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Posted
6 minutes ago, Hook1997 said:

They were like $3 on Thursday’s at The Library.  We often started Thursday nights with a couple of those.  

Nice. I must have missed those, but I didn’t go The Library very often. I remember Paradise made a really good Texas Tea. 

Posted

Wasn't the Mexican Martini just basically a margarita in a shaker with orange juice? No wonder they had to limit us at two. Man, I generally like our Generation but that was a bad era for us. 

Posted
10 hours ago, Mittens said:

Had Outback a month or so ago (80yr old mom's favorite spot) and it couldn't have been worse.  On a slow Saturday lunch, w/ maybe 20% of tables sat, it took damn near an hour to get our orders and my ribeye was ass.  If I have to suffer that place again, I'll go w/ that smashburger.

Outback has always been proprietor-driven. If the proprietor is present and worth a shit, the Outback tends to be consistent and worth it. If not, the place sucks. I worked at the one near the Arboretum in the 90’s and that place was clean and terrific. Back then, they were pushing big on expansion and began watering down the talent and qualifications of who they let buy-in for new locations. It became hit or miss depending upon location. 

If I’m out in Katy for some baseball tournament or other terrible reason, they have a good one. The one in Sugarland is solid. Others in Houston suck and the one near the Arboretum sucks last time I went also. 

That said, my kids love visiting them every time. It’s the least expensive option for a potentially good steak available, in my mind. 

5 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

Wasn't the Mexican Martini just basically a margarita in a shaker with orange juice? No wonder they had to limit us at two. Man, I generally like our Generation but that was a bad era for us. 

Good Mexican martinis involve lime juice and little to no actual mix. It’s far less sweet than a margarita. Add olive brine and it’s an entirely different taste and experience. Orange juice may or may not make it into either ritas or Mexican martinis, depending upon where you’re buying. 

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Posted
2 hours ago, closetojumping said:

I worked at the one near the Arboretum in the 90’s and that place was clean and terrific.

That location was my go to.  I feel like Outback was one of the first restaurants to embrace take out orders and that place was like a mile from my house.  The shitty one in question was in Live Oak - N suburb of SATX.

Posted
22 hours ago, Mittens said:

Had Outback a month or so ago (80yr old mom's favorite spot) and it couldn't have been worse.  On a slow Saturday lunch, w/ maybe 20% of tables sat, it took damn near an hour to get our orders and my ribeye was ass.  If I have to suffer that place again, I'll go w/ that smashburger.

Fam went with my dad a little while back because he had a gift card or something. I hadn’t been in a while (at least a few years) and it was awful. The “special” that was advertised was apparently not at that location, and I don’t even remember what I got. I just remember it was pretty unanimous from our group that every plate was not good. I had always thought outback used to be pretty reliably “fine”. Not amazing, but fine. Even my dad, who will eat anything, was like “that was awful. I’m not going back there.”  

Posted (edited)
On 8/15/2025 at 11:28 AM, SydneyCarton said:

There's a pretty interesting video interview with the CEO of Chili's you can find by googling. Basically discusses how he was able to turn Chili's around from being a punch line to having a huge resurgence at a time when most other restaurants are struggling. Seems like a pretty smart guy. 

https://slate.com/business/2025/08/chilis-menu-restaurants-food-tiktok-red-hot-mozz.html

Quote

But as I dumped fries into a plastic basket, Paquette pointed out an example of optimization even a layabout like me could appreciate. “We weren’t getting consistent seasoning on our fries, so we developed a little quality fix,” he said. He held up a shaker filled with salt and spices and pointed out the little holes on the shaker’s cover. “We call this the rose. The holes used to be pretty small, so we were having, like, 30 shakes on an order of french fries to get the right amount on there. That was a lot of shaking for the cooks. So we moved to this shaker.”

“It’s got bigger holes,” I observed.

Go To 11 Spinal Tap GIF

They simplified the menu (rip chili at chili's) and a lot of the processes to get your order taken, made correctly and out to you. 99% of the locations are company owned. Which mean they can respond to moments like the moz sticks going viral much more rapidly than needing buy-in from franchisees. It doesn't hurt that most people upgrade from the base 3 for me.

Edited by elfenix
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Posted
6 hours ago, Deej said:

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They’re dying out. They closed the 1604 location. I’d always stop on the drive to Midland because it’s on the way. 
 

Your order is top notch. I basically order that or pork chops and eggs every time. 

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Posted

Funny timing. My wife and kids are at the oak hill location right now and the guy next to them is ordering a week’s worth of dinners to go. I can only assume it’s Brisket!

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Posted
23 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

Funny timing. My wife and kids are at the oak hill location right now and the guy next to them is ordering a week’s worth of dinners to go. I can only assume it’s Brisket!

 

you're assuming wrong, that's for tonight and tomorrow 

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Posted
33 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

you're assuming wrong, that's for tonight and tomorrow 

It's for his drive home.

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Posted
2 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

They’re dying out. They closed the 1604 location. I’d always stop on the drive to Midland because it’s on the way. 
 

Your order is top notch. I basically order that or pork chops and eggs every time. 

Pork chops there indeed go hard.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Chili’s was solid today. The $10.99 burger deal is enough for 2 people to split. I’ll give them credit for keeping it super simple. It’s very hard to screw up cheeseburgers, fries, and chips & salsa.

I’m glad they’re making a comeback. They deserve to be rewarded. Kept the menu simple and prices low. 

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Posted (edited)
19 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Chili’s was solid today. The $10.99 burger deal is enough for 2 people to split. 

 

On 8/17/2025 at 12:20 PM, Chopper said:

Brian Cox Hbo GIF by SuccessionHBO

Although I do get broccoli for the fries.  Who needs another salt bomb after the chips & salsa?

Edited by WBT
Posted
1 hour ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Certainly a Houston only thing, but I nominate James Coney Island (JCI). I can happily report the Meyerland location is not only open; they’re thriving. Chili and cheese coney with a little hot sauce. Tastes just like how it did growing up. 

Speaking of Houston, I was in town at a campus of an organization that won't be named out of shame which is a 10 minute drive from Humble, and someone unironically offered up "Pancho's Mexican All You Can Eat Buffett" as an option to eat. I thought they were joking because I thought all those dumps had been shuttered 20 years ago. 

Looked it up; nope! Humble, Texas carrying on the tradicions.

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Posted
5 hours ago, Vegas64 said:

Speaking of Houston, I was in town at a campus of an organization that won't be named out of shame which is a 10 minute drive from Humble, and someone unironically offered up "Pancho's Mexican All You Can Eat Buffett" as an option to eat. I thought they were joking because I thought all those dumps had been shuttered 20 years ago. 

Looked it up; nope! Humble, Texas carrying on the tradicions.

A XOM really suggested Pancho’s?! That’s some wild stuff. 

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Posted
12 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Certainly a Houston only thing, but I nominate James Coney Island (JCI). I can happily report the Meyerland location is not only open; they’re thriving. Chili and cheese coney with a little hot sauce. Tastes just like how it did growing up. 

Last time I ate there was 2017, after spending a weekend on Harvey cleanup with my son. Before we headed back to Austin, I took the boy for a pilgrimage to one of our Houston haunts from growing up.  It was still perfect.  We had one here in Austin for a few years (middle of Congress between 6th and 7th), and we hit it plenty.  Even went there for my wife's birthday one year when the kids were really young.  JCI was one of her favorite places as a kid, and that's what she wanted, so we went, and everyone was happy.

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Posted (edited)
16 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

SFD0193_600x600_crop_center.jpg?v=170679

This movie will never get old, and the soundtrack is a total banger.

 

There were other aspects of this movie that were bangers as well. :) 

 

edit: And that ski ballet shit remains one of the coolest things ever (visually) and should have remained part of free-style skiing.  I tried for years to pull off that pirouette move without a hint of success.

 

anigif_sub-buzz-18569-1519141901-9.gif

Edited by dcbc
Posted
Certainly a Houston only thing, but I nominate James Coney Island (JCI). I can happily report the Meyerland location is not only open; they’re thriving. Chili and cheese coney with a little hot sauce. Tastes just like how it did growing up. 

My standard order was “3 all the way w cheese”.

I could inhale those.

Good thing I moved away from Houston at an early age or I’d surely be dead by now.
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Posted
13 minutes ago, TxTower said:


My standard order was “3 all the way w cheese”.

I could inhale those.

Good thing I moved away from Houston at an early age or I’d surely be dead by now.

My parents and grandparents usually bribed me with JCI to go to church. I think the Sunday special was like $1.50 per chili-cheese dog. When I met my wife they still had the Sunday special. We’d go there after church. Good times. 

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