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

Here’s your sign.

Crispy baked kale.

Luscher’s red hot mini dogs.

Meatloaf sandwich.

The LOT burger.

The dining room.

Nice fireplace and lounge area near the front.

The main bar.

Side patio.

Play area for kids.

Play area for adults.

Dining area over what once was a swimming pool.

Not sure what this is. Ghost bar? 🙂

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.

Goodfriend Beer Garden and Burger House!

Good Friends. Josh and Matt.

I love this bar.

The dining room.

I’ll fit in there somewhere!

The Patio!

The lounge area that I refer to as “the living room.”

Nice wrap around bar with pretty lights.

Delicious wings.

The Coop burger with an egg over easy, brie, bacon, and I added srirachi ketchup!

I love this bar.  They’ve got great food and a huge selection of beers on draft and in the bottle.  The whole place has great “craic” inside and out!  Very laid back and inviting.  The wings are probably the best I’ve had in Dallas. I’ve ordered the spicy wings, but it was way too spicy, although my buddy loved them, so I stick with the milder version!  My burger of choice was the Mary Mary (lamb burger), but as soon as I tried the Coop (burger with grilled bacon, brie, and an egg over easy), I had a new favorite.  Everyone’s telling me to get the Pepper Bomb burger, but that’s apparently on the spicy side as well.  I’ll leave that one for you guys with the steel tummies!  One of my favorite appetizers is the Cuddly Pigs.  They’re like pigs in blankets but with quality meat and a puffy pastry.  Nice dipping sauces as well.  I didn’t really get good pictures because I kept attacking my food before I realized I wanted pictures.  I’ll add pictures later, because I’m sure I’ll be back many times.  Oh, they started doing happy hour all day on Mondays.  All drafts are $4.  Still, Kronenbergs are always $3, although I always end up ordering a rotating draft.  On this visit, I got the double pumpkin ale.

Of course they’re in Dallas located at Garland and Peavy road.  You’ll see a CVS one way and a Walgreens the other.  They’re next to a car wash, and use them for parking sometimes.  Check these guys out.  They really know what they’re doing.

goodfrienddallas.com

🙂