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I have slipped back into my dark trench coat, mysterious hat and dark shades for a one time guest appearance. Money is tight and the Incognito just cannot afford to keep reviewing these mediocre businesses anymore. What is it with businesses anyway?! You would think (especially in times like these) that they would go above and beyond to please their customer. They are not. They are trudging on like business is normal, all the while wondering how they are going to pay their electric bill for the month, not to mention their rent… Where is the creativity? Where is the service? Where is that special “oomph” that will make us, as consumers, want to go back to their establishments?
This goes out to all business owners – wine and dine us. Make us feel like you actually want us in your store. Treat us with common decency and we will in all probability respond as return customers. After all, that IS what you want, right? Sales, good word of mouth, income…? Step it up! Make us feel special.
Okay. I am off my Incognito Soap Box.
Terry’s Supermarket
5101 Gus Thomasson Rd.
Mesquite, TX 75150
972-682-9804
You would think with a name like “Terry’s”, you would find a fairly vanilla supermarket. However, the outside sign soon confuses you with words like, “Mexican Imports, Luggage, and Western Union”. What?! Well, it is what it is and my kids and I went in for further investigation.
As we were walking in, my kids got scared. They didn’t want to enter. I realized that it was not the people, smell, or overall feel they were concerned about. It was the location warp we were entering. Allow me to explain. Not to brag, but I have been several places out of the country. When you go into an authentic, foreign store you can “feel” the difference. You can absorb the culture of the other country through your senses. Well, amazingly, on American soil, Terry’s Supermarket was able to take you to a market in Mexico. I don’t think this is something they were trying to do. It just happened.
You walk into Terry’s and are greeted with old time Tejano music, the smell of Pine Sol mixed with south of the border spices, and side stores. Yes, side stores. There is a small room (about 6 x 20 ft) that carries clothing, boots, wallets, belt buckles, and music CD’s on the left. Just past that, there is a booth that displays Quiencinera dresses. Then, butting up against that is a booth that has brand name TV’s and electronics. You can’t forget to stop by and get your washer and dryer as well. Now, normally, you would think this is like a discount store with groceries. It is not. It is a grocery store with other stuff thrown in to make more money. Not in a bad way, just a really weird, out of place way.
As you begin to actually take in the rest of the store, you will find ceramic Rottweilers, ceramic boots, and other ceramic “necessities” for $10.99. The paint seems to be flaking off on all of them though, so you might want to pass and buy these items at the local dollar store. Below the ceramics are some “Dickie” work shorts for $16.99. In the same isle, you can also pick up your wooden tortilla press. There was no price though, so I guess it was free.
You can also get a 12 pack of Crush soda for $2.99, five packs of Kool-Aid for $1.00, and a large tropical plant (about 3 feet tall) for $9.99. Overall, the grocery prices are comparable to other grocery stores in the area. However…
The front third of the store was filled with items imported from Mexico. (Just like the outside sign promised.) My kids and I decided to get a few things that we have never tried before. First, we picked up a candy called “Skwinkles Rellenos”. Think of a moister gummy worm, covered in “pika pepino con limon”. It is a spicy lime sprinkling that coats the candy part. We were all scared to taste this “treat”. We opened the package (after purchase), smelled it, and reluctantly bit. To all of our surprise, it was actually good! A word of caution though – take small bites! Otherwise, it does not taste that great! We also purchased “Fresas con Crema”. You guessed it – strawberries with cream. It sounded great, but we did not know just how we were supposed to eat it. It came in a small milk like container and was completely frozen. Were we supposed to eat it frozen? Let it thaw and drink it? We had no idea. We ended up bringing it home and eating it through the different thawing stages. It is best when you can let it thaw just enough to stir it up into a softer than ice cream consistency. It was very good! For $1.29 though you could get much more ice cream and put strawberries on top. (The pint sized milk like container wasn’t even half full.)
I would like to comment on the employees, but there is really nothing to say. They were quietly stocking shelves and avoiding eye contact with us. I think they might have been a little uncomfortable with our presence because they did not know English. That is okay though – it adds to the ambiance!
We meandered around and found many Hispanic items mixed in with the American selections. We even found the fruit sprinkle that was on our gummy treat! It was time for us to go though, so we headed up to the cashier. Everybody in there was speaking Spanish, so I was pleasantly surprised when the cashier spoke to me in my native language. We wanted to buy a bag of cotton candy that was strung up above the registers, with the piñatas, but was still in the location warp confusion. It was quite a bit to take in being there.
It was a fun trip! I felt like a welcomed outsider. Will we go back? If we need some authentic Mexican items – yes, we will for sure go back to Terry’s Supermarket. I won’t make it my weekly shopping stop though.
I give Terry’s Supermarket 7 interesting stars out of 10. It is a hidden “stay-cation” attraction. Just pretend you are in Mexico.
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1151 E. Davis
Mesquite 75149
Rapid Dose:
Short and quick: if you are looking for some good, tasty BBQ… go somewhere else.
Review:
I was really looking forward to doing this review; after all, I always smell the wonderful smoky aroma coming from the Wood Pit Bar-B-Que. I was so excited; I was even to prepared to dote on this restaurant because they have two parking spots designated especially for motorcycles. (I have not even ever been on a motorcycle before, and I was fired up to tell you of these parking spots!) Even walking into the establishment, I was ready to tell you how clean and well presented this walk up and order restaurant was. In fact, I was so worked up… I almost missed just how poor Wood Pit Bar-B-Que really is.
Let me take a step back… it is not horrible. The food was fairly average. The service was VERY slow. We were the only people waiting inside, yet we had to wait a good seven minutes to pay for our food after we ordered. Then, after we paid, we finally got our food and the order was not even completely correct. I had ordered a turkey sandwich – I got brisket. (At this point, I was still in the honeymoon stage. I did not want to upset the mother type figure who was serving us so I stuck with the brisket.)
My daughter got a sausage sandwich (which she liked), macaroni and cheese (which she did not like) and potato salad (which she loved). My son got a rib sandwich. Please allow me to explain what this rib sandwich consisted of… two thick pieces of toast with ribs thrown in the middle. Bones and all. His favorite part of his meal was the toast. And as for my brisket sandwich? I ended up taking off all the meat, cutting off the fat and cutting out the blood vessels. I also got scalloped potatoes, which were greasy, and the bacon in the scalloped potatoes consisted of they chewy, fatty pieces. Yuck!
We all left with a good portion of food on our plates; and that just does not happen with us – we normally are pretty good about finishing the food that we buy. Not at this place though! In fact, if we did not care about our health, after we left the Wood Pit Bar-B-Que, we would have gone to McDonald’s to get something to fill us up and satisfy our appetite.
I give Wood Pit Bar-B-Que 4 out of 10 points. Don’t bother going. Stick to something you know.
451 W. I-30
Garland 75043
This Habitat for Humanity Outlet Store is a mish-mash of many different items that you could need around your home for either everyday life or home improvement. While not all their items are the most current, it is worth a trip here before you venture off to your local Home Depot so you can see if you can save some money.
When you walk into the Habitat for Humanity Outlet Store, you might be a bit confused on which way to go – only because there seems to be SO MUCH to look at. My advice is to just jump in, and plan on spending at least a good 30 minutes browsing the isles. You will find a bit of this, and a bit of that on your trip through the store. For example:
Bulldog Shovel: $9.00
Grandfather Clocks: $160.00 - $280.00
45 sq ft. stick & peel tile: $17.00
Bedroom furniture set: $1131.00
Suction Cups: $0.25
Cabinet Knobs: $0.25
Elognated Toilets: $70.00
Large Rugs: $30.00 - $55.00
Kitchen Dining Set: $250.00 - $400.00
And the above is just a short list!
Habitat for Humanity is a wonderful business to support because of all the good it does for our neighborhoods, and the people lucky enough to move into the homes that are built by volunteers. The next time my husband and I do any type of home improvement (and there WILL be a next time!), we will definitely go to this outlet store before we make our purchases anywhere else. Not only are the prices good, it will make us feel good to know that we have in some small part helped support the organization.
103 Broad St.
Dos Panchas has the potential to be a great evening full of south of the border fun… if they would only try. While the décor is exceptional, the food is lackluster and the initial service is slower than a turtles pace. Cross your fingers that this Mexican restaurant will soon step out the mediocrity and take us on a fun trip to Mexico.
Walking into Dos Panchas, you will think you are in for a real treat! The walls are orange and yellow, the floor a burnt brown ceramic tile, and there are fun pictures that you must take a good long look at so you can see what they are really made of. The air is filled with Mexican music coming from the overhead speakers that will whisk you away. As you look to either side of the restaurant, you will see awnings with seating underneath them. It really lends the feel of an outside eatery – with little stringed puppets hanging down from the awning. There are rope lights on the ceiling, as well as around the awnings. All of this décor lends to a very festive feel. They did that part right.
Now we sit down at our table (unfortunately not under the fun awning). We get our menus and realize that we are about to settle down to read the novel that has been laid before us. There was WAY too much selection. (Remember Jadyn’s Deli? This place had more selection that that… MUCH more!) If you watch “Hell’s Kitchen” you are well aware of who Chef Ramsey is. Well, he would have a fit over the amount of choices Dos Panchas has on their menu. I honestly can’t remember the last time it took us that long to look over a menu and decide what we wanted to shove in our mouths.
Oddly enough – the kids menu did not have much of a selection at all. Our kids actually ordered off the adults menu. It was rather kooky that they did not have that much to choose from; after all, it did seem like the author of the menu really enjoyed putting different dishes together, then got bored when it came time to do the kids menu.
Some other oddities about the menu… drinks are $1.50 and you only get one free refill. One of the drinks was “rice and cinnamon water” for $1.75. I was going to try it so I could explain it to all of you, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Sorry, everybody! Also, there are daily specials Monday through Thursday. I think the most special day is Tuesdays when they offer a whopping .60 cents off the cost of fajitas. Come on, now. Sixty cents off?! Insane.
The food… it had an authentic Mexican taste. That ‘taste’ also includes the smell of the grease, and the pools of fat that my taco left on my plate. The food was unexceptional. Blah. Nothing really to write about except that my husband said that if he had 5 places that he could go and get fajitas, Don Panchas would be #5 on his list. Yikes.
If you do venture in to experience the décor… you have to make a trip to the bathrooms. It is fun to walk allllll the way back and you get to see inside the kitchen, the storage room, and a couple of other “peeks” that you normally don’t have the opportunity to see at a restaurant. Plus the walk back there can feel like a maze. There are several turns that you make, and I have never seen as many restroom signs with arrows in my life.
If I could offer up just a little of advice for the owners, it would be this…
· Give your employees a reason to enjoy their jobs.
· Invite a mariachi band to come and serenade your patrons – at least on the weekends! (Let them keep all tip money so you don’t have to pay them out of your pocket. There are plenty of bands out there just looking for this type of opportunity.)
· Clean up your back hallway on the way to the restrooms. If we, as customers, must see inside all of those rooms – we would like to know that they are clean and maintained.
I give Dos Panchas 5.5 out of 10 stars. Nothing special in the food – although that could be looked over if the environment was better.
For Your (enlightened) Information...
I figured since my blog has made it as the "Featured Blog", I might as well take advantage of it!
I wanted to let it be known to the world that my goal with the Incognito Critic is to get paid for my reviews.
Ultimately, I want to be a renowned critic with my reviews in "USA Today" for readers to flock to like free money. (But let's take it one step at a time, right?!)
For now, I will accept whatever I can get to start walking my path.
If anybody out there can guide me, encourage me, or dare I say...PAY me... I am waiting with bated breath!
Bring it on, world! And let me know what I can do to make your job easier or to soup up your publication.
Respectively Yours,
Towne Crossing Center
3600 Gus Thomasson, #180
Mesquite 75150
The Candle Hut is a nice, quaint gift shop that will fill your needs from soy candles, to high school spirit items, to gift baskets with crafted chocolates. You will pay a little more than going to a large chain, but the items at the Candle Hut are clearly made with love and respect to the craft. This is a wonderful place to stop when you need that “something special” whether it is for Mother’s Day, Homecoming, or a special present for numero uno: YOU!
I walked into the Candle Hut to be greeted by the owner, Pauletta, and her dog, Oreo. (Oreo is a yelper, but apparently, it is only because she just had her second surgery for breast cancer. Other than that – she won’t bother you!) Pauletta is a wonderful woman who left her life in the corporate world to do something she has always enjoyed – candles and chocolates!
The aroma in the Candle Hut is amazing… it smells so fresh and relaxing. And why shouldn’t it smell so wonderful with tons of candles?! Pauletta has many sizes of candles ranging from about $20 down to $2.49. She offers candles, chocolate CD’s, chocolate roses, “spirit” items (for local schools), mylar balloons, aromatic oils, car fresheners, some religious items… and many other treats too! Pauletta will also fill your favorite containers with her gloriously scented candles for only .75 cents per ounce.
This is a place you really have to visit to appreciate. You really have to take in the ambiance of the Candle Hut, and browse around to see what tickles your fancy.
Most of my time in the Candle Hut was spent talking with Pauletta. She is a wonderful woman just trying to live the American dream – and isn’t that what we all really want? Wouldn’t you love to be the one getting out of bed in the morning to do something that you love to do? It is for that reason I encourage you to support the Candle Hut. Aside from the nice items that are sold there, we need to step up as proud American’s and back those who are fighting the large chains and trying to live the life of their soul’s desires.
By the way, as I write this I am pleasantly pre-occupied by the scent of the candle I got – “Floral Garden”. It was only $2.49 and worth every penny. In today’s world, we have to take our pleasures where we can find them – and this is truly a pleasure!
You can see pictures of what is offered at the Candle Hut by visiting: www.candlehutonline.com.
I give the Candle Hut 8 out of 10 points.
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