Alex Bentley

A favorite of ours since we moved to Plano, Simon's looks like a non-descript sushi place from the outside, but the food is second-to-none.

Always ask for the "off menu" -- not sure why they don't offer it as their regular menu, but that's where all the treasures lie. No visit is complete without trying the BTS (Better than sex) and 911 rolls.

The pricing above says "expensive," but it's no more so than any other sushi place you'll find. Make sure to sit at the bar at least once -- Simon is a lot of fun to watch and banter with.

Agave Azul only made my radar because of my frozen margarita story, and boy am I glad it did. Besides the fantastic mango margarita, the food was some of the best Mexican I've had in a while.

Had the Pollo Johnny, a grilled chicken breast with monterey jack cheese, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro on top. A simple dish I'm sure I've had elsewhere, but done very well. My wife's dish came with a cilantro lime rice that was also delicious.

That's not to mention our great server, who, when she discovered it was our first time there, immediately jumped into accommodating mode, bringing us fresh corn and flour tortillas (one word -- wow) and basically being at our beck and call for the rest of our stay. We will be back, and soon.

A generic strip mall store front belies the decor inside. Although it can't match the feel of the original, the blue floor and other adornments make you feel like you're in a nicer building than you actually are.

Food was great, as always. Had shrimp grilled in garlic -- generous heapings of garlic remained on the shrimp after serving, for which my taste buds thanked me. Mixed veggies were surprisingly good, and not just because of the different choices than most other places give you. Something about the flavor made me go back to them more often than I might.

Tried Kalachandji's on a recommendation for a cheap, relatively healthy place prior to a concert at Supersmirplex. Based on James' comment about the great salad bar, I was hopeful.

Maybe they've changed since James was there last, but the salad bar I saw was lackluster at best. The lettuce bowls were shabby-looking and the "choice" of toppings was severely lacking. There also didn't seem to be any indication on the flavors of dressing, which made it kind of a guessing game.

The entrees were all decent, although the choice of bean & corn enchiladas seemed a tad strange to me. The desserts were the best part -- I forget the names, but one had mango and the other was a vanilla rice concoction, and both were great, especially when combined.

Having fans in the booths in the courtyard is a nice touch, especially on a somewhat hot evening like yesterday.

Although I wasn't a huge fan of the food overall, Cuquita's is one of the more authentic Mexican restaurants around. How can I be sure it's authentic? A request for queso by one of my fellow diners was followed by a delivery of a small plate of shredded cheese. Hey, he said he wanted queso...

Tried for the first time this past Thursday -- for all the hype around it, I was expecting a huge crowd, but my wife and I got seated just over a half hour after we got there (arrived around 6:30, seated just after 7:00).

Tried a couple of their signature drinks -- Cuban Paramour (their version of the mojito) was great, but the Sage Advice (their margarita) was way too strong, something I didn't think I'd ever complain about. Also had the Green Chile Crab Dip while waiting for a table -- good stuff.

Dinner was Grilled Crabmeat on Avocado Chop salad and then Seared Sea Scallops -- both very good. I can't say that it's jumped to one of my favorites, but I was a great first experience.

Interesting -- guess it just depends on your expectations or time of day you go. My wife and I stopped in for a couple of drinks yesterday and we were fine with the level of customer service and experience. Not fantastic in terms of food or anything, but didn't expect it to be.

Just got introduced to this place by my brother-in-law and was very impressed with the food. Chicken fried steak was the best I'd had in a while, and mac-n-cheese, mashed potatoes, green beans and cornbread were all fantastic. Service took a while to get to us, but was great once we ordered. I'll definitely be back.

Tried for Restaurant Week on Saturday. Can't say I agree with everybody else on the mac-n-cheese (cheese tasted kind of like flour to me), but everything else was top notch, at least for this non-foodie. Hibiscus martini was fantastic -- would've had more than two if price was lower. Tempura green beans and crab dip were nice -- lots of chunks in the crab dip. Had tenderloin/salmon combo for dinner -- both were almost melt-in-your-mouth good. And Icebox pie was a perfect end to a great meal. Service was perfectly fine, although they didn't really go above and beyond. Any reservations I had about RW were quickly gone after this experience.

Yeah, like os518, I wasn't that impressed with this place. The hostess seated a group of three before my wife and me, even though they got there after us, then made some "spacing" excuse to me. Gee, if you have space for three, then you have space for two, don't you think?

After finally being seated, our order somehow became "lost" by the kitchen, resulting in an hour's wait for our food (luckily, I was having a fun conversation with my wife, so the wait was somewhat tolerable). To apologize for the wait, the waitress (who was the nicest thing about the place) brought us unwanted chips and salsa instead of, oh, taking one of the meals off the tab.

Can't say any of the employees were rude, but the food was just so-so, so based on the experience, I can't see any reason to go back there.

Tried this place for the first time last night as my bride and I ventured down to the Highland Park Village for a movie. Had a Kobe beef burger -- couldn't tell a huge difference between it and any other burger I've ever had. This one actually fell apart a bit, which made the already messy burger even messier. Fries were great, but reminded me of other similar fries I've had elsewhere. It was fun to try once and to now say I've had a Kobe beef burger, but I won't make an extraordinary effort to go back again.

This place always seems to be packed since it opened, but that could have something to do with the fact that it shares a relatively small parking lot with P.F. Chang's.

Food was good, but not quite outstanding. My wife and I especially liked the Spicy Shrimp and Eggplant appetizer, a surprise for me since I usually abhor eggplant. I tried the wood grilled salmon -- nothing special and a little disappointing that the so-called "crispy" shoestring onions were mixed in with all the ingredients, making them non-crispy and practically indistinguishable from everything else.

Too pricey to try on a regular basis, but we may try again at some point.