Tag Archives: beef

Aboca’s Italian Grill at Central (75) and Meadow Road!

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This time I decided to stray away from my Knox/Henderson safety zone so I went just a couple miles north off the highway.  Actually, I didn’t choose this place.  It was my brother’s birthday, so of course we let his wife choose the place.  ; )  Anyways, we went Italian this time at Aboca’s Italian Grill at Central and Meadow Road.  When you get off the highway, just look for Tom Thumb in a shopping center, and you’ll see Aboca’s a few doors down.  Just look for your sign.

When I first got there, I asked what beers they had, and my crew and the waiter quickly informed me that it was BYOB.  Initially, I began to calmly yell curse words in my head until they reminded me that Tom Thumb was next door.  When I was buying my booze, I actually realized I was saving money because of this BYOB “hiccup.”

I returned shortly and the waiter said he had to get our order right away because they were about to close.  Yep.  We were “those” people.  When we got our food, we ate like wolves so we wouldn’t keep them too much longer.  Still, they showed no signs of being terribly upset for coming in at the last minute.  Also, the food seemed like they took their time on it.  Everything was amazing!  I did take a picture of the hours so that none you do what we did.

Alright.  We started out with the calamari which was fried perfectly and not greasy.  Our dinner salads arrived shortly after.  I picked it up and swallowed it whole.  For dinner, I had the shrimp pasta aboca that had shrimp, garlic, shallots, mushrooms, capers, and artichokes sauteed in a lemon white wine sauce.  Yes, I copied that directly from their menu.  My memory isn’t THAT good, and I’m not that good of a writer.  Someone else had the beef lasagna.  I tasted it and thought it was some of the best lasagna that I’ve ever had.  The birthday boy and his other half had the pasta trio that had fettucini, manicotti, and lasagna.  They split it.  It looked and smelled great.  Someone who looked important even came over and asked how everything was rather than being upset at our last minute arrival.  Honestly, they were probably pretty happy about the quick in and out business and a big tab.  I made sure to tip insanely high to show my appreciation…  Plus, I’m a server, and we all always take care of one another.  It’s an unwritten code, y’all.

Oh.  Other things on the menu that we didn’t try this time?  They have a veal menu, seafood menu, and a pizza menu that includes calzone and stromboli.  They have more selections, of course, but I’ll just include a menu link down below.

In the end, I left very satisfied, and everyone working was very nice to us.  I highly recommend this place.  Don’t forget to arrive early and pick up a six pack before you go!  😉

Aboca’s Italian Grill menu!

The LOT at Gaston and E. Grand Ave./Garland Road!

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I truly love what they did here at the Lot in East Dallas.  It was once known as the Backyard Beach Bar for many years where there was a swimming pool and a few volleyball courts.  I had fun going there to prove that older people could still play volleyball.  Granted.  I did seek out the drunkest team available so the “Dirty Thirties” could win.  Anyways, enough about me, on to the Lot!  My friends and I went on opening day in February of 2013.  It was Monday, and they were super busy!  So busy, in fact, that they ran out of the two items I chose from their menu online before even going, so I MUST go back to try them.  If you’re curious, I wanted the wagyu beef tongue sandwich with a fried egg and the bison bleu cheese buffalo meat balls.  Still, what I ended up getting was very satisfying.  We started off with the crispy baked kale and the red hot mini dogs.  They were both good.  I’m curious how they seasoned the kale to make it taste so good.  For dinner I had the turkey meatloaf sandwich, and my friend had the LOT burger.  I saved the second half of my sandwich for later because I hate eating until painfully full, and I didn’t want to waste such a delicious juicy sandwich.  My friend’s LOT burger had smokey ham, cheddar, white onion, crisp lettuce, and red chile smear.  He finished it all.  What a pig!…  or it was a good sandwich.  We also shared the hand-cut fries.  They tasted really fresh and were seasoned perfectly.  I didn’t get a picture of it, because we attacked it before I thought about grabbing my camera.  😦

After dinner, we ordered their healthy juice drinks.  One had carrots, orange, and ginger, and the other had beets, orange, and ginger.  Well, I guess forgot I don’t like beets!  The rum we had them add (for $2 more) made it better, though.  I drank it all for a nice healthy buzz.

Outside, although the swimming pool and volleyball courts are missing, they have a huge dining area resting atop where the pool was, and they have a play area for kids and one for adults (bags/cornhole etc.) where the volleyball courts once were.  It also looks like there will be an outside bar when the weather gets nice.

Overall, I like the new dining room and appreciate all the hard work they did in renovating.  It looks and feels great.  Their Chef is very good and pleasantly creative.  I’m glad they have vegan options for my weird friends, as well.  I’m gonna miss the swimming pool I never swam in, but I will actually miss the volleyball courts.  It looks like it’d be easy to bring them back, though.  They will soon expand the back area to connect with the Sante Fe Trail, and I’m sure this will bring them more traffic.  Sweaty runners and bikers get hungry and thirsty just as much (if not more) as us cave dwellers.  I hope they do well because I would love to have this place as an option to go to whenever I’d like.  I like what’s going on here.

Check out the link below for the rest of their menu.

*cough*bring back volleyball*cough

The Lot website and menu.

Velvet Taco at Knox/Henderson and Central(75)!

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Alright.  So this is my first takeout post!  I really wanted to do one, and Velvet Taco immediately came to mind.  By takeout, I mean no servers, but they do have a dining room and beer.  These aren’t street vendor tacos, though, even though I love those as well.  These tacos are made with quality ingredients and seemingly by a Chef.  Also, just because they don’t have servers doesn’t mean to pretend the tip jar isn’t there.  Throw something in.  You’ll feel better.

I had two tacos.  I was satisfied, but three would’ve filled me up.  I only ordered two this time, because one of my tacos was a bit pricy, but I HAD to try it.  It was the maine lobster.  It was good, but if I would’ve expected the lobster to be cold, I would’ve enjoyed it more.  Good flavor, just shocked by the temperature.  The shredded pork taco I had was excellent!  It made me moan (just a little bit okay).  It had bleu cheese crumbs and avocado cream on it!  They may not have a bar or servers, but there is a beautiful wall with shelves of healthy beverages, but on the bottom?…  Beer!  Good beer at that!  If you’re not a boozer like me, then they have creamsickle tea that gets refills like the sodas.  I also highly recommend the rotisserie corn “elote style”.  Just get it.  You’ll like it if you like corn.  If you like chicken, it looks like they slow cook it rotisserie style.  You’ll see the whole birds rotating.  A chicken taco is next on my list.  I didn’t see the those birds until after I ordered.  😦

They do have two little patios, if that’s what you’re looking for.  If you’re looking for some HD action, get it to go or for “takeout”.  😉  Anyways, I just had to say HD for no reason.  Check this place out. Their food is great.

Velvet Taco website

Velvet Taco menu…  even though I took a pretty good picture of it for you.  😉