June 30th, 2012
I don’t know whether or not we’ve ever written about the Shed in Edom. But being that I had lunch there today, and enjoyed it, I thought make certain we hadn’t missed the boat on this one. For those that don’t know, Edom is another town located between Tyler and Chandler. It’s long been a little arts and antiques community. In fact a visit to The Shed, or its cross the street rival the Edom Bakery and Grill, bears out the truth of that assertion. The town is a haven for old hippies, artists, cowboys, motorcyclists and even big city sophisticates, all of whom eat at the aforementioned establishments, which help make Edom worthy of its place on the map.
Legend has it, (or at least it’s been reported to me), that The Shed and The Edom bakery and Grill, are owned and operated by rival members of the same family and are in an only partially friendly competition. Each eatery has its devotees but The Shed has been in business for more than thirty five years, and seems to command greater reputation. I can’t really comment on the Bakery’s menu since I have yet to try it. Perhaps when I get around to visiting I’ll consider allowing for equal time. I have on the other hand, visited The Shed on a couple of occasions and feel comfortable offering a rudimentary report. It’s good.
Ok, so it’s better than good. It wouldn’t have lasted for more than a quarter century in Edom if it wasn’t. The menu consists largely of staple southern and “home –style” cooking. I especially recommend their breakfast menu, with particular attention to their biscuits and gravy. The ambiance, (which may itself be a bit too sophisticated a term), is authentic country and when coupled with the unique cross- section clientele, and the town setting, the décor is a perfect match. One caveat, The Shed is always busy. Visitors should allow themselves a bit of waiting time. But don’t worry; it will be well worth it. For more info on The Shed stop by their web page: http://www.theshedcafe.com/.
Tags: Ambiance, Assertion, Authentic Country, Bakery, Biscuits And Gravy, Breakfast Menu, Caveat, Clientele, Cross Section, Cross The Street, Devotees, Edom, Establishments, Home Style, Motorcyclists, Perfect Match, Quarter Century, Shed, Sophisticates, Tyler Texas, Waiting Time
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August 12th, 2010
Well I’m returning to school in little over a week, but I’ve already been preparing for it by doing work on campus the past few days. As school starts up again I’m finding the quality of food I’m consuming is already beginning to suffer. This past summer I’ve done a good job of eating a healthy diet. One of the bigger stumbling blocks in my road to better health is the presence of a Jack in the Box a mere quarter mile from my school. To barrow a line from Cosmo Kramer, “I’ve got a big problem Jerry!” Prior to my school moving to its current location, I was not an advocate for the fast food franchise. But since breaking the ice with my first visit little over a year ago, the chain has become one of my favorite establishments for “good food quickly,” second only to Whataburger at this point in my life!
Certainly I have other options, but as demands on my time are increasing exponentially, my desire to do any prep work on what I eat falls proportionately. So as I see it I have a couple of options. First I can give into my baser instincts and eat at Jack in the Box every other day or so, and in the process gain about fifty pounds. I can look around for healthier options but arrive late to my post lunch break class every day. Or I can fight my way through a crowd of students to get to the microwave, where after a not so short wait; I can prepare a daily feast of ramen noodles and popcorn the primary food source on which I subsist during the school year. Given these as my only options, I’ll probably take the third, but I do love Jack in the Box.
For more information on Jack in the Box or to find their Tyler TX locations go to their web page at http://www.jackinthebox.com/. To read about my original Jack in the box conversion look for the title Confession of a fast food hypocrite, located elsewhere on this site.
Tags: Barrow, Better Health, Breaking The Ice, Confession, Cosmo Kramer, Eating A Healthy Diet, Establishments, Fast Food, fast food in tyler texas, Food Franchise, Food Source, Good Food, Good Job, Hypocrite, Instincts, Jack in the Box, Jack in the box in tyler texas, jack in the box in tyler tx, Lunch Break, Quarter Mile, Ramen Noodles, Returning To School, School Year
Posted in Restaurants | No Comments »
January 8th, 2010
Mexican restaurants in Tyler are a lot like Churches in Tyler. Some prefer the mega churches, just like some choose the impersonal larger favs like Mercados or Jalapeño Tree. Well I no more prefer being one of a billion served than a billion saved. When it comes to Mexican or “Tex-Mex” food, why trust to a corporation what has been done better by grandmothers for centuries. Ok so that’s a bit nostalgic I admit, but Texas is blessed with some of the best cultural foods of any place in the world. This is why I visit restaurants like Don Juan’s. When I eat Mexican food in Tyler I want it taste like authentic Mexican / Texan food.
Don Juan’s is a local Tyler business with two locations; that serves the authentic food I expect to have in Texas. Their quesadillas and enchiladas are absolutely out of his world and their Chimichanga has to be the best in town. But everyone has their favorite menu item. And with an atmosphere as authentic as the food, it’s a great place to take out of town guests for a bit of local color.
Great cantaloupe juice!
So next time you’re tempted to follow the crowd to one of the mega Tex-Mex establishments, try something a bit more personal. Try Don Juan’s located at 1313 E. Erwin, or on the Square at 113 E Erwin, in Tyler.You’ll be glad you did.For a menu see their website at www.donjuantyler.com.
Tags: Atmosphere, Authentic Food, Cantaloupe, Centuries, Chimichanga, Churches, Crowd, Don Juan, don juan's, Don Juan's Mexican Food Tyler, Don Juan's Tyler Texas, Erwin, Establishments, Favs, Grandmothers, Local Color, Mexican Food, Mexican Restaurants, Personal, Quesadillas, Tex Mex Food, Town Guests, Tyler Texas Mexican Food, Tyler Texas Taquerias
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December 18th, 2009
When shopping for furniture in Tyler one of the biggest pet peeves me and my brother agree on is how annoying it is when the furniture sales person hovers over your shoulder while touring the store. It is that furniture establishments store and so they can have their sales people do whatever they want but it is a sales philosophy I really cannot stand. I won’t go into great detail which store I absolutely hate the most that does this but if you are reading this and would like to make a comment I would be glad to accept local Tyler peoples criticism.
Swann’s
I visited almost every furniture store in Tyler trying to find a good office desk. The best desks I found were at Swann’s but the desks were also astronomically priced. I could not justify spending $4,000 – $5,000 on an office desk when that would cover almost a year of mortgage payments. Who in their right mind would pay that much for an office desk? Why do I ask this question when there seem to be a million homes in Tyler worth over $300,000. Obviously there are plenty of doctors and lawyers in Tyler that can afford desks like this but I am not one of them.
Furniture Row
My next stop was Furniture Row. This furniture store had some good selections on couches and accessory tables and furniture at good prices but not a good selection of office desks that appealed to me. The office desks were okay and priced decent but nothing that I wanted to take home. Overall my impression with Furniture Row is that they are not overly aggressive in hovering over you while you look at furniture. I was not becoming increasingly stressed the longer I was in the store as I felt at a more higher priced establishment.
Lazy Boy
I went into Lazy Boy Furniture Studio and did not see a wide selection of office desks but they did have some well built recliner chairs and some nice looking couches. Lazy Boy has some good prices and some prices on certain things that are a bit out of my budget. I did pick up a nice trendy looking leather recliner chair while at Lazy Boy that I still enjoy to this day. Lazy Boy was not a great help for finding an office desk but their sales staff was not pushy and I got a great leather recliner.
Ivan Smith Furniture
Ivan Smith furniture has your typical selection of couches and recliners I saw at several other stores like when shopping at Lacks. Ivan Smith downtown had too many darker colored chairs and too many leather selections for my taste. When visiting Ivan Smith in South West Tyler I found a better selection of lighter colored furniture and a bigger overall selection of pretty much every type of furniture you might need for a house. I ended up buying a TV stand that was discounted by 75% which was an amazing deal. Ivan’s prices were good but I could not find a couch or chair that interested me there. I was impressed with the sales staff as I did not fill overly pressured when talking to the sales lady. Ivan’s selections are good I am just picky and they didn’t have exactly what I wanted.
Lacks Furniture
Lacks furniture had some very good recliner chairs over by their TV’s and some unique longer cloth fabric couches I had not seen at other furniture stores in Tyler TX. I decided to buy a light green couch from Lack’s and have been very pleased with it. The sales lady at Lack’s was very friendly and easy to work with. I did not feel pressured by her although we were followed around it was not overbearing. When we needed time to ourselves the Lack’s sales professional keyed in on this and backed away to give us time to look around and decide what we wanted to do. My overall experience at Lack’s was a good one and I appreciated the help from the sales lady. The prices at Lack’s are very good on some items although some of their nicer stuff could be out of some peoples price range.
Cheapest Furniture Store in Tyler
After comparing some of these popular furniture stores in Tyler it seemed to me that Furniture Row had some of the cheapest furniture prices. Every furniture store had good prices on certain items and I would encourage everyone to price shop and ask for cheaper prices than what you see on the sticker. If you have to I would leave the store and come back on a sales day if the sales person will not budge on the price.
Feel free to leave a customer review about furniture stores in Tyler that you like or don’t like to help shoppers find the best place to buy their furniture.
Tags: Couches, Doctors And Lawyers, Establishments, Furniture Find, Furniture Row, Furniture Sales, Furniture Shopping, furniture store, Furniture Stores, Lazy Boy Furniture, Mortgage Payments, Office Desk, Office Desks, Pet Peeves, Recliner Chairs, Sales Person, Sales Philosophy, Shopping For Furniture, Shopping Furniture, Tyler Texas Furniture, Tyler TX, Tyler TX Furniture Stores
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November 24th, 2009
Update: The shopping complex in Tyler TX that houses such places as Da Hippie and DragonBytes has gone through a massive renovation since this article. Bravo! (said in a snobby accent) The new commercial facility renovation looks great!
Over the past few years, I have been excited to watch the economic growth and expansion occurring in West Tyler. The west loop has seen numerous decayed and crime ridden businesses closed and the real estate sold to make room for legitimate, contributing entrepreneurs. We’ve seen the likes of Wingstop, Subway, Walgreens, Starbucks, Papa Murphy’s, and numerous others, set up shop along the west loop and sixty four. Even the west loop Wal-Mart, as messy and sometimes run-down as it is, has brought with it quite a bit of development since its arrival around five years ago. It all goes to validate the maxim that a rising tide lifts all boats, something most of our current political leaders have either forgotten, or chosen to ignore. The expansion also proves that a great way to foster healthy communities is to allow healthy individuals and businesses to succeed. Give people the opportunity to buy up infected areas and they will purge the corrupted property and bring in new dollars.
With this principle in mind, I must express a certain amount of disappointment that up until this point, the West Loop and thirty one has been largely left out of the recent renaissance. I’ve long been embarrassed by the look and content of thirty one west. It has been Tyler’s ugly back door for quite sometime. It has been, and remains my hope that the development of the Cascades and the new Airport will help buoy property values and bring improvements to this ugly highway.
When the developers do decide to take the plunge and move towards Chandler, I would like to suggest a few eyesores I eagerly await seeing bulldozed completely. I do not even care whether or not they are replaced with more reputable establishments… Well that’s not true, I do hope for improvements. However a pile of rubble is preferable to these businesses (and I use the term loosely). The originally named “Sports Club,”(once named the Unicorn Club), as well as close neighbors “Da Hippy” (I can barely contain my contempt as I type this), the “Dragon’s Byte,” (their spelling not mine) and the nondescript corner gas station, have long been a breeding ground for drug use, crime, third rate tattoo artists, and general filth. The real estate is located at the corner of thirty one and Greenbriar, where a healthier more upstanding business could potentially make a successful go of it. As developments like the Cascades expand toward highway thirty one, properties like the ones I mentioned could be a source of prosperity for some entrepreneurial risk taker. The day “Da Hippy” is bulldozed I’ll be there with popcorn to watch.
Tags: Back Door, Establishments, Eyesores, Facility Renovation, Healthy Communities, Hippie, Hippy, Massive Renovation, Maxim, Move Towards, Papa Murphy, Plunge, Political Leaders, Property Values, Rising Tide, Rubble, Shopping Complex, Sports Club, Starbucks, Tyler TX, Unicorn Club, wal-mart, Walgreens, West Loop, West Loop Development Tyler TX, West Tyler
Posted in Tyler Businesses | 9 Comments »
