I went to these places yesterday and today at lunch. The first is in the strip mall that has Academy Sports and Toojays. The second is across the parking lot near the supermarket. The last is in the mall with the Target and Publix. It was a Which Wich before this this.
Pho Mai Opened ten months ago. I took their small broth and noodles only (don't recall seeing that before as an option) to go for $9. Aromatic broth. Good. Usual stuff. Drank the broth. Used the noodles with my own ground pork. Usual menu. A dollar or two higher than usual. Was a few Thai places before this. Same layout. And probably furniture. 14 tables. 3 are doubles. Half are booths. Yellow walls with dark stained wood wainscotting. Drab. Framed images of dishes. A few of Hoi An. Tons of junk in plain sight. TV with Vietnamese MTV. One waiter. English is suspect. Two other parties of two there at lunch. No need to run here.
Esca's Pizza - Opened a month ago. Original in Ozone Park Queens NY. That place (per a framed photo) has a brick oven. This one does not. Plus a slice was $3.50 and small and had too much flour on the crust, so, I skipped that part of the menu. They start at $14 for a 12". They had dessert, stuffed and pan as well. Rolls, stromboli, salads, apps, pasta, entrees and what I decided on - panini. I had the meatball parm for $11. Delicious. Beyond my expectations. Simple. Sliced, hardball sized meatballs, mozz, natural sauce in a fresh pizza dough "pita". The meatballs were made properly. Delicate. Everything fresh. I'm not sure what more I need to say. It was just a step up for a pizzeria. It gave me confidence that they know what they are doing and care. Can't wait for the next visit. This spot has been a few pizzerias. Mostly good as well. Same layout. Seven, wood tables of two with red metal chairs in the front area. Four, white booths in the rear. L shaped. Three tvs on the back (above) of the front, glass wall. Menu on screens across from that. Display case below that. I didn't love that the register is around the bend. You might forget what the menu said and have to go back and that would cause a pile up. White, red and black color scheme. White subway tile. Sacks of flour, sauce boxes, prosciutto slicer in the front as decoration. Framed photos of the original location. Entrees (ie parms) start at $18. Pastas at $12. Around eight varieties of each category offered. An app of meatballs was $10. Probably the amount you get in the panini. Some higher end things like arancini, burrata and prosciutto. But, also snacky things like wings and egg rolls. It will be a Favorite. This came out of nowhere. Just drove past it getting to the next place.
Filo - Also opened a month ago. Original in Port Orange (I believe they said). In a two word synopsis - Greek Chipotle. I haven't had many great Greek fast food experiences. Not bad. Just ok. This does for Greek what Chipotle did for Mexican. And probably better than many sit down Greek restaurants. And better than Chipotle because EVERYTHING is included. You choose one of four starting points (rice bowl, pita, salad or french fries). Then a meat (lamb, chicken (2), brisket, falafel, gyro) Then hot topping and cold toppings (ie roasted veg medley, roasted carrots, roasted cauliflower, hummus, garbonzos/chick peas, kale, feta, black olives, etc). Then a sauce (tzatziki, garlic, Greek, etc). I chose rice with gyro at $13 because it was the cheapest. The rest are a buck or two more. They let me sample the chicken, brisket and lamb. All excellent. The gyro meat was as well. I tried to try as much as possible. Everything was excellent. Tasty and fresh. The carrots were outstanding and I didn't even want them. I forgot the hummus. Dumb shit. Feta was soft and a step above. Tatziki (my sauce) was good. The rice was buttery and soft. Not old and crunchy. Nothing was over seasoned. Nice quantities of everything. Paper bowl for the environment. I was blown away. They will also be a Favorite. Fast food like layout. Order at a counter. Soda machine. A few tables. White and blue colors. Loyalty program. Was getting crowded. I really hope they keep to these standards. Will the fan club be called filophiles?
*Travel Notes - Texas: I flew Frontier (mid day) to Houston for $48. I was trying to get rid of a $100 voucher and their options were limited. They were two hours late going there. The pilot on the plane that we were waiting on forgot his tablet and they had to do "everything" by hand. Plus all the people around me were coughing and I got a cold two days later. Coming back was perfect aside from the fact that their check in counter is in Terminal A and the planes leave from Terminal D. I rented a car from Budget for a week at $308. Used a two day voucher to get this rate. As usual, they f'd up the reservation and only had an old gas guzzling SUV available. Plus the "fix" they made at the counter never made it into the system and I had to wait at the exit kiosk while they reentered the information. Rental Car Terminal has all the companies. The bus takes a while to show up and get there.
This trip was to knock the remaining bbq joints I saw on a episode of The Daytripper with Chet Garner on PBS. I took William Clayton Pkwy out of the airport to 59N to 1960W. 1960 is not well marked and only a few miles north. Since you can stay on the side streets up until there, I would just do that. You are doing this if you are trying to escape the toll roads on the way to Austin. It took forever. You finally see the signs to connect to 290NW. I took this to 36NW to 190N to Belton on 25. I stayed at the Comfort Inn (Expedia 7.8) for $114 because it was just remodeled. It was too late to do anything else. FYI - I'll put the bbq spots' ranking after their name. I had all my brisket "moist". All the hotel ratings were bs. I had McD's $5 meal deal too many times. Also, Taco Bueno and Popeye's once. Gas was only $2.29!
The next day I saw the Cadence Bank Center. Drove one exit north to DT on Central Ave. I grabbed an ok brisket sandwich (rough/burnt) at Miller's Smokehouse (#4) for $13. I then went back down the street and had excellent (oily/clean/beefy/bark) 1/4lb brisket ($9) and bacon wrapped quail ($9) at Schoepf's Bar B Que (#2). I took 25S one exit and got on 14W to 190W to 281S to 29W to Llano. I had 1/2lb (asked for 1/4lb) of bad brisket (burnt/half fat/tough/grilled) at Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar B Que (#7) for $14. I drove west on 71 to Brady. I had 1/2lb of bad (old/bland/mushy/no smoke) brisket at Mac's Bar B Q (#9) for $13.50. They were supposed to be a goat place. They told me they just do that for festivals. I drove north to Abilene on 84. I stayed at the Comfort Inn (Expedia 8.4) near the Medical Center for $88.
The next day I drove through DT. Missed Abilene Christian University. Took 283N to Wichita Falls. I stayed at the Comfort Inn (Expedia 8.6) west of DT for $86. I had a fried eggs/hb/toast and tumbleweeds at Pioneer of Texas. Tumbleweeds were these fried softballs with ground beef and jalapenos over beans and melted cheese. It was cold and rainy and I was only here to be within striking distance of the next place on the next day. Plus I was starting to feel the flu. I should say here that my agenda was at the mercy of which days and hours the bbq places were open. All of these are in the boondocks. Why they were still on the list. I should also remind you that Texas is ugly. Uglier in the rain and cold. Just nothing to look at.
The next day I drove east on 82 to Nacona. I had an ok "bowl of crap" (hb/links/brisket/beans/etc) at Fenoglio's BBQ (#NR) for $10. Nice people. I continued east to 75S to McKinney. I stayed at the Best Western (Expedia 9.0) for $79. I drove one mile east to DT. These next spots were all from that Food Traveler magazine issue I've been drawing on for years. I had a good wine flight at Lone Star Winery for $15. A terrible (tasted like oaked fruit cocktail) chardonnay at Landon Winery for $9. Only could manage a sip. They wanted $20 for their flight. Good and well priced beer at Tupp's Brewery. They had many good looking restaurants around the central square there too. As well as other tasting rooms (had been to their actual vineyards), an overpriced distillery, meat market, etc. I did sample one cute food place (Deviled Egg Co). I had one with smoked salmon and one with blue cheese for $7.
The next day I drove back through DT to 390W for 1/4lb of brisket (beefy/smoky/juicy) from Hutchins Barbeque (#3) for $9. Not on the PBS list. I checked online to make sure I wasn't bypassing something I'd have to come back for and this popped up as highly rated. I went west on 390 to Denton. A new road that is a great bypass of Dallas traffic. Lots of interesting restaurants and new development here. Not congested yet. In Denton is North Texas State University and their huge football stadium. I took 35S from there to Ft Worth. Just at 30 is a new reclaimed area (Southside) that has a ton of food and drink options. I learned later that some other top rated bbq, etc places are also here. I came for Panther City BBQ (#1). Also seen on some other travel/food shows. I had the loaded baked potato (huge) with brisket (getting sick of brisket alone) for $11. The brisket was beefy, smoky, juicy and had a crunch from the bark. Even with the "off" pieces they probably gave my dish, I could tell it was the best yet. I went east on 30 to Dallas. North on 75 to Loop 12E. I had two ok barbacoa brisket tacos (bland/half fat) at One 90 Smokehouse (#5) for $6. They wouldn't do less than a 1/2lb order. I saw them on 3D. There was a cute drive in burger place on that road too. But, they made you use a stay in your car and wait for their waitress. I didn't have the time nor patience. I took the loop farther east to 635S to 20E to Tyler. I got off on 69S and headed south of Broadway in DT to Beckham Ave for Stanley's Famous Pit Bar B Q (#6). I had 1/4 lb of bad (mushy/bland/minimal smoke) for $8 and a worse (livery/musty/mushy) hot link for $6. They were supposed to be known for their links. Tyler was bigger than I expected. I took Broadway south and it became 59. Took this (very trafficy at rush hour) to Alto. Then east on 82 to Nagodoches. Stayed at the Best Western (Expedia 8.8) for $89. I learned that that name is American Indian. There is some story they told me that it is one brother and Natchatoches LA is the other. SF Austin University was there. The square was cute. I shouldn't have rushed through it.
The next day I took 59S to Lufkin. I had 1/4lb of bad (tough/bland/roast beefy) brisket for $7 and a fried roll (what they are known for) for $1. I later realized that I had been there in '17. I continued down 59 through Houston to 45S to Galveston. I had lunch at Rudy & Paco in DT. In the magazine article. I had Pollo Managua for $24. It came with broccolini and white rice. A breaded cutlet. The best thing I ate all week. Lemon/caper butter sauce. Nice plating. They started you out with plantain chips. Semi-formal. Great prices. I believe it is an institution. I stayed on the beach at the Baymont (Expedia 8.6) for $74.
The next day I took 45N to University of Houston. It turned out to be graduation, so, I saw the sports stadiums and centers and left asap. Texas Southern is down there as well. And before you judge, I had already done the NASA stuff before. I got off DT to see the MLS Stadium (across from the baseball stadium) in a shit part of town. Back onto 59N to William Clayton Rd in Humble where I stayed at the Best Western (Expedia 8.6) for $84.
Most of the days were drizzily and gray. That didn't help the experience. Very cold until the end. Houston airport is a shit hole. I lucked out on the traffic. Hadn't expected to fit in Galveston. Only have the southeast down to Brownsville left to complete the list. Tried to do some Vietnamese places this actor Misha went to on his show. Too many toll roads in between to deal with at that point. There was one other (Pho Dien 1960) well reviewed near the airport that I stumbled upon. But, it had too long of a line to put up with and I was burnt out by then. I thought all that beef was going to clog me up. No real issues. I may have missed or mis-assigned a few route numbers. Deal with it. Too tired to proof read.