Coal Vines Pizza and Wine Bar - Southlake

Overall Score:  ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎
Kids' Menu: Not sure, but kid friendly and kids can share pizza with family
Proportions: ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

Shirley Temple: ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

Noise Level: Just right
Food:  
Ordered:   Pepperoni Pizza, Margherita Pizza
Taste: ☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎
Temp: ☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎
Looks: ☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎

Comments:  This place was completely packed on the night we chose to go. They have different specials on different nights of the week. We chose to stay because they served drinks to people while waiting for their seats. Who doesn't like a Shirley Temple before dinner?! Now they just need to work on perfecting those Shirley Temples by adding cherries. 

Our server was very friendly and our parents got to sample a sparkling wine as did the rest of the diners that night. And that wasn't even the special that night. It was get a free pizza when you buy a bottle of wine. We all loved the pizza and agreed it's our favorite pizza place we have found so far. It's so good you can even eat the crust. Somehow the crust is thin and soft at the same time. I don't know how they do that. -The Blackwell Boys
 

Buca di Beppo - Southlake, TX

Overall Score:  ⭐︎⭐︎
Kids' Menu: Yes
Proportions: ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

Noise Level: Just right
Food:  
Ordered:   Calamari, Chicken Parmasean, Caprese Salad
Taste: ☺︎☺︎
Temp: ☺︎☺︎☺︎
Looks: ☺︎☺︎

Comments:  Buca di Beppo is a great place for a family to go if they like to share and can agree to eat the same things. It is a family style restaurant which means you order one meal for the entire family to share. They do have a kids menu for those picky eaters who refuse to eat what everyone else is eating. They also have appetizers and salads for everyone to share as well. We loved the Caprese Salad. The Calamari was good, but we all fought over the rings. At least my little brother was happy; I can't believe he actually eats the tentacles! The chicken parmesan was okay. The sauce is on the plain side. The restaurant gives you so much food, you have leftovers for a few days.

The restaurant is neat on the inside. We got to walk through the kitchen. There was so much going on. Our server forgot about us a few times. He was more interested (as were many of the boy servers) in a group of girls celebrating a birthday. -The Blackwell Boys
 

Tacos and Avocados - Roanoke, TX

Overall Score:  ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎
Kids' Menu: Yes
Proportions: ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

Noise Level: Just right
Food:  
Ordered:  Original Brisket Taco, Shrimp Taco, Fresh Catch Taco, Fried Chicken Taco, Pepper Crusted Ribeye Taco 
Taste: ☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎
Temp: ☺︎☺︎☺︎
Looks: ☺︎☺︎☺︎

Comments:  I love the rice and beans.  My brother loves the chips and queso. All the tacos are awesome!  I always get the combo and then choose two different types of tacos to try. So far, the fish taco is my favorite. My mom likes the brisket taco and my brother likes the shrimp.  

This is a good lunch place.  You order before you sit down. There is a kids' menu, but we always order off the regular menu. We order the combos and the a la cart items. The people are friendly and your food comes out quick. I love that the tacos are filled with lots of stuff especially meat. Two tacos are all you need to fill you up. -The Blackwell Boys

Northwest Independent School District - Texas

Overall Score:  ⭐︎
Kids' Menu: Yes
Proportions: ⭐︎⭐︎

Noise Level: What you would expect from a school lunch room
Food:
Ordered:  Turkey Dinner
Taste: ☺︎
Temp: ☺︎
Looks: ☺︎

Comments:  Kids had a choice of Turkey Dinner or Corn Dog to celebrate the Thanksgiving season with their parents at school. Both my brother and I chose Turkey Dinner. I was so surprised to see so many parents bring their kids Chick-fil-A. That just didn't happen at my old school. Everyone loved our school's Turkey Dinner Celebration.

You can see my brother's lunch pictured above. It doesn't look very good and yes, that is turkey. It also came with spicy green beans and mashed potatoes - two items my brother chose not to get. My mom was surprised and a little disappointed that he was not forced to get any vegetables.  

My lunch was the last one of the day and the lines were extremely long as they always are at the end of the day. Some kids had to wait 25 minutes of their 30 minute lunch to get their food. Luckily there was a separate line for parents, so my mom was able to get me a "grown-up" meal. It was basically the same except that it had sweet potatoes instead of mashed and it came without the wait. And as it turned out, if I had waited in the kids' line with my classmates, I would have ended up with a tray half-filled with food since the cafeteria ran out of food on the kids' side. I'm not sure why it did not occur to them to give any of the kids the extra food from the parents' line even though we were the last class of the entire school. -The Blackwell Boys

TruFire Kitchen and Bar

Overall Score:  ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

Kids' Menu: Yes
Proportions: ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

Shirley Temple: ⭐︎⭐︎

Noise Level: Just right
Food:  
Ordered:   Pita and Hummus, Meatballs, Kid's Butter Noodles, Cheeseburger with Fig Salad, Chocolate Cake
Taste: ☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎
Temp: ☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎
Looks: ☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎

Comments:  Here is another example of a restaurant that is not exactly geared for kids, but you can still make it work. They do have a kids' menu; you just have to ask for it. Then, the server will tell you what you can eat - things like pizza and pasta and mac and cheese. I suggest you order a side of meatballs if you order the kids' pasta. You might be hungry otherwise.  

The regular menu has a lot more to offer - sandwiches, salads, pastas, pizzas, seafood...  I'd be happy going here again and getting what I got, but I'd rather order a grown-up meal. My mom's burger was extra good and way better than my pasta. I won't eat hummus, but the pittas were soft and warm. (By the way, my mom gave a thumbs up to the hummus.) The Shirley Temples were kind of a let down. They tasted alright, but they were missing the number one ingredient - cherries! -The Blackwell Boys

 

INZO - a Bad Night!

INZO lost a star or two based on my last visit.  Things started out bad right from the start.  My brother was given a girl coloring sheet.  Our host noticed his mistake but pretended nothing was wrong.  We had to get another sheet because my brother wouldn't color on it and neither would I!

As for the food... our Shirley Temples were lacking cherries.  The Caprese Salad looked sad.  The mozzarella and tomatoes were not fresh and it looked like I helped cut them back in the kitchen.  My mom was not a big fan of her Eggplant Parmigiana (I can't imagine anyone who would actually want to eat eggplant!  Yuck!  But she does.)  She said it was soggy and greasy.  She took a few bites and then just ate the pasta that came with it.  My brother's Alfredo was also on the greasy side.  My pizza was okay and my dad said he liked the special they were having that day.

Kind of a let down cause we really liked everything about INZO last time.  We've only been twice now, so we will have to try again, but not anytime soon. -The Blackwell Boys

Modmarket - Southlake, TX

Overall Score:  ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎
Kids' Menu:  Yes
Proportions: ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

Noise Level: Just right
Food:  
Ordered:   Lunch:  Kids split regular-sized Pepperoni Pizza, Summer Special Sausage Pizza, Three Cheese Pizza, Canes Soda. Breakfast:  (so good we just had to come back!) Waffle, Mimosa, Eggs, Bacon, Toast
Taste: ☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎
Temp: ☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎
Looks: ☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎

Comments:  We love this place!!  We would eat here just about everyday if it were closer to our house.  All the food is fresh and tastes so good.  It seems like all meals are $10 or less, so you can take your family out to eat and it won't cost a fortune and it'll be a lot healthier and tastier than some other fast food options.  And if you haven't had Canes soda yet, you should stop what you are doing and go to Modmarket now and get some.  Canes soda is the best soda you will ever taste. -The Blackwell Boys