M & O Station Grill

M & O Station Grill, a part of the Leonard's Department Store Museum, was an interesting adventure into my journey to find truly the best veggie burger in town.

The diner itself is quaint, decorated the way you would expect an old fashioned burger diner to be, and seems to have quite the following.

We arrived early on a Saturday morning (around 11:30) and they were freshly chopping all the ingredients for that day - tomatoes, lettuce, onions, potatoes, and list could go on. I felt encouraged by their attention to the finer details of a perfect burger.

I ordered the veggie burger (no cheese) which comes topped with lettuce, tomatoe, onion, dressing of choice (not knowing about their homemade "special sauce", I picked mustard) and fresh grilled mushrooms. Foodie's husband did the usual - cheeseburger - mustard only. All burgers are grilled to order - as you order them, so they come out fresh and piping hot.

The burgers arrived and what a sight. Fresh buns toasted to perfection, fresh ingredients, and a side of handcut steak-style fries. Foodie's husband was in heaven - they make a skinny patty just like he likes it. I on the other hand was a little disappointed. One of two things happened - and those of you that do the veggie burgers on a regular basis know exactly what I'm talking about - the sides of the patty were so hard my knife wouldn't even cut the burger in half. So, they either freeze these patties and then cook them as they are ordered, or they just overcooked it. What I could eat of the burger was fantastic - the mushrooms made this burger!

I haven't given up yet on M & O Station Grill. I'll give them a second shot.

Ranking: 3 Carrots

Paco and John Mexican Diner

For those of you that don't know, this fantastic "quaint" joint has opened almost directly on the corner of 8th & Rosedale. The owners none other than proprietor of St. Emilion's & his long time friend and chef. Am I personally excited - yes!! Why you ask? Well, reason #1 none other than my favorite restaurant of all times is St. Emilion's; #2 they took a dump of an old convenient store and transformed it into a great place to get some fantastic food.

The restaurant has been open for lunches for several weeks now, but just recently they have started a dinner flight. So, on the second Friday of dinner being served, Foodie, Foodie's husband and two other couples joined in on the trek to confirm the greatness that is Paco & John.

The prices are great, and it's BYOB (for now) - so we tried a little bit of everything. The queso - with yes both crab & chorizo - was ordered. I ordered some guacamole, salsa and chips are complimentary. Oh my gosh the feast began. The table devoured the queso - and the quac - I couldn't share. It was creamy and had a great kick!

I think we literally ordered one of everything on the menu (which is not posted on the website at this time) - fresh steamed mussels, fajitas, shrimp tacos, stuffed chicken, and two chile reino's. I don't normal do a ton of cheese, but this chile reino was fantastic. Slightly breaded, covered in a red sauce with a side of roasted veggies and rice. I couldn't stop eating!! Every plate on the table was cleaned.

One bust is the limited amount of veggie items offered at dinner. For lunch there are several items, but I don't think they have down their dinner menu just quite yet.

So following our face stuffing meal, we took home their daily made brownies, topped it with some vanilla ice cream and chilled on our back porch. What an end to a great meal.

Ranking: 3 Carrots (still getting it together and the veg option was minimal)

Ferre - Fort Worth

I want to say that overall, I find Ferre to be a beautiful restaurant, both architectually and with their food presentation. This restaurant is perfectly positioned across from the Bass Performance Hall and with mid-range prices. Foodie husband and I have both eaten at the Ferre previous to this visit, but I must say I will definitely think twice about eating there again - could have been on the ether of a fantastic performance at Bass the first time.

Yesterday (Saturday) close friends of ours had made reservations for 10 people (including their parents who flew in from D.C. for the weekend) at 9:00 pm. Over 60% of the party was present at 9, but it wasn't until 9:30 that they told us because we had one extra person attending (yes 11 people) we would have to wait for another section to clear. So, instead of adding one chair to our 10 chair table, we had to wait for a party of 20 to clear in another area that had been there since 6.

So, sometime close to 10 pm we were finally seated. Now 75% of our group was present (others were still in-route from work). Our waitress took our cocktail order and the hosting couple ordered apps for the table. Sometime around 10:30 - 10:45 another waitress was flagged down to take our main course order. The table orders ranged from the rack of lamb, scallops, catch of the day, to my usual Eggplant Parmesan.

After going through exorbitant amounts of bread, cheese crisps (and others had the appetizers), our main courses finally arrived. I was extremely disappointed. Foodie's husband was too intoxicated to comment accurately on the state of his dish, but mine looked and tasted like something I could make at home - not that I am a horrible cook, but you know you go out to eat at a nice restaurant and expect them to use some creativity. The eggplant was cut lengthwise, breaded and topped with red sauce - not impressed. The pasta that was on the side, should have been a main dish though. The light dressing was flavorful and the pasta was cooked perfectly. Next time that is what I am going to ask for - a main dish of the side pasta.

Of course everyone ordered desserts - I think one of everything. Our dessert of choice was Profiteroles - for those of you that don't know, this is a puff pastry stuffed with ice cream of choice and usually covered with a sauce. This dessert if prepared correctly can be decadent - this one was a flop. The puff pastry was extremely dry, the ice cream tasted like Blue Bell and topping was generic - melted chocolate with some crushed up toffee candy bar.

Ranking: 2 Carrots

Cheesecake Factory - Southlake

Yes, I know this could be on the verge of being a "chain" restaurant, but I found the most outstanding salad on the menu that I just have to share it with everyone.

I of course could not make up my mind - especially with the breadth of selection that is available at the Cheesecake Factory - so I just made a random selection with the Vegetable Chopped Salad. This salad is so loaded with veggies that any vegetable lover would be satisfied. The combination of fresh asparagus, edamame, apples and the beets has now become a favorite of mine to make at home. I was a little skeptical of the Pomegranate Vinaigrette, so I ordered it on the side. It had a little too much "Asian" influence for my enjoyment with the salad. I quickly replaced it with the traditional vinaigrette and was exceptionally pleased.

This salad is definitely a recommended pick - and it's easy to make at home as well!

Ranking: 4 Carrots

Tommy's Burgers

I was very disappointed with Tommy's - especially after all the good reviews and people telling us, "you just have to try it" or "you haven't been to Tommy's yet?"

I'll start from the beginning - we tried to go to the one on 7th first at about 7 on a Friday evening and it was closed! WHAT?!? So, we check the website and it said it should be open, so we get in the car and go travel to the one at Camp Bowie - the map isn't quite right on the website, but we found it anyways.

Of course I try the veggie burger - since supposedly it's the "best". I found it to be dry and pre-prepared. I felt that it wasn't quite as low as what I could prepare from the frozen food section at home, but it wasn't up to snuff with the other veggie burgers I have had.

The hubby got the standard - meat, cheese, mustard, ketchup. His exact words were, "it's okay". These burgers are extremely thick and therefore probably don't appeal to the hubby in the first place, but needs to be noted.

Might give it a second try.

Ranking: 3 Carrots

JAKE'S - Old Fashioned Burgers

Jake's moved into the previous location for Chili's in downtown Fort Worth. What a refreshing change from the cookie-cutter crap of the chain restaurants.

Other burger joints have been voted best "veggie" burger, but I found Jake's to be the best I have had so far. It was made fresh, had a little kick and wonderful flavor.

The regular meat burgers are made thick and to order. Foodie's husband stuck to the basics, with meat, cheese, mustard and ketchup only. He prefers the thin patties to the thick, but said the flavor was great.

The buns & burgers came out fresh and piping hot. The fries are fresh cut and seasoned great (Jumpin' Jake Fries). We haven't tried the sweet potato fries yet, but we'll definitely go a second time to give them a try.

Ranking: 4 Carrots

St. Emilion - Our Favorite

This is by far our favorite restaurant in Fort Worth, probably in Texas, and one of our top 5 in the country. If you are looking for a place to enjoy a special occasion, take clients or just enjoy a fabulously prepared meal - I don't think either of us could say enough good about St. Emilion.

We recently had both sets of our parents together for dinner and this was the place of choice. We request the same server every time - Jennifer, and had a wonderful time. This was my first visit back since I have stopped eating meat, and was unsure of the experience I would have.

For those of you who have never been, the menu is a set 4 course meal. You have a starter, soup/salad course, main dish, and dessert. The usual menu is posted on the web, but the best part is the large chalkboard w/ specials. These specials are made with seasonal ingredients and change regularly. There are a few options for starters and the soup/salad course that would work great for a veg dish.

I started with the Cream of Asparagus Soup (minus the shrimp puff pastry), followed with the Insalata Caprese and for my main dish I ordered the chef's veg special. I have never had anything bad, so I'm going to talk about the main dish. The Vegetarian Special was a beautifully presented plate of fresh vegetables - all prepared in a different manner. The plate had cabbage, classic mixed vegs, a potato au gratin made with spinach and red bell peppers, grilled asparagus, and mushrooms. I am sure I have forgotten a few of the veggies on the dish - but what a treat. They were all seasoned well, tasted great and will keep me coming back for more. Oh but wait! There's more - dessert. I tried the special apple tart flambe (topped with ice cream). It wasn't one of my favorites, but the creativity was outstanding. The tart comes out warm, and then is topped with flamed Calvados.

I could go on forever with everything that was ordered at the table. Foodie's husband had the Original Duck dish. Beautifully presented and so he says - WONDERFUL. Several people ordered the Filet, and my mother had Jennifer surprise her with one of the special fishes on the board. Everyone at the table ate everything on the plate - to the point of being stuffed. By far the most popular dessert is their homemade cookie formed into a cup and filled with "fromage blanc" and topped with fresh blackberries.

Make sure you make reservations (months in advance for New Year's or Valentine's Day). Recommended Pick!!

Ranking: 5 Carrots