2. No repeats - again the idea is to find out about new places. The exception is for birthdays, when the birthday person can choose anywhere they want. 3. They must serve beer and wine or allow for BYOB.

It's been a fun couple of years and I hope that you will enjoy reading about Meal of Food Friday!