Trinity Groves — Attraction in Dallas

So, decided to make the wife happy and get out for some fresh air and a seafood lunch, so off to TG we go...... we get to the seafood restaurant and immediately do not see anyone sitting outside on the patio? So I go inside and ask if we can have a table on the patio, the host says that they don’t have enough servers so nobody available for the patio, as soon as she finishes everyone in line walks out as disappointed as I, saying to themselves “this is the whole purpose for the patio”..... So we walk down the row and settle for the brew/burger, little did we know that this turned into a mistake... reason being from the get go the service was the worst EVER!! I had to get up and get my own menus, then had to get my own silverware, then paper towels, then we finally see a server approaching only to be told he was not it? My temper is building but I wanted to be cool and not spoil the day so we wait, finally after 15min our server came and with no apology started her routine so we ordered... 15 more minutes go by and our food is being delivered but no drinks yet, but i see that others who sat well after us already had their drinks AND food delivered? I am remaining calm but only on the outside!! After about 5min of eating the drinks arrive, I’m thinking how frickin hard is is to pour beer in a glass, a warm glass at that..... so in between swatting at flies with one hand and trying to hold my sandwich with the other I kept an eye out for our server but she never made another appearance till the end at which time I just said bring the bill and hopefully that would go smoothly, i was wrong, waited 19 minutes for her to return and pick it up? I was soooooo excited to see her return within 10 minutes I was ready to leave and yell at the windshield on the ride home. What a sorry sorry day at TG(sadly not the first experience of this sort), and what really made it worse was there were not that many folks in attendance for the poor service and excuses given for it, will not be back unless I have someone that just wants to go to this location... Was a great locale to visit in the beginning but has steadily gone down hill since, seems they are having the same issues as most restaurants and just cannot find good help!!!? Hope they get their act together and save it cause we have seen tooooo many places close up or just lose a lot of support due to the same...

I came for the 5th Annual Craft Beer Chili Festival and bought the ticket online, and because the $10 minimum was sold out I was required to buy the $20 for 20 sample cups (basically 1 oz scoop,) and near the end realized I could have used 10 more samples to try the remaining vendors, in addition to reassess some of the chili I had lined up as the best. I kind of wish I had voted on some of the congenial vendors that were very passionate about their beer and chili, though it was a really tough competition with some of them; namely because they also stood out because I had already been familiar with their beer (and admittedly I brewed some of the beers available such as Rabbit Hole Brewery, though didn't vote for them.) In the end I related most to Lakewood Brewery because it was the kind of beer and chili I would have made, such as using bacon, and the use of chicory which was inspired from the New Orleans area, and the option of what might have been Gruyere cheese which I declined to add because I was taking my "job" of sampling very serious) and allowing the beer to stand out instead of be overwhelmed by something like smoked brisket, chocolate (which isn't a bad idea in theory,) or seasoning (it has an instant "wow" factor and I was impressed, though the beer wasn't able to be expressed well,) and some utilized the unique character of the beer in ways that was great (such as vanilla, and the addition of apple sausage.) Some of them chose to use exotic meats such as alligator (or meats that were sourced from farmers local to them) and were very excited to share their excitement, and no doubt were very good, and did everything very in-balance (unfortunately I didn't remember the names of the companies, but if I spent more time around Dallas I most likely would have known about them, as most of them were local brewers.) I'm only a hobbyist brewer and haven't done much chili cooking (I tend to be more drawn to the beer aspect though am more likely to cook a bean soup than chili, though I am going to study up on it.) A few of the vendors are well known and ones I was excited to try though I immediately regretted even attending (and yes, I believe it does reflect in their business relations.) It was a bit dreary though was perhaps perfect for...

The Cake Bar won me over on the first visit... Unfortunately my second visit was met with discrimination from guy riding around the Trinity Grove parking lot in a golf cart and mistaken me for a homeless person. This rude guy needs to be fired on the spot. He yelled out to me as I was slowly making my way up the steps to get to the Cake Bar because I'm a stroke surviver. He told me to leave the premises or he'll call sercurity. I told him that I'm here to buy a cake at the Cake Bar. Then the guy asked if had money to even go into the store! I told him that he'd better call that security guard! The security guard showed and we discussed what happened with the security guard apologizing a few times and making excuses about dealing with homeless people around the premises on a regular basis. Strange, I didn't see any on my first and second visit. But homeless people are people too! If they have money to buy a piece of cake ,"Let em eat cake!". I would like to thank the somewhat sympathetic security guard for carrying my cake helping me back to my car. As for "golf cart guy" I told him that he needs to get fired on the spot! He seems rather arrogant about keeping his job if I reported him. Too bad I left my phone in the car to take a picture of this guy to show what he looks like.

Here's a update. I'm glad The Cake Bar moved from this location and even though I have to drive a little farther, I'm glad that I don't have to go to this unappealing place again! The fat golf cart guy was right! This Google review fell on deaf ears and the customer service never called me back and it's been 4 months! I will be forever traumatized from...