1. Plucker’s (preferably the patio)
2. Lazy Bone’s
3. Texas Station Sports Bar (at the Gaylord Texan)
4. The Flats Bar and Grill
5. Buffalo Wild Wings
6. The Tap-In
7. Press Box Grill
8. Baja Mexican Grill
9. Bone Daddy’s House of Smoke
10. Hooter’s

Tilted Kilt came to Grapevine not all that long ago, but is now closed.  We will speculate that the DFW Connector construction had something to do with the closing.  Of course it probably did not help that there is a Hooter’s and a Bone Daddy’s near by.

Even if people wanted to go to Tilted Kilt it was almost impossible to get there.  The frontage road in front of the Tilted Kilt is closed and the restaurant sits on the corner of the worst intersection in Grapevine at William D. Tate and Highway 114.

We tried driving around Grapevine tonight and were quickly reminded why we do not go out after 8 pm.  Getting across Highway 114 (which basically splits Grapevine) was nearly impossible.  We had to go to Southlake to get across.

Tilted Kilt leaves us with fond memories of a interview we did back in 2010.  Goodbye Tilted Kilt.  You will be missed.

Sure we got a lot of new restaurants in Grapevine in 2011, but 2012 could be even bigger.  Here are a few new restaurants that we anticipate dining at in the coming year in Grapevine.

We have been talking about Pappadeaux coming to Grapevine for over two years.  Our bet (and hope) is this is the year it finally gets complete and we can dine at the Pappadeaux Grapevine location. Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen will be located off of Highway 114 in the old Tia’s Tex Mex building (near Uncle Julio’s).

Eatzi’s is scheduled to open this summer on the corner of William D. Tate and Highway 114. We just sampled a few of Eatzi’s salads yesterday.  The California Cobb Salad is remarkable.  We have no idea how they do it.  The food is so fresh and delicious.  The salad dressings are also a treat.  Note, Eatzi’s is more of a takery type place, but the food is so good and we love to take food home.

The corner of William D. Tate and Highway 114 is going to be very busy. Not only Eatzi’s, but In-N-Out Burger will be going in across the street. Construction on the new In-N-Out building is well on its way. Let’s hope construction finishes up the William D. Tate bridge sometime soon or else very few people will be getting in and out of all these new places.

Not surprisingly, in the same area as In-N-Out Burger will be a Grimaldi’s Pizzeria. Pizza, beer, wine, sounds like the perfect place to us. The Grimaldi’s website says the Grapevine location is coming soon.

It has been months since we heard aobut Jimmy John’s coming to town. We have no new update but expect them to be in Grapevine in 2012. This is very dangerous news for us (hint: we love Jimmy John’s and the Gourmet Sandwiches they make).

There are a lot of reasons they are number one.  Here are a few:

1.  Best queso in Grapevine, hands down

2.  #2 ranked margarita in Grapevine

3.  Great food and service

4.  Sort of a hole-in-the-wall / non-corporate feel

5.  Good music

While we were at Baja Mex Grill doing our review, the Texas Rangers playoff game was on the television.  And this is where Baja is pretty smart.  They had all the televisions on the Ranger game with the sound turned up so that everyone in the place could hear the game.  Did other Mexican restaurants in town do this?  We have no idea, but our guess is no they didn’t.  Corporate type places do not do that kind of stuff.

To wrap up, we love Baja.  Welcome to the top of our list of Mexican restaurants in Grapevine.

Baja Mex Grill is located at:

1212 William D Tate Avenue
Grapevine, TX 76051

Enjoy!

I am happy to report that the interior has been completely remodeled and updated.  I was amazed by the space they have.  This Plucker’s has to be three times as large as the one in Dallas.

The highlight of the restaurant is the outdoor patio area.  It extends from the side of the restaurant with a huge outdoor bar, roughly ten picnic tables, and about 10 outdoor big screen televisions.  When weather permits (as it did last night) that area is going to be a great place to hang out.

Beers are served in either a pint size or a giant thirty-something ounce mug.  The giant mug was a hint that Plucker’s does not really mess around.

For dinner, I ordered the Medium Hot Wings (seen above).  After finishing my first wing, I broke into a sweat and thought about finding the nearest ice bucket to dunk my head in.  If those things were truly medium, then I’ve discovered where that guy from X-men who magically creates fire in his hands now works.  He’s the new chef at Plucker’s Grapevine.

Our waitress asked about five times if I’d like to have something else before I waved bye-bye to my pride and said yes, please bring me a few of the lemon pepper wings.  Those wings were delicious by the way.

Overall it was a great night full of free food and fun (but not free beer).  Obviously if it were free beer, there would have been a line from here to Keller waiting to get in.

This Plucker’s looks like it means business and plans on being around a while despite the fact that it sits a stones throw from Hooter’s and a seven-iron from Buffalo Wild Wings.

I’d like to take a moment to recognize Ashlee our waitress who was wonderful, Meagan who is their marketing person for doing a great job with the event, the good people of the Grapevine Chamber of Commerce (you know who you are), and my good buddy CH for getting me in for the night of free food and fun.

Plucker’s is located at:

1709 Cross Roads Dr
Grapevine, TX 76051

Now that cold(er) weather is here, nothing beats a bowl of tortilla soup.  Below you
will find my top five best places in Grapevine to enjoy this delicious Texas dish.

While its Texas origins are disputed, tortilla soup is basically a rich chicken
broth topped usually with chicken, rice, pico de gallo, avocado slices, tortilla
strips and a squeeze of lime.  There are variations to be sure which is why this soup
is so wonderful.

Here’s my list plus two:

1. Cozymel’s
2. Baja Tex Mex
3. Los Amigos
4. El Fenix
5. Uncle Julio’s
6. Cantina Laredo
7. Esparza’s

1.  P.F. Chang’s -

Many of you are probably disappointed that I picked a chain restaurant first, but they are the best.  The food is always perfect.  I’ve never had a bad experience there.  I will go there any chance I get.  I absolutely love P.F. Chang’s.

2.  JR’s Grill -

Recently opened, but they still make #2 on my list.  The service is great and the burgers are world class.  Try one, you will not be disappointed.  Also note that JR’s is actually located in Colleyville, but it is right on the border to Grapevine and since this is my list I decided it was okay to bend the rules.

3.  Palio’s Pizza -

You can get this in Colleyville or Grapevine, but it is the best pizza around.  They also meet our requirement for good service plus it is BYOB which is an added bonus.

4.  Old West Cafe -

When I want breakfast, Old West Cafe is the top of the list.  The portions are huge which I guess is a positive and a negative, but I still love it.  The food is great.

5.  Gloria’s -

This is important and should not be overlooked:  Happy Hour runs from Sunday through Thursday all day.  They have a great patio and one of my favorite meals around, Nachos Grandisimos.  Note that Gloria’s is in Colleyville and I’m bending the rules again.

6.  Carrabba’s Italian Grill -

Consistently great.  The salads are some of the best around plus their Marsala dishes are exceptional.

7.  Esparza’s -

Esparza’s Mexican Restaurant used to be higher on my list.  It is certainly not that they have declined in performance. It is more that I went there too much to keep it higher on my list.  What do you call that law?  The law of diminishing returns or something.

8.  Kirby’s Steakhouse -

Of course the food is good, that goes without saying.  The experience and atmosphere is even better.  Kirby’s is in Southlake, but it is right across Hwy 114 from Grapevine so it counts in this list.

9.  David’s Donuts -

Yes, my favorite donut place made the list.  Why?  They meet all of my criteria listed above and then some.  And they make my favorite cinnamon rolls.

10.  Amore’s Pizza and Pasta -

I am sure that I am underrating this place, but it is too hard to move it up the list.  They serve up great Italian food at a huge value.  I want to move them up, but not sure where.  I’ll leave them at #10 for now.  There is always next year.

The cool thing about doing a list like this is that I realize how long its been since I have been to a few of these places and that I need to get back there soon.  Hope you get to enjoy some of these fine establishments as well.  They are all fantastic.

Now, what are some of your favorites that I am missing out on?

The amazing thing is JR’s Grill manages to capture some of the same feel from the Steakhouse.  The lighting is somewhat dim.  There are tons of booths to sit in and enjoy dinner.  And like the steakhouse there are two distinct areas of the restaurant.  There is a main dining area and also a separate bar area which is filled with flat screen televisions and two pool tables in the back.  We love the pool table idea by the way.  No one else does this (at least no one that we can think of).

Even though JR’s Grill is a bar and restaurant we found it to be very family friendly.  The overall menu is great.  It is exactly what you would expect with burgers, sandwiches, BBQ ribs, and tons more.  The burger list is long and diverse.  The list includes the Monster, Tijuana, Diablo, Prime Filet Buger, among others. 

We love a good burger around here so we gave JR’s Cheeseburger a try.  We were not disappointed.  The burger we had will definitely be in the running for the best burger in the area when we update our best burgers in the Grapevine area article.  We also tried the Smoked Baby Back Ribs which were great as well.  These are not fall-off-the-bone ribs.  They are different, but are very good.  The ribs had a great smokey flavor that we loved.  And the kids meal which was just grilled chicken and veggies was also very well prepared.

Part of the appeal of JR’s Grill is that is a locally owned (non-chain) establishment with a lot of personal touches.  It is really hard to describe, but the feel of the restaurant is so unique.  JR’s just has a way of providing a high quality meal in a great atmosphere.

We are not really into ranking our favorite places, but if we did JR’s Grill would be on that list.  We can not wait to get back and spend some time exploring the rest of the menu.  I’m thinking the Prime Time Filet Burger is up next.

JR’s Grill is located at:

5220 Hwy 121
Colleyville, TX, 76034

Phone:
817-571-1414

Hours:

Mon – Thurs 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
Fri – Sat 11:00 am – 12:00 am
Sun 11:00 am – 11:00 pm