Stackhouse Burger in Dallas

Stackhouse Burgers is located down by Baylor Hospital in Dallas and has a few things going for it: Number one, parking was decent. Number two, they do offer outdoor and rooftop dining. Can you take advantage of that right now? Not unless you plan on checking in to Baylor for heat stroke. But....come November/December, when the weather cools to less than 80, it'll definitely come in handy. Number three, it's so good you will want to make a return visit to eat up whatever you missed the first time.

We started with a vanilla milk shake, which tasted like pure delicious Bluebell topped with whipped cream and a cherry. A little on the thick side, this shake had staying power.

If you're into something a little more serious, Stackhouse also has a bar complete with a sports centered tv. 

Vanilla Milkshake at Stackhouse Burgers

Next up, the burger. We ordered the single patty 6oz burger. You can tailor it to your specifics, including cheese and other toppings. We went with cheddar, lettuce, and avocado. This burger was one of the better burgers we've had recently; the cheese was melty, the avocado was smooth. We could not have been happier with our burger choice. Plus, while 6oz isn't skimpy, it also isn't overwhelming. We found it to be of good heft. 

Single Patty Burger with Avocado, Cheddar, and Lettuce

The french fries were decent. The show stealer, however, was definitely the mac and cheese. This little ditty came out in a foil dish - was bubbly and hot with a toasted crumb top. It looked good, but we've recently been burned by mac and cheese that came out grainy or bland. This was neither. It was smooth perfection with a nice sharp bite to it. This dish gets a blue ribbon. 

The French Fries - Decent, but overshadowed by the mac and cheese experience

Our Pick for Best Dish!

Our experience with the wait staff was a little stuffy, but we won't let that deter us from visiting again. We enjoyed the atmosphere and the food exceeded our expectations. Oh, and if burgers aren't your thing, the menu does hold other options - the griddled cheese caught our eye, made with gouda, cheddar, and bacon. Can you beat that?

The dish: Try that mac and cheese!

Pecan Lodge

Pecan Lodge at the Dallas Farmer's Market keeps some limited hours (Thursday-Sunday 11-3), but the crowd outside lets you know that things inside are worth finagling your schedule. 

We arrived on the Thursday after July 4th at noon. The line was wrapped around the side of the building and down the hall. Luckily, it is located inside the air conditioned shed #2 AND our spot in line put us right across from a fudge shop. Jackpot. 

The line.

 

The line moved quickly, and we soon found ourselves ordering up The Hot Mess. The Hot Mess is something you may have seen on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives? Or something you might have seen in Southern Living, The Dallas Morning News or even The Observer? It even has it's own hashtag. It is darn good. This salted sweet potato is topped with barbacoa, chopped bacon, chives, butter, and chipotlecream. The picture doesn't really do justice to how good this potato is, but it is unparalleled - and it's a ton to eat.  

The "Hot Mess" with all of the delicious trappings

Wanting to try a sampling of sides, we also ordered up the fried okra and the mac and cheese. 

The mac and cheese had a whole litany of praise mounted on the wall as part of their advertising. However, we found the dish to be a little grainy and not quite up to snuff. The cheese was mild and it was topped with bacon - but the grainy texture to the roux really put us off.

The mac and cheese.

 

The fried okra was delicious and couldn't have been done better. Crisp applied to both the breading and the okra itself. Every single piece was a success. It was an A+ side dish. 

Okra done right!

The Dish: We would revisit for The Hot Mess. Fortunately, today is Sunday. 

We may just revisit once we hit publish!

Kenny's Italian Kitchen

We usually don't venture outside of our loop ( north of 635), but we have heard too many great things about Kenny's Italian Kitchen to miss out.  This spot is located in Addison right off the tollway on Beltline.  We arrived about 6:45 on a Tuesday night and the place was absolutely packed.  Luckily we made a reservation on opentable.com prior to arrival.  Our waiter was very friendly and suggested their happy hour house wine.  At $4.00 a glass with a nice big pour, this was an excellent start.

We started with the "Midnight Meatballs".  These were served three to a dish, covered in marinara, mozzarella cheese and Italian parsley.  They tasted authentic and were filling. 

For the entree portion, we ordered the veal piccata and asked for Fontina cheese on top.  This was served with a lemon caper sauce and a side of spaghetti noodles tossed with garlic and olive oil.  The veal was pounded thin and the sauce was flavorful: the lemon had a great punch to it.

We also went tried the gnocchi. At Kenny's you can choose a white cream sauce or the vodka sauce.  The vodka sauce seemed more appealing.  These medium sized potato pockets were fluffy  and the sauce was a great balance with the starch.

Even though we were stuffed, we had to order the light and dark chocolate bread pudding.  This generous portion could easily have been split by four people, but we made a pretty good attempt at finishing it.  The pudding was dense and the chocolate sauces were creamy. This dessert is a show stealer. 

We were glad that we ventured out of the loop for this spot.  Kenny's has Italian comfort food down.

Nando's

This week we decided to give Nando's a try.  This spot is formerly Cava (also a Dish on Dallas reviewed location) found on Preston and Royal.  The owner is a previous Gloria's employee and together with his mother, they opened up this Veracruz style restaurant.  We were greeted by the owner upon arrival and were seated in the middle of the main dining room.  Our waiter immediately let us know of their happy hours prices- $5.00 for the house red/white wine and margaritas.  What a deal! Cheers!

 We started with the chile con queso and chips and salsa. They offer the queso flameado as well, but we went with the plain and simple option.  Nando's does queso right- rich, creamy and salty - this was a great start.  The salsa had a bit of a kick, but it paired well with the queso and warm chips. 

 Next, we opted for the cucumber guacamole.  The plate was served with 4 heaping scoops of guacamole and tomato slices.  Unfortunately, this dish was a let down.  The dish lacked flavor and it almost tasted just like it was prepackaged from the grocery store. Yikes.

 Next up, we ordered the sopes.  These are corn patties topped with beans, lettuce, tomato, and queso fresco.  We were very pleased with this authentic dish.  The flavors were great and the presentation was appealing. The fresh sliced avocado really made this delicious.

 On to the diablitos.  These were tempura fried shrimp served in a spicy jelly. The presentation was very pretty, but the dish was a tad spicy, and the shrimp were a little too chewy.

We ended the meal with sopapillas.  These came three to an order with a dollup of sweet cream ice cream in the middle.  How can you go wrong ending the meal with a sugary fried dessert?  We were pleased that we ordered it.

We enjoyed our trip to Nando's, despite our mixed feelings on the things we ordered. We would definitely give this place another shot. It has potential. Plus the queso and happy hour specials are quite an incentive.