I have gone to Houston quite a few times over the last couple years. Every time we have gone to Houston we eat at the BJ’s restaurant. I am excited to see that BJ’s is being built in Tyler. Tyler really does not need another restaurant, since there are basically only restaurants in Tyler, but I am very excited about BJ’s being built. The BJ’s restaurants in Houston are both restaurant and a brewery. Because of the fact that Tyler is a “dry county” this restaurant will not have a brewery and will just is a restaurant. I guess this fact will be a let down for some people, but the great variety and quality of food more than makes up for that fact. As you browse the large menu your mouth can not help but water from the great selection of food. The restaurant serves some of the best foods made with the perfect twist, no matter what your favorite food is (pasta, salad, sandwiches, steak, pizza, burgers, or giant stuffed potatoes) you will most likely find a dish at BJ’s restaurant that you will love. Just because they will not have the brewery does not mean that the restaurant will not be serving any alcohol. BJ’s restaurant will have their full wine, beer, cocktail, and specialty drinks.
The BJ’s restaurants also have ordering online! If you are like me, the only reason you really do not like to order take out, is because you have to sit in the restaurant for so long waiting for your food to be ready. By the time you food is done, you may as well ordered and ate at the restaurant; you would of got home around the same time. With the ordering online, you just go to the website and click on a location, browse the whole menu and put in your order. By the time you leave your home and get to the restaurant your food will be ready to take home. This is such a great and easy idea.
I can not wait for this restaurant to open. The construction is going up fast. I know that it will be a huge hit in Tyler, but even Tyler crowds will not keep from enjoying the great food at BJ’s.
BJ’s restaurant coming soon!
January 31st, 2011Chuck E Cheese Birthday
January 31st, 2011
A room of a dozen three year old children is stressful in the first place but when you put a dozen three year old children in an extremely loud and crowded restaurant and throw a giant mouse, bad pizza, and a few video games in the middle of the chaos, you get a Chuck E. Cheese birthday. I do not know what I was thinking when I had my little girl’s birthday there. I was not sure where I was going to do the party until due to Tyler unreliable January weather. When we decided to have the party indoors we called the restaurant and tried to get the package deal and reserve a table for the party. They said that they can not allow us to reserve a table so close to the party time, but they said to just come in and try to find an open table. We tried to come into the restaurant after the lunch rush but it was still really crowded. I wanted Chuck E. Cheese to come out and sing to my little girl for her birthday but they said that he will not come out and sing happy birthday unless we bought a cake. I did not want to pay a lot of money for a cake with bad icing piled on top of the cake. I thought it was pretty ridiculous that they would not go sing to a toddler.
I really recommend not having a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese if you can not reserve the package deals. If you do reserve the package deals, be prepared to have an extremely loud party that you can not hear yourself think no less have any conversation with any of your guests. The waiter and waitresses come out and sing to about six or seven kids at the same time. You might end up sharing a table with another kid’s birthday party. The chaos is too much to handle. After your kids have danced with Chuck E. Cheese and ran around the table a few times, you can let them loose through the restaurant and allow them play video games to their heart content. The video game area can be so crowded, when I bring my children there I feel like I am watching them like a hawk. The rule of Chuck E. Cheese is that you are suppose to get your hand stamped when you walk through the door, the stamp on your hand is suppose to match the stamp on the hand of all the children that came with you. Last time I went there I walked in and they did not stamp my hand and my daughter did. When I walked out they asked to see my hand and I just said that I did not get my hand stamped and he just let us out. I was glad that I was able to leave with my child but I was thinking in the bad of my mind if they would of checked stamps if my kids were walking out with someone else.
It is true that children love this restaurant. It is like a gambling hall for kids. They spend the twenty five cent token to win three tickets that are worth a penny each. At the end of the day parents spend fifty dollars on tokens so that their kids can bring home a two dollar toy. Kids do not see the fact that they are getting ripped off. They have fun playing the games and running away from their overwhelmed parents. I really do not like Chuck E. Cheese and will never again throw a birthday party there. It was days before I got rid of the pounding headache. It s fine to eat there during the week and allow your children to get their energy out, and have a fun day; but going during the busy weekends it is not really worth it.
The Epiphany Envisioning Service at Christ Episcopal Church in Tyler
January 30th, 2011
The thirtieth of January, Sunday morning, Christ Episcopal Church officially launched its Epiphany Envisioning Service (EES). A couple of weeks back I wrote an article looking forward to the new service but having attended, I thought I’d offer a hindsight view of the event.
Envisioning is a contemporary service that features modern Christian worship music, (lead by musicians playing guitar, violin and bongo drums), a shorter somewhat simpler liturgy, (currently one borrowed from the Anglican Church of Kenya), and a greater focus on the homily or the teaching.
The first service was well attended by adults and youth alike, from within and without the church. I didn’t get any kind of head count, and I’m generally not very good at judging crowds but I’d guess that there was at least a hundred twenty people or so presented.
Personally, I’ve been a practicing Episcopalian for around ten years now. Prior to that, I grew up around a variety of evangelical and non-denominational churches.
I searched around for some years before deciding on a church to serve as my home for the remainder of my adult life. I chose the Episcopal Church for a lot of reasons, but a central one was the belief in the importance of taking the Eucharist (or communion), on a regular basis.
Over the past few years I have become used to our traditions, liturgies and order of service. But this morning I saw two familiar modes of worship combined in a way I had never seen before.
It was a blending of my past and present. In terms of the music and general flavor, I felt almost like I was witnessing a slightly more conservative Vineyard service, (at least a Tyler Vineyard service, which I’m told is less charismatic when compared to other Vineyard Congregations).
Also present however were the Anglo- Catholic traditions that are so important and meaningful to those who’ve grown up in more orthodox churches. For me, it was almost like I’d come full circle, only infinitely richer for having found a church where I can connect with Christ through the Eucharist. And this is really the strength of the Envisioning service. Its purpose is not to dispose of the ancient and familiar modes of worship, but to make them approachable to those who’ve never really experienced them; or for those who have, to let them re-connect in a new way. I look forward to seeing this ministry grow. I believe the EES will be a genuine blessing to our community. For more information on the Epiphany service or on Christ Church, visit their webpage at http://www.christchurchtyler.org/welcome.htm or call the church office at (903) 597-9854.
Smashburger in Tyler TX
January 30th, 2011
When in Tyler you now have a couple more burger places to try out. Jucy’s opened a new more modern looking facility and sells the same good burgers but frozen chicken fingers and milk shakes made from soft serve icecream. Now Smashburger on the other hand has even better hamburgers, really good fries, and their shakes are made with Hagen Daaz icecream.
If I could pick each time for lunch when I am in a hamburger mood where I should go it would be Smashburger everytime.
Why do more local chains like Jucy’s have to resort to buying cheap Sysco foods tasting frozen chicken strips and making shakes out of stuff they give you for free at chinese buffets?
Smashburger offers the quality, consistency, and food choices I demand in a good hamburger place in Tyler TX. It is going to be very hard to out do them.
iRenew Continues to Push It’s Product Despite Legal Challenges to Power Balance
January 29th, 2011Well, in the wake of numerous legal challenges and reprimands to similar companies’ one energy jeweler… oops sorry nano, biofield, therapeutic bracelet thingy, company seems to be increasing its advertising. Of course I’m referring to the iRenew products. (And yes their lack of creativity has lead them to copy the Macintosh marketing device of using the small “I” in the naming of their product).
My initial response to these companies was to ridicule them and their believers. But even that’s becoming difficult, in light of the legal hits taken by companies like “Power Balance,” who sells virtually identical products. Unfortunately iRenew continues to push its product undaunted by the negative reflection on itself. If the rest of the American public is anything like me they are more than a little tired of seeing pitchman Art Edmonds showing video of his goons setting up camp in shopping malls and performing the same old stupid balance tests on passersby. The kids performing the tests also deserve comment. They’re always twenty- somethings who look like they just finished working a double tending bar at Appleby’s and thought they’d drop by the mall for a bit, to see if they could make up a few extra dollars to afford that flat screen TV for their otherwise sparse apartments. And the only way the ads could get any more annoying is if instead of Art, they featured Vince Offer, of Sham- Wow fame.
One interesting point to note is the presence of a gorilla by the name of “Scott Becker MD.” The man of letters makes the innocuous claim that “Once you balance your body’s energy with iRenew, you balance your overall health.” The iRenew company evidently thought so much of this tag line they put it on the screen in quotes, and cited Scott Becker MD, Becker Hilton Medical Institute. This led me to wonder whether or not the Becker Hilton Medical Institute (BHMI) was a real medical facility or just a medical “think tank” dedicated to endorsing iRenew. I can’t be sure, but at best, BHMI seems like it’s devoted to finding homeopathic and alternative remedies to hormone problems like menopause and andropause or male menopause (something I’m uncomfortable mentioning and I’d rather know nothing about). Reviews of the company were nearly all negative and focused on Dr. Becker’s endorsement of the iRenew bracelet. This whole racket is so oily and disreputable it makes what to throw something at the television every time I see the commercial. To see more on the balance tests check out Tyler Tx Directory’s YouTube account where you’ll find further explanation.