October 15th, 2009
If you are a big eater and love pizza, why not eat as much pizza as you want at Double Dave’s pizza? It is a great place to hang out with your friends and watch the game on the giant screen television or one of the many smaller televisions. Have a party in the back room with it’s own private television. Check out the specials on certain days. Double Dave’s is a great place to drink a beer and eat some of the greatest pizza in Tyler. You could also get your favorite pizza brought to your table or you can call in and pick your pizza to go. If you are throwing a party Double Dave’s will deliver to your house. Enjoy a great salad bar with all the freshest toppings. Have a great time playing video games with your kids, watching the game and eating all the pizza and wings you can.
If you ask any little kids where the most fun place to go is. They would not hesitate to tell you Chuck E. Cheese. The pizza might be a 4th pizza and the rest grease, but you never cease to have a great time. Enjoy all different video games, shoot around on the small basketball games and play in the fun playground area. Watch your children’s faces light up as they see Chuck E. walk out to greet them. If their birthday is coming up let them have the party that they really want at Chuck E Cheese. Watch your kids get so excited to pick out the small 25 cents toys that they won from the games that they have been playing. If you are looking of a fun place to play and “be a child” and not care so much about the bad pizza then this is the place for you.
CiCi’s Pizza is a very popular pizza buffet. It has great prices and a lot of pizza. If they are out of your favorite at the bar then you can ask them to make it just for you to bring to your table or just to serve on the bar. They have a salad bar with all different toppings. I don’t really like CiCi’s though. I don’t like the feeling of the employees screaming “WELCOME TO CICI’S” as I walk in, and yelling “THANK YOU” as I leave and everyone looking at me. I don’t like the chewy crust and the greasy cheese. I might be different then most people, but I like my lettuce green with a crunch and not brown and slimy. But there must be something good about the restaurant since there is always business, I just never have seen what that is.
The best pizza in Tyler and maybe in the country is definitely Papa Murphy’s. Walk into one of the small stores and order your own personal favorites with any topping that you want. Everything is hand made and half cooked. Take your pizza home and keep it in your refrigerator for later or you can take it straight home and cook it in your oven. Try there stuffed pizza with layers of meat and cheese or the thin crust. You can even by a wheel of garlic cheese bread or a wonderful desert pizza. You can not go wrong with choosing Papa Murphy’s, unless you don’t have an oven.
There is a couple Mazzio’s pizza in Tyler. I don’t know how they get any business and how anyone could eat in there. The floor is always dirty and the pizza bad. I swear that they must reserve the same pizza all week because I don’t understand how in only a day a pizza could be so stale. The only thing keeping it warm is the red light attracting the flies. I always feel sick when I see the filthy kitchen. After a week of a sick stomach I would not eat there again.
Tyler has one Ken’s pizza. They have a fun game room with all different arcade video games. But I have very little to say about the food there. Most of the times that I have gone there the pizza tasted cold and old. But I have been there when I was surprised by the warm crust with the perfect amount of crunch. But I always seem to feel so sick every time I eat there. The grease seems to flood the taste of the cheese and the meat and the sauce. I am not a big fan of greasy old crust. The tables and chairs are always really greasy and I always feel like I need to run home as fast as I can and take a shower. Ken’s pizza is definitely a “pass” when it comes to eating pizza or eating out in general.
So if your are going to eat pizza here in Tyler hopefully this will show you where to have great pizza and where to have a great time. Hopefully I showed you which places to stay clear of.
Tags: Basketball Games, Cheese Pizza, Chuck E Cheese, Cici Pizza, Cici S Pizza, Fun Place, Giant Screen, Grease, Great Time, Greatest Pizza, Little Kids, Pizza Buffet, Playground Area, Playing Video Games, Private Television, Salad Bar, Screen Television, Televisions, Throwing A Party, Tyler Texas Pizza, tyler tx pizza, Watching The Game
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October 14th, 2009
If you are looking for some good Texan barbecue, or a great place to watch the game and drink a cold beer, come to Rudy’s. Kick back and relax in a great, fun atmosphere.
If you are in the mood for the best brisket around, and great turkey and ham. Walk into the great restaurant scented with the smoky smell roasted meat. Pick out your favorite meat and one of their great sides, potatoes, beans, coleslaw, the best sweet cream corn, and potato salad.
Watch them cut your meat just the way you want it, wrap it up for you. Sit and make yourself a sandwich with their white bread. Walk down the bar and pick out what you wanton your sandwiches, pickles and onions. Top your sandwich with the signature Rudy’s sauce, but if you are not daring try the sissy sauce. Both are available for sale by the bottle. You can buy a meal for just one, two, or a whole group.
Rudy’s also has a gas station and a quick stop. Stop in for a small snack, bag of chips, candy or a refreshingly cold Coca-Cola or Dr. Pepper. You can also get a Rudy’s T-shirt with fun sayings. Since the gas station isn’t used that often you will occasionally find visitors in Rudy’s in the gas station area yelling for someone to come help them check out for their gasoline fill up. If you walk too close to that area of the store you might even have a patron waiting to pay for their gas yell at you thinking your an employee. Don’t be upset this is all part of the beauty that makes Tyler Texas Rudy’s what it is, a gasoline station and barbecue restaurant in one.
If your low on gas stop on by and enjoy some great barbeque and a great environment to watch television and bring friends to hang out in a great southern atmosphere.
Tags: Barbecue Restaurant, Barbeque, Brisket, Cold Beer, Cream Corn, Dr Pepper, Gas Station, Gasoline Station, Onions, Pickles, Potato Salad, Rudy, Rudys Tyler TX, Sandwiches, Sayings, Smoky Smell, Southern Atmosphere, Sweet Cream, Tyler Texas, White Bread, Yell
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October 14th, 2009
As I get older, I find that I am becoming a traditionalist in nearly every way, and yes this also applies to food. I am a firm believer in patronizing local restaurants who cook foods native to this particular region. In Texas, one of our primary cultural foods is barbeque.
We have numerous barbeque restaurants in and around Tyler, some of which are quite good, but only two are locally owned, with local cooking methods and local pride. The Purple Pig is located on 155 between Tyler and Palestine. When you hear folks talk about out of the way establishments who serve out of this world food, they may well be discussing the Purple Pig. Here is the authentic Texas barbeque you’ve been hearing so much about. This local fav has become an East Texas tradition in and of itself. In fact it has expanded gradually over the last couple of years in order to accommodate more customers and a growing reputation. The atmosphere is rustic, but that is after all, what you want in a barbeque joint. The food takes priority over all other concerns. I have often taken out of town guests there in order to give them a genuine Tyler, Texas experience.
The Pig’s menu consists of all the barbeque favorites from ribs and brisket to sausage and pork wings, yes pork wings, and they cook them like no one else. All the meats they serve are smoky and tender, and (if applicable) fall off the bone. My personal favorite is the sliced brisket. They also serve the old standbys like baked beans and coleslaw.
The Pig also takes a monthly road trip to Canton Trade Days. Events like this no doubt help to spread the gospel of the Purple Pig! For more info on this particular gospel, see their website, located at www.purplepigcafe.com. Better yet, pay them a visit. They’re open seven day week. For more on great Tyler barbeque see the Tyler Blog section of this site, and look for the title “Texas cuisine at a Tyler landmark.”
Tags: Authentic Texas, Baked Beans, Barbeque Restaurants, Brisket, Cooking Methods, East Texas, Local Restaurants, No Doubt, purple pig, Ribs, Road Trip, Texas Barbeque, Texas Cuisine, Texas Experience, Texas Tradition, Town Guests, Traditionalist, Trip To Canton, Tyler Texas, Tyler Texas barbeque, Tyler TX Purple Pig, World Food
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October 10th, 2009
Chick-fil-A has become one of Tyler’s and indeed America’s favorite fast food restaurants. The first one opened in 1967 in Atlanta Georgia and there are now locations in nearly every state. As a company Chick-fil-A is involved with numerous charities and community outreach programs, including scholarship opportunities for employees, foster homes, and character building programs for area youth. The restaurants founder Truett Cathy is a profoundly religious man, who insisted that all his stores close on Sunday in order to allow his employees to attend church and spend time with their families, a policy that continues to this day.
The food concept is somewhat unique. The entire menu is centered around the store’s boneless chicken breasts, most often cooked with a slightly sweet batter. Every item they sell (except of course the delicious waffle fries), contains this essential ingredient, whether it be sandwiches, or salads. Obviously there is no beef or pork to be found on this menu. I can personally attest to the quality of their breakfast menu. The chicken biscuits are exquisite!
The food at Chick-fil-A is fresh, hot and generally much healthier than most of their competitors. The store prides itself on its customer service, and its neat clean appearance. There are numerous locations around Tyler Texas, and if you’re a devotee of CFA it’s a good idea to know where they are all located, because odds are good that if you use the drive through you’ll end up sitting in line for a while. Not because the service is bad, the store is just that popular in Tyler. Everything on the menu is worth waiting for however. Overall I’d give Chick-fil-A a four out of five stars, not because of any real criticism, I just like to leave room for growth.
So the next time you have to grab a quick, healthy and inexpensive lunch on the go, swing into one of Tyler’s numerous Chick-fil-As. For their locations, or for nutritional or company information, see their website at www.chick-fil-a.com.
Tags: Atlanta Georgia, Boneless Chicken Breasts, Breakfast Menu, Cfa, Character Building, Chick Fil, Chick Fila Tyler Texas, Chicken Biscuits, Community Outreach Programs, Devotee, Essential Ingredient, Fast Food Restaurants, Five Stars, Food Concept, Foster Homes, Religious Man, Scholarship Opportunities, Staple, Truett Cathy, Tyler Texas, Waffle Fries
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October 10th, 2009
It’s been said that if you want to start new business, or expand to a new town, find what’s already working there and do the same thing, only better. One of Tylerite’s favorite comfort foods (myself included), is fried chicken. There is definitely a crowded market for this southern favorite in Tyler Texas. In fact if you include Brookshire’s grocery, there are just about as many chicken joints as there are churches in this town. And like our churches, we all have our favorites. Of late I have become a devotee of one or Tyler’s newest chicken establishments.
Chicken Express was founded as late as 1988 in Benbrook Texas, and now operates more than a hundred franchises in four states. Each Tyler restaurant is independently owned and operated, thus insuring the local owners a greater stake in their own success. While the restaurant is technically considered fast food, the quality and taste far exceeds its competitors.
When comparing the food to places like KFC, the prices are slightly higher, but the chicken is juicier and more flavorful. The batter is lighter and crispier. When compared to Church’s Chicken, (who’s food I really like), C.E. is every bit as good but the stores are larger and cleaner, with more places to sit and relax.
My only criticism of Chicken Express is that the menu is relatively small. Don’t misunderstand, they do a few things and do them very well, but as someone who often finds it necessary to eat in my car or otherwise on the go, some kind of sandwich would be much more conducive to a busy on the go lifestyle. Fried chicken is not an easy meal to grab and go. But maybe that’s the point.
In spite of the small menu, I love this restaurant. Who needs national chains when you have a good Texas, company, local Tyler ownership, and classic southern fare? Next time you stop off for fried chicken, say, on your way home from church, give this new local business a try. I think you’ll find you have a new favorite chicken place. For the location nearest you, go to www.chickenexpress.com.
Tags: Benbrook Texas, Chicken Express Tyler Texas, Church S Chicken, Churches, Devotee, Establishments, Fast Food, Four States, Franchises, Fried Chicken, Joints, Lifestyle, National Chains, New Business, Sandwich, Spite, Stake, Success, Tyler Texas
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