Palomina's Texas Buffet

When Palomina's first opened up, it was the talk of the town. Weekend buffet lines stretched out of the restaurant and people gladly waited their turn. It was well worth the wait. This place was like a supermall of buffet food with a wall's worth of salads alone.

Yet it seems that in today's economic slump (not a recession- according to the government, of course), Palomina's has had to cut back on the variety and the quality of the food served.

Gone are the delicious goodies of yesteryear. Even the aguas naturales and iced tea are now missing from the drink serving stations. This time the only clear winner that I tried from the buffet line was the chile relleno, filled with a smooshy meatlike substance. So yummy, so yummy!!

Besides that, the macaroni was lacking cheesiness. The turkey ham was processed and tasted like a cheap version of Spam. Even the flour tortillas weren't as tasty as I recalled. Or maybe that's just wishful reminiscing. However, the place still serves ribs, steak, and the fixings. There are still salads, and plenty of desserts.

Too bad the cleanliness of the buffet line wasn't as good as a girl would wish. While serving myself it was easy to spot several used dessert dishes lining the counter. What?! Does nobody see these dishes? It only takes a second for an employee to spot one and whisk it away to be washed. The little dishes could have been the work of the children who ran amuk unaccompanied by responsible adults. Yet that's only an explanation, not a valid excuse. Picky, am I? Well, yeah! Come on, now... Who wants to eat at a dirty restaurant, right? Yeah, thought so. ;-)

Anyhow, the place wasn't as amazing as I remembered it. It's still a nice enough place to go, but I could have saved some money and avoided the disillusionment by eating at Pancho's or Cici's instead. If I recall correctly, the Arlington Pancho's sells booze, too. Next time, next time!

Place? Palomina's Texas Buffet

Location? 701 North Watson Road, Arlington, TX 76011 (on the west side of 360)

Number to call when you get lost? (817) 652-1313

Cost? Not too bad. $10.49 for the Saturday evening buffet, $1.99 for the soft drink

Kid-friendly? Yes. There were children galore when we went.

Date-friendly? Yeah, why not?

Place to meet those of the opposite sex? Nope. This is more a family restaurant.

Place to go with friends? Yes.

Bathroom cleanliness? Not too bad. I especially like the automatic paper towel dispensers and the trashcan in close proximity to the door. That way there's no need to touch dirty door handles upon exiting. :)

Good service? Pretty good.

Would I do it again? Probably not. At least not until the economy is better and the place can afford to return to its previous glory. As R.T. (my fellow Palomina-er) said, Palomina's deserves only 3 out of 5 stars. R.T. also says the place is better after a quick smoke out in the parking lot. Not that I would ever advocate smoking, of course!

Trader's Village

As my lovely friend T.W. calls it, the place of my people. Lol. Seriously. You'd understand if you've ever been there. My friend, R.T., and I went on Sunday afternoon. Usually when I go to the Traders Village flea market I'll spend less than $5.00. Seriously. This time, maybe I knew the damage I'd do to my pockets because I took my little red wagon. Oops. Next time I'll take the big one!

The primary reason we took the wagon was a way to carry our twelve-pack. Note to readers: A twelve-pack isn't quite enough for five hours of flea marketing. Next time we're taking at least an 18. Especially since even the flea market vendors were asking if they could buy beer off us! lol.

R.T. and I got there about noon and immediately headed for the garagesale-esque area, all the way to the back left corner. This is where the normal people like you and me sell things. It's more of a hunt here, and more of a win when you find something amazing. Like the $60 brand new with tags Express sweater that I got for $2.50. Or the brand new $40 Gap blouse with tags for only $2.50. Or the gorgeous brand new Liz Claiborne blouse for $2.50. Yes, lots of stuff was 2 for $5. Can you tell? :)

I also scored and got something really cute for a girlfriend for only 50 cents. I had to text and let her know she's getting something really nice for Christmas. lol. Of course, the gift will mean so much more if I leave the 50 cent tag on. So I will.

Also, be sure to think out of the box. The flea market is the perfect place to stock up on household goods such as toilet paper and cleaner, as well as personal products like shampoo and feminine products. You can even buy grocery products like dry cereal and cans of chili... or fresh fruit by the bag or crate! Or smaller quantities if you insist.

Right now since we're heading into tamale and posole season, there were many vendors selling aromatic bags of dried chilies. Yum! Some cute little rascal even suckered me into buying 1/2 a kilo of peanuts. He tried reverse sales therapy on me by offering me a peanut and walking away. He didn't even tell me where the peanuts were sold. Wily little 9-year-old! Yes. He got me. Now what on earth am I going to do with so many peanuts?! Hmm. Maybe they can be uniquely wrapped and gifted to unsuspecting friends and family?

Place? Traders Village

Location? 2602 Mayfield Road, Grand Prairie, TX 75052

Number to call when you get lost? (972) 647-2331

Cost? $3.00 for parking, no entry fee. Take as much (or as little) as you want to spend. There are also terrific fair-type foods for sale, including corny dogs, ice cream, pizza, sausage on a stick, elotes, etc. You are forewarned!

Kid-friendly? Yes!

Date-friendly? Yes! We saw so many cute (and not-so-cute) young (and not-so-young) couples. Take your sweetie!

Place to meet those of the opposite sex? Yes. Although I've never met anyone at a flea market, it's totally possible.

Place to go with friends? Oh, yeah!

Bathroom cleanliness? Um, no. Remember to take hand sanitizer and try not to touch anything!

Good service? The food stands usually have nice folk. The vendors are usually pretty nice as well. Beware the talkative vendors!!

Would I do it again? Of course. :)

The Wild Turkey

This weekend some friends and I went to The Wild Turkey for a few drinks. Although I've been here to eat before, until Saturday I'd never been there just to hang out. It was a pretty jumping place. The tables were pretty full, as was the bar where we sat.

Funny thing, the waitresses all wore very tight jeans and red shirts. While the waiters... well, luckily they didn't. But it's funny because the waitresses were all young, cute things. While the waiters were neither young nor cute. Can we say double standard?! Regardless, our waiters still treated us pretty well. Although they never did bring us our change. Yes, we know how to tip and we do it pretty darn well. However, when you take the whole issue out of our hands... lol.

Anyhow, after a $3 longneck, I wanted something to munch on. I got these ginormous nachos with beef and chicken fajitas for about $11. Although they're not on the online menu, they absolutely rocked. Instead of being made out of corn tortilla chips, they appeared to be made out of a humongous flour tortilla that had been toasted (not fried) and cut into pieces. Absolutely delish, though for that price they could have served a bit more. Even the small tablespoon-sized dollops of sour cream and guacamole were stingily-proportioned.

Overall, this is the perfect place to hang out with friends after a hard(ish) day at work or a night at the club.

Place? The Wild Turkey

Location? 2470 Walnut Hill Lane, Dallas, TX 75229-5627

Number to call when you get lost? (214) 351-5383

Cost? Not the cheapest, but still pretty reasonable.

Kid-friendly? Absolutely, as long as you go when it's still early. Late on the weekend is not the time to take the kids out to eat here!

Date-friendly? Yes. It's actually just across the street from a pretty big club for the young, urban crowd called Beamers. Although that makes it convenient to grab some post-club grub at the Wild Turkey, it also makes it difficult to find a parking in front of the restaurant. You might have to resort to parking in the big lot out back.

Place to meet those of the opposite sex? You can do it. While I was waiting on R.T. to return to the bar, a group of guys passed by and one made a guy-type noise of approval at me. lol.

Place to go with friends? Absolutely.

Bathroom cleanliness? Can't really answer on this one. Sorry!

Good service? Yes. It took a while in between server visits because it was so busy, but the service was attentive when it was there.

Would I do it again? Probably.

Date from Hell

As a public service to the single guys and gals out there, from time to time I will feature special guest posts on dating. Today I'm happy to showcase our first "Date from Hell" segment from a blogger who wishes to remain anonymous. Enjoy her hell. Be glad it wasn't your own.

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She met him at the club. She was supposed to be meeting a girlfriend that night. Right before meeting him she'd run into a Potential who asked her out to dance. She said, "In a minute, let me finish my beer. I'll be over there," while she pointed to a nice spot. Seconds after seating herself, he came over and asked her to dance. She told him no. He asked if he could have a seat. She said, "Suit yourself." Then she continued texting friends while waiting on her girlfriend to arrive or the Potential to swing by and take her out on the dancefloor. Instead, he spilled his beer, forcing her to put away her cell phone before it went to its beery grave. While they both attempted to clean up his mess, the Potential walked by. Noticing her with him, he kept walking. Darn.

Trying to be nice, she conversed with him. She then met his friends. Nice friends. Hm. Maybe she should hang out with them for a while. At the end of the night he asked for her number and a dinner/movie date on Friday. SHE SAID YES.

Night of the date:

He asked her where she wanted to go. She said he was inviting, he should pick. Her only request: that they meet each other halfway so neither would have a long drive. He called back and said they should meet in a certain location. 30 minutes away from her. 10 minutes away from him. That's not what she meant, but she politely agreed. He suggested she call when she left her place so they could decide exactly where they'd meet. When she called he told her to meet him at the movies. 3 minutes away from his apartment. 35 minutes away from hers. Sigh.

When she got there he was not in sight. She called him. He was still home and said she was early and he would be there soon. While she waited she checked on the movie time. The next movie would not start for two more hours. When he arrived she told him. (She had passed five other movie theaters on her long trek to this one. This was not the only movie in town.) She had previously told him that she wanted to have an early night and inwardly wasn't pleased that the movie wouldn't start until 10:30 PM.

He asked her if she'd eaten. She said no, they were supposed to be going out to dinner. He'd already eaten. Pizza. He took her to a taco place 15 minutes away. She tried the chips and salsa and almost died. He said that she must not eat spicy food. He was wrong. She was insulted.

He then asked if she walked in the park. She said no. He wanted to know why and said that she should start. This despite the fact that she was in much better physical shape than he and she works out almost every day (except for the past few weeks, thank you very much).

He asked her why her Spanish was so bad. Then he became insulted when she asked him why his (almost nonexistent and impossible to understand) English was so bad.

While eating, he told her she was very pretty. She told him thank you. He told her she must have had a lot of boyfriends before. Puzzled, she told him she had had a few. Then he said she must have been prettier when she was young. Of course he must have said this because she was obviously an old hag now. Long scraggly gray hairs, sagging body parts, flesh hanging off her face, wrinkles galore. Was he trying to be insulting or was he just clueless?

After eating, she drove them back to the theater. He then proceed to tell her that she parked incorrectly. Too far out, judging by the vehicle to their right. Um, actually she parked perfectly. He then continued to compare her parking to that of the vehicle to the right. She insisted that he get out to check her parking, not the other vehicle's. Yes, she was parked fine. Sigh.

Inside, they proceed directly to the movie. She had been sick and would have appreciated something to drink during the 2 1/2 hour-long movie. Only after being seated for five minutes did he ask if she needed anything from the concession stand. No, thank you. She would rather hack out her throat and die.

After midnight, someone started blowing up his iPhone. The picture on the screen was his mother's face. Either it was his mother or it was someone else who he had put his mother's face on. Either way, it was bad news. She made no comment.

The movie finally finished. After one o'clock in the morning. So much for an early night. She still had to drive half an hour to get home. He moved in for the good night kiss. He got a firm handshake instead. (Atta girl!)

On the way home she got a text from him. The tow truck had picked up someone's vehicle at his apartment complex and he asked her to call for him. Unsure why she should call if he'd been taking English classes and was apparently proficient in English, she agreed. After arriving home at almost two in the morning she then proceeded to make several calls to the tow company. What a night.