Texas Cattle Company – Lakeland, FL

I have written about Texas Cattle Company previously. It is a fantastic steakhouse, and I was looking forward to going back for another visit. The restaurant was very crowded, so I was glad I had a reservation.

We wasted no time ordering. We started with bleu cheese potato chips to munch on. These homemade chips were extra crispy. They were covered in a bleu cheese sauce. There were also big chunks of actual bleu cheese. I oved the tangy flavor from the cheese.

All meals come with their chopped salad. There is a homemade dressing, that is like an Italian dressing, that the salad is tossed in. I love that they chopped up the lettuce. It makes it much easier to eat. It is extremely fresh, and you can get as many refills as you want. It easily could be a meal.

The other item they bring to all the tables are homemade cheese bread. These are fluffy dinner rolls that are topped with a ton of cheddar cheese. Then they are baked, and the cheese gets melted and crispy. They are delicious. You cannot eat just one. It is very easy to fill up on these rolls.

For dinner I ordered the bone in pork chop. This pork chop was extremely thick. The chef was able to cook it perfectly. It was very juicy. The savory flavor was spectacular. Although the pork chop was thick, the meat was tender. It was so big I was not able to finish all the meat, so I got a to-go box to enjoy it for lunch the next day.

I got the mashed potatoes as my side. These were sweet, red potatoes. They were extremely creamy with a few chunks of potatoes throughout. It was the perfect accompaniment to the pork chop.

The food lived up to the expectations I had from my last visit. I still recommend a visit to Texas Cattle Company. Visit their website at www.TexasCattleCompany.net

Enjoy!

T

Datz – Tampa, FL – Visit #3

I have been to Datz in Tampa a few times. Their food is great, and they are always busy. Whenever people come to visit the area, Datz is a fun place to bring them too.

This last visit we were there in between breakfast and lunch. I felt more like breakfast, so I ordered the Datz Good Hash. This is homemade corned beef. It was big chunks of tender beef. It was not as crispy as I like it but that could be because of how large the pieces were.

They piled shredded hash browns on top of the corned beef. My two over-well eggs were placed on top of the hash browns. It gave me the option to eat each item separately or cut through and eat it all together.

The fresh toast was great with a little strawberry jam. This added a sweet element to the overall salty dish. I got a side of their grits. This southern breakfast staple was blended with cream cheese and cheddar cheese. That made the grits very rich. They are also thicker than traditional grits because of all the cheese. They too were salty so breaking it up with bites of the jam toast was perfect.

We tried an appetizer of Mac Bites that we shared around the table. They took their bacon-jalapeno mac and cheese and fried it up. They had a nice crispy breading on the outside. Inside the mac and cheese was gooey. There was a slight hint of heat because of the chopped-up pieces of jalapeno. They served a firecracker dipping sauce on the side. This added a little more heat along with a slight sweetness.

The main attraction of the visit to Datz was their Double D burger. Now I did not order this but someone at the table did. This is two burger patties made with beef brisket and short ribs. Then they melted Swiss and American cheese over the patties. They layered it with all the fixings you typically get on a burger. But what makes this burger so unique and special is that the bun for this burger is two full sized glazed donuts.

This thing was massive when it came to the table. Plus, it came with a side of homemade potato chips with blue cheese. It looked very messy to eat but in no time this burger was devoured.

The blend of salty and sweet from the donuts all married well together. It is not for everyone; however, it does give Datz something special to look forward to.

The food was great at Datz once again.  I highly recommend checking them out if you are in Tampa. Visit their website at www.datztampa.com

Enjoy!

T