Thursday, March 05, 2009
Give Grady's a Go!
Grady Spears' latest restaurant venture opened a few weeks ago in the space formerly occupied by Pegasus on Forrest Park Blvd and the buzz about Grady's has been growing. On a recent visit, FWJoey, ARMichael and I were pleased with our overall dining experience.
We ordered two starters and both were the evening's standout dishes. The quail tostadas ($7) were my favorite dish and I did not even know I liked quail! I don't think I typically do, but this quail was shredded and delicious (no gamey taste), topped on a round tostada (think nacho from Joe T's) with loads of cojita cheese. There are two tostadas per order and the toppings are piled high. There is little question in my mind that next time I go to Grady's, I'll be ordering these as my entree.
FWJoey's favorite of the night was the cream of jalapeno and cilantro soup ($7). Warning: the serving size was huge. FWJoey had to make himself not finish the bowl of soup so he would have room for the Rahr Beer Battered Chicken Fried Steak ($18). His chicken fried steak was good, but not great, so he plans to try something different on our next visit. What was great, however, were the green onion mashers that were served with this CFS. These flavorful mashed potatoes were a close second place favorite behind the jalapeno soup.
ARMichael's beef tenderloin ($36) was beautiful, both in appearance and in taste. The serving size was very large (at least 10 oz and maybe more) and it was perfectly cooked. The only criticism is the demi port that it was served upon. We did not care for it for a couple of reasons. First, ARMichael (and FWJoey) does not like any sauce to take away from the flavor of his steak, especially an expensive, well cooked steak. Second, the demi port made the potato side item soggy. Not good. We inadvertently overlooked the fact that the menu stated "Beef Tenderloin in Demi Port." Had we paid attention and realized that, he would have definitely requested the demi port be served on the side, if at all. I
For my entree, I tried the roasted chicken stuffed with goat cheese and dried tomatoes ($19) and it was a disappointment. The chicken was not juicy and the goat cheese overwhelmed the entire dish. I never tasted the dried tomatoes. I was hoping this dish would be as good as the stuffed chicken at Piola, but it did not come close. The chicken breast at Piola is stuffed with a spinach/ricotta blend that seems far less intrusive than the goat cheese. My side dish of dutch oven potatoes, however, was quite good and left me feeling happy.
I really, really wish we had saved room for dessert because they had some that sounded wonderful. By far, the dessert I was most eager to try is Grady's take on a banana foster with cajeta sauce (think caramel). Our friendly server, Trisha, told us it was delicious, and we are anxious to try it another time.
Although reservations are recommended, we were able to walk in and grab a table. This is likely because we tried Grady's on a Wednesday night. I am told the weekends are jam-packed and that not only do you need reservations, but that you need to make them well in advance. Grady's does not currently have a website, although I am told they are working on it. Enjoy!
Grady’s
2443 Forest Park Blvd.
Fort Worth, Texas 76110
817-922-9980
We ordered two starters and both were the evening's standout dishes. The quail tostadas ($7) were my favorite dish and I did not even know I liked quail! I don't think I typically do, but this quail was shredded and delicious (no gamey taste), topped on a round tostada (think nacho from Joe T's) with loads of cojita cheese. There are two tostadas per order and the toppings are piled high. There is little question in my mind that next time I go to Grady's, I'll be ordering these as my entree.
FWJoey's favorite of the night was the cream of jalapeno and cilantro soup ($7). Warning: the serving size was huge. FWJoey had to make himself not finish the bowl of soup so he would have room for the Rahr Beer Battered Chicken Fried Steak ($18). His chicken fried steak was good, but not great, so he plans to try something different on our next visit. What was great, however, were the green onion mashers that were served with this CFS. These flavorful mashed potatoes were a close second place favorite behind the jalapeno soup.
ARMichael's beef tenderloin ($36) was beautiful, both in appearance and in taste. The serving size was very large (at least 10 oz and maybe more) and it was perfectly cooked. The only criticism is the demi port that it was served upon. We did not care for it for a couple of reasons. First, ARMichael (and FWJoey) does not like any sauce to take away from the flavor of his steak, especially an expensive, well cooked steak. Second, the demi port made the potato side item soggy. Not good. We inadvertently overlooked the fact that the menu stated "Beef Tenderloin in Demi Port." Had we paid attention and realized that, he would have definitely requested the demi port be served on the side, if at all. I
For my entree, I tried the roasted chicken stuffed with goat cheese and dried tomatoes ($19) and it was a disappointment. The chicken was not juicy and the goat cheese overwhelmed the entire dish. I never tasted the dried tomatoes. I was hoping this dish would be as good as the stuffed chicken at Piola, but it did not come close. The chicken breast at Piola is stuffed with a spinach/ricotta blend that seems far less intrusive than the goat cheese. My side dish of dutch oven potatoes, however, was quite good and left me feeling happy.
I really, really wish we had saved room for dessert because they had some that sounded wonderful. By far, the dessert I was most eager to try is Grady's take on a banana foster with cajeta sauce (think caramel). Our friendly server, Trisha, told us it was delicious, and we are anxious to try it another time.
Although reservations are recommended, we were able to walk in and grab a table. This is likely because we tried Grady's on a Wednesday night. I am told the weekends are jam-packed and that not only do you need reservations, but that you need to make them well in advance. Grady's does not currently have a website, although I am told they are working on it. Enjoy!
Grady’s
2443 Forest Park Blvd.
Fort Worth, Texas 76110
817-922-9980
