Artin's Grill - Early Birthday & Father's Day Dinner

This past weekend, my bf's parents came to visit so we decided to celebrate an early Father's Day as well as my bf's birthday (which was this Tuesday). My bf wanted to go to Artin's Grill. I had told him I wanted to take him there for his bday last year, but we ended up doing dim sum. So this year he really wanted to go check it out.

Artin's Grill
5840 Legacy Cir.
Plano, TX 75024
(469) 366-3660
www.artinsgrill.com
Price: $$$$

I reserved a table on Opentable.com with no issues. This place has been on my list for a while considering I live about 5 minutes from the Shops at Legacy, but just never got the time to go.

We arrived about 10 minutes late but didn't have any trouble and was seated immediately. The restaurant was nicer than I expected. Dark wood decor, mood lighting, but still modern. Our waiter was really friendly and immediately asked about the birthday and Father's Day celebration. I had included the info in the notes section when I made the online reservation. I was happy that the restaurant actually paid close attention to it. And our waiter continued throughout the night to make both of them feel special on their special day. :) Bonus points for our waiter!

My bf got the Mango Mojito (Bacardi Mango Fushion Rum, shaken with muddled mint, Mango and simple syrup, floated with soda, mint sprig, berry garnish) $10~ It looked really good and he said it was. I'm allergic to mango so I'll take his word for it. He ordered a second one when the entrees came.

Our waiter told us about their specials and then took our orders.

We got the Spinach Artichoke Dip (with spiced crostini) $10~ to start. 

 

It was bubbling when it was served. Mmmmm! The dip was great! Cheesy, lots of spinach, and I loved the toasted breadcrumbs on top. The spiced crostinis were a bit salty, but still was good overall with the dip.

Time for the entrees.

My bf got the Sashimi Grade Ahi Tuna (pan seared, sesame crusted Sashimi grade Ahi tuna, Asian slaw) $31~ 

This is the main reason we are at this particular restaurant. Ahi tuna is pretty much his favorite thing. (And also the reason why I wanted to bring him here last year!) It was a beautiful plate. The deep color of the tuna with the slaw and the duo of sauces on the side. He was impressed with the portion size of the tuna. It was really fresh and paired really well with the wasabi cream sauce. He asked for more sauce too. The slaw was refreshing and a good compliment to the tuna. He loved it. It was exactly what he was looking forward to. Success! I'm always happy when I make a good recommendation. hehe. :)

Scottish Salmon (simply grilled, pecan currant cous cous, lemon beurre blanc) $26~ 

His mom ordered this. The salmon was cooked well, but I thought the star was the cous cous. It was so light yet flavorful. I loved the combo of the pecan and currant. It was pretty tasty.

Redfish Pontchartrain (blackened redfish, crab, shrimp, roasted garlic mashers, cajun cream sauce) $32~ 

His dad chose this dish. It was pretty impressive looking. Layers of different kinds of seafood. The sauce was rich and smoky. Really bold flavors.

I got the Braised Beef Short Ribs (mushroom mac & cheese, cabernet jus, haricot verts) $27~ 

 

The waiter said this was his favorite dish on the menu. And it was delicious. I love braised meat and they did it well. It was tender, juicy and full of flavor. I also loved the mac and cheese and onion strings with it. I love it when restaurants use Cavatappi pasta in mac and cheese. The shape is fun and has good texture. I'm really glad I got this dish, I definitely recommend it.

Wild Mushroom Medley $8~ We got this side dish. It was good but I felt it was a bit excessive since the entrees were all pretty big. The potatoes were a bit underdone in my opinion but everything else was great.

Our waiter was great through the entire meal. He was fun to talk to, very attentive and made an effort to make my bf and his dad feel special. :) They all commented that the service was top notch.

As the meal came to an end, our waiter came out with a Warm Chocolate Brownie Sundae (vanilla ice cream, toasted almonds, caramel sauce, berries) $7.50~ 

He also put a candle on it for my bf's birthday. I was almost as surprised as my bf was! I never even asked them to do this so it was extremely thoughtful of the restaurant to bring him a complimentary birthday treat. The brownie was gooey on the inside and had a nice crust on the outside. It was a very good ending to a fantastic meal.

I don't know why it took me this long to make it to Artin's Grill, but I'm so glad I got to go for 2 special occasions. I couldn't have asked for a better evening. Spot on service, delicious food, and great company. :) I will definitely be back. And I recommend this place for any occasion!

Quality of Food:

Service:

Ambiance:

Value:

Overall Experience:

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Holy Frijoles!

Holy Frijoles
2300 McDermott Road
Plano, TX 75025
(214) 383-4243
www.holyfrijolesus.com
Price: $-$$

I get these restaurant coupons in the mailer all the time, so I finally decided to try one. I got a buy 1 entree get 1 free coupon for Holy Frijoles. I also noticed that they have happy hour specials all day everyday. ($3 Mojitos, Sangria, and Margarita) That sounded like too good of a deal to pass up!!

I went to the location in Plano on McDermott and Custer. It was surprisingly small and there was a wait.

After we were seated, we got free chips and salsa.
We ordered our drinks and looked over the menu. I got a mojito...it was pretty big and quite good...definitely strong enough for me! haha. I'm not really a fan of Mexican food but I thought everything on the menu sounded pretty good. Maybe because I was starving. :P

I ordered the Beef Fajita Quesadilla (served with pico de gallo, sour cream & guacamole) $10.95~ The beef was very flavorful, the tortilla had a nice crispness on the edges and the portion was more than enough. I enjoyed the dish very much and was overstuffed!

My friend ordered the a variation of Chicken Enchiladas (not on their online menu) $9.95~ He cleaned the plate, so I think it was pretty good too...hehe.

When I get another coupon I will probably try to go again. It was definitely a good deal, and not bad as far as Mexican food goes. Just make sure to go earlier so I'm not starving by the time we get to eat. :P

I would recommend this place just for their happy hour specials but if you get one of their coupons in the mail, definitely go check them out!

Quality of Food:

Service:

Cleanliness:

Value:

Overall Experience:


~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Ladies Nite~~

**Update 12-29-10**
I believe Trece is no longer doing Ladies' Night...they might still have other happy hour specials though.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trece
4513 Travis Street
Dallas, TX 75205-4126
(214) 780-1900
http://www.trecerestaurant.com/
Price: $ (for Ladies Night)

I went to Trece's Thursday Ladies Nite about 2 weeks ago. It goes from 4-9pm and offers $3 margaritas and $3 blueberry mojitos. They also provide complimentary chicken quesadillas/chips and salsa, as well as complimentary valet parking. What a great deal!!! (especially for the drinks since they are normally $11 a piece!) O.o The blueberry mojito has become one of my favorite drinks...although I would still never pay full price for it.

So from what was going to be a small girl's nite out turned to a full blown party! :P We found out that this awesome deal is not just for the ladies but for everyone, so then all the guys wanted to go too! hahaha. We ended up having like a group of 14 people at one point.

About the food...the blueberry mojitos were awesome just liked I remembered from the first time I had it. And at $3 a pop, I definitely had more than I should... hehe. The quesadillas were also really good, they just didn't come out fast enough.

Now for the service.....HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!! The first time we were there for dinner the service was already kinda blah...but this time was down right RUDE. When I first got there the hostess came up to greet me. I asked her if we're here for Ladies Nite if we can get a table or is it only restricted to the bar area. She told me that we can get a table. Then I told her we had about 14 people and she was a little worried. She told me that might be kind of difficult...although the entire dining area was empty at the time. But I told her no hurry since most of the people weren't there yet...in the mean time we'll just hang out at the bar. After a good 15-20 minutes I told her that it was no longer 14 but 12 people. She said that was "MUCH better"...uhhh ok....I didn't think 2 additional people would make SUCH a big difference... But anyways, she was still friendly about it so I was ok with that. Finally, most of the party had arrived and the hostess said we can be seated.

As soon as we sat down she started passing out the dinner menus. Then the waiter came by and immediately asked if we wanted to start off with some guacamole. (Keep in mind from my last post that the guacamole...altho very good...was $12/order...not worth it). I mentioned to him that we were there for Ladies Nite. Guess what he did next!?! He immediately turned to the hostess and says..."oh. they're here for ladies nite...." in a really snooty tone, and turned around and disappeared. WTF!! They are obviously offering these specials..and that's why we were there... It's not like we were there to cheat them for free food. There's no need to be all arrogant about it!

So during the time we were sitting there, we saw very little of him...or any other waiters... We had to ask him numerous times for more quesadillas. Which we waited over 30 minutes to get a plate of 3 pieces. THREE!! There were 12+ of us. ALSO...half way through, he and a team of waiters came thru like a whirlwind and removed us of all our plates and silverware. They were very pushy about it...didn't say 'excuse me' or anything.

Finally we had enough, we had MUCH better service while we were at the bar. The bartender was SUPER nice! We decided to go back out to the bar area. From the bar, we were able to quickly get more drinks and food as well.

So a warning to all who goes to Ladies Nite. Do NOT sit in the dining area because they will treat you like crap. Stay in the bar area where food and drinks are wayy more accessible and more people w/ more energy. As for dining there....good luck...the waiters are not much better even when you ARE paying for your food.

As for me...I still plan on going back for Ladies Nite just because its such a great deal and the mojitos are yummy. :P I just know to stay at the bar next time!

Quality of Food:

Service:

(the 1 cookie is b/c the bartenders were great...otherwise I'd give it a ZERO!):

Cleanliness:

Value:

Overall Experience:

~~ CHOMP CHOMP~~

Lucky 13? Maybe not...

So I heard about this awesome promotion last weekend. Trece, an upscale Mexican restaurant in Uptown, has a Monday night promotion where you can get an appetizer and entree for free!! It's Monday nights with reservation only and the promotion can end at any time. I was like "heck yea!!" and immediately called for a reservation.

Trece
4513 Travis Street
Dallas, TX 75205-4126
(214) 780-1900
www.trecerestaurant.com
Price: $$

The restaurant is very nice. The decor is chic and sophisticated and the color scheme is warm and comfortable. Later into the dinner it did get a little too dark for my preference but overall it's a very trendy spot.

Since they are giving food away for free, of course they want you to buy other stuff like alcohol and other starters.

Before we were seated, we ordered some drinks. The Blueberry Mojito (muddled fresh blueberries, Barcardi Silver Rum, mint, lime and a splash of agave nectar; served fresh or frozen) $11~ was SOO delicious. Very pricey though. I'm not a fan of mojitos because I don't like the strong mint and lime flavors. However, this drink was perfect for me. It was sweet, with just a hint of mint. Plus the color was really pretty. I recommend this to anyone who likes mixed drinks.

Once we were seated, the waiter asked if we wanted some guacamole (prepared table side). We got just one order of it...since there was more food to come. Guacamole en Molcajete (avocado, roasted tomatoes, red onions, jalapenos, garlic, cilantro, choice of mild, spicy or extra spicy) $12~
The guacamole was delicious...very fresh and bursting with flavor. The avocado was super creamy and I liked the large chunks of tomatoes. I'm glad we only got 1 order though because it's really expensive for the amount we got. Basically it's 1 avocado per order...PRICE-Y!

So they give you a special menu for the promotion. It has 4 choices of appetizers and 4 choices of entrees. For appetizers we ordered all 4:

Ensalada Verde (Organic greens, tomatoes, cucumber, roasted carrots, and queso panella with a pasilla cilantro vinaigrette) $8~ The salad was really good. The greens were pretty fresh and it was a nice sized portion. What I loved most about the salad was the dressing. It was creamy but not heavy...and surprisingly very flavorful!

Quesadilla con Pollo Jalado a la Parilla (pulled grilled chicken quesadilla with roasted poblano cream) $8~ This was yummy! The chicken had lots of flavor and was sooo tender. But the portions were small and the poblano cream was wayy too sweet. I actually put some of my salad dressing on the quesadilla and it was even better...or some guacamole on it was super good as well.

I didn't get to try these but my friends said they were good:

Nachos con Pollo (Grilled chicken, black bean puree, avocado, jack cheese, roasted tomato salsa and jalapeno jelly)
Trece Sofa de Tortilla (Ancho chile, tortilla, tomato broth, pulled chicken, pico de gallo, queso fresco, avocado cream and warm corn tortillas) $9~
Next are the entrees...we got 3 out of the 4 choices (the 4th was a vegetarian dish).

I got the Budin Azteca (Pulled Chicken, Serrano-Epazote Cheese and Smoky Chorizo Multi-layered Tortilla Pie with Roasted Poblano Sauce) $18~ This dish was hit/miss with me. The chicken was sooo tender and had bold flavors. I really enjoyed that part of the dish. On the other hand, I only saw 1 tiny piece of chorizo and didn't get much of the chorizo flavor in the dish. Also, I'm not a fan of enchiladas and the tortilla layers in this dish tasted just like an enchilada. Basically it was like an enchilada in layered form. I just peeled off the tortilla layers and just ate the chicken.

I also got to try the Tacos de Pescado (Fish tacos with jicama slaw and Trece tortilla rice) $17~ This was a disappointment. The fish were fried and a little too hard/crispy. They didn't have enough meat on the fish. But the flavor was ok. Also, it didn't come with any kind of sauce or pico or anything, so the entire dish was dry. Again, I poured some of my leftover salad dressing on them and it made it much better! :P

I didn't get to try the Enchiladas de Pollo (Chicken enchiladas with salsa roja served with black beans, habanero rice, crema fresca) $15~ But my friend says that the dish was dry because it didn't have enough sauce and there was hardly any cheese. I think most of us expect lots of cheese when ordering enchiladas. Anyways, he was definitely not impressed.

Even though it wasn't free, I still had to try the dessert. When trying a new restaurant you gotta try all aspects, right?? :P hehe. I ordered the Tres Leches Flan (with raspberry sauce) $6~ The flan was really good! It's a little denser than most flans I've had in the past, I'm assuming is the tres leches part. But I can definitely taste the milk in the dessert. But flans are normally pretty light on the flavor and I think the raspberry sauce overpowered the dish. I still enjoyed it and I think the price was reasonable.

Overall the meal wasn't bad, but for the price that we would've paid, it's DEFINITELY not worth it. My favorite parts of the dinner was the blueberry mojito, the guacamole, the salad, and the quesadillas. Seems like the night started off pretty positive then just kinda plateaued out from there. And even though I enjoyed those items, I would never pay full price for them. It was good that the majority of the meal was free.

I won't be going back for a regular meal there, but maybe happy hour in the future!!

Quality of Food:

Service:

Cleanliness:

Value (with discount):

Value (w/o discount):

Overall Experience:


~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~