I've heard about the free dinner's Villa-O does, but hadn't ever gone until last week because I couldn't remember what day it was! They started following me on twitter, so I decided to follow them. When they posted that their free dinner was going to be on Monday night, I promptly called and made reservations because who is going to pass up free, organic Italian? Not me I tell you. (FYI, I believe they do this every Monday, you just have to make reservations!) J was going to be out of town so I called up one of my adventurous friends, B, and got her to meet me there.
They had two drink specials that night, one champagne and berry liqueur drink and a Martini di Ananas (an organic vodka infused with fresh pineapple for no less than seven days and then strained). Since our dinners were free, we thought we had to get drinks! I happened to have both (shhh) and they were great! I loved the Champagne cocktail, just the perfect amount of sweet and berry. Very refreshing.
The free menu was actually quite comprehensive. They offered salads as a first course and quite a few second courses from Eggplant parm to Wagyu Beef Lasagna to Chicken Piccata. The best thing (well besides the fact it is free) is that it is all organic and homemade pastas.
We were served some great bread with dipping oil as a starter when we ordered our drinks. We were also offered purified in-house Natura still or sparkling water for a dollar. Because we are ridiculously cheap, we declined and went for what the waiter called "Dallas Tap".
I ordered the Cesar with anchovies (normally they don't put anchovies on their Cesar on Monday's, but my waiter was nice) and B got it without. I enjoyed my salad; they definitely didn't hold back on the dressing! The polenta croutons were great.
B got the Lasagna Bolognese with handcrafted pasta, ricotta cheese and rustic Wagyu beef sauce. It was delicious! Very meaty and not too sweet. I ordered the Eggplant Parmesan. There was supposed to be thin handmade pasta layers in between the eggplant, but I honestly couldn't tell the difference in consistency between the pasta and eggplant if it was in there. The sauce was SPICY! Cleared out my sinuses, that's for sure! I wouldn't really recommend ordering it.
I'd love to try their brunch and their Sunday 3-course, all-you-can-eat dinner for $15.95 per person sometime soon! They have a pretty extensive drink menu, borrowing some offerings from Trece, their sister restaurant across the street. They also have quite a few bottles of wine less than $40, so great for sharing! The pizzas also looked promising!
Happy Free Eating!
http://www.villaorestaurant.com
214.780.1880
Addendum to previous post...
J and I went back recently, so I wanted to update this post! I ordered the risotto and would definitely not recommend. It was very bland and heavy and lacked a lot of salt. J got the lasagna and it was, yet again, amazing. One thing I forgot to mention previously was the bread. It is a delicious focaccia with a great balsamic vinegar dipping sauce. We ate at least two or three baskets worth! Happy eating!
Showing posts with label Knox/Henderson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Knox/Henderson. Show all posts
Monday, December 21, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Trece
So we used to love Trece. Hip, good food, awesome happy hour and really cool ladies night on Thursdays. Ladies could get free chicken quesadillas (now that I look at that word, something doesn't seem right?), blueberry mojitos and margaritas. Everything was delicious and of course even better when free! We went to Trece once when I got a raise at my last job (haven't celebrated that occurrence at my new job...hmmmm) to celebrate. It was great! I got the Tablones and J got the Enchiladas Bandera. They were both pretty good.
As A was saying here, this place used to be awesome...it was all about atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere! It still is, it's just lost some of it's luster. It used to back up an amazing atmosphere, lots of people watching and slightly high price tags with good food and great specials. Now, it's the atmosphere...minus the great food...and it's a little less than worth it considering the price tag!
Well, since we liked it so much last time, when my sister and mom came in town a few weeks ago we told them that we had to try Trece. "They would love it." Oh boy...big mistake! I don't know what has happened there. Maybe a change in management? Whatever it is, the food has completely gone downhill. I got the enchiladas this time and they were nothing special. For their price ($25) I think they should have been spectacular. My sister got the Pollo con Mole and it was bizarre. Now I'm a big fan of mole sauce, something about being surprised every time that chocolate and spice go on enchiladas, but this was bad. It was basically like chicken hot chocolate. The chocolate taste was completely overwhelming. It basically tasted like they had melted a Hersey's bar on top of the chicken. We should have thought twice when our waiter told us he makes better mole at home, but we thought, "ah, what does he know?" Our bad. My mom got the Chilean sea bass and it was definitely nothing to write home about.
We had even raved about the chicken quesadillas with a roasted poblano cream sauce so we ordered one for the table and that disappointed! No longer creamy with this delicious white cheese...it's about what I'd make with my 2% Kraft and whole-wheat sprouts brand tortillas.
She's not kidding about the quesadillas here...we used to go in when they were free on ladies night...as soon as the bar tender turned away I was shoveling them in my mouth and she was calling him over to attempt to convince him she had managed to eat them all already! What in the world happened to the quesadillas?! It used to be all about the amazing cheese...now, you're better off bringing your own!
We even had a bad experience with our water, if that's even possible. We just ordered water and he brought them out in what looked like refilled glass water bottles. No biggie, we don't mind tap. We do mind, however, being charged $3.50 a bottle for refilled tap water bottles. The weirdest thing about that was that we questioned the charge because it just said "Catering Fee" and the waiter said, "oh, um, well, that's the water." Weird!
Long story short, used to be awesome...not worth it any more! (The free food might still be worth it as it is free, but we haven't been back to the happy hour since)
The restaurant itself is still very trendy...lots and lots of pretty people in there, well maybe a few less since we're not there...but you get my drift! It's got good music, it's busy and it's pricey. If that's your thing and you aren't worried about food, then head down to Trece. We'll try it again in a few months and see if anything's changed, but as for right now...it's not worth it considering everywhere else that Knox/Henderson has to offer! The area is amazing...the parking is awful...and the restaurants around it are just alot more fun and have food alot more memorable.
We rate Trece a 2.5 out of 5 for food and a 3 out of 5 (now, used to be cooler) for twenty somethings.
Highlights:
- Cha-Cha Rita
- Blueberry Mojito
www.trecerestaurant.com
As A was saying here, this place used to be awesome...it was all about atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere! It still is, it's just lost some of it's luster. It used to back up an amazing atmosphere, lots of people watching and slightly high price tags with good food and great specials. Now, it's the atmosphere...minus the great food...and it's a little less than worth it considering the price tag!
Well, since we liked it so much last time, when my sister and mom came in town a few weeks ago we told them that we had to try Trece. "They would love it." Oh boy...big mistake! I don't know what has happened there. Maybe a change in management? Whatever it is, the food has completely gone downhill. I got the enchiladas this time and they were nothing special. For their price ($25) I think they should have been spectacular. My sister got the Pollo con Mole and it was bizarre. Now I'm a big fan of mole sauce, something about being surprised every time that chocolate and spice go on enchiladas, but this was bad. It was basically like chicken hot chocolate. The chocolate taste was completely overwhelming. It basically tasted like they had melted a Hersey's bar on top of the chicken. We should have thought twice when our waiter told us he makes better mole at home, but we thought, "ah, what does he know?" Our bad. My mom got the Chilean sea bass and it was definitely nothing to write home about.
We had even raved about the chicken quesadillas with a roasted poblano cream sauce so we ordered one for the table and that disappointed! No longer creamy with this delicious white cheese...it's about what I'd make with my 2% Kraft and whole-wheat sprouts brand tortillas.
She's not kidding about the quesadillas here...we used to go in when they were free on ladies night...as soon as the bar tender turned away I was shoveling them in my mouth and she was calling him over to attempt to convince him she had managed to eat them all already! What in the world happened to the quesadillas?! It used to be all about the amazing cheese...now, you're better off bringing your own!
We even had a bad experience with our water, if that's even possible. We just ordered water and he brought them out in what looked like refilled glass water bottles. No biggie, we don't mind tap. We do mind, however, being charged $3.50 a bottle for refilled tap water bottles. The weirdest thing about that was that we questioned the charge because it just said "Catering Fee" and the waiter said, "oh, um, well, that's the water." Weird!
Long story short, used to be awesome...not worth it any more! (The free food might still be worth it as it is free, but we haven't been back to the happy hour since)
The restaurant itself is still very trendy...lots and lots of pretty people in there, well maybe a few less since we're not there...but you get my drift! It's got good music, it's busy and it's pricey. If that's your thing and you aren't worried about food, then head down to Trece. We'll try it again in a few months and see if anything's changed, but as for right now...it's not worth it considering everywhere else that Knox/Henderson has to offer! The area is amazing...the parking is awful...and the restaurants around it are just alot more fun and have food alot more memorable.
We rate Trece a 2.5 out of 5 for food and a 3 out of 5 (now, used to be cooler) for twenty somethings.
Highlights:
- Cha-Cha Rita
- Blueberry Mojito
www.trecerestaurant.com
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