Crossroads Diner

Sunday morning we went to church and were definitely in the mood to try out a new brunch spot. We headed over to Crossroad Diner on Walnut Hill.

We arrived a little bit after noon on Sunday, and the wait was 40 minutes. We were tempted to leave, but this was our second attempt at this place and we REALLY wanted to give it a try. Plus, we figured the story would be similar at most other places in Dallas.

Due to the wait, we were prepared with our order before we were even seated.

We had to start with the sticky bun and boy was I THRILLED that we did. This thing was huge and covered in a caramel pecan sauce. It was so delicious, we literally had to pry ourselves away so that we would have room to try our other items.We went with the brisket hash for our main entree. This meal came with the hash, 2 eggs, and a side of pancakes. We also added a side of grits and breakfast sausage. Everything that we had was truly very good. The hash had great flavor, the grits were creamy, and the pancakes were fluffy.
Did I mention the service was great? Our waiter was attentive and quick once we were seated.

Crossroads Diner was worth the wait! Next time we go back, we'd like to try out their lunch menu.

Seasons 52

As someone who appreciates food, the whole concept of Seasons 52 discouraged me.
If I wanted a low-cal dinner, I'd pop in a Lean Cuisine.

It was suggested on more than one occasion, though, so I caved in and gave it a try.
The result was a pleasant surprise.

You probably know the deal: nothing in Seasons 52 is over 475 calories.
It's seasonally inspired, so it is always a revolving menu. Everything is perfect and your pants will still fit comfortably when you leave. As they told my dining companion: "ma'am, we don't have mayonnaise here".

The lack of mayonnaise isn't a bad thing, though. Don't let it deter you.

We started with the Ripe Plum Tomato Flatbread. Basil, garlic, and Parmesan had so much flavor, you didn't even miss whatever usually makes up those extra calories.



We were there for lunch, so my pal ordered the Grilled Portobello Turkey Burger. She said that it was delicious. Turkey burgers are something I just can't get behind, but if you like that sort of thing - the cheese & portobellos looked wonderful.


I had the Grilled Chicken Caesar Sandwich. The vegetables were fresh, the chicken was clean and had that delicious grilled flavor that can take a dish so far! I loved it.



For dessert, I had the eggnog mini. JP enjoyed the key lime pie. We would've shared, but there just wasn't that much. Oddly, it was just the right amount.


And I guess that's the thing about Season's 52. Its a great idea and you leave pleased with yourself for making such good, albeit forced, choices.

The Dish: The Grilled Chicken Caesar will shock you with how good 475 calories can be!

Smashburger

Our two lunch time visits to SmashBurger have been crowded. This is what we've learned about Smashburger: get there at 11 or 2 to avoid the crowds/find a seat...and that's a good thing.

You place your order at the counter, you fill your own soda, and then you and your number take a seat, if you can find one, and prepare to be served.

The burgers were decent, the accoutrement was fresh and crisp. The cheese, completely necessary. The fries, however, were the show stealers. Smashfries can be ordered with regular spuds or sweet potatoes. You can't go wrong either way. The smashfry combo includes rosemary, olive oil, and garlic. In Dallas, the Smashfries are rivaled only by Tillman's Trio of Fries *and that, my friends, is high praise.


On my second visit I did give the Buffalo Smashchicken a try and was let down. The chicken, two breasts worth, was rubbery and had a piece of gristle. I simply cannot get behind things of that nature. Stick to the burgers. It's what they do well.

Our good friend, NG, suggested the Butterfinger Milkshake. We'd love to give that a try, should we have any room left upon our next visit.

The Dish: Sweet potato Smashfries are a must.

The Place at Perry's

When Groupon posted up their brunch deal at The Place at Perry's, it was too good to resist.
Mimosa in hand, we perused the menu and were pleased to find a little something for everyone. This has happened twice now, so I know The Place is consistent and, best of all, affordable even without the Groupon.

First up: the shrimp and grits. Always questing for the perfect Savannah-esque dish, this one comes close. This picture can't quite do it justice, but those grits...they make the south proud.


The chicken and waffles has been a fan favorite on both visits. A thick waffle holds up the overly generous fried chicken. This perfect pairing is served alongside your choice of gravy and/or syrup. There is no way you can walk away from this dish disappointed (or still hungry).


Finally, the buttermilk pancakes. These flapjacks tasted more than fine, but the portion size seemed on the small side. As a side note, when we returned with our baby, he was able to quickly dispatch of two of the three pancakes and the kids serving was the exact same size as the regular serving of Buttermilk Pancakes. (Also, they do have a kids menu, so I wasn't being crazy by bringing my more than precious offspring to such a place!)


The Place opens at 11 on Sunday.
Saturday boasts a completely different menu that we look forward to trying.

The Dish: Give this place a try and don't miss the Chicken and Waffles.

GiGi's Cupcakes

Chocolate Salted Caramel



I know tacos are the new cupcakes, etc...
Last week I read that pies were the new taco (and I'm going to Rosebud's on Lovers ASAP to test the theory).

Gigi's didn't get the memo, though, and opened their new shop off Lovers and Inwood not too long ago. Always one to give cupcakes a fair shake, I've tried Gigi's, a national franchise, three times. Each time I've wanted to like it - the staff is incredibly friendly, there are free samples, it's very clean. And each time, my cupcake has fallen short of the mark: a little dry, flavors (despite sounding fantastic) are so-so. Most of all, the 2 inches of icing was over the top and, in my opinion, very similar to a short guy driving a monster truck: someone is trying to make up for something else that is, well, lacking.

The Dish: This cupcake place isn't for us.

Wedding Cake, Strawberry Shortcake, and Chocolate Salted Caramel

Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine

We ventured north of the loop this evening to try out Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine. Located off of Park and the DNT, Roy's welcomed us with burning tiki torches. Precious!
The bar was hopping when we arrived, lots of folks visiting. The happy hour specials were a great deal - one that we just happened to miss due to traffic - a mistake we won't make again.

We had a reservation, thanks to Open Table, so we were quickly seated and our very friendly waiter, Adrian, promptly took our drink orders.
We decided to skip the prix fixe menu, which had some interesting options for the $36 price tag, in order to make our own menu. The Split Pea and Rock Shrimp Soup was up first; it was a rough start and we were a little apprehensive about what was up next. The shrimp was a little tough and it wasn't delicious, the prosciutto was very salty and not quite complimentary to the other flavors involved. The soup was disappointing, but what followed rescued the dinner experience!

The truffled lobster mac and cheese was perfection. We've found that mac and cheese can often be overshadowed by whatever it shares its name with. Not the case with this mac and cheese. Everything was in balance and then topped with a crisp topping. I was more than happy to take home these leftovers.
For our main course Roy's Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi took us right back to the summer we spent a few weeks in Kauai. It was delicious. It was fresh. The fish was beautifully placed on top of two roasted potatoes and asparagus stalks, then surrounded by lobster butter sauce. The combination could not have been more appreciated by our taste buds! We also ordered up a side of the sweet potato gratin, as our readers know how much we love the spuds. Not mushy or over creamed, these potatoes were cheesy and magnificent. The chocolate souffle was the perfect size. The molten center and the vanilla bean ice cream, all surrounded by raspberry coulis made this dessert a star. But the pineapple upside down cake accompanied by coconut ice cream took us right back to summer - irresistible. The coconut ice cream had flakes of real coconut; the pineapple upside down cake almost tasted caramelized. The pairing was divine. We were very pleased with our dining experience at Roy's and highly recommend giving this unique fare a try.

Via Real

Monday was a special birthday lunch for a cousin of ours who lives in Grapevine. So, we decided to all meet halfway in Irving at Via Real.

We started with the house made guacamole served up in a tortilla shell. The guacamole was chunky and nicely seasoned. Just enough salt and not too spicy. This was a crowd pleaser!

The restaurant offers a variety of lunch specials at reasonable prices. I opted for the spinach enchilada topped off in a sour cream sauce and the puffy beef taco. The special was served with black beans and rice. For $7.00, I was pleased! Emily opted for the black bean ravioli. This

dish consisted of delicate ravoli shells stuffed with black beans and served with mushrooms, tomoatoes, and a creamy sauce.

As i mentioned, this was a birthday lunch. I don't think we ever officially announced this to our server, but I am sure he picked up on some of our clues ( presents, celebratory drinks, etc). He brought us out a chocolate cake with happy birthday written in strawberry syrup and even had a candle lit in the center. From there, he took our photo and inserted it into a birthday card.

The service here was absolutely wonderful and we enjoyed our time at Via Real.

Elevation Burger

Emily and I decided to try out Elevation Burger today for lunch. It's located at Hillcrest and Northwest Highway. This spot just opened up in Dallas and is the only other joint in Texas besides one that is located in Austin. We arrived at about 11:30 to skip the lunch crowd. There were a few folks who beat us to that idea, but there was still plenty of room. The restaurant isn't too big, but they have a large outdoor patio that would be great when it gets warmer.

Elevation Burger is sparkly clean and prides itself on providing quality ingredients and being environmentally friendly. We both ordered the cheeseburger and split the fries and an oreo shake. The cheeseburger was delicious! The bun was fresh, the cheese was generous, and the burger wasn't greasy. The fries were also a hit! They were fried in olive oil and generously salted. You are able to customize your shake, so we chose chocolate ice cream with oreo mix-ins. Great choice!

By the time we left, Elevation Burgers was packed! We enjoyed our all American lunch and walked away without being overly full. If you are in the area, give this place a try!

Seasons 52

On our last day of the holiday, we decided to head up to the Shops at Legacy to try out the new Seasons 52 Fresh Grill. This place boasts a seasonal menu with no item on the menu totaling more than 475 calories. You can truly eat anything here, and not walk away too full.

We started with an order of the parmesan cheese and rosemary flat bread. It was served up in a cone and truly held great flavor. They have other options with different meats and cheeses to choose from if you want someting a little heavier. We were having a hard time deciding on our meal, so we talked to the friendly waitstaff. We were interested in soups and asked if we should order the chicken tortilla or the buffalo chili. The waiter mentioned that he would just bring us a sample of both so that we could see what we liked best. Very nice service!


After tasting both, I decided to go with the chicken tortilla soup. The flavors were savory and the chicken portions were very generous. Since I ordered the combination plate, I also got an organic mixed greens salad with my soup. The salad was a fairly large portion and was served with grape tomatoes, toasted pumpkin seeds, cucumbers, and tossed in a deliciously light vinaigrette.



As a small side, we also opted for the edamame. This was served seaming hot with a side of green tea salt.

Emily went with the bbq chicken entree salad. Blue cheese, roasted corn, pumpkin seeds, roasted peppers, spinach and mixed greens were all tossed together and topped with bbq grilled chicken. The salad was tasty and filling!

We really liked Seasons 52. What a healthy and flavorful restaurant that allows us to keep our new years resolutions!!