Reviews by WhatsUpPorkchop
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Posted on October 27, 2009 at 8:25 p.m.
You might miss the fairly non-descript location next to the tire store if you blink, and the parking is terrible. However, the burgers are cheap, big and delicious. The well-seasoned patties have a generous portion of toppings and can barely be contained by the waxpaper wrapping and brown bag in which they are served, especially as the hot off the griddle grease begins to seep through. Be ready to wait for ever if you don't call ahead, but it's worth it. So is that inevitable grease stain that will end up on your suit pants while you scarf it down in the parking lot.
If you are a fan of dive burgers (especially a bit out of the way), I am also a big fan of Maple and Motor Burgers & Beer, Hole in the Wall and Lee Harvey's.
Posted on October 27, 2009 at 8:21 p.m.
You could probably knock down the building of this aptly named burger and blues bar located at Harry Hines and Forest near Sam Moon with your shoulder if you tried hard enough, and once you enter the dark and somewhat ill-kept interior you might wonder why someone hasn’t. However, like with most dives, if you overcome your preconceived notions of sanitary, the two women working the kitchen will serve you up greasy burgers from hand formed patties along with delicious dark, half-crisp fries and an RC Cola for about $8. One of my personal favorite hangover remedies is to add the chili.
Other dive burgers I really like are Maple and Motor Burgers & Beer, Lee Harvey's and Wingfield's.
Posted on July 31, 2009 at 8:45 p.m.
Ok, so I am a self-professed regular. However, I must admit, I have never tried much beyond the stellar pizza. I recently made a point to spend some time at Louie's sampling other things on the menu.
In fact, this included an entire bachelor week at Louie's. One of the great things of being at Louie's on a Monday or Tuesday is that all the pies are in stock (which are made from scratch by Louie's mom). Apparently, this includes the cocunut chess pie. Quite frankly, I was not aware there was a coconut chess pie, but, maybe that is because it is never availbable on my usual Friday or Saturday night. Let me tell you, this pie is INSANELY good. Not only is it delicious, it is memorable. Not a casual memory like "gee, let's go back to Louie's, their food was good and they had that dessert we liked," but rather the kind of food memory that becomes one of your desires, your cravings, your all-time favorites. A siren-like call from beyond that you just can't ignore. Even if everything else they served at Louie's absoluteluy sucked, this pie alone would be worth the trip. I can find no other words to describe it than to tell you that you simply must try it. It is last meal worthy. It is, in all honesty, one of the 10 best things I have ever had the pleasure of eating.
So, do yourself a favor and order something great other than pizza or salad. It will be worth it. How about some more of my week at Louie's:
http://www.heymanwhatsup.com/main/200...
On Louie's
Posted on April 14, 2009 at 10:10 p.m.
I am a mere simpleton but I love good food and drink to the point of excess and I am a big fan of The Porch. In fact, I think it may be the best casual restaurant in Dallas. Let me tell you 10 reasons why you should think so too:
(1) Always Friendly Atmosphere: I have been to The Porch for dinner and drinks with the wife, weekend lunches and weekday dinners with the whole family, business lunches and just hanging out in the guys. In every instance and in each situation, including my first visit, The Porch has provided a welcome atmosphere and familiar feeling. Despite its continued popularity and weekend evening crowds, it seems to have avoided the pretentious, too cool for itself air that often infect other Dallas restaurants at the height of their buzz.
(2) Great People Watching: In my opinion, The Porch has the best mix of 20-40’s crowd. You get the benefit of being able to leer at all of the sorority girls in the short skirts, tight tops and skinny jeans, plus you have enough of the surgically enhanced and still looking to keep you from feeling old. What’s even better is that The Porch seems to attract the kind of large groups of women for dinner and drinks you normally only see at a Sushi Bar or an overrated upscale pizza joint serving salads with micro greens.
(3) Upscale Comfort Food Done Right: Upscale comfort food is a popular trend in Dallas right now, with the likes of Screen Door and Neighborhood Services following The Porch. I think the Porch’s menu is the best top to bottom (and I think I have had just about everything at one point or another) with choices ranging from a Stodg Burger to Chicken Parm to Pan Roasted Trout. My personal favorite entrees are the Fish and Chips (which my daughters devour), Short Rib Stroganoff (which eats more like a hearty stew than the classic creamy pasta dish) and the Baby Back Ribs. During lunch, you can’t go wrong with the Fried Chicken Cobb which is absolutely loaded with chicken and blue cheese, the Clubhouse Melt or the Three Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup. On more than a couple of occasions, I have even made a meal out of the BBQ brisket sliders served with a nice tangy BBQ sauce, The Porch’s excellent cole slaw and exactly one pickle slice each along with side of the smoky mac ‘n cheese. Not only do I not recall ever having had a bad meal here, I can’t even think of something which I have ordered but would not order again.
(4) Enticing Specialty Drinks: I am a one trick pony when it comes to cocktails, and I am not only usually unimpressed but generally repulsed by the over-fruity-infused-vodka cosmotiniritas that litter most bars’ specialty drink landscape. However, even I have partaken in the offerings at The Porch with my personal favorite being the very girly spiked pink lemonade. You should order one if only so you can get your significant other to give it a try. Trust me, she’ll love it and want to have one of her own. Give it some time, and soon the liquor which has been cleverly hidden by the homemade juices and syrups will have her saying things like “Wow, this is delicious. It hardly tastes like there is any alcohol.” This is, my friends, is the golden ticket as it often precedes things like “Oh, my God, I am so drunk,” “Is your roommate home,” and “Wanna have sex in the car.” Be mindful, though, as it can quickly spiral out of control into “I think I am going to sick.”
(5) Solid Blackboard Specials: For many restaurants, the special(s) of the day involve some dubious creative outlet of the chef based on whatever they happen to have too much of, especially when it comes to fish. No so at The Porch, where the blackboard specials truly provide a great diversion to the regular menu and, I’m told, the daily dock specials are actually fresh fish. Count yourself lucky if you are there on a day when they are serving up the chicken fried steak, a perfect version of the Texas classic topped with awesome jalapeno cream gravy, or their take on the chicken tortilla soup, which is creamy with a late but lively kick. Actually, you don’t have to get lucky. Just ask the always helpful wait staff to put you on their email list, and The Porch will actually notify you when your favorites are being served.
(6) Hip Location: The Porch helps anchor the Consilient Group empire on Henderson Avenue and part of what seems to be an ever-expanding set of excellent bars and restaurants on the East Side of 75. If you happen to have had your fill and have decided not to continue to spend time at the bar, you are only stumbling distance from the Old Monk (a great English style pub with its own patio and fantastic Fish and Chips), Cuba Libre (for those of you on the young side who still go there), Victor Tango’s, or late night drinks and white man dancing at Candle Room. You are also not far from the developing lower Henderson where you can find personal favorite Louie’s as well as Barcadia and the relatively new Blue Collar. I am lucky enough to live fairly close, but I will give you a free tip -- If you are leaving the valet lot behind The Porch, you cannot turn left across Henderson. Either circle the block or, better yet, walk or take a cab to avoid those flashing lights which will definitely ruin the evening.
(7) Going with its Namesake: The porch at The Porch is reminiscent of an actual covered front patio. It may not be as big as others around town, but I love the way it opens up to Henderson and is accessible regardless of the weather.
(8) Fresh Cobblers: I am of the mind that almost all fruit is better when it is cobbled, and I love that cobbler is a fixture on the menu. Better still, The Porch changes its Farmers Market Cobbler regularly to account for what is in season. Although sometimes I like mine with a bit more crust, the versions at The Porch are loaded with fruit, have the right amount of sweet and, of course, are served ala mode (by the way, it drives me crazy when a restaurant asks me if I want my cobbler with ice cream; this should be the default; if you do not want ice cream you should be required to ask to have it removed so everyone can stare at you and laugh). If something is wrong with you and cobblers just aren’t your thing, the gooey Hot Fudge S’mores Sundae and Bourbon Pecan Pie are also winners.
(9) The Massive Bar: This stainless steel masterpiece backed by a wall of mirrors is the ideal backdrop for all that people watching and spiked lemonade drinking. Their wine list, including their wines by the glass, aren’t bad either. Although the bar area can get crowded, the bar itself and the few tables are well spread out and the bar is adequately staffed so you very rarely have to wait very long for your drink. I also like that that the two flat panel TV’s are on opposite ends of the bar and offer a great line of site to watch a game throughout the bar if you can distract yourself enough from staring at the hot group of women behind you via the mirror so as not to be so obvious.
(10) No Mere Mint: Forget the ubiquitous after dinner peppermint. The Porch keeps a bowl full of starburst which just brings a smile to my face as I grab a few when I leave (unless they are all lemon), and provide a solid bribe for the kiddos. As if the awesome fruit cocktail was not enough.
http://www.heymanwhatsup.com/main/200...
On The Porch
Posted on April 14, 2009 at 10:54 a.m.
This hole in the wall on Henderson is the quintessential neighborhood bar and a place I happily consider myself a regular.
The crowd can vary from night to night, but who cares? Pull up a shaky stool at the dark bar and let John or Kenny poor you a sneakily strong drink or serve you a beer in a can. Yes, a can! From some of the best pizza you will ever eat (a former D-Magazine best pizza award winner) to outstanding grilled chicken and pasta and surprisingly good mashed potatoes, few bars, much less restaurants, can serve up such consistently good fare for the price and portion size. A word of warning – Louie’s only accepts cash and American Express. Therefore, if you don’t have an AMEX card, get one; that’s what I did (ok, I admit, my wife made me get it because it is only card they will accept at Nieman’s).
I hate seeing the reports of poor service, but I have never had that experience. The staff has been there forever and are part of the charm. If you are trying to make it the next great spot after Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, you are likely to be disappointed. Louie's is not that kind of place. Become a regular or give it another a chance by sitting at the bar.
Here are some more of my favorite bars in Dallas http://www.heymanwhatsup.com/main/200...
On Louie's
Posted on April 14, 2009 at 10:47 a.m.
After being bombarded by some of the best reviews I have see in quite some time for a new Dallas restaruant and inspired by the mouthwatering descriptions of the kind of upscale comfort food that Badovinus made a mainstay at The Porch, my wife and I decided to venture outside our normal comfort zone to Neighborhood Services. Although only about a 12 minute drive from our home, Neighborhood Services is located a world apart in the bubble that is Park Cities. Despite is proximity to downtown, its singular minded insularity leads me to treat Park Cities as a suburb and, therefore, only approached infrequently and with very good reason.
As an aside, I hate driving through the Park Cities. The main thoroughfares tend to reduce down to two lane roads which, when not blocked by the SMU campus or a shutdown for the regular reminder that they are rich and can still afford to fix the potholes in their streets, are constantly backed up by a glut of stoplights which appear purposely set to insure that you cannot ever make two greens in a row. The pure road rage that usually builds in me as I sit through a light for the sixth time as the 8 cars in front of me attempt to turn left with no arrow against the ever-oncoming traffic reached a new boiling point on our drive to Neighborhood Services as some hot shot managed to virtually shut down Lovers Lane with valets running back and forth parking cars for some fancy-pants party.
Much in need of a drink to calm my nerves, we managed to miss the relatively non-descript entrance twice despite what should have been an obvious tip off of the long valet line filled with Mercedes, BMW’s , Lexus (Lexi?), Land Rovers and assorted other look at me vehicles common to Dallas and especially the Park Cities area. When the valet finally took our keys, he politely informed us that the current wait for a table was approximately 2 hours (for the life of me, I cannot understand why people would ever wait this long to eat for any meal other than Thanksgiving). The time was then 6:40. Neighborhood Services opens at 6:00 and does not take reservations. This seemingly Lost-like temporal impossibility only added to what appeared to be the start of a very bad evening. I certainly did my part to ensure this by picking that exact moment to remind my wife that I wanted to leave the house earlier but she once again took way too long to get herself all prettied up to go out. [How she puts up with me on a regular basis, I will never know.]
My mood, already in a death spiral, hit rock bottom when we entered the restaurant. Neighborhood Services is a cozy location, warmly lit and nicely decorated, but when I say “cozy,” I mean it in the real estate sense. I was surprised by what appeared to be a small number of tables as well as the diminutive size of the overall space. Generally, I don’t care about the wait for a table because my wife and I prefer to eat at the bar. We find bar service far superior giving you the ability to enjoy dinner at your own pace but with the added benefit of having your cocktails refreshed more often and more quickly. There is also often a TV showing sports which no doubt adds to my enjoyment and certainly improves the “conversation” between my wife and me. Plus, I find that the bartenders are always more forthcoming on what is or is not actually good on the menu. However, there was not a seat to be found in the tiny bar area which operated more as a holding cell than a relaxed wait.
To make matters worse, we found it difficult to wade through the crowd to get a drink. The place was packed by Park Cities residents in their 50’s making sure they had tried the latest thing in order to one up their friends at the country club. Although there were a fair number of couples in their 30’s waiting it out, the room was dominated by people who thought themselves way too important to provide even a modicum of politeness. Not only were they going to take up 2-3 bar stools even though they had not ordered and had no intention of ordering a drink or were just nursing their one white wine spritzer so as not to look like that is what they were doing, but not one of these high class individuals would even provide a sliver of space within which to allow any other patron to order. If not for the shear will it took me to get to this place, the loss of precious babysitter time and the pure hassle of retrieving my car from the valet, we would have left.
Thankfully, we didn’t. My wife finally found an old man that was leering at her long enough to give her an opportunity to reach the bar. After ordering our first drinks of the evening at 7:00 (20 minutes being a near record for me during a night out), we told the bartender, who had asked us to let him know if we needed anything else, that we wanted to eat at the bar and make our way through the menu. Enlisted in our battle by the possibility of a large tip, the bartender helped us out by letting us know that the couple in the matching fur coats (yes, the man had one on too evening ala Seinfeld; I kept looking for his European man purse), had just paid their tab.
Finally seated at the bar and well into our second drink each, we began meandering our way through the menu over an order of the House Ground Fennel Sausage Flatbread. The perfectly bubbly cheese and spicy sausage got us re-focused on our gastronomic mission and greatly improved our attitudes. Next up was a bowl of tortilla soup each. Called a tribute to his time at The Mansion, according to the bartender, the soup represented Badovinus’s desired improvements on the classic Dallas version. It was without a doubt my wife’s favorite part of the meal as she declared it the best tortilla soup she had ever eaten. I have never been to The Mansion so I can’t compare it to the original, but, the soup was a bit on the tomato-y side for me, and I much prefer the versions at Fearing’s (another Mansion alum) and The Porch (which you should stop down for if it is ever on the specials board). That said, it is small criticism at best, and, although not at the top of my food experience for the night, the taste and warmth of the soup on that surpisingly cool Spring night 9(you know, the 30 degree ones we get on Saturday recently after a gorgeous and sunny work week) along with the steady flow of Jack and Diets had me relaxed and ready for more.
It was now around 8:30, and my wife and I both realized that the bar had cleared out a bit. The older crowd and families which eat out at way to early an hour had largely left and the 30 somethings had only started to trickle in, leaving a window of about 45 minutes or so during which the wait for a table may actually have been manageable for those of you who insist on eating your dinner in such a fashion. During this relative lull, we moved on to the three jack & mac gratin (their version of a mac and cheese, a dish I feel I need to order whenever it is on the menu) and the fried asparagus so we could say we had eaten a vegetable. For those of you other mac and cheese connoisseurs out there, you know this dish comes in all varieties. Personally, I prefer the smokier flavor brought in by a stronger white cheese and having ham or bacon added in. Therefore, although quite good, I think Badovinus’s prior version at The Porch is better. The asparagus, however, was perfectly al dente and the tempura-style batter had a great salty almost French-fry like flavor that I thoroughly enjoyed washing down with what I believe was my fourth cocktail, but, hey, who’s keeping track?
Although my wife claimed to be full, we had an hour or so to go before we needed to be home, and I couldn’t leave just her and that bottle of wine to their own devices. So, at my insistence, we ordered entrees. I ordered the burger, for which Neighborhood Services is quickly becoming known, and for good reason. Blended with brisket, it was melt in your mouth good albeit difficult to eat. I ranked it right up there with my favorite burgers in Dallas if not all time after just one bite. Like a girl, my wife ordered the pasta of the day which was a farfalle with roasted chicken that was tasty but unremarkable in light of the other food we had eaten during our prior 2+hours of dining.
Capping our meal and our final round of drinks, we shared the butterscotch pudding which harkened me back to my childhood. If you are going to be bold enough to not only serve pudding but call it pudding and not mousse or pot de creme, it better be good, and this was every bit of good. It was all my wife could do to stop me from licking the bowl (or having it serve as the glass for a newly-invented dessert version of my favorite cocktail).
At about 10:45, we finally departed filled to the brim on great food and drink. What had started as a disaster waiting to happen in large part due to the Park Cities crowd which makes up the neighborhood in Neighborhood Services, ended as a great dining experience that we were pleased to share with a wonderfully attentive bartender and the patrons more our speed who arrived after 9:00. In the end, Neighborhood Services provided an excellent meal top to bottom but in a location and with an early crowd I may find difficult to fight once more. Perhaps when (and if) it is replaced by the next big dining experience for the Park Cities elite, we will venture there again. Until then, we will be just as happy hanging out at The Porch.
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Posted on November 11, 2009 at 2:04 p.m.
Food: 4/5 Vibe: 3/5 Service: 4/5 Value: 2/5 Overall: 3/5
Even though we got there after the pre-theater crowd, the place was still packed. Interior was very cool as was the outside furniture and fire pit (ala Stephen Pyles).
The semi circle bar has a very clean design and is styled much like the Pyles Bar, but it is similarly small with respect to surface area. Although the two bartenders were working feverishly, they seemed a bit overwhelmed.
The food has a nice mix of Middle Eastern and Indian flavors. However, even for a tapas joint, the portions are small which moves it down the value scale. For example, we got the Naan and three dipping sauces, which include hummus and a yogurt dip. All three were very tasty as was the naan, but they only give you four small corners just slightly larger than a store bought pita chip. It wasn't enough to come close to finishing the dips. They should really double the size.
The "lamb pizza" had a taste much like an un-fried samosa, and I really liked the flavor. However, the plate only had two conical shaped servings totalling less mass than a Taco Bell bean burrito.
We also tried the quail, which was really good. But for the money, I would rather just go to Si, which we did and had an awesome time as always, leaving quite stuffed.
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On Samar by Stephan Pyles