babypiper's Profile
Pescabar Dallas
Maybe it is shame on us for going the first week that it was open, but let me just say that every single person in our group last Thursday night agreed that this was the worst dining experience they had ever had. Now, if this were some newbie to the Dallas restaurant scene, we may have been more forgiving. But since Lombardi's restaurants are some of my favs in Dallas, I was so, so disappointed. The service was downright awful, bordering on non-existent. For example, no sparkling water at 8 pm; when we asked what oysters to try, the waiter said they were all "similar" (which they are clearly not); when we asked what a certain dessert was, the waiter said "I am not sure. I have not tried that one." Have these people not had training? My uncle owns a very, very popular italian restaurant in Chicago and I am very familiar with the restaurant biz. Did they not do tastings so they would be knowledgeable on the food after opening?? Speaking of the food ... 100% average. The oysters rockefeller were bland, the crabcakes were overly breaded and didn't have much flavor either, my fiance's fish (the arctic char) was this tiny little portion and (frankly) looked disgusting. Their idea of carrot cake is not what anyone would consider carrot cake and made me miss the one at Perry's so, so much.
I am not saying not to go there, but I wouldn't recommend it right now. They need to work out their kinks first for sure. As foir the food, hopfully that will improve as well. Th ebest compliment I can give them is that the atmosphere was gorgeous. But that alone is not a reason for me to go back....
Villa-O??
I am disappointed to write this. I love the penne pasta with tomato vodka sauce there and the desserts are great (the tiramisu is the best I have ever had). But my goodness, the service is TERRIBLE. It is so slow and they seem to have an issue with getting your orders correct (at least for us ... twice now). Hopefully they will get the kinks worked out soon.... Also, the food can me somewhat inconsistent. I always get the pasta (either tomato vodka or pesto cream) and sometimes it is really overcooked and sometimes it just tastes different (usually bland). I feel bad because every time we go in there, we end up complaining and we never complain at restaurants. We go back because our first visit there was soooo good. But I think they have gotten too busy for themselves as of late. I say wait a few months and try it then. They will hopefully get it together,
Best Bakery for Birthday Cake (Dallas)
Here is my two cents -- Dallas Affairs is really good, but a birthday cake there costs something like $140. In my opinion, that is just ridiculous. We considered them for our wedding cake and that was much more reasonable but on specialty cakes they are high. My favorite bakery, hands down, is Candy Haven in Denton, Texas. It is phenomenal and every time I get a bday cake from there, everyone asks me where I got it. The almond flavored cake is ridiculously good -- so thick (almost like pound cake). I have tried tons of bakeries in Dallas and, frankly, none of them even compare. Thankfully, they deliever to a wine shop in Plano so it is not too much of a hike if you live in Dallas. A cake there is usually around $45-$50.
For quicker and cheaper options, A & J's on Oaklawn and Stein's on Preston are also very good. That is where we go when we didn't plan far enough in advance for Candy Haven.
I will say that my fiance got my birthday cake at Romano's this year. We did a cake tasting there for our wedding and figured we'd give them a whirl. All I can say is THANK GOD we did not get our wedding cake there. We both thought it was terrible. I will never buy another cake there again.
