2111 Norfolk St
Houston, TX 77098

Last weekend we decided to go check out Star Pizza in Montrose. I have been wanting to try it because the ratings have all been really good and I really love pizza. As someone who has eaten food all over the USA I have had the opportunity to try some amazing places including pizza in New York and Chicago.

I really liked that this place is in an old 2 story house that was converted into a business. There is a covered porch along 2 sides of the building with a ramp for handicapped access. Under the awnings are outdoor fans to keep you cool and white christmas lights for evening ambiance. The weather was so nice that we decided to eat in the fresh air outdoors. The hostess told us that the waitress was swamped as we were seated. I knew from reading reviews before going to expect slower service than other pizza places. I was however, pleasantly surprised that the service was better than I expected.

To start we ordered the garlic bread with cheese and a side of marinara  which was good. The bread was soft with a nice amount of cheese. We also ordered a half and half on whole wheat, deep dish style pizza. One side was a margarita specialty pizza which had roma tomatoes, garlic, basil, cheese and olive oil. The other side of the pizza was a Ben’s which has ground beef, Italian sausage, pepperoni and ham.

Both sides of the pizza turned out to be good. The Ben’s side was the best because it was more flavorful with the fresh marinara being on the top instead of buried under the ingredients. This is the best pizza that I have had in the Houston metro area so far. Sadly, this is not the best I have ever had though. I particularly enjoyed the whole wheat crust and encourage you to try it as a healthier option. You cannot tell it is whole wheat until you get the end of the slice when it really comes through. I am looking forward to the next visit!

2520 Montrose Blvd
Houston, TX 77006

We had to come check out the famous Niko Niko’s just for dessert. After all Guy Fieri has even been here before. For those of you who do not know Guy is the host of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives ” which is on the food network.  After walking in the door my initial impression was this is a hip place. We did not have to wait long to place our order. Apparently they have many people eat here on a daily basis so they have to be fast.

We ordered baklava which is fillo filled with ground walnuts & cinnamon with honey. It was good as baklava always is. The next thing we ordered was the chocolate koulourakia which are sugar cookies dipped in chocolate & were supposed to be rolled in walnuts but we not. They were exactly like what you would imagine they would taste like but were not very sweet. This would be a perfect ending for someone who just wanted a little something not heavy or sugar laden. The last thing we ordered was the loukoumades which are greek honey balls. I have never had this treat before so I did not expect that they would need to be made only after we ordered them. We sat down to wait on the chef to make them.

Like I said the atmosphere here is upbeat and hip. You feel like you are right next to a college with people pouring in the door the whole time with the line sometimes extending out of the door. I was amazed at how fast the counter people were at getting the new customers ordered and off to their tables. Scanning the restaurant everywhere we looked the food looked good and the patrons seemed happy. The upbeat greek music playing over the speakers was a little loud but fine for they type of place. Proudly displayed on the counter right by the cashier is a greek icon.

Our coaster pager went off letting us know we could pick up our order. Wow were we in for a treat! Imagine eating something like a funnel cake in the shape of a donut hole with powdered sugar over the top. When you pop this hot thing in your mouth unexpectedly it bursts with honey all over the inside of your mouth. YUM! We could not stop eating them. Actually I can see myself sitting there with a cup of coffee and a plate of these little honey balls every morning. We are now looking forward to trying out the savory side of this place! I will be writing another review soon.

24814 Stanolind Rd
Tomball, TX 77375

We decided to go for a drive to check out Mel’s and their famous burgers. I am really glad that we did too. We walked into a very down home country cafe. I bet many of the patrons even knew each other just because of how out in the middle of nowhere it was. Red checkered plastic table clothes with paper towel holders were just waiting for all the mess we were getting ready to make with our meal. I took a look around at what people were eating and noticed for the most part one of two different plates it seemed. Catfish was stacked high on several plates with a bowls of some kind of goodness. I also noticed cornbread and salads which seemed to go with the catfish. Other plates that people had in front of them were all burgers of different sizes.

The walls of the place had pictures of people eating the famous mega mel burger and they all looked really happy. This is what it says at Mel’s/ How to get your name on the wall/ You have 2 hours to eat the Mega Mel Burger and must follow the rules.

1. IF YOU LEAVE ANYTHING IN YOUR PLATE, YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.
2. IF ANYONE TAKES ANYTHING OFF YOUR PLATE, YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.
3. YOU MUST BE ABLE TO WALK AND TALK AFTER EATING THE MEGA MEL BURGER.
4. IF YOU GET SICK AT ANY TIME, YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.
5. YOU HAVE 2 HOURS TO EAT THE MEGA MEGA MEL BURGER.
6. WE WILL STOP YOU FROM EATING IF AT ANYTIME WE FEEL YOU ARE GOING TO GET SICK.
7. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO REMEMER THAT THE MEGA MEL BURGER IS A FUN EVENT AT MEL’S COUNTRY CAFE, SO PLEASE HAVE FUN WITH IT

Going through the menu the prices looked fantastic. I had no idea how big any of the burgers were other than the mega mel. Seeing pictures of people including children plastered on the wall with a mel burger made me feel I could at least try a double for 4.95. I also ordered the hand battered onion rings basket for 4.75. The waitress told me they had cobblers and chocolate pecan pie with vanilla ice cream. I wondered if maybe I should have ordered a smaller burger because the dessert sounded tempting. They do have a regular hamburger for 3.25! I was sitting there thinking about the cobbler from meers and wondering if mels cobbler could be better than that bowl of heaven?

The food came out and I was thinking I really should have got the smaller burger. The first thing I decided to pop in my mouth was an onion ring. Oh my were they good! Hand dipped in beer batter deep fried to perfection goodness. The burger was so thick I decided to cut it in half to facilitate getting it into my mouth. That is a really good burger! The meat is good and cooked to medium well unless you ask for it to be cooked differently. Even being cooked medium well the burger juices ran down my arm onto that red checkered table-cloth. Yes I actually finished it! The service was great which is refreshing for a change

Since this was a special memory making trip I decided to go for the dessert and got the peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream. It was the perfect ending to the meal. The cobbler was not too sweet with a hint of cinnamon. All the way home I had that yummy taste of cobbler lingering on my taste buds which made me very happy.

This is what the onion rings and fries looked like. They were good dipped in ranch dressing

 When we went to check out the girl wanted to make sure we loved everything. She even asked us what we had to eat and then said she can’t eat a double on her best day. She told us she has hard time getting down a regular burger. I really enjoyed people watching and the food here. I am looking forward to going back and trying some of their other menu items like chicken fried chicken.

14915 North Fwy
Houston, TX  77090

Let me begin by saying the service at this place is horrible! I thought I was going to like the food better but I didn’t. The food was better than edible but really just ok. This was a big disappointment for me because I had been looking forward to dining here. Some acquaintances had given me the impression that it was an upscale italian restaurant. When I went through the doors I thought why would anyone have the impression it was upscale. The menu prices were higher than some italian places but the atmosphere was very casual. The tables are covered in paper and have crayons for kids or adults to doodle.

The waiter was quick to come over and before I knew it he had written his name on the table. He was so fast I didn’t even hear him say his name.  My initial impression was that we were going to have good service that night. He also brought wine and bread with a plate of seasonings for us to pour olive oil over it. He then asked for our drink orders and if we were ready to order. I told him that I needed a few minutes to go through the menu and was surprised that he came back as fast as he did. He sat our drinks down and again asked for us to order. I told him I had not yet gone through the whole menu and wanted his opinion on what was good. He went through a few items I had not noticed on the menu and then left us to ponder what we may like to try.

Guess how long he was gone? 30 minutes! He gave us so much time that we were able to study the menu in detail. We had decided what we wanted and put the menus down. We kept looking for him and noticed it seemed like he had half the restaurant because he was the only one running around. New people were coming in and he would give them the same treatment he had given us. I kept picking up the menu to look because I was bored. I then became upset so I started to count the people in uniform who were doing various things without helping customers. I counted 8 but there could have been more in areas I couldn’t see.

 The bread was gone and drinks empty by the time he came back. So we placed our order and he took a few glasses to refill. He did not come back to the table until the food was delivered and he came without the drinks. My daughter had to ask for her drink by the time the entrée came before he went to get it. As the evening progressed I even had a girl ask me to move my feet so she could sweep!!! hahah!!! Can you imagine. Now lets move onto the food

The bread that was brought to the table was ok as was the dipping oil but not as good as it had looked.  There was no other loaf of bread delivered to the table although in all fairness we didn’t ask for more. We ordered tomato florentine soup which is a mix of tomatoes, garlic, onions, dill, fresh spinach and cream. This was really good! I should have stopped here because I would have had a little bit of a different opinion of the place. We also ordered a house salad which was served family style. It had mixed greens, diced tomatoes, artichoke hearts and dressing. The salad was just like I thought it would be… salad. It is hard to mess up a salad.

I love chicken piccata. so when I saw it on the menu I knew that was what I wanted. Their menu states is lightly breaded chicken breasts sautéed with mushrooms, artichoke hearts, prosciutto and capers. To be finished in a lemon and white wine pan sauce and served over angel hair pasta and fresh baby spinach. I saw 2 capers on my plate. Seriously. Where were they? I could not taste the lemon at all. The sauce just tasted like a butter sauce but I couldn’t identify even the white wine. Did they accidentally leave it out or did they run out of ingredients? The dish was ok but not what I would call piccata. I was so disappointed!

We ordered tomato basil chicken which is grilled chicken breast, basil, garlic, tomatoes and angel hair pasta with marinara sauce. You could almost not see any marinara and it tasted dry. Would not order again. It was ok don’t get me wrong but you don’t want to pay for dry pasta

The last thing we ordered was baked ziti which was ricotta, mozzarella cheese baked with bolognese sauce. Now this dish had all the wine. You could almost not taste anything else but wine. It was alright but I would have liked the flavors to be more blended.

I asked to see the dessert menu and thought about ordering. The next thought I had was that at best it was most likely prepackaged food and written up as wrong as the rest of the things on their menu. I was not going to give them any more money than I had already given them for the night. I may have liked the dessert the best though but I will never know. I will not be going back to this location.

Interstate 45

Spring, TX 77388

The food quality for casual dining is really decent. The prices are surprising for the amount of food they offer as well. There is always at least a 30 minute wait or more at this location.

I have eaten at several Cheddars locations in both Oklahoma and Texas. Some are better than others for service. The food has all been the same. I believe that the quality of the design and mood of the place along with the quality of food brings people in no matter how long the wait is. When food is good people are willing to wait for it.

This particular location has a serious problem with service. My family has resorted to asking for particular servers instead of just being seated. It seems they are so busy that they need everyone to work even if they are absolutely horrible. Instead of letting the bad staff go they just keep them on. One night we were seated for 30 minutes before someone came over to get our drink orders. They explained they didn’t know we were sitting there. She was rude the rest of the night. We still continued to go to the location after this and saw her working. I watched a group of people call the manager over to complain once and heard them say they would never be back. I have had this very thought when leaving.

I like the food and am willing to pay the price of waiting and bad service just to be close to home on occasion. If you go be prepared for the wait. If you get someone who is good remember their name and ask to sit in their section the next time.

Shenandoah location
18035 Interstate 45 S
Shenandoah,TX 77385

Tex-mex with Elvis! I really like this place! The creamy jalapeno dip is something different on the table normally served with chips. It is addicting! That is not the only sauce they have here either. They actually have over 7 different sauces with different heat levels. One of my favorite dishes is chicka chicka boom boom. Hand pulled chicken with boom boom sauce that is made from cheese, mexican green chiles, tomatillos, green onions, cilantro and lime juice. The heat level varied from day to day depending on who is making it. I have made may way through the menu but have not tried everything yet. I am open to eating anything here though. To help you with making your food choices through the menu they offer specials to try different things every day.

From what I understand the very first Chuy’s was opened in 1982 in Austin, Texas. It became a hit and began to grow. Usually chains do not do the same justice to food as one really amazing place. This is not the case with Chuy’s. They really know Tex-Mex. They hand make their tortillas in an area where you can watch. Everything tastes this fresh.

The Shenandoah location as with most locations I have been to usually has a line of people waiting to be seated. Why? Because when you have good food people are willing to wait for it! Come ready to sit on the patio and perhaps enjoy a margarita.

Meers is really ….The Meers Store! This place is located on highway 115, 1 1/2 miles north of the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. To get there take I-44 to Hwy 49. Travel West 4 miles to Hwy 58. You will then turn to the North for about 5 miles to the turn-off to Meers just follow the signs. Now turn to the West for 4 miles and you will be there

There is more than burgers but wow are they ever good? Meersburgers are made with 97% lean grass-fed Longhorn beef from Longhorn they raise themselves.

On their menu it says:

Our famous burgers are cooked medium well done and are served with mustard, dill pickles, tomatoes, purple onions, and green leaf lettuce. We use American cheese because our burgers are American burgers. We have been fixing them this way since the beginning, for over 50 years and this is the way our cowboys like them. 99% of our customers like them this way so this is why we respectfully call this burger (and your hats off boys) the COWBOY BURGER.

Some folks like mayo on their burgers instead of mustard but call burgers with this a SISSY BURGER! Other folks like ketchup on their burgers instead of mustard. We call burgers with this a YANKEE BURGER! Cowboys believe ketchup belongs on fries, not beef.

A few folks out there want all three—mustard, mayo, and ketchup—on their burgers. The poor fools are simply confused.

We don’t care how you want your burger fixed. We will fix it any way you want it. We cook your burger to order. Try one with bacon, jalapeno or both. However, if you order something other then a cowboy burger, please be patient; our cooks rarely encounter sissies, Yankees or confused souls.

Please note that there is one thing we simply cannot bring ourselves to do; We cannot fix an open-faced burger. The secret to our success is the blending of flavors that occurs when steaming hot Longhorn beef is placed on fresh onions, pickles, tomatoes and leaf lettuce (and mustard!). You can’t get the flavors to blend well any other way. This is our secret recipe, the secret to our success!”

The place is just really great! I have gone in and sat right down to order and there have been times I have waited for 2 hours. People come from all over because the place has been written up numerous times. It was known as one of the top 10 burger joints in the USA and I can understand why.

I have had fried green tomatoes, fries and fried pickles which are all good

This place is not just for the burger. You must…. I mean must get the homemade peach cobbler with homemade vanilla ice cream. OMG it is just good stuff. You will leave hurting from eating every bite too. You can work it off by going into the wildlife refuge to waddle around and take pictures of buffalo. Then top it off with a trip up Mt. Scott for sunset if it happens to be that time of day. Wow what an experience is all I can say. Memories are great!

It is a cash/check only place.

Lankfords Grocery & Market
88 Dennis St
Houston, TX 77006

Just got back from eating lunch at Lankfords Grocery & Market in Houston which has been open since 1930s. Guy Fieri with Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (love this show!) went in and brought attention to this midtown place. My husband ordered the Double Meat which he said was really good but was more meat than he expected. He is wanting to go back and try a regular burger the next time. The photo of the burger was my husbands. I ordered the Firehouse burger and asked to get the sauce on the side. This was not as hot as what I though and yet my mouth burned for a good 30 minutes after I got done eating it. The burger was really good however the meat was overdone and dry. I can say it was one of the messiest burgers I have ever had but it wasn’t because of juices from the meat. I wonder what I would thought of the burger if it was juicy? I am willing to go back and try it again. It was not the best I ever had but it was also not the worst. You can check out Lankford’s by going to their website as well

http://www.lankfordgrocery.com/

19075 I.H. 45 South Suite 480
Conroe, TX77385

I eat at this location about twice a month. There is always a line which moves really fast. The staff as this location have always been wonderful and the food also comes out really fast! Someone is helping by assigning a table if they are really that busy. The food is fresh with the vegan and spicy selections clearly marked. I happen to love the spicy food. In some cultures if your nose is not running it is an insult to the chef. Spicy will make your nose run and your taste buds tingle. You can opt to get lo mein noodles instead of rice with your meal. The sauce on the noodles is enough to flavor the noodles or rice.

I have not eaten everything on the menu yet because I really like what I usually order. I highly recommend the Caramel Chicken with it’s refreshing slaw of carrots, red onions, cucumber, and cilantro which is then tossed in a simple dressing made with rice wine vinegar. They have just brought it back out not long ago. This dish will be what I normally order until it is gone again. I had my Caramel Chicken with lo mein noodles instead of rice for a change of pace. All I can say is yummy!

My kids love to get the Honey Seared Chicken with lo mein noodles which also is good but does not have the layered flavors of the more complex dishes. I am hoping they bring back the Korean BBQ with chicken which was also very flavorful and spicy!

Last Friday after a long day playing with computer code I thought it might be nice to watch something to try to unwind. So I turn on the TV in the bedroom and find Unstoppable which I had not yet seen. It had already been going on for a bit but I thought I could catch that part of the movie at a later time. Besides I wanted to just watch for the tiniest little bit where I could stop thinking about code. I remembered that the movie had been filmed in one of my childhood towns called Bellaire, Ohio. My friend Linda had sent me pictures of the filming that she took from her house. I knew some of the places to watch for. So I settle down and started watching hoping the code in my mind would be gone in a bit. Guess what happened? I got caught up where I could not turn it off. I watched it until the very end! OMG why did I do this to myself? Well the train was not going to stop and it had an interesting play between the characters. Denzel was in his element where I enjoy watching him. His character was the sincere good guy. Of course I was also noticing the parts of the movie where Bellaire was.

Now I was wound up tight ready for action. I was waiting for the trail to derail. My adrenaline had been flowing as I watched. Now how was I going to go to sleep? This movie reminded me of the movie Speed. I was waiting for the bus in this movie to run out of gas, crash and explode. I also had watched Speed late and was awake all night with my mind racing. I finally shut down on Friday around 5 am. The movie should come with a caution tape around it and something saying beware this movie is prone to make you feel like you just drank a pot of coffee. Nope I can actually drink a pot of coffee before bed.

Have I told you yet about the Denzel look-a-like at my Walmart? I walked up to him years ago and told him how much he looked like Denzel. He could be his brother. One of these days I am going to get his picture and post it but for now I will leave you with this picture of a distant stunt Denzel