These place were in the next strip mall from Yuki Hana on Aloma near the 417. I had some things to go and ate them for dinner yesterday.
Dickey's Barbecue Pit - I only went here because it came up on Google when I was verifying the Yuki Hana location. It was a lucky stroke. It's a branch of a Dallas based location. They have over 300 franchises. You expect salt brined, packaged meat in a putrid glue from these places. This place isn't like that. I only saw (the real machinery could have been elsewhere in the shop) some kind of cooker/steamer/warmer next to the counter. I'm not sure if the stuff comes pre or partially cooked. I just know that it wasn't half bad. I had a Wednesday Special that was pulled pork over sausage. It was so simple a combination, but, I swear I've never seen it on a menu before. The pork was good. I saw the owner pulling it from a lump of meat that actually/eventually revealed a shoulder bone. It was done Texas-style - salt and pepper. The sausage was ok. I was expecting a big, full link in the middle. I received some slices of a fairly tasty tube steak. They topped it with cheese (American I think) and two slices of raw onion and some pre-sliced jarred pickles. They buttered the sub on some kind of roller machine. It came with two sides. I chose waffle fries and baked potato casserole. The fries were just as good as Chick Fila and twice the portion. The casserole was like a cheese and bacon baked potato where they mashed the potato for you and 86ed the skins. It was topped with green onions. It was great. They also had beans, cole slaw, potato salad, mac and cheese, green beans, okra, onion rings, Caesar salad or jalapeno beans as sides. The whole shebang cost -dun dun dun - $8. And it came with a free, huge (32 oz?) soda in a hard plastic cup. And they have a free ice cream bar. Eight bucks what a crappy Subway combo ($5 options) costs. If I could eat this stuff as often as I eat sandwiches and I lived near here, I would be here three times a week minimum. But, I'm guessing it isn't the healthiest diet in the world and I live elsewhere. So, I'll have to curse the sandwich places and my own vanity/will power every time I sit down there instead of here. The sad part is that those places are equally as fattening. They also serve brisket, ribs, turkey, chicken and ham. If they can pull off any of those meats, I will have to rethink the whole feasibility of franchised barbeque (excuse me ... barbecue). The place is big. It must seat ninety+. It has a casual, clean feel. They have pictures of the parent location and commercial oil and gas marketing objects as the theme. It's counter ordering and pick up. The staff was nice. The food came out fast. They also sell meat by the pound and cater. The one negative was that they just gave me a third of a little container of sauce for the sandwich. I'd check this place out if you can't get to 4 Rivers. Even if the food sucked, it would still be recommended as a value play.
Eastern Garden - This is a cookie cutter Chinese place with the cookie cutter Chinese menu and I only went there because I was there. That said, it was clean and they didn't mess up my simple order. It's been done before. I had a egg roll to go for $1.50 (maybe even less). There was actual pork in there. they cooked it long enough. If you had to have one of these places in your neighborhood, you could have been stuck with worse owners.
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