Krystal — Midway at Trinity Mills

SE corner in Carrollton; just north of Addison Airport.



Some people are such fans of this slider-style burger that when this location opened (the first in this area) off duty police had to be hired to direct the traffic. Things have settled down. The company HQ is in Chattanooga, TN and all outlets are in the South. The next closest Krystal is in Fort Worth which warrants it being listed here. It's a unique enough place to take out-of-town visitors but certainly not suitable to take a sumo wrestler.

The basic burger is a White Castle wannbe with mustard and a pickle. Currently the price is 73¢ and 22¢ more for cheese. One alone won't fill. A popular selection is the "sack attack" which consists of 12 burgers plus 2 orders of fries and 2 drinks for $12.99. The menu has variety but it's fast food. There are often "for a limited times."

For some reason the napkin holder is attached to the wall near the drink machine. The plasticware is ketchup-red and there are no sporks. Music coming out of the speakers prevents this place from becoming a teen hangout.

Menu and other trivia can be found here.

Dining room hours:
6:00 am - 11:00 pm Sun-Thur
24 hours Fri-Sat
Does this mean they close at 11:00 pm Thursday and reopen one hour later? I have no idea.

The drive thru never closes. Usually.

Google map is here.

BlackFinn - 4440 Belt Line

Wednesday is the only day I go here for lunch. 6.99 for a half rack of ribs with fries and slaw. They are some of the best ribs I've had, which is surprising because this isn't a BBQ place. They fall right off of the bone and you get messy. Don't bother going here for dinner. They're too busy with the bar crowd to give you service at a table. Lunch Menu

Atmosphere (**) - Decent, modern set up.

Entertainment (***) - Lot's of TVs.

Financial (**) - Good value on Wednesdays, bad any other time.

Nutritional (**) - On par with any other chain, but you don't go here to eat healthy.

J's Breakfast & Burgers — 14925 Midway

One traffic light south of Belt Line on the sunset side.


Retro baby! This place is analog in a digital world but the staff still have most of their teeth. J's is now in its 29th year and its 2nd coat of paint. The front door is unlocked 24/7/364. If the key can be found they're closed on Christmas. Being in Addison, the Marlboro Man is a regular. Seating for 42 in the front smoking section, 36 at the back of the bus and 6 at the counter should total 84. Husky-voiced night shift manager/waitress Dorothy has been there the last 15 of her 64 birthdays. Her cook has been there 24. This is where the bar habitués go after last call on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Breakfast and lunch are busy. At supper¹ feel free to cut the cheese because no other diners are there. J's has no web site and they think wi-fi is some type of knock-knock joke. The last cigarette machine in Dallas County is behind booth #1. There's an 8-liner (it pays off in WalMart gift cards), juke box (the volume is turned down at 5:00 am) and (take a camera) an honest-to-goodness working pay phone complete with an honest-to-goodness working telephone book. Don't ask them to change the channel on the lone TV set because someone walked off with the remote years ago. Before the question arises, it's a color TV.

COFFEE: Community brand served in a ceramic mug with 3-4 warm ups for a buck thirty-five. I take mine black. No cream, no sugar. Ask for a latte. Go ahead, I dare you.

BREAKFAST: Try the 1x4 which is one each pancake, egg, bacon strip and sausage link. Or try the 2x4 which is pretty much what you think it is. I like the two egg omelet. A popular choice is breakfast tacos (2) which costs $5.00 but come with free hashbrowns. Everything is available à la carte. Add a pork chop if you wish. Salsa for the scrambled comes in Pace and homemade. Served 24 hours.

LUNCH: Burgers baby. $5.50 and up. Make it yellow-topped for 40¢ more. There's also chicken fried steak, T-bone steak, rib eye steak and hamburger steak plus old school sandwiches and salads. Served 24 hours.

DESSERT: Home baked chocolate pie is $2.40 per slice.

TUESDAY SPECIAL: Any burger plus Idahos and a drink is just $5.95.

TIP: $1.00 per person.

J's accepts Visa, MasterCard and, for the 3 people who still have them, Discover Card. If you try to use Amex or Diners Club cards, well, that's too retro even for this place.

At J's it's hard to find any bells and whistles but if you can find a dial tone you can call 972-239-7619 and your order will be ready to go when you get there. In styrofoam, baby.

¹It's supper, not dinner.

Google map here is wrong. J's is across Midway to the west.

Spring Creek Barbecue — 14941 Midway

This place is an embarrassment to the state.
I've had better Texas cuisine in New York City.
Police won't 10-7 here.
Feeding your kid at Spring Creek is child abuse.
Traditional BBQ restaurants are closed Sundays. This one should be closed period.
If I never go back again it will be too soon.

Want more information? Visit their web site by clicking on the sentence below.
Barf bag to go dot com.

If you have visitors from out of state wanting to eat some good BBQ just apologize for the drive and take them to any Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse or Mike Anderson's BBQ near Parkland Hospital. They'll thank you for doing so.

But they do have pretty good peach cobbler.
Open daily unfortunately.

Snuffer's — 14910 Midway

South of Belt Line, under the red roof and behind the green awnings.



bacon cheeseburger cheddar fries bacon cheeseburger cheddar fries bacon cheeseburger cheddar fries bacon cheeseburger cheddar fries bacon cheeseburger cheddar fries bacon cheeseburger cheddar fries bacon cheeseburger cheddar fries bacon cheeseburger cheddar fries bacon cheeseburger cheddar fries bacon cheeseburger cheddar fries bacon cheeseburger cheddar fries bacon cheeseburger cheddar fries

Unless you have a beef about burgers you'll either love this place or you're a Communist. Warning: they tend to undercook so if you're finicky about your e coli order your patty medium well. These burgers have a strong peppery taste. The bacon is chopped, as are the red onions and lettuce. I always 86 the pickles. If you want the Hellmann's Real you'll need to ask for it because the default is set at French's.

When the girly-girls want some comfort food they break out the cookie dough but when the Frigidaire is bare they head to Snuffer's for cheddar fries. These things are famous. They're reputed to be the perfect cure for a bad hair day.



Here's the web site:
http://www.snuffers.com/ or just click on the yellow sentence above, then hit the Back button when finished.

This place has more plants than my Aunt Doris. I counted 9 TV screens and the music, if you can hear it, is Chubby Checker to Jackson Browne. Smoking is allowed only in the bar, which boasts 21 brands of bottled beer plus 8 on tap, and a wall decorated with 1.75 liter glass.

This is also a good place to take your sweetie on a Sunday afternoon for a couple of frozen ritas. Then grab something to take home. Snuffer's does a brisk to-go business. Call 972-991-8811. This location is locally owned and operated by Pat Snuffer (pictured above) and his family. His lower Greenville Ave location was established in 1978.

Opens daily at 11:00.

MapQuest map is here.

Which Wich? — 4135 Belt Line

Where Where?
About a football field west of Midway on the Yankee side of the road.



First click anywhere on this sentence to go to their web site, then head to the menu page. With 50+ wiches it helps to have some idea of what you want when you go. All but two are oddly priced at $5 and 10¢.

If you didn't venture past the menu page the how how is, upon entering you grab a sandwich sack out of one of the ten catagories listed in the menu and use a red Sharpie (provided) to mark your choice of bread, cheese, vegetables, condiments, accoutrements and other assorted ments you may want. Write your name at the bottom of the sack. (I wrote Troy Aikman to see if there would be any reaction but they only called me by his first name.) Then you take it to the counter and pay the person standing behind the tip receptical. (No tip from Stymie!)

The what what is everything you ordered on the sack is inside the sack on a toasted, 8" testosterone-impaired bun.

Have you ever gone to Subway and got in line behind someone ordering for the entire office? Me too. The WW solution solution is to allow customers to call in (972-404-WICH) or fax (972-404-9423) their orders. Pick up is at a separate counter so you can avoid the lunch line. The furniture is futuristic and the music is XM. Smoking is verboten unless you're dining alfresco on one of the two tables.



Yes, this is a franchise but the headquarters has a 75202 zip code.

Want to be adventurous and try something different? Order the Spam & egg. Or maybe not not.

Hours:
11:00 - 9:00 Mon-Sat
11:00 - 6:00 Sun

MapQuest map is here.

Burger King — 3825 Belt Line

Between Surveyor and Marsh.
Hey, it's Burger King and it probably caters to that behemoth Suites of America nearby and if you want mustard on it you gotta ask for it but it's in Addison and this allowed me to use the image above which I stole from someone's photo bucket. Onion rings for the Polident crowd.

MapQuest map is here.

Freebirds - 5000 Belt Line

This has long been one of my favorite lunch places. Burritos (and now tacos, salads and more) made from fresh ingredients right in front of you. You see the steak and chicken grilled as you wait in line. Try that Chipotle. Around noon on Friday, expect a wait as the line can reach the door.

Atmosphere (***) - Urban hippy with poorly laid brick walls. Piercings or tattoos are required for those making your tortillas. Art made from foil burrito wrappings line the walls.

Entertainment (**) - Classic rock music. Eye candy can make up for lack of TVs. Attracts the mid-20s crowd.

Financial (***) - One of the better values in Addison. Around $8 for a filling meal.

Nutritional (****) - One of the healthiest places in Addison. Fresh ingredients. One Freebird flour tortilla does have 280 calories, but what else would you expect from such a thing. More nutritional information at http://www.freebirds.com/PDFRepor.pdf.

Creation

This blog was created to keep up with restaurants in and around the Addison, TX area. We'll let you know where you can get the best lunches and which places to avoid. We'll review places for their atmospheric, entertainment, financial and nutritional values. If one of these aspects changes for a place, we'll let you know. Sit back and decide what you're doing for lunch today.