Monday, the 29th, is RJ's birthday. We decided to celebrate it Friday night by going out for a nice dinner. One of his favorite places (and mine) for a special event is Jaxx Cafe in Addison. (14925 Midway Rd.)

It's decor is elegant with lots of dark wood, soft lighting & crisp, white table cloths. The hostess told us she would seat us in a quiet booth that had an excellent waiter. And, yes, he was!

We started off with Bruschetta as an appetizer....toasted French bread slices topped with chopped tomatoes, basil and olive oil. Simple yet great.

RJ went with the waiter's recommendation- a special for the day- Chilean Sea Bass with a Mediterranean salsa, spinach and garlic mash potatoes.

I selected the Lemon Pepper Tilapia which also came with the garlic mash potatoes and sautéed veggies. The fish on both entrées was perfectly grilled and just delicious.

It was a wonderful evening. If you go to Jaxx, be sure to sign up for their birthday program. You'll receive a birthday card in the mail with a coupon good for $20 off your meal.

Saturday morning, we had several restaurants in mind for breakfast- chose Garden Cafe in the Lakewood area of Dallas. We'd been there once before and liked it ....15 tables and booths...and they have a nice patio for al fresco dining It's been packed both times we've been so we've always eaten indoors.

Garden Cafe is only open for breakfast and lunch. You order at the counter and your food is brought to your table. They've got omelettes made to order, pancakes, fruit, oatmeal, sandwiches and salads and blue plate special type entrées. Not a huge menu but very tasty. We both went with omelettes- I am not big on eggs but this one was a winner.... stuffed with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and swiss cheese. It was served with roasted potatoes and toast. Thumbs up!



We left Garden Cafe and were off to....well, we had nothing in mind really. I recalled a story I had seen on the news about the Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff. Neither of us had ever been there and weren't really sure where it was. I remembered the story being about a restaurant at Bishop and Davis... RJ knew how to get to Davis....maybe we could wing it! Yep, we stumbled upon it by taking Davis west off Beckley Ave. 

If you've never been to the Bishop Arts District, you need to go. It's a little gem of an area. I guess it covers a 3 or 4 square block area. Lots of little shops, galleries and restaurants and they are all NEAT! We popped into a few stores - looked at antiques and goodies, candles, lotions, gift 'stuff' and more. Came across a shop called The Soda Gallery, a cool little store that carries hundreds of different brands and flavors of soda pops. They brag ghat they are one of the few places where you can get Dublin Dr. Pepper. What is Dublin Dr. Pepper you ask? It's Dr. pepper made in Dublin, TX where they still use the original recipe. I love Dr. Pepper- have always been a "Pepper", but didn't try it this time. Instead, we asked Joseph, the friendly and knowledgeable young man behind the counter, to pick us a couple of root beers. Excellent choices. So many choices- we'll have to return to try something else

There are probably 10-15 restaurants in the area and all looked great. We've already got it in our heads to go again soon for lunch or dinner and just pick one to begin with ...we'll have to knock them off our list one at a time.

I took a few pictures around the Bishop Arts District... you can view them here.

This morning, we got off to a late start. Our 'children', our two cats, actually let us sleep in! Got cleaned up and decided to try the Sunday buffet at The String Bean in Richardson (7879 Spring Valley Rd. at Coit). Now, we've eaten at The String Bean many, many times over the years, in fact, RJ has eaten at all three of their locations they've had since they first opened. This is home-cooking to the finest. Always consistent and you can never go wrong with their pot roast. Heavenly.


The buffet on Sundays offers breakfast as well and lunch menu items. Lots of fluffy eggs, bacon, sausage, quiche, French toast, hash browns, fruit and salad, turkey, ham, catfish, spaghetti, pot roast, greens (to die for!!!), blackeyed peas, string beans (of course), mash potatoes, gravy, biscuits and more. You can go for the breakfast part only or select full buffet....what a deal!!!

We made a stop at Huffines Art Trails (at Plano Road and Apollo in Richardson) on the way home in order to walk off some of our meal! Such a perfect day for an outdoor event! There was all sorts of very impressive artists with their wares and the festival staff has done an ideal job of putting this event on. There are nice areas with pretty tables to sit and take a break, food & drink, music and lots of people! I know, unless you had already planned on going, you are most likely reading this too late to head that way. But try for it next year.  Even if you don't buy a thing, you'll have a fun day.

That's about it for this weekend...no Cowboy game today but we are going to watch some football anyway....have to keep an eye on Cowboy competition!

You all stay safe!
Roadtripper

Nora Jones Sunrise