Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Moo-N-Oink, family diner with late-night bar, opens in Plano at Park and US 75
With the name, you might assume it's a barbecue place. But you would assume wrong.
PLANO — If you were to assume that Moo-N-Oink, a new family-run restaurant in Plano, were a barbecue restaurant, you would not be alone. Moo, oink = brisket, ribs? But no, owner Melissa Partin actually named the place after her kids.
"My oldest daughter is 'Moo', and my oldest son is 'Oink'," she says. "My son looks like a pig -- his nose turns right up, he's always said that."
You know you're in good company when a person's porcine tendencies are not merely acknowledged but celebrated. Credit must be given to the fact that Partin is from up North -- Michigan to be exact. A former area supervisor for the Subway chain, she moved to Texas seven years ago. Moo-N-Oink is the realization of a lifelong dream to have her own place.
Located in what used to Ojeda's, Moo-N-Oink is actually more a diner, but with a homey touch, not just in the fact that nearly everything's made from scratch, but also in the very nature of dishes such as lasagna and shepherd's pie, one of the homiest dishes you're likely to find on a restaurant menu. Partin does hers with beef, ham, potatoes, and vegetables in a creamy sauce, simmering beneath a biscuit topping. Her meatloaf comes with homemade scalloped potatoes.
Burgers are 100% sirloin, served on white, wheat, jalapeño, Texas toast, croissant, English muffin, or rye bread, and come in an extraordinary assortment -- from the pizza burger stuffed with pepperoni and mozzarella cheese to the fire cracker burger with curry spices to the cognac burger injected with cognac.
The place has a kids' area with chalkboards, TV, and video game facilities, but it also has a fully-stocked bar, with late-late night hours -- 1 a.m. on week-nights and 2 a.m. on weekends -- as well as free wifi access. Starting in January, it'll serve breakfast from Thursdays through Sundays, too.
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Lori Young, says:
Up here in Chicago "Moo & Oink" are the mascots for a chain of local butcher shops of the same name. http://retail.moo-oink.com/ It's always freaked me out a bit that the happy dancing animals in the commercials are trying to convince you to buy pieces of their dead relatives.
Verified
1 year, 11 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Scott Doyle, says:
Would it be morbid to write up a condition in my future will that anybody taking my organs has to sing and dance for my relatives? I figure they won't be grieving too much anyhow, so they might as well be entertained while having to deal with my estate.
Anyhow, this sounds strangely familiar to the small franchise of <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=purple+cow&near=plano,+tx&ie=UTF8&ll=33.048961,-96.721573&spn=0.419574,0.6427&z=11&iwloc=A&om=1">Purple Cow</a> establishments in the metroplex. Family decor with stuff for the kids, full bar, homey dishes, etc.
Verified
1 year, 11 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Lisa Lawrence Merritt, says:
What.The.Hell?
One more place for obese people to line up at the trough and feed.
Gawd.
Verified
1 year, 11 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Teresa Gubbins, says:
that's a good comparison, scottdoyle. one big difference is that purple cow shuts down at "family-friendly" (bleh) hours - 9 or 10 pm.
lori young, melissa the owner said she hadn't heard of that butcher chain, and was surprised to find out about it, especially since she lived up there
i can't believe they're opening for breakfast and then staying open until 1 a.m. - that's a long workday. but i admire any place that opens for breakfast - hopefully they'll give some competition to the <a href="http://www.pegasusnews.com/places/original-pancake-house-east-plano/">Original Pancake House</a> that's right nearby becuz that place is exPENSive
Staff
1 year, 11 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
kirk, says:
Lori's right. It's a Chicago institution:
http://home.moo-oink.com/home.html
Anonymous
1 year, 11 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Pavel Lishin, says:
tingthing, thanks for sharing your anorexic viewpoint.
Sounds like a pretty cool place, I think I'll check it out. Any family restaurant that'll serve me a cup of vodka is a-ok by me.
Verified
1 year, 11 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
luniz, says:
The name certainly doesn't conjure up images of tasty food, especially with Big Easy right there. Although a "cognac burger" sounds interesting at least.
Anonymous
1 year, 11 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
okme2, says:
Can't wait to try it...Hey, if they are from MICH it's got to be good! (GoBlue)
Anonymous
1 year, 11 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Scott Doyle, says:
ting, if you could find me a restaurant that's up to FDA code and serves me out of a trough, I'd go at least once.
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1 year, 11 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
EdWeirdness, says:
And the Big Easy conjures up images of tasty food in what way? Some food in Louisiana is delightful, but when I'm there. Cajun cooking in Texas, similar; hardly the same. Big Easy in conjunction with food only reminds me of the bulk foods aisle at Sam's.
Anonymous
1 year, 11 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
luniz, says:
I like their crawfish etouffee which is typically what I get but I've also enjoyed the shrimp bienville and crawfish burgers. I don't care that much that it's not Louisiana and certainly don't feel any need to restrict my food choices to foods that originated in this state. Of course, just because I like it doesn't mean anybody else will.
Anonymous
1 year, 11 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
okme2, says:
My daughter and I had a chance to stop in for dinner this past Friday night (Jan4). The place was not busy at all, maybe a couple four-tops and a few people at the bar including what appeared to be a 9-10 year old girl actually sitting at the bar with the other bar patrons.
We ended up ordering a couple burgers from the “build your own burger” portion of the menu, my daughter a ¼ lb and fries and I had the ½ lb with Potato Salad, my original choice was Cole Slaw which they were out of. I also ordered the soup of the day, tomato and pasta.
After about 15-20 minutes the soup arrived and it reminded me of Campbell’s Condensed soup with very little flavor. Following another 15-20 minutes the burgers were delivered. My daughter’s burger came with bread instead of a bun so we asked why and were told that they switched her order to a kid’s meal “because it was cheaper”. The burger appeared not be the ¼ lb that was ordered.
My burger arrived as ordered and was very juicy, the wheat bun appeared a bit dated but the flavor was satisfying. The side of Potato Salad was very sweet and pureed to the point of mash potatoes.
The décor is Sports Bar and included a Pool Table, Air Hockey and numerous video games; there is also a kid’s area in the rear of the dinning room. During our entire experience there were 2-3 kids (ages from 6 -10) running around the place with pool sticks in hand and playing catch with the football while their parents were seated at the bar.
With so many dinning options in this area the first impression is sometimes the only one a place get’s to make, unfortunately for us, this was not a good first impression. This was our experience at Moo-N-Oink, maybe yours will be different.
Anonymous
1 year, 11 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
scienceguru, says:
This place closed down...not surprising as it was never very busy and the food was not incredibly good. A couple of months ago, my husband and I went for breakfast one morning with a friend of ours, as we are always on the lookout for new breakfast places to try. I never realized that toast and breakfast sausage could be done Cajun style (read: blackened). Service was lackluster and unenthusiastic. We also thought it odd that a sports bar type place would be serving breakfast.
Anonymous
1 year, 8 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal