Restaurant Reviews

Fireside Pies (http://www.firesidepies.com/) has four locations: 2 in Dallas, 1 in Plano and the recently opened location in Grapevine.  It is located at 1285 South Main St, just north of Hwy 121.  It doesn't have the best signage, so even if you are looking for it, it can be hard to find.  (It is right next to a Bob's Steak & Chop House.)

Rudy has been a fan of this restaurant for a while, as he works near the location in Plano and has visited it a number of times for work-related functions.  He was obviously very excited to hear about the new location in Grapevine, so that Annie can finally try it.  We have been to this new Grapevine location twice, once with friends and another time on our own. 

They do not take reservations, so don't be surprised if you have to wait to be seated.  There is purposely not much waiting room in the front of the restaurant, as they instead hope you will make your way over to the large bar area to enjoy a cocktail.  Flat screen TVs can be found throughout the restaurant with various sporting activities on each, and the lighting in the restaurant is a little bit lacking.  We would describe the restaurant as an "upscale pizza/sports bar".  Despite this description, there is definitely a family-friendly atmosphere.

As their name implies, they are famous for their wood-fired pizza pies, and there is a large variety to choose from.  When we went with friends we had an appetizer (Fireside Fondue), 2 salads (Serious Caesar, Italian) and 2 pies (Balsamic Roasted Chicken, Hot & Crumbled).  When we went on our own, we had a salad (Baby Arugula) and 1 pie (Jimmy's Spicy Italian Sausage).  The fondue was more tomato-sauce-based than what was expected, but in a good way.  The salads are generous in size (1 could feed as many as 4 people), but they were all a little too heavy on the dressing in our opinion (next time we go, we are going to ask for dressing on the side).  The pizza pies - the highlight of the meal - were all very tasty and none of them disappointed us.  If you prefer thin & crispy or deep dish pizza, then this isn't the place for you.  But if you are a pizza connoisseur and enjoy variety, then this is worth the visit.  And by the way, don't even think you will be hungry for dessert.

The service was a little slow (both times), but we are giving them the benefit of the doubt given this location is new and they are probably still working out the kinks.  The only truly disappointing thing about Fireside Pies is that it is only open for dinner.  We don't understand why, as we are sure they would attract a good size crowd for lunch too. 

Rating: 3 Nachos (out of 5)

Rudy & Annie Garza

March 1, 2008

The Gregg family happened on this little gem totally by accident when trying to find a place to eat with friends that were driving through DFW.  Tommy Googled and found this "chicken place" ( http://www.babeschicken.com/ ) in Roanoke that would probably be suitable for adults and kids.  We were very pleased and so were our out of town guests.  Babe's is located on North Oak Road in the heart of town.  Make sure you park in the free city parking lot located less than a block from the restaurant.

We were seated right away, which was only due to the time of day - 3 p.m.  But we quickly learned that this was the place to be for Saturday dinner.  The warehouse room with its mix-matched chairs and tables was quickly filled to capacity.  Our waitress was quick to inform us that there were only two entrees to choose from - the fried chicken and chicken fried steak.  Each would be served with all you can eat sides of mashed potatoes, corn, green salad and biscuits and gravy.   We ordered the fried chicken and then began munching on the homemade biscuits which were served with gravy, honey and butter.

The wait wasn't too bad and very worth it as we saw our waitress bring out our family style serving of fried chicken - 4 pieces per adult and 1 piece per child.  The chicken and the sides were all hot and the homemade biscuits just kept coming.  The guys at our table were very satisfied and one of the kids licked the mashed potatoes off his plate. (BOYS!)

Our waitress also gave a surprise when she asked if we wanted to see their baby rattlers.  Very cute, but I can honestly say the kids weren't the only ones that gave a little scream when the blanket was removed.  We also stayed long enough to do the Hokey Pokey and we laughed out loud when we tried to find the Ladies Room which is camouflaged to look like just part of the hallway wall.

We have gone back several times on Saturday, but we weren't so lucky in the seating or the waiting for our food.  The wait can be long (45 min.), but if you know that when you go, then you can enjoy sitting on their front porch and visiting with friends.  So go with no schedule and plenty of time to enjoy GREAT fried chicken and reasonably good sides.  Tommy's had the chicken fried steak and wished he would have stayed with the crispy on the outside/juicy on the inside fried chicken.

Babe's is a fun experience and we've taken several out of town family and friends back to visit.  They all love the food, but most of all they love the time spent together.  And who doesn't love cold fried chicken for leftovers, because we guarantee there will be leftovers.  There is no dessert served, but they'll be happy to give you more biscuits with honey if you just need to end your meal with something sweet.

Rating: 3 Nachos (out of 5)

Tommy, Esmer and Jordan Gregg 

March 8, 2008