Licks and Links- hot dogs and ice cream that are worth the small effort to find

Licks and Links is a new spot in town that has been getting a lot of positive word of mouth lately.

Bare dog with ground mustard, sauerkraut, relish

They are located off of S. 14th and Danville Dr. in the strip center. The same one that has Tokyo and Little Italy. The business offers escape room games and only just recently added food as an option in addition to the games.

The menu is small. There are several types of gourmet style hot dogs, loaded tater tots, and Frito pie on offer. There are also about 8-9 different flavors of ice cream, sorbet, and gelato, all made in house. 

You can order a "flight" of ice cream if you want to try small portions of more than one flavor. 

My mother and I stopped by for a late lunch on a Saturday. Both of use ordered a bare dog ($4) which you could dress by adding up to three condiments which included the usual options of mustard, ketchup, mayo, cheese, relish and onion. I had stone ground mustard, sauerkraut, and dill relish on my hot dog. My mom got regular mustard, shredded cheese, and sweet relish on her dog.

The bun was fresh and soft but frank was the star of the show. All beef with a nice snap to it and the flavor was quite tasty. It certainly satisfied the craving for a good old fashioned hot dog. The meat is cooked on one of those rolling machines with a little oil which browns the outside nicely. 

The menu includes several special hot dogs with lots of interesting toppings which increases the price up to $8, depending on which one you choose. Currently, you can get a chili dog, a "popper" dog, a Thai dog, a Sonora dog, a Mediterranean dog, a slaw dog, or a Jersey shore dog, in addition to the "bare" dog that we ordered. I bet they will have a rotating selection moving forward. 

The loaded tots sound like a meal in themselves and will be on my list to try next time. There is the option to make you meal a combo and add chips and a canned drink for a reasonable upcharge. Currently, there is not a soda fountain.

Bare dog with mustard, relish, and cheese

There were nine options for ice cream. We were too full to indulge but the orange creamsicle flavor sounded good to me. There was also chocolate, strawberry, pistachio, lemon, coffee, and mango. I think other flavors rotate in as well.

My mom and I had lunch of a hot dog each and bottled waters for under $11 with tax, which is pretty unusual nowadays. Service was friendly and attentive. The owners were on site and willing to answer any questions I had about the food. Everything was very clean.  The restaurant part of the location is not really big, about 10-12 tables. The game area takes up the other half of the location. 

Licks and Links is open for lunch Sundays-Thursdays, 11am until 3pm. Open longer hours, until 7pm on Friday and Saturday. The restaurant is a little bit hidden since you cannot see them from either S. 14th or Danville, but they are will worth the effort to find them

Licks and Links

1401 S. Danville Dr.

Abilene, TX 79605

(325) 627-8467

https://www.facebook.com/p/Licks-Links-61577774292909/

Hours:

Sunday-Thursday

11:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Friday & Saturday

11:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Maria's Mexican Kitchen in Odessa, TX, elevated Mexican food with magnificent mole sauce

Maria's Mexican Kitchen only opened in Odessa this summer but it is already a hit judging by the crown at 1pm on a Saturday afternoon. I traveled with my companion to Odessa just to eat at this restaurant as a birthday treat. 

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House-made guacamole

little back story on why I wanted to got to Odessa for lunch...in the past when I would visit San Angelo, Texas, I enjoyed going to a family run Mexican restaurant there called Armenta's. Primarily because they served mole sauce with some of the dishes. The sauce was the matriarch Maria's recipe. It was a rare thing to find mole sauce on the menu of the average Mexican restaurant. The last time I visited, I found out that they no longer serve the sauce as Maria had passed away. When I read that Maria's Kitchen, which is owned by her chef son Felipe Armenta, and was named this one in honor of his mother, I had to eat there and enjoy the delicious mole sauce again. The Odessa location is new and the other location is in Fort Worth. Chef Armenta has several restaurants in Texas. 

Chips and salsa

First off, I recommend making reservations, especially on the weekend. Odessa, much like Abilene, is a town that always wants to try the newest restaurant arrivals to the local scene so that may or may not have contributed to how busy they were on a Saturday at lunchtime. We arrived a little early for our reservation and were seated about 5 minutes after walking in the door. Maria's Kitchen is not an overly expansive restaurant, which is another reason to make reservations. The decor is modern and there are very high ceilings and contemporary style furnishings. The only drawback to the building is that it is quite loud when the tables are all full so keep that in mind if  that is an issue for you when dining. There will eventually be patio seating outside but the summer heat does not make that a pleasant option at the moment.

After we were seated at our table, the server arrived quickly. The service for the entire meal was very attentive and professional. Homemade chips and salsa was placed on the table almost immediately. The flavor of the salsa was very appealing. It had a roasted tomato profile and was served warm. I thought the chips were a bit on the thick side but they certainly did not break when used to scoop up some of the flavorful salsa, which did have a spicy kick to it due to the seeds that were visible. 

Mariposa and Maple Old Fashioned

A minor critique is that the drinks from the bar were a bit slow arriving, I think there was only one bartender working, but that was not a major issue for us and the manager brought our beverages over himself once they were ready. They were perfectly balanced cocktails. 

For an appetizer we ordered the house-made guacamole ($14). It was absolutely fresh tasting and quite delicious. There was a bit of a sweet flavor to it instead of the avocado being overwhelmed with a lemon/lime, onion, or cilantro flavor, as can happen with guacamole at times. It is a guess, but I think it may have had pineapple juice in it. We enjoyed it immensely and it was consumed quickly. 

For my entree, I was torn between getting the chicken in mole sauce or the enchiladas tres colores ($22) which had three different sauces on each enchilada. The enchiladas won because I wanted to try the poblano sauce in addition to the mole sauce. The third enchilada had sour cream sauce on it. For the filling, I got the chicken but picadillo beef was another option. My companion ordered the steak fajitas ($36). 

Tres colores enchiladas

Steak fajitas

My enchiladas came out looking like perfection on a plate. Of course, I had to try the mole one first. It did not disappoint. The sauce is complex and had some heat to it, the bitter chocolate note was there but the underlying flavor was red chili. Sesame seeds were sprinkled on the top. The chicken inside was tasty and tender. It was even better than I remembered it. The poblano sauce was also yummy and almost gave the mole a run for its money. The sour cream sauce was very, very good, no complaints at all. I could not have been happier with my choice. It was well worth the 2.5 hour drive, one way, to Odessa from Abilene.  

My friend's fajitas came out sizzling and the meat was full of flavor and tender. The accompanying flour tortillas were just the right size to make the a "bite-able" fajita taco. They came with the requisite peppers and onions, with a whole grilled jalapeno and grilled pineapple as well,  which as a little surprising but not unwelcome. 

Our dinners came with rice and refried black beans, served family style. Both were non-traditional as the refried beans were made with black beans and the rice used long grain rice, which put a different twist on the staple sides. I am not a huge fan of black beans but the flavor on both was good but to be honest I was too full from the enchiladas to each much of the sides. 

Interior

As you may surmise from the price points that were annotated, Maria's Kitchen is "elevated" Mexican food. The ingredients are high quality, along with the presentation, and the service as you would expect from the prices. The menu is not huge but the choices reflected several seafood options which one would not expect to see in west Texas. My next goal is to try the Fort Worth location which has been in business longer and see if it is just as impressive. 

If you find yourself in the Midland/Odessa area, I recommend you got the Maria's Kitchen for a lovely meal. I know I will again.  

Maria's Mexican Kitchen

7254 TX-191 #200, Odessa, TX 79765

432-282-0240

https://www.mariasmexicankitchen.com/odessa/

Hours

Mon-Thu 11am-1opm

Fri 11am-11pm

Sat 10am-11pm

Sun 10am-9pm

Brunch--Sat & Sun 10am-3pm

Happy hour--Mon-Fri 3pm-6pm

Fuji Hibachi Express on N. 1st is serving up all your hibachi favorites

Chicken teriyaki with veggies and fried rice

On Friday, I decided to have my lunch at the new hibachi place, Fuji Hibachi Express. Not many restaurants open up in the center of town and I like to support them when possible. To my knowledge, they have no connection to the Fuji restaurant that once operated on the southside off of S. 27th.

They are located on N. First and Westwood. For the really long term Abilenians, it was once Duncan Donuts (among many other restaurants over the years), most recently a Mexican food place. 

There are only 6-7 tables inside, so a lot of their business it take-out. I was dining in.

You order at the counter. Service was efficient and friendly. I ordered teriyaki chicken with fried rice and vegetables ($9.99) but there were many other meat options and combinations available, as well as appetizers. My food came out in less than 10 minutes.

The portion sizes were generous. The only criticisms I had was that there was no evidence of any egg in the fried rice and it was a bit bland so I needed to add soy sauce to give it a boost. Also, there was a lot of onion in the vegetable mix. Some people might like that they were a little undercooked for my taste. The chicken and the vegetables had good flavor from teriyaki sauce. I certainly did not leave there hungry. 

All in all, it was worth the money and I will return to try something else on the menu in the future. Hopefully, the will stay in business. Be sure to check the hours as they close in the afternoon and reopen later on Monday-Saturday.

Fuji Hibachi Express

3514 N. 1st St.

Abilene, TX  79603

325-704-2275

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577335577713

Hours: 

Mon-Sat	11:00 AM - 2:30 PM 4:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Sun	12:00 PM - 8:00 PM