Pei Wei Asian Diner - Southlake Texas

Pei Wei Asian Diner

Southlake, TX

Rating (1-5 Being the Best)

5+

Overview

I can't think of a place we enjoy more if we're in the mood for high quality Asian-American food. Take Out or Eat In, it's fun.

Their menu is simple not pages and pages of things. It's as though they pick one item to represent each part of Asia, or mix it up with a few specialty items. Despite it's simplicity there are enough items to choose from, small plates, bowls, and more.

They are Asian-American. They have the Asian flavors I love, but the high quality and clarity of great American food. Sometimes "Authentic" can be another way of saying "Sloppy" or "hole in the wall place without any eye for presentation". In that sense, this place is NOT Authentic, but it is fresh, with clear bold tastes and image. It's on the level with a California Pizza Kitchen in that sense.

Many items are spicy, watch for that. You can customize that if you need to.

Atmosphere:

Pei Wei has a seating area much like a full service restaurant, real plates and silverware. Food Runners. Bussers. But no servers. They bring your food to you, and clean up when you go, and if you happen to need something they will be MORE than happy to help. Other than that you pick a seat, go to the soda bar and get what you want to drink and refill as you please. This is a new trend called Fast Casual.

Kids:

For Kids it's great because they are a mix between fast food and sit in. I have one child that will eat almost anywhere, he's my Master Chef Jr! I have another child who basically has his top ten things and won't even fathom eating anything not on his pre-approved list. It's all mental because I've gotten him to admit he likes things and then change his mind when he hears what it is. Never-the-less, we buy separately for him. So when we go almost anywhere we're looking for a place that doesn't mind that we brought a McDonald's bag, or something else he likes. They don't seem to mind at all. So we order in, order food for 3 out of 4 people,  but four drinks, and leave a great tip!

Cost:

$ The cost is about the same as Panda Express, quality much higher, most items about $5-$10. If you sit in there is a person that is more than a busser less than a server. They bring your food to you and utensils and clean up after you. Bring you anything you need. Bring a tip if you dine in.

Conclusion:

My Master Chef Jr, My Wife, and I come back here as often as we can. It's a fun, fresh, clean, crisp, and lovely place to.

PS RAVE:

I had to come back and update this post. We came in again and this time we met the district manager, got a tour of the restaurant and talked at length about his background and why he came into the restaurant business. The District Manager and Asst Store Manager made great suggestions which we enjoyed. They have new smaller plate items if you are dining for one instead of two, or need to eat lighter. Even easier on the budget. Had a great time, even more loyal now... which is hard because we were already raving about the place before! Jan 2014

Urban Spoon:

Yelp Review

Life In Fort Worth By Darrell Wolfe

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Texas Hill Country

Texas Hill Country Facebook Page

Texas Hill Country has produced one of my favorite Facebook Pages. They show the most interesting photos from the Hill Country, as well as many other fun things about Texas, and to do and see in Texas.

I put this here to share their fun and laughter with you too! I also put this here because I WANT TO GO! They are a great resource for understanding what Texas has to offer.

Links:

• Their Website
• Their Facebook Page

Texas Hill Country is the region located just above San Antonio and below Austin. 

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Lego Land Discovery Center, Grapevine Texas

Lego Land Discovery Center, Grapevine Texas

For Ticket Prices Click Here

How we met...

My kids really really enjoy Legos. We were gearing up to visit the Lego Land in San Diego and found Legoland Discovery Center. It's actually inside the Grapevine Mills Mall, amazingly enough, in Grapevine Texas

So what is LegoLand Discovery Center?

You walk in, there's a Disney style presentation about Lego making, kids jump up and down to make the lego machine run, and they walk out that door with a souvenir Duplo type Lego brick.

Then you go on a Disney style ride, Kingdom Quest, where you shoot bad guys and spiders with lasers guns as you pass through trying to save the queen. All that is the entrance.

Once inside you have choices.

• 4D movie theater playing three 15 minute lego-movies back to back continuously. 
• Two rides (other than the one at the start) 
• Merlin's Apprentice: is a round and round that goes up as you peddle faster on bikes. 
• Forest Ranger Pursuit. is a mini car track. The kids actually drive the cars too, it's not stuck on a rail, they can crash into each other, not recommended by Lego Land, and drive with steering wheels and all. My kids really enjoy that one. 
• There is a playground in the center, very cool playground, large, my kids spend a lot of time running circles in here, and there are rubber Lego bricks that are the size of shoe boxes and they build small houses out of them inside the playground. It's pretty cool. 
• Two lego building stations. 
• There is another building station for young kids (1-3) with over sized bricks.
• A girly area where you can be a princess and sing Karaoke. 
• Miniland: entire cities built out of lego, and a whole other section with Star Wars, including a replica of Tatooine. 
• Lego Racers: This is my kids favorite part, and what they spend a good third of their time on. They build lego cars are race them against other kids down a timed racetrack. That's cool!
• There are several other things, check out their website for full details. 

My Review

I like:

The place is fun for kids. It's primarily built for kids older than 3 but under 10. My kids beg to go over and over. Lego movies are fun to watch in 4D. If you have a child that really enjoys Lego, or a Lego Fanatic like mine, they will have a great time! I'm all for making this a part of my annual pass portfolio.

My kids want me to make sure to tell you to give your kid time to build racers, drive the cars, and play in the playground where they can build life sized houses out of shoe box sized rubber Lego bricks.


I don't like: 

The whole thing is NOT very big in fact I can't see spending more than 2-3 hours there tops, and that's having done everything more than once. However, I could easily spend a few hours there every other Monday or so, it's better than McDonald's or the Park. I don't know how they justify charging that much for adult admission as there is nothing for adults to do but stand around (or sit around) and watch kids do things.

I don't like the price for a one trip. The Karaoke machine is way too loud, in fact bring ear plugs for adults the whole place is loud. The food is theme park quality at best and over priced. If they'd lower the price I'd eat there but I don't spend money there because it's not worth it, I can wait and go eat better food for less just a hundred yards away in the mall.

My Tips:

• Annual Pass is a better deal than one time pass if you plan to go thrice or more this year. 
• It cost two adults and two kids (4 tickets) $50-72. But the family of four annual pass is only $150. That's three trips. If you are likely to go three times or more get the annual pass. We probably go about 12-15 times a year. 
• Buy Tickets/Annual Passes online. before you go, much better deal. 
• TAKE SOCKS for the kids feet. They need socks to go into the playground, which they WILL want to do, and the ones you buy there are too small but for the smallest feet. 
• Adults BYOD (Bring Your Own Distraction): Take a book, laptop, tablet, or a friend to talk to, something to do, Legoland Discovery Center was NOT built for adults in any way. The best you can hope for is to distract yourself while your kids have fun. You may get into it the first time you go, but from the second time forward you need something to do while your kids play. 
• Fun Distraction: It's a good place to take the kids when it's too hot or too cold outside, which it almost always is in Texas. 

Photos:

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Texas Living Info by Darrell G. Wolfe

Blog:

• http://texaslivinginfo.blogspot.com/

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