"Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" Adventures: Doing the Triple D Texas Two Step

As my work assignment continued I was scheduled to work at week at Houston Intercontinental Airport followed by a week at Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport. My plan was to fly hone from Houston and then fly back down to Dallas but after talking to a friend I decided to call my good friend Steve, who lives near the DFW airport and spend the weekend between to two jobs in Dallas and try a few Triple places I had yet to try.

I flew out of Dulles on a Sunday morning to Houston to start the 12 day trip. After arriving I got a car rental and after headed into Houston to try two new places. I headed into the Galleria area of the city, about a 40 minute drive from the airport. "Lili's Lebanese Grill" is located in a small strip mall. I entered a small restaurant which has an open kitchen and a take-out counter. Lili's has an extensive menu of Middle Eastern fare with a number of different styles of hummus, grilled dishes and pita sandwiches.

Lili's Lebanese Grill on Westheimer in the Galleria area of Houston

I decided to try the Beef Swarma sandwich and the Spinach Pie. While waiting for my meal the waiter brought a basket of pita bread along with a bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) as an appetizer. The appetizer was delicious and the EVOO mixed with crushed sea salt and pepper made the appetizer wonderful. My meal came in short order, the pita sandwich was served with a huge mound of thick cut fries. The Spinach Pie was a small baked triangle shaped pastry. I really enjoyed the sandwich, the mix of beef and lamb was very tasty with a nice sloppy sauce that dripped with each bit. The pie had a deep green spinach filling with crushed pine nuts. It was tasty plain but adding some EVOO just made it one step better. The crust was buttery and delicious.

Swarma Sandwich with fries

Inside the Swarma

Cafe Lili's Spinach Pie

Delicious Spinach Pie filling

After finishing my meal I was able to meet the restaurant's namesake Lili and we chatted a few minutes about their episode of Triple D and Guy's visit, Lili had only great things to say about Guy., after that she capped my visit by signing my Triple D book. From Lili's I headed to my next place which was only a few miles away. "Cuchara" describes itself as being Mexico City cuisine and is located in a local neighborhood. I entered a very busy place. They were doing a very brisk Sunday Brunch business with a Mariachi band entertaining the diners seated in the dining room and bar area. They also offered a nice patio area. I was seated at a high top table in the bar area.

Cuchara, a Mexico City style diner in Houston

Cuchara's lively bar area

Piñata decorations in the bar area

Mariachi band entertaining the Cuchara diners

They were offering a limited brunch menu and I decided to try a couple of their street tacos, a "sweet" one with pork chicarones and one with chorizo sausage and potatoes. I also ordered a non-alcoholic Hibiscus drink. The place was busy so I had to wait a few minutes for my food. The drink was slightly carbonated with a tart but very refreshing taste. The tacos then came with in a decorative basket. The "sweet" taco was very tasty but the green chili sauce made it very spicy, I guess sweet to Mexican is spicy! The chorizo taco was also very tasty.

Cuchara's water service

Refreshing Hibiscus drink

Tacos delivered in a decorative basket

Sweet taco on the left nd Chorizo taco on the right

As I walked back to my car I noticed a fun sculpture on top of a nearby building, I'm not sure what the building housed but found it very whimsical.

Whimsical sculpture on a building near Cuchara

On my last visit to Houston I went to a place called "The Original Marini's Empanada House" and really enjoyed it so I decided I wanted to go back and hoped to take the entire team along but for some reason that night only my co-worked Melanie wanted to join in so the two of us made the 40 minute ride through the Houston afternoon traffic. Marini's specializes in the Argentinian pastry pockets known as empanada's. They feature over 50 types both savory and sweet. You're choices are not limited to the menu, basically at Marini's if you can think of a type you want then they will make it!

I can't argue with this!

I decided to try 3 savory empanada's: the Texan Barbeque with a filling of chopped brisket and Marini's own sauce; the English filled with ground beef, peas, carrots, and a Worcestershire sauce; and the Italian "Marcello" filled with Italian sausage, pizza sauce and a mix of mozzarella and provolone cheese. The meal arrived and it was great! The 3 baked pillows were baked perfectly and all three were delicious, I think if I had to choose one I liked the English best.

My meal, three delicious empanada's!

On my last visit Mr. Marini visited with Melanie and I and gave us some fresh baked cookies for dessert so I didn't try any of the sweet empanada's. This time I wanted to try a few of the dessert empanadas. I chose the Elvis Melbis which is an empanada filled with Peanut Butter, diced banana and Dulce de leche and Marini's daily special filled with cream cheese and a sweet mango jelly. They came out covered in powdered sugar. Both were delicious I especially enjoyed the Elvis Melbis, the peanut butter really added to the great flavor.

My dessert empanadas

The Elvis Melbis

Marini's Special empanada with cream cheese and sweet mango jelly

Marini's would be last Triple D visit in Houston on this trip but after finishing up my work I would be heading to Dallas for more work and more Tripe D places.

After a quick flight from Houston to Dallas I met up with my fiend Steve to hang out during the weekend before starting work. I was hoping to get to least 4 new Triple D places during the weekend. After settling in to Steve's in the town of Lewisville we headed out for dinner at a place in the north part of Dallas. "Whistle Britches" specializes in old time Southern cuisine with Fried Chicken as their go to meal. It's decorated in southern décor and is sort of an inside-outside dining area with huge garage doors separating the dining areas, which were open.

Whistle Britches in the north area of Dallas

Indoor dining

The outdoor section with the doors open

I decided to try their Fried Chicken dinner, which featured three dark meat pieces along with a huge biscuit and upon the recommendation of my server decided on the potato salad. Before the meal came our server brought over a basket with house made sauces, one was a habanero based sauce, the another other was a chili based sauce, the third was a house made ketchup along with natural honey. The meal came and it was really good. The chicken was juicy and had a crispy and tasty crust. I must admit I was a bit disappointed with the potato salad, it was good, but not as good as I had hoped. The huge biscuit was the real highlight of the meal. It was flaky, moist and delicious. The honey just added to it.

The sauce selection at Whistle Britches

My Whistle Britches Chicken dinner

On Saturday Steve and I headed out and after seeing the movie "Chappaquiddick" we headed into Dallas to try a couple of more places. Our first stop was in the popular West End of Dallas, not too far from the infamous Texas School Book Depository the place where John F Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Tutta's Pizzeria is n an old warehouse building and specializes in pizzas and sandwiches with an emphasis on smoked meats.

Tutta's Pizza in Dallas' West End

Tutta's dining area

Tutta's open kitchen

Steve and I decided to share the Smoky Pizza which has smoked beef and bacon with a very spicy BBQ sauce on a tasty crust. As we waited it was neat to be able to see the cooks at work in the open kitchen. I could tell that his place really is popular on weekend nights, they even have a stage.

The pizza was very tasty, the meats were delicious and the sauce very spicy. Before leaving I was able to meet the manager who signed my book.

Tutta's Smoky Pizza

Tutta's "Guy Ate Here" pan

From Tutta's we headed south out of the city to a place in an older building. "Tacos Mariachi" is in a older white building with a lot of colorful artwork painted on the walls. They are known for a huge variety of street tacos. We entered the rustic restaurant and looked over the large menu.

"Guy Ate Here" painted on the side walls of Tacos Mariachi

Can't beat this!

Inside Tacos Mariachi

Steve chose a chicken taco and I chose a corn tortilla taco filled with octopus. I also tried their version of a Hibiscus drink. The drink was refreshing ad the taco was really good, the octopus was grilled and topped with a green chili sauce that was very spicy. In my opinion grilled octopus has the consistency of lobster, but some people don't like it, I do, so I guess it's an acquired taste. They brought our food with three bottle of house made hot sauces, on the wall was a guide to the different sauces and their degrees of heat. The jovial owner was really working the room, talking to all of the diners. He chatted with us for a few minutes about Guy's visit and then took a few pictures with me after signing my book.

Steve's Chicken Taco on a flour tortilla

My Octopus Taco with a green chili sauce

Hot Sauce Tutorial painted on the wall

Meeting Tacos Mariachi owner

Good Food and wonderful people!

Steve and headed back to his place for a break. We had been planning to stay around his place but decided to go to dinner at another Tripe D place. "One90 Smoked Meats" is in a small strip mall and is really just a carry out with a few small tables outside their front door.

One90 Smoked Meats in North Dallas

Inside One90 Smoked Meats

I had just seen their episode so I remembered that Guy had tried the DLT. One90's version of the BLT with sliced Duck in place of Bacon. Steve got the Chicken Poblano sandwich. My sandwich came, big tomatoes on top of lettuce and a large portion of sliced duck on thick cut toasted rye and served with Potato salad on the side. It was delicious, the duck was tasty and not greasy at all, in fact I would have thought it to be beef if I didn't know. Steve said his sandwich was really good and a bit spicy. I got to talk wit the staff and had the assistant manager to sign my book, he told me that the owner would be back the next day so we went back to get him to sign it, too.

My One90 DLT

My last Triple D place in the Dallas Metroplex was a place that I had been to several years ago and was just down the street from AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys and Globe Life Ballpark, home of the Texas Rangers. "Prince's Lebanese Grill" is in an old drive-in restaurant and features a huge menu of Middle Eastern food.

Steve and I decided to share the Thyme Pie appetizer, a flatbread topped with herbs ad olive oil and Princes Lebanese Special, Lamb, Beef, and Chicken with vegetables, rice, pita bread and hummus. Both were fantastic! The pie was tasty with excellent spice flavor (not hot) and all of the meats were perfectly seared and the hummus with the oil mixed in was perfection. I got to meet the owner, again and he was the perfect host.

Prince's Thyme Pie

Prince's Lebanese Special (taken after we had already attacked it!)

After leaving Prince's we went to the two nearby stadiums just to walk around. AT&T is an awesome place, too bad it's the home of the Cowboys!

It was the end of a great weekend and Triple D trip and as I flew home my Triple D count was at 640!