Brenner Hits Chino Chinatown With One Measly Star

Leslie Brenner reviewed Chino Chinatown: The critic was decidedly unimpressed by Trinity Groves' Asian-Latin fusion restaurant from Uno Immanivong and Adrian Verdin, which she says suffers from both "lack of originality" and poor execution. Duck fat fried rice "should be the ultimate hipster comfort food," but "it's somewhat bland." A nicoise salad "seemed to have been assembled by a cook who hates salad," and "hamachi didn't taste fresh," while cochinita pibil steamed buns suffered from "tough and dry" meat, and "barbacoa tacos lacked zing." She pronounces the desserts "sugar bombs," but does deem the cocktails "well-mixed." One star. [DMN]

Scott Reitz went to Glass Boot Biergarten: Henderson Avenue's new beer garden would be a "stand-out drinking establishment" if the food was great, "but as it stands they blend in with Henderson Tap Room, Capitol Pub and Jay Black's, all of which turn out passable but forgettable bar food." Best bets include "a plump beerwurst with a finely ground and springy texture" and some pretty great fries, or the Bavarian nachos, potatoes "sliced nickel-thin, fried and topped with cheese, sausage, tomatoes and onions." Skip the soggy latkes. Overall, "happy hour and other specials make drinking here easy on the wallet" and "with a little work on the menu, this place could be worthy of breaking out the lederhosen." [Observer]

SideDish was unimpressed by the new menu at Alamo Drafthouse; Fort Worth Weekly tried Brewsters in West 7th; DFW.com reviewed the upscale Chef Sage in Colleyville and Crazy Cowboy in Bedford; Daniel Vaughn trekked out to Savoy and hit Perk's Bar-B-Que; the Barbecue Fiend road-tripped to Novosad's in Hallettsville.

Chino Chinatown. [Photo: Garrett Hall/EDFW]