Fritzl's Euro Grill & Dessert Shop

It's been a crazy month... work was insane, and then I've been sick. Stupid virus, I've been out of commission for almost a week now. Definitely not digging the indecisive weather of Texas. Hot, cold, hot, cold...no wonder I've been sick twice this year already. But enough weather griping... I've still had some good food outings!

Earlier this month, we discovered another new (to us) hidden gem in Rowlett. Seems like we gotta explore Rowlett more thoroughly!

Trying to figure out where to go for dinner on a Friday night, I pulled out my trusty Yelp app. And found a Austrian hole in the wall.

Fritzl's Euro Grill & Dessert Shop
3390 Lakeview Pkwy.
Rowlett, TX 75088
(972) 412-3555
http://fritzls.com
Price: $$

We didn't call ahead or anything. Neither of us really thought there would be an issue getting a seat. Man we were wrong. It's a pretty small place and there were already 2 parties waiting in front of us. Business is booming! And looked like they were pretty short staffed. Just a waitress at the front, and a guy, I'm assuming Fritzl, manning the kitchen. He also came out to take some orders.

One group got seated, and they vacated the small bar countertop. So we plopped ourselves down to wait. Then I asked my fiance if he's ok with just eating at the bar since it doesn't seem like anything is going to open up any time soon. The place was a madhouse! The waitress is trying to get to every table as fast as she can. They ran out of menus so we had to wait for some. But wasn't a big deal for us. This is definitely a hole in the wall, and very eclectic in its decor. Random signage, pictures and lots and lots of signed dollar bills covered the walls. It was quite entertaining trying to read everything.

While waiting for the waitress, we got Fritzl's attention and asked if we could eat at the bar. No problem, he said and found some menus for us. He was running around like a crazy person. Got us some waters and zoom, he was off to the kitchen again. He seems like he's a fun person to talk to when it's not too busy in the restaurant, but they were just hauling ass that night.

I haven't had much Austrian/German food in my life. I think this may be the first real Austrian restaurant I've ever been to...and so far it seems pretty legit, since the owner is Austrian (or German...I wonder if they get offended if you called them the other??).

I ordered the House specialty: Wiener Jaeger (Wiener Schnitzel stacked and covered with Jaeger sauce - cognac, mushroom cream sauce with garlic) Half $13.99~ All Schnitzel dinners are served with Austrian roasted potatoes and sauerkraut. Red Cabbage or Spaetzle can be subbed for $0.50 extra. A Schnitzel is a tenderized and seasoned piece of porkloin, breaded and fried. And I subbed for both the cabbage and spaetzle. 

I've never had real spaetzle, but always wanted to try ever since I saw some people make it on Chopped (a cooking competition show on Food Network, for those who didn't know). hehe. And he said I lucked out because that was the last serving of spaetzle for the night! Wow...it wasn't even 8pm yet, and he was already starting to run out of things. It was delicious. The pork was thin and fried well. I totally loved the sauce... boozy, creamy and with mushrooms? What's not to like?! Spaetzle is basically fried dough... reminded me of unsweetened funnel cake maybe? Was a little salty for me but paired well with the pork. I liked the cabbage too. Everything went together very well.

Bratwurst Dinner (two grilled bratwurst) $12.99~ Served with Austrian roasted potatoes and sauerkraut. 

My fiance loved his dish. I found the bratwurst to be a tad salty for my preference but it was still tasty. I loved the potatoes. I've never been a big fan of sauerkraut, but I was ok with this one. He totally cleaned his plate... actually we both cleaned our plates. Hit the spot, he says.

When you walk in, you see a dessert display case lit up in the middle of the room. Naturally I gravitated towards that while we were waiting. All the cakes and pastries (they have homemade strudels!) looked amazing, but I noticed one cake that was unfamiliar to me. One of the customers said it was an Austrian cheesecake, and it's light and fluffy. Sounds yummy.

We decided to get an Austrian Cheesecake $7?~ 

 

Fritzl told us all the pastries were made by him from scratch (as well as all the food). Impressive. So far we've loved everything. The cake was FREAKING AMAZING!! It had flavors of lemon and poppy seeds and was so light and fluffy...the cake layers AND the cheesecake center. We fought each other for bites of the cake. And then we decided to get another slice to take home. hehe. 

When we were finishing up our cake, we noticed that they were doing the dessert service part of the evening. Plates and plates of cakes were lined up and they were doing an assembly line type process for efficiency. Plates and plates of desserts were served as we saw all the cakes were quickly disappearing before us. I'm glad we got a second piece before they were all gone!

While we were waiting for the check. A group walked in and Fritzl had to tell them they were sold out of food for the entire night. Wow... This was before 9PM. Crazy! I think we may need to go on a week night in the future, or just go super early!

Needless to say, it was a great find. And I think I can safely say it's authentic. We will definitely be back. And save room for more desserts!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Opa Greek Taverna

My fiance recently told me about a Greek restaurant that was close to Rockwall. We decided to check it out last weekend. It's in Rowlett...only about 15 minutes away from us.

Opa Greek Taverna
3801 Lakeview Parkway, Suite 600
Rowlett, TX 75088
(469) 443-0508
http://oparowlett.com
Price: $$

Once we got there, I realized I had driven past this place many times and didn't think anything of it. It's not a big place. We didn't think to call ahead or reserve on a Friday night so when we got there, they were full. Luckily there were 2 seats open at the bar. We asked them to let us know when something opens up.

The bartender greeted us, he was really friendly. My fiance looked at the cocktail menu and decided to try Poseidon's Punch (served in a 32 oz. mason jar; 1 1/4 oz. shots of Bacardi Silver, Bacardi Gold, and Blue Curacao; mixed with orange juice and another shot of Bacardi 151) $9.99~ 

I wasn't really planning on drinking so I didn't really read the description that closely. So when the bartender started making it... I was like "whoa!!!" It was a massive mason jar. My fiance was in shock too. haha. He said he read the "32 oz." but didn't fully realize how much that is. It was a really pretty and colorful drink with a whole lotta booze in it. He liked it but it was too strong for me so I couldn't help much. We only made it through about half of the jar. Definitely for sharing!

As we were getting ready to order at the bar, the hostess told us there was a table open for us. It was an awkwardly placed table right in front of the entrance, I felt like it was out of place. And it was cold... We sat there looking at the menu some more, even though we were ready to order, and no one ever came to greet us. We didn't even have waters yet. So finally we flagged down a waitress. It didn't seem like it was her table but she was very apologetic and went to get some waters for us. Then she came back and took our orders. The serviced picked up from there. She was really friendly. I noticed that a booth opened up and asked if we could move over there. It was much better, no cold breeze when the front door opened and closed.

Falafel (crushed garbanzo beans, parsley, and spices all rolled together, fried, and served with Tzatziki sauce) $5.49~ 

We got this as an appetizer but somehow it was served last. It was nice and hot though so I guess they were making it from scratch? The falafels had a nice crispy crust. I've had better, but we enjoyed it.

I went with the Moussaka (layers of eggplant, potatoes, seasoned ground beef, topped with a creamy Bechamel and tomato sauce) $11.89~ 

It was highly recommended by the bartender when we were at the bar. This is one of the only dishes where I'll eat eggplant. Usually I hate it. It was fantastic. Lots of flavor, tons of meat and eggplant and the sauce was great. Their pita bread on the side was warm and pillowy. Great dish...and I haven't had Greek food in a long time! Hit the spot.

Original Gyros Platter (layers of lamb and beef thinly sliced off the rotisserie; served with pita bread and Tzatziki sauce; with choice of one side: Greek Roasted Potatoes) $11.99~ 

Initially he was gonna get the gyro pita but changed his mind because this had more food. Again, Greek is the only time I'll eat lamb... I love gyro meat. I can't taste the lamby-ness at all. The meat was super tender. It was so good with the pita bread. I also love Greek potatoes. Nice and soft, lots of flavor. Another great dish.

Galaktoboureko (warm custard wrapped in phyllo, baked until golden, smothered in homemade syrup) $5.99~ 

 

We decided to try this dessert partly because the name was just so hard to pronounce. haha. The description also sounded delicious. It was fresh out of the oven/fryer, whatever they did. Super crispy on the outside, sweet and sticky from the syrup, and soft custard inside. Lots of textures. Yum. And it was big too! We took a third of it to go cuz we got too much food... as usual. :P

What a great find! I absolutely love Greek food and now there's a good one close to us. :) I have a feeling we'll be going back there soon.

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~