Restaurant review: Love and War in Texas

Below you can read my lament that I'm tired of all the restaurants in Flower Mound. I posted that a few weeks ago, and my thoughts haven't changed much since then. So we've been looking elsewhere.

About a month ago, wife and I ate at Love and War in Texas. This, as you probably know, sits in the short-lived Trail Dust Steakhouse site at Grapevine Mills Mall. L&W is a friendly place that inside looks like it doubles as a restaurant and a dance hall. Think Gruene Hall along the Guadalupe, only much newer and with much better air conditioning. Great atmosphere including live music. But the food and the service were not good the night we visited.

[Before I go any farther, let me tell you the difference between myself and a professional dining critic like you might find in the Dallas Morning News or D Magazine. The real critics will visit a restaurant at least twice (sometimes more often) before putting pen to paper. They'll visit at different times of the day, and choose different dishes off the menu each time. That way they can eliminate one-time successes or failures, and figure out what kind of experience the restaurant will be for the reader who peruses the review. I'm not that kind of critic. I'll write about restaurants after only a visit, but I'll be honest about it. Whether you choose to heed my advice is up to you.]

At L&WnTX, our waitress barely acknowledged our existence and played hard-to-get all evening. Wife and I were on a date, so we didn't need much attention. But basic chores like taking menu orders, refilling drinks, and bringing us a check seemed to be low on the waitress' to-do list that night.

The food, not much better. They have a great menu, and I do want to go back there to try some of their more adventurous items (particularly the game), but this night I wanted baby back ribs. Unfortunately, the ribs they brought out appeared to have been in the oven all day long. They were overcooked to begin with, and dry to boot. I mentioned this to the indifferent waitress, and she offered to bring me a new plate. I declined, saying I had already eaten what I had been given. A few minutes later, the manager shows up at our booth with a half-rack of ribs and offers them to me. These were much fresher. He was very kind and apologetic. He says his first priority is the food, and I greatly appreciate that sentiment. I kindly suggested he go back to his ovens and chuck any old ribs still on the rack.

Nice restaurant -- I'd like to go back there, but a big disappointment for me on our first visit.