The experience

DSC_0001I had the afternoon off today and we’ve been wanting to take the kids to Fort Worth.  One of our favorite places to go is the Japanese Gardens at the Fort Worth Arboretum.  We were actually up and going early enough to head out there.  Of course, a trip to Fort Worth typically means a trip to one of Ogre’s childhood faves, The Original.  So before we could go to the Gardens, we had to have lunch at the Original.  When you walk up they really taut themselves… “The Best Tex Mexon the Planet”!

We were seated right away and decided to put Benji in a high chair straight away.  He was not super thrilled about this, but did not complain.  We ordered drinks and Benji was very excited to get a big boy cup.  Mom, not so thrilled, but no accidents with his cup and he kept his hands out of his glass for the most part.

Ogre ordered some queso and reminisced about this was his “first” favorite queso.  Turned out we didn’t need that order of queso as EVERY dish we ordered came with queso.  Apparently, they are pretty proud of their queso also! 

Mina was still badgering us about where we were going; we try to get her to enjoy the journey…she never does.  We kept on with just saying we were having lunch. 

She brought some toys in from the car and made me take pictures of her slinky nose.

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After we ordered lunch, we also requested some tortillas.  Ogre buttered a tortilla for Benji.  That was a messy mistake.  As you may know from previous posts, Benji enjoys making “tortilla faces.”  Tortilla faces that he likes to lay across his face.  End result:

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Our lunch came out pretty quickly and we wiped down Benji.  I was not so pleased with my lunch as it was DROWNING in queso (and I like queso).  Ogre was not pleased that I was complaining about lunch.  He made it clear that divorce proceedings might be order if I rated this restaurant too low.   Somehow, it was MY fault for ordering the “wrong” dish.  He only got an eyebrow raise in response.

The kids were super excited about their lunch…dinosaur nuggets.  They enjoyed biting their heads off and dipping it in ketchup.  They also enjoyed squeezing their own ketchup on to their plates, which was almost a disaster also. 

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I trudged through my lunch and we waited on Benji, who kept claiming he was not done with lunch.  I finally had to tell them that we were going to see the fishies to get him to speed it up.  Mina’s ears perked up and was ready to go after that!  So off we headed to feed the fishies at the Japanese Gardens.

 

The food

Tex Mex.

DSC_0002Queso is very good…it’s creamy and doesn’ taste like fake cheese.  with eggs and a few tomatoes.  There were not very hunks of eggs, and it all kind of ran together.  I kept telling Ogre it was like eating slop.  He said it tasted great!  Really? 

DSC_0005Ogre ordered the Roosevelt, this is apparently what Roosevelt ordered when he ate here, I’m not sure that is really true, but Ogre says it is.  Anyway, he liked it a lot.  Loved it, I should say.  Gave it 5 stars.

 

DSC_0003I ordered a breakfast item…it was called “Egg, Cheese, and Tomatoes.”  Pretty simple, right? And by the way, that’s all it is, it does not come with rice or beans (I ordered a side of rice).  There are other breakfast items that clearly say that it is covered in queso.  I think of cheese as grated cheese and queso, as well, saucy.  Makes sense? I got a lake of queso

 DSC_0004The kids had dinosaur chicken nuggets, which they loved and it came with fries.

 

 

The service

Average at best.  It was nice that the other waitresses came by to check on us, particularly since ours was often nowhere to be found.  It was a chore to get them to refill the drinks, but the food comes out very quickly.

 

The kids

No kids activities, but they do have kids menu items.  It’s casual and laid back and very family friendly otherwise.

Well, we’ll obviously be coming back here when we head to Fort Worth in the cultural arts district, but I won’t be ordering my dish again!  I’m going to rate this with 3 stars, I wonder if Ogre will change it, he thought it should get 4 stars.

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