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

TurtleMan’s Burger Grill in Potosi has smash burgers, jumbo mozzerella sticks, ice cream, and more

Cheeseburger and fries

TurtleMan’s Burger Grill was doing a brisk business, both inside and for take out, on the Saturday afternoon when myself and a couple of family members arrived after a short jaunt from Abilene for lunch at 1:45pm. There was parking, so I took it as a good sign that a table would be available inside.

After looking over the menu, I ordered the cheeseburger ($9) with fries and a drink ($3 extra) and an order of mozzerella sticks to share ($8), which came with both ranch and marinara sauce. My brother ordered the popper burger ($11) and added added fries and a drink ($3). Mother just got a cookies and cream milkshake ($6). Lunch for the three of us came out to about $43.50. TurtleMan's is not a cheap burger place, so be prepared.

Once you order, they take your name and will call you to the pick-up window when your order is ready. We only waited about 7 minutes for our burgers to be done because there was no one in line in front of us when we ordered.

Jumbo mozzerella sticks

My brother's popper burger had grilled jalapenos, cream cheese, fried onion strings, regular cheese, bacon, with ranch dressing. It filled him up for the rest of the day. The cheeseburger I had included all the usual burger toppings.

Smash burgers are known for having crispy edges from being pressed into the grill and for having a thinner patties. If you prefer a thick burger, you may want to try another item on the menu.

The smash burgers were a decent size and the meat had a good flavor and was bigger than the bun. I especially liked the pickles as they reminded me of the more expensive refridgerated pickles that have a good crunch and extra dill flavor to them. The other veggies on the burger and the bun were fresh. It was not a dry burger except for the crunchy edges, and certainly not a "non-greasy" type of hamburger. 

The french fries are handcut with the skins on. Personally, I do not prefer to have the skins left on my fries as at times the potato is not washed really well and you can get a hint of dirt taste from the skin. That being said, the fries had a crisp to them which is better than many handcut fries that tend to be a bit floppy and soggy tasting.

The mozzerella sticks come two to an order. The picture does not do justice to the size of the sticks. For long time Abilenians, think about how the cheesesticks were at Gardski's Loft back in the day. They are very big and can easily be split between 3-4 people. It is possible that the restaurant will run out at some point during the day as they make mozz sticks in-house and when the supply is gone that will be it. They are a very popular item and a highlight for me. Also, the sticks took extra time to cook so we got our burgers before they were done.

Receipt

One slight issue was that my mom had to go back up to the register to remind them about her milkshake. The workers at the front were supposed to bring it out to her. There was a rush of customers after we put in our order and the shake was forgotten. TurtleMan's uses Blue Bell ice cream so once she got it, my mom was happy with her shake. 

The next time I go, I plan to order the corn dog ($4.50), which I believe is hand dipped, and the mozz sticks again.You can also try a fried bolonga sandwich ($10.) I have never seen on a menu locally. Oh, the good old days of corn dogs and fried bologna. The remind me of childhood. There are onion rings and some chicken items on the menu as well. No salad options.

Front of the restaurant

I am certain the people who live in Potosi are happy to have TurtleMan's in the area. It is worth the trip from Abilene to give them a taste.  

TurtleMan's Burger Grill

1920 FM 1750 (on the "curve")

Abilene, TX 79602

(325) 230-4009

Hours:

M-Sat 11am-8pm

Sun 11am-3pm

https://www.facebook.com/p/TurtleMans-Burger-Grill-61568159738551/

OMG Noodle House--a new Asian food option in Abilene

The OMG Noodle House on S. Willis (in the same shopping area as AM Donuts) is Abilene's newest entry for Asian food offerings in Abilene. The restuarant currently has fairly limited hours, only being open for dinner Wednesday-Saturday. 

Chicken Pad Thai

The menu is not particulary big. Pad Thai, soups, and rice dishes are the primary options along with fresh spring rolls (these are NOT the deep fried ones), shrimp rolls, and egg rolls as appetizers. There are not currently any curry options on the regular menu. You may find one as a special on occasion though.

My dining companion and I both ordered chicken dishes. I had the fried rice ($10.75) and he had the pad Thai ($12.75). 

The restaurant is small. There are about 8 tables inside. We arrived at 4:45pm and by 5:15pm all the tables were full on a Thursday evening. 

Orders are taken at the counter for both take out or dine in and they will bring out your food when it is done. They do not have servers to take orders at the tables. There was a busy take-out business going on as well. 

The food came out relatively quickly and the ingrediants were fresh.  Nothing on the menu was more than $15. The soups come in both medium and large sizes and are the most expensive items on the menu. 

The presentation of the food was very nice. The chicken in the dishes used thigh meat, not breast meat, if that makes a difference to you. Also, the seafood options on the menu are a combination of seafood and there does not seem to be a way to ask for just shrimp if you are not fond of several types of seafood. The rice and noodles were cooked perfectly in our dishes. 

Chicken fried rice

Both of us thought our meals could have used more seasoning. I needed to add quite a bit of soy sauce to my rice to give it a flavor boost. The pad Thai came with a side of a sauce. However, my date was not full after finishing his meal so I shared my dinner with him.

The soups may be the biggest draw, along with the beef loc lac, spicy Thai chicken, and ginger beef or chicken. There are other spots in town that have better fried rice and pad Thai. These were just familiar options to get for our first try. Next time, I will order something else and also get some shrimp rolls or egg rolls to go with the dinner. 

Give them a shot and support your local businesses when you can! 

OMG Noodle House

Sunday-Tuesday Closed

Wednesday-Saturday 4pm-8:30pm

Facebook page--https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570049674472

No website listed

325-704-1723

202 S. Willis St., Abilene, TX 79605