restaurant | Mike Dougherty's Blog

Weekend at Patrick’s

March 2, 2011
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I had a great weekend with my children and their friends in Fort Worth. (Actually, we were in Arlington when I saw my daughters, Molly and Megan. We met them for dinner Saturday night at a steakhouse there.)

Patrick picked me up at Love Field in Dallas and then we headed for Cowtown. We grabbed a late supper at the original Fuzzy’s Taco Shop near Texas Christian University.

He and I messed around Friday. talking, walking his dogs and eating good food, including fried chicken, waffles, shredded sweet potatoes and collard greens at Buttons for lunch. On Friday night, we were joined by his girlfriend, Sarah, as we tried the Flying Fish location near TCU — several photos on the wall of fishermen and -women from Arkansas showing off their prize catches.

Saturday afternoon, the three of us sat in the bleachers at Lupton Stadium and watched the TCU Horned Frogs take on the Cal State-Fullerton Titans in a college baseball game featuring two nationally ranked teams. It was a great game, but the Titans turned a go-ahead-run on a close call at the plate in the top of the ninth inning into a full-blown five-run rally and then held on for an 8-4 win.

That seemed to start a trend because TCU, ranked No. 3 nationally entering that game, lost to CSU-F in the ninth again Sunday in the rubber game of the series. Then the Frogs repeated the trick Tuesday night against the visiting and much-more-lightly regarded Dallas Baptist University Patriots in a 4-3 loss. http://gofrogs.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/recaps/030111aaa.html

At night, we stayed up late talking and watching movies. One was Robert Duvall’s latest, “Get Low,” also featuring Bill Murray, Lucas Black and Sissy Spacek. It’s based on a true story of a hermit in from Tennessee in the 1930s. Quite entertaining.

On Sunday morning, Patrick, Sarah and I met his longtime friend from high school, Andrew McKernon, for a great brunch at Taverna, an Italian restaurant in downtown Fort Worth.

I made some friends from Maumelle, Myron and Stephanie Putnam, waiting at Love for the flight back. Southwest had some trouble with a part in the windshield heater of our plane. After first trying to fix it, they moved us to a different gate and put us on a plane originally scheduled to go to Lubbock, Texas, and then Las Vegas, Nev. Lubbock was experiencing high winds at the time, so us Little Rock travelers replaced the Lubbock passengers and we arrived at Little Rock national Airport about an hour late. Then the plane went on to Las Vegas for the other folks.

Dizzy’s move worth the wait

November 18, 2009
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Darla Huie ran a great restaurant, Dizzy’s Grill and Bistro, in Benton for a number of years. It was classy, beautifully decorated, yet still had an air that welcomed the casual diner. It was perfect for meeting someone for a business lunch or taking your bride out for a romantic evening.

When I heard last summer that she had decided to move her establishment to Little Rock, I was excited. I knew Saline County residents weren’t looking forward to losing it, but working in downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock made it good news for my co-workers and me.

Huie and staff opened their doors Nov. 3 as Dizzy’s Gypsy Bistro at 201 Commerce St., where the old Vermillion Grill was located. It is a great-looking place, complete with a new vertical neon sign on the corner and an outside eating area up front.

The result is a good one. A menu already diverse with soups, salads, sandwiches, pasta, burgers and great desserts has been expanded with steaks and seafood.

My wife, Nancy, and I met a friend for dinner there Nov. 6, eating on the veranda or whatever they have chosen to call the open-air area. I had to try the steak and they delivered — the prime rib was perfect. Nancy loved her pasta and Joyce liked her salmon.

Last week, I met a work associate-friend for lunch and we both enjoyed “The Wedge” sandwich and fries. Excellent.

The food is wonderful, the atmosphere is great, the staff is friendly and the service is good. What more do you want from a restaurant?

One more thing: Dizzy’s Gypsy Bistro is close enough to reach on foot, which is good for my health.

Touchdown Sally’s in Benton a winner

November 2, 2009
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My wife Nancy and I picked up our hobbled friend Joe Henning for supper on Saturday evening. We tried Touchdown Sally’s, the new sports bar/restaurant on the westbound service road north of Interstate 30 in Benton, where Weng’s was located for the past few years.

(Joe was struck by a truck while walking to the Benton Public Library a couple of months ago. He’s recovering, but it’s been slow.)

It was fun and the cheeseburgers were good. We watched the Razorbacks run up a 42-0 halftime lead over Eastern Michigan on one end of room while waiting for the rain to stop before Game 3 of the World Series on the television at the other end.

Our server Brandon was dressed all in black on that Halloween night with a U.S. postage stamp cut from felt glued to his shirt — blackmail! It was clever, but his attractive wife, Hayley, who was seated nearby, had to tell us what he was supposed to be.

It’s a comfortable, family-style atmosphere and Mike Robinson and his partners have done a great job of getting the place off to a good start.

We figure that the place will be rockin’ tonight with former Razorbacks pitcher Cliff Lee of Benton pitching for the Phillies against North Little Rock native A.J. Burnett of the Yankees. With New York up three games to one in the World Series, it’s a must-win situation for defending champion Philadelphia.

Party on, Benton!