Earl's 377 Pizza - Media Night

Back in May I was invited with the MyFab5 crew to check out the new pizza place in Argyle, TX. I hadn't even heard of Argyle and had no idea where it was. Turns out, it's far... far from me at least. Good news to the folks in Denton, it's just a little North of y'all. But this is the lastest concept from the team behind Barley & Board, which you know is my new favorite place! I have to support my peeps! So out of the 3 community leaders for MyFab5/@bestfooddallas, I was the only one that made it out there. It was a week night and quite difficult for everyone to make the trek.

Earl's 377 Pizza
427 U.S. 377
Argyle, TX 76226
(940) 464-4444
http://earls377pizza.com
Price: $$-$$$

It was their media night, so there were lots of other bloggers, writers there. The place is a converted fire station. It's really cool! It's like Barley & Board where they re-purposed materials already there, that has history and meaning, and use them in interesting ways. For example, they have shovel chandeliers, "shoveliers". Ha! Makes sense when the decor is done by the same team that did B&B.

At first I had a table for myself. I had mentioned that I didn't mind being placed with other bloggers but wasn't sure if that was going to happen. So I went ahead and ordered... Oh man did I represent! I ordered enough for like 5 people. haha. Gotta try a little bit of everything right?? But after I placed my order, Narciso (the PR guy) found me a spot with two girls from The Dentonite. They were super nice and welcomed me to their table. After some brief introductions the food started arriving. It was their orders first.

Isabella's Snack Board (prosciutto, salami, mortadella, marinated vegetables) $12~ 

My new foodie friends had ordered this. I had a bite of one of the meats, not sure which one. I've never been that into meat boards as cured meats are not my favorite. But I'll eat them, don't get me wrong. I'm just not the best judge on whether or not one is good. This looked pretty good to me. And the two girls seemed to really enjoy it.

Crawfish & Artichoke (roasted peppers, pepper jack) $9~ 

Then my appetizer came. It was still bubbling when they set it on the table. I liked that they used pizza crust as the bread. The crust on the pizza is usually my favorite part. I know that's not the norm... but a good dough with good texture can make or break a pizza for me. The dip was warm and cheesy. We all really liked it. It's quite heavy though, so good to share with people.

Baby Arugula (shaved prosciutto, parmesan, shallot, dried figs, balsamic vinaigrette) $10~ 

I had to try a salad since I like to have some fresh greens with every meal. The salad was huge!! Tons of fresh arugula. The figs were nice a juicy and it wasn't overly dressed. I hate it when restaurants drown the salads. This was perfect.

Chicken & Artichoke (ricotta, spinach, artichokes, mozzarella) Reg $12~ 

This was the first pizza to arrive. The other girls ordered this one. It was on my list, but I had too many already and had passed on it. I'm so glad I got to try it. It was one of my favorites for the night. I just love all the ingredients and it was simple and good. All their pizzas were good actually...

Yukon Gold (ricotta, smashed potato, bacon, roasted onions, rosemary) Reg $12~ 

We both ordered this so we had 2 for the table. haha. One of our absolute favorites. It's like a baked potato on a pizza. Sounds amazing right? I think potatoes need to become a standard on pizzas. And that bacon tho... I also wore my pizza shirt to match the food! :P

Forager (roasted mushrooms, sweet onions, spinach, truffle oil) Reg $12~ 

One of my orders. I freaking love mushrooms so I had to get it. It was good, but didn't live up to some of the other ones so it got lost in the mix. I think I was missing a meat element with this one. Next time I'd add sausage to it I think.

N'Djua (spicy prosciutto spread, shallot, ricotta) Reg $12~ 

This was the one I was most excited about, because of that prosciutto spread. I think I had an idea of what it was and I was right. The only thing is... it needed more of it on the pizza! Just load it up!! It had a nice kick to it too. Yum!

Meatball Sandwich (house meatballs and marinara baked with mozzarella and provolone; served with Deep River chips) $12~ 

I had to get a sandwich to try as well. This was epic. I just stared in awe as they set it in front of me. We had ran out of table space by then. haha. The meatballs were ginormous! And very tasty. I was only able to take a bite or two though since I was stuffed at this point. Loved the chips as well.

We tried to get one of their dessert pizzas but the kitchen ran out. Oh well, it's probably good that we didn't get it since I was about to burst! Plus I had a mountain of leftovers to take home. :D I'm gonna have to try it some other time. The food was great and the ambiance was super unique yet casual. I expected no less from the team behind Barley & Board. And I have to give a special shout out to the wait staff. Most of the wait staff was made up of teenagers (I think)...they all seemed really young. And all were just super enthusiastic and friendly. They were constantly checking on all the tables making sure everyone had everything they could ever need. They didn't even give us the chance to ask for drink refills. The 2 girls I sat with were drinking pink lemonades. They were constantly being refilled. One girl even brought over fresh cups when she saw that the ice had melted down a little in their current drinks. What service! And when our waiter had to deliver the news that the dessert pizzas ran out, he was seriously distraught and kept apologizing. haha. At first we thought maybe it was because it's media night, but then quickly realized that they were just good kids and really cared about the customers.

It was a great and delicious night. I made some new friends too! I got to talk to some of the owners as well, they were going around the room talking to customers. I told them I drove all the way out from Rockwall! They were very impressed. hehe. It was worth it. I have really high hopes for this team. I hope they continue to expand through DFW. (Please come more Southeast! *hint*hint* hehe.) Glad I was able to represent @bestfooddallas during their sneak peek. :)

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Lalibela Ethiopian Restaurant

I finally got to try Ethiopian food this past Saturday. I've been talking about trying it for years! Just never got around to it. But this time I got a group of people that are also newbies to Ethiopian cuisine and went to go check it out! I heard that you eat with your hands so it seemed more fun with a group of friends. :) 

Our initial destination was unavailable so someone suggested this place. Most of the Ethiopian restaurants in Dallas are within a 5 minute drive from each other apparently... 

Lalibela Ethiopian Restaurant 
9191 Forest Ln. Ste 2 
Dallas, TX 75243 
(972) 792-8442 
Price: $$ 

There was only 1 other table there when we arrived, and it never really got busy... But the waiter and the lady that ended up serving our food (I'm assuming she's either the owner or chef, or both) both seemed to be Ethiopian. That's a good sign right? haha. This is totally out of my realm btw... 

Since none of us have ever had this before we opted to just order a bunch of stuff and share. Ordering was a bit complicated because we didn't know what anything was, couldn't properly pronounce any of the dish names, and didn't really know what the proper etiquette was to eat Ethiopian food. haha. We decided to have everything put on one large plate and we'd all share. That was what the lady suggested we do... 

Now.. I have to apologize.. I totally forgot to take a picture of the menu (which I normally do), but for some reason I thought they would have a website so I didn't. Epic fail on my part! :( So I did the best I could to recall the dish names and descriptions. I don't, however, remember the exact prices. But all the dishes we ordered were between $10-14 each. 

Everything was served with (and on) injera, traditional Ethiopian bread. The bread is traditionally made of teff flour and has a soft spongy texture and sour flavor. The injera was used as a base for all the dishes and also served on the side. You basically tear off pieces of injera and use it to pick up your food. 

Round 1: 

Lega Tibs (tender pieces of beef sauteed with onion, garlic, jalapeno, tomato and herbs). The beef was a little tough but had a lot of flavor. It was pretty good. 

Doro Wat (chicken leg simmered in berbere - red pepper sauce, spiced butter, garlic, cinnamon, cardamom; served with hard-boiled egg) $9.99~ The chicken was falling off the bone tender. I'd say this was one of my favorites during round 1. The sauce was good too. I was really hoping for a big bowl of rice to put it on though. hahaha. 

Gomen? (greens slow cooked with ginger and spices with tender cuts of beef). I liked this because it had some veggies in it. The greens were cooked well and had lots of flavor.

Yebeg Wot (tender pieces of lamb braised in special berbere sauce). I don't like lamb but I tried a piece just to keep an open mind. Nope! Taste lamby... not for me. haha. But the meat was super tender. Everyone raved about the lamb dish. 

So there were 6 of us. We devoured round 1 pretty quickly since we didn't really know what to expect and how big the portions were. Everyone seemed to love it. They liked the injera as well. Except me... I really did not like the injera. First of all, it has that sour flavor. I've heard it being compared to sourdough before which I don't like. But it's actually more sour than sourdough. Second, the texture is soft and floppy and kinda mushy... not my thing. Third, it was grey in color... not the most appetizing looking. I ate only a little bit of it and ended up using a fork to just eat the meats. I know, I know... party foul! haha. The meats were good and they were full of spices. Some spices were not familiar to me and with all the meats on one plate, it was hard to distinguish. Reminded me of Indian food for sure, but with a slight variation in flavor. I definitely prefer Indian food more. 

Obviously it wasn't enough food so we ordered round 2! 

Doro Tibs (pieces of chicken breast sauteed in herb butter with jalapeno, onion, garlic, and black pepper) $9.99~ I think this was the best dish of the night. The chicken was tender, it had tons of flavor. Everyone loved it. 

Kitfo (steak tartar from lean ground beef, seasoned with spiced butter, hot pepper; served rare or well done). They told us this is usually served raw, but they cooked it for us. It had a very unique spice to it. I quite liked it! If I only had some rice!! Dang it!! XP 

We got another lamb dish, and I cannot recall the name for the life of me. It looked just like the first one we ordered with a lot of sauce. haha. But it was a different one. I didn't bother trying it this time. I left more for the others. 

I was pretty full at the end of it. But most of us had room for dessert. haha. Some people ordered coffee. Which was basically an espresso... I don't drink coffee so it was too bitter for me. But those who normally drink black coffee loved it. My bf, however, poured like half a cup of sugar in there. hahaha. :P 

The lady (chef/owner?) came out and gave us some dessert on the house. How nice of her! 
Fried Dough (topped with honey and powdered sugar). 

They reminded us of beignets. There were black specs in it like black sesame seed, but it wasn't. It had a very unique flavor. The lady brought out the spice for me to see since she didn't know the English name of it. I believe it's black and white cumin (Tikur and Nech Azmud) after doing some digging in Google. haha. But don't quote me on it. It made it different than any regular beignet or doughnut. It was a nice end to the meal...something sweet. 

Definitely an interesting experience. And it was fun to have tried it with a group of friends. I'm glad they all enjoyed it. I would probably have Ethiopian again, but definitely not often. And I'll have more knowledge about what to order next time. If you don't like foods with a lot of spice, this is probably not your thing... But I would recommend you try it at least once in your life, just for the experience. Be adventurous! 

**Disclaimer: The ratings are based on my personal experience... My friends loved it way more than I did!** 

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~