If you drive through the Lochwood mall parking lot, you can’t miss this place. It’s bright and gaudy with the specials — “$4.95 Tuesday dinner specials” and “$3.95 breakfast”, yes breakfast — painted on the darkened windows. (Not Lake Highlands, I know, but don’t many of us LHers shop at that Lochwood Marshall’s? I do. More than I care to admit.)
It looks small from the outside, but inside it’s spacious with a nice bar area, two televisions, and a little waiting area for those grabbing something to go, which is what I did. While I was waiting, the gumball machine robbed me of my quarter and I thought, “Oh no. Bad omen. This is going to be bad.”
I’d already had a disappointing dining experience earlier in the week at Offshore Nextdoor in Lake Highlands. Forty minutes for a pitiful-looking $11 shrimp cocktail. But that’s another story for another time. I was gun shy now and started thinking that I should have headed to the reliable Tony’s or Tukta Thai for dinner …
But, whew, I had nothing to worry about. The food turned out to be plentiful and flavorful. The chicken fajitas (about $11) were enough to feed two growing children, though a few more flour tortillas would have been nice. It came with four, but they were tiny. The meat was thick, smoky and peppery; the peppers and onions shined with oil, but not too much. The shrimp Diablo (about $12) — six jumbo shrimp soaked in a deep dark punch-packing red sauce — was so spicy that the kiddos couldn’t take it, which meant I got to eat it all and I did. It came with rice, bread and a side salad.
The accoutrements — lettuce, tomato, avocado slices and cilantro — were impressively fresh. The hot sauce was spot on. I am anxious to go back for the giant bowl of tortilla soup that I watched a woman eat as I waited for my food, and the menu was full of items I’d be interested in sampling. The place seems very kid friendly, or like a great place to watch football, and by football I mean soccer. Bathrooms are clean too. I called this morning to double check on the breakfast thing. Sure enough, they open at 8 a.m.
11255 Garland Road
214.321.2278
