Snooze in Denver

Breakfast at 1:30 pm? Yes! A forty minute wait in line at that time? Yes... but so worth it.

Snooze in Dallas came recommended by the locals and we were warned that no matter what time we went there would be a wait. Service was good, but not outstanding. She was sweet and attentive, but not anything past normal.

The food however was past normal. The hubby ordered the ham benedict and he said it was at the top of his list (after Disney of course). I ordered the french toast and am not much for real maple syrup which it was served with. Good consistency though. Our friends ordered the stuffed french toast and the breakfast shepherd's pie and said both were outstanding. Overall, it was quite a wait, but so worth it in the end.

Piece of advice - plan on waiting and not getting in and out quickly. Also, plan on being well-fed and leaving satisfied.

Racines - a place the locals love

So, I'm a slacker I know. No pictures this time - too much great conversation with the friends we were dining with. Visiting the mile high city for a trade show Monday and we flew in early to have a little R & R. We always like to go off recommendations or Yelp reviews in new cities or better yet - ask the locals. They know all the good spots. Racine's was highly recommended as a place the locals love. Going through the Yelp reviews for it, apparently breakfast is amazing, but at 5:30 pm, it was dinner time and we were hungry for good eats.

We were greeted when we walked in the door and seated immediately. The dining room was beautiful with cathedral ceilings done in wood with unique lamps hanging down. Medium lighting let it seem casual, but still very nice. The expansive menu had us chatting food decisions for a while, but settled on the eggrolls for an appetizer - great choice! I had the Ahi tuna which came on a bed of brown rice with veggies and loved it. A large piece of tuna seared to perfection I did my best, but could not eat all of it. The hubby had a buffalo burger that was extremely tasty. One of our friends ordered the cod and the other a salad with nuts and bananas. The salad was very rich she said and he said the cod had a lemon sauce that tasted delicious. For dessert I had an apple cinnamon hot tea and everyone else had coffee. The hubby ordered a pumpkin cheesecake which I nibbled on. it had good flavor - not too overpowering and with a pumpkin pie consistency. The friends ordered the apple torte dish and their comments said it was good, but would have rather there been more crunchy to the crust to go with the tall portion of soft apples inside.

Service was great - our server, Laura, who seemed to have a helper who took care of keeping our drinks filled and dishes cleared. While I didn't feel like we were the only ones in the restaurant, she gave recommendations and did not rush us through the meal. I think it was a manager who came and opened the blinds a little once the sun went down, but she did not smile nor say anything to any tables she walked past. Maybe she should take some customer service skills from our server.

2 more days here in Denver - I'll work better on getting some pictures!

Wolfgang Puck is an experience

Sunday afternoon I surprised my husband with tickets to go see Cirque du Soleil's 'Kooza' that is on tour and stopped in Dallas.

After a great show, I surprised him further by dining at Wolfgang Puck's new restaurant atop the Reunion Tower, Five Sixty. I thought we were going for an early dinner because the website's hours were not very clear (they since have rectified that). On Sunday's they only feature their brunch menu, so at 4:30 pm, we had brunch.

Slightly upset because I planned this experience for the hubby's birthday a month ago and it wasn't perfect... or so I thought...

Brunch turned out to be spectacular!!! They had two options to chose from: 5 tastes or 8 tastes. Each taste involved 1-3 pieces of whatever menu item you desire. We decided on the 8 tastes and split them.

Oh. My. Goodness. Best food couples with amazing service and immeasurable view. If you have never been to the top of the Reunion Tower, they have remodeled it for this new restaurant however; one thing remains the same - the entire restaurant moves (ever so slightly) around in a circle. It was strange and a little difficult to get used to with my equilibrium already not so hot, but the view made it worth it. All of downtown Dallas and as far as I could see 360 degrees.



Michael was our server and I must say, it's servers like him that I would like to duplicate and place in every restaurant in town. Polite, efficient, and preemptive on most of our wants and needs. 5 star service at this place, no doubt about it. Assistant General Manager, Chad Hubbard was a gracious host and let us know about the sushi chef Tuesday-Saturday when we showed interested. From his attitude, I can see why his staff is so above bar. Kudos to the chefs for a great meal and to the staff for the phenomenal service. We look forward to going back soon!

A Solid Breakfast

Both mornings out at Port Aransas, we decided on the local suggested Avery's Kitchen. Nothing amazing, but a solid breakfast for sure. Friendly staff, clean place, and all for a good price. If you are at the port, there is not other place I would recommend for breakfast.

Oysters Rockefeller served with a smile

 The holiday weekend was spent in beautiful Port Aransas with my sweet husband. While it was cold back home, we enjoyed weather in the 70's and sunk our toes in the sands off the Gulf of Mexico.


Personal funny story on the way through ranch lands, I saw a trailer pulling some cows at the stoplight. When the truck started going you could see the cow on the end brace himself against the motion and I started laughing at the sight. I'll let you in on the fun...

Picture this - cows grazing across the plains and then bring loaded into a waiting trailer to be transported elsewhere. From the cow's point of view now... it's just another pen, no big deal. Then the truck starts moving... the cow braces himself against the side of the rails and lets out an expletive suddenly. He has never been moved involuntarily and his sudden movement played out in my mind still makes me giggle...

Bwahahaha! :)

Okay moving on... we got to dine at the ever popular and hidden away Roosevelt's in the Tarpon Inn. Jeff was very personable and made our dinner such a memorable time. We ordered Oysters Rockefeller, wedge salads, and an amazing bread dish. To go with 
our divine meal, we had a Shiraz and Moscato respectively, and finished it off with a slice of gourmet cheesecake created by the chef and white chocolate bread pudding. A great comment made by our server, Jeff, "We don't have cooks, we have chefs who create the menu and the meals. We will make changes if you desire, but know they have tried many ways and are trained to create nothing but the best."

Salt Lick - funny name, great BBQ

Months ago I signed up to volunteer at the Tough Mudder in Austin, TX for two reasons - half off my registration fee when I run in Tough Mudder, Tampa in December and I think I'm obsessed with the mud runs. Upon finding out about my trip down to Austin, friends in the Dallas area suggested my husband and I to try a restaurant called Salt Lick.


Strange name right...

Okay - so they didn't suggest it. It was more like "You HAVE to go there!" So, after getting very sunburned at Tough Mudder handing out t-shirts and encouraging the Mudders, we drove the hour to the other side of Austin to the flagship location in Driftwood, TX.

Warning!! It's BYOB and cash only - come prepared! If you don't BYOB, never fear - they have a wine and beer cellar that does take credit cards. :) After picking up some Shiner Bock from the cellar, we waited a few minutes to get seated.

We got seated at a large picnic style table, which was perfect and our server was Marisol.

I might have to argue she was sweeter than the berry cobbler...

Platters were a great size for us to share (since we like to share entrees anyway so we ordered the Truman sampler to share. Ribs, brisket, turkey, and sausage along with sides of potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, pickles/onions mixture, and the softest bread slices ever. Lots of food!                                  Salt Lick has a unique family recipe for their BBQ sauce which is basted on four times while the meat is slow cooking over the oak logs in the large pit built back in the 1960's. The recipe does not contain any tomatoes so the sauce doesn't burn on the meat while cooking like most other sauces. It does contain sugar which caramelizes over the meat and makes it easy to sink your teeth into.

Best BBQ I have ever had from all over the country!

Marisol was sweet enough to indulge me for a picture in front of the original fire pit still used.

Overall, I will join the crowd saying...

If you are anywhere close to the Austin, TX area, you MUST go to the Driftwood location of Salt Lick and have some amazing BBQ!