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The Illogicalness of Some Businesses
Back in the annuls of time, it being spring break in the seventh year of the seventh decade of the nineteenth century of the Common Era, I had two major experiences on the same day. My dad and step-monster took me and my brother to Northpark 1 &2 to see the film everyone in school was talking about, Star Wars. After that, which was the first showing of the day, they took us to a place that was growing in popularity – we waited in line in a hallway at what was before a barbecue place and many things before that, because its location at Greenville Avenue and Meadow Road wasn’t a prime spot, and I was shown the greatness that was the only location of Chili’s. The menu was simple – their burger was the Oldtimer, with or without cheese, a chili burger called the Chili’s Trip, a burger with all the fixings and chili called the Terlingua Pride, a basket of hand cut fries, a bowl of chili, or their soft tacos. It was also inexpensive too, and it was crazy busy. I watched and purchased their wares many times, first reveling in the Addison location so we wouldn’t have to drive so far, then followed as their menu expanded (still miss their burger called the Alpine), the spread of the gourmet burger concept expanded out, and also saw things like the original location having to be demolished because of the expansion of Greenville from two lane asphalt to a proper divided roadway with curbs and drainage and much later the closing of that location completely.
The first to go were the handcut fries, and that was a minor loss. I didn’t notice exactly when the soft tacos went away. And they developed this tendency to shuffle their menu, which is fine I guess for folks who like a lot of novelty, but not so much useful when I wanted the classics.
My roommate went there today to grab us lunch. They do a thing called “Three for Me” that consists of an entrée, an appetizer, and a drink. My recent go-to from that menu is their “Just Bacon” burger, which isn’t just bacon because it has cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, condiments, and I think maybe onions, their bowl of chili which costs a buck extra, and a drink, my recent go-to being two parts sweet and sour to one part club soda. Imagine my surprise when my roommate called me to tell me they didn’t serve chili anymore.
In one fell swoop they took out three of their historic menu items. The enchilada soup I had was decent, but it didn’t have the level of stick-to-itness of a nice bowl of beefy chili with some cheese and tortilla strips.
And what’s the point of being called Chili’s when they don’t sell it? I know in the big scheme of things this is a minor deal and definitely FWP, but still, the logical disjunction about it is sort of staggering.
The first to go were the handcut fries, and that was a minor loss. I didn’t notice exactly when the soft tacos went away. And they developed this tendency to shuffle their menu, which is fine I guess for folks who like a lot of novelty, but not so much useful when I wanted the classics.
My roommate went there today to grab us lunch. They do a thing called “Three for Me” that consists of an entrée, an appetizer, and a drink. My recent go-to from that menu is their “Just Bacon” burger, which isn’t just bacon because it has cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, condiments, and I think maybe onions, their bowl of chili which costs a buck extra, and a drink, my recent go-to being two parts sweet and sour to one part club soda. Imagine my surprise when my roommate called me to tell me they didn’t serve chili anymore.
In one fell swoop they took out three of their historic menu items. The enchilada soup I had was decent, but it didn’t have the level of stick-to-itness of a nice bowl of beefy chili with some cheese and tortilla strips.
And what’s the point of being called Chili’s when they don’t sell it? I know in the big scheme of things this is a minor deal and definitely FWP, but still, the logical disjunction about it is sort of staggering.
no subject
My mom has fond memories of that location on Meadow and Greenville. The one I grew up with was the one on Centerville near Northwest Highway and the 635 intersection, where the water park (White Water, later renamed to Wet N Wild) used to be. It's gone downhill since the 1990s, but it seems like everything has since the water park closed.
And it seems like a running theme with things in general. I think it's normal to go "nothing is as good as it was when we were kids," but I think it's really true over the past few decades especially.
no subject
I have many fine memories of White Water, and one not so fine one when I gave myself second degree burns on my shoulders and upper back. I've been using the Casa Linda location, because the one in Mesquite has had horrible service on a consistent basis.
I'm trying to think what's gotten better. Okay, The Angry Dog is still up to old standards, but El Fenix has gotten patchy, where certain locations are far better than others. So many places are gone (I'm still trying to figure out when I can make a pilgrimage to the last remaining Black Eyed Pea in the area), and the places that replaced them are mediocre at best -- I went to a place that claimed to be like BEP, but the spaghetti sauce on the meat loaf was a huge turnoff, and nobody has those rolls. In some cases losing these places has been the major suck -- Barbec's is an example of that, and I miss Grady's American Grill. Dining out in the area has gotten a lot more varied, with cuisine from more places, but the general quality doesn't touch what we had before. And so much of this is homogenizing -- it's like so many places want to have that McDonald's goal set of exact consistency across all locations.
Like I said, FWP.
no subject
So many great places have closed. I was hoping to make it back to The Last Blackeyed Pea at some point, too. I miss Judge Beans (also formerly down the street from White Water/Wet N Wild) the Greenville Snuffers, and the original Addison TGI Fridays.
no subject
Yeah, the plague pretty much put a nail in the coffin for Barbec's. It sucks, because I can't get what was called either "Barry's Special" or "Puppy Chow" by the staff -- hashed browns with cheese and onions mixed with two scrambled eggs and corned beef hash -- add a couple of their biscuits and it's enough energy to do heavy labor for the rest of a day. There's been a move by CVS to put a location there, but the city's balking because they don't think the intersection can handle having a drive-thru there.
I miss Judge Bean's -- the last one I knew of was replaced by Taste of Texas over on Beltline in Irving. Snuffer's is still mostly Snuffer's, though they don't use as much garlic salt on their burgers anymore. Still, their cheddar fries are a gooey basket of awesomeness.
It doesn't help that I live in a sort of food desert, and the closest Greek and Indian places are a ways away, which can be a problem because for some reason DPS and TxDot get kind of horsey if I try to drive anywhere -- damned ableists (and forget me getting to fly a plane or even a helicopter).