Why I love the NO FRILLS GRILL

Those of you that read my blog on a semi-regular basis often see me mention the No Frills Grill as either a place I recently have been or am planning to go. I have been wanting to post about it for awhile but tonights visit was the trigger. This is a long post but I think it will entertain.

My family has been going to the No Frills Grill since they opened. There are 4 locations .... one in Arlington [the original], one in Ft. Worth [where I go now], one in Mansfield and one in Keller. I have spent time in all but the Mansfield location. It started out as a very simple bar and grill where the menus were hand stamped on brown paper bags and the variety of food was simple and yummy. One draw was the fact that they had NTN trivia and another was that they were right next to a movie theatre. The initial family favorite was shrimp quesadillas but our list of favorites has grown over the years as they have.

Here are some pictures from MY No Frills Grill taken last month :

[The outside of the No Frills Grill]

[Jessica - the favorite waitress]

[The NTN trivia game box]

Being a regular, when I enter the building, I know all of the waiters and waitresses names and they know mine. Without asking, within minutes a diet coke is sitting in front of me. The manager, Dave, may sit down at the table and chat for awhile and when it is a slow night the wait staff may also plop down for a visit.

There are many regulars, even a celebrity or two. Barry Corbin, who is known for his role as Maurice Minnifield in Northern Exposure, as General Jack Beringer in War Games, and more recently as Coach Whitey Durham on One Tree Hill is there almost every night when he is in town, with the 'Brain Trust' as I call them. He is super nice and will take a picture or sign an autograph if you ask. I've also seen local radio personality Kidd Kraddick from 106.1 KISS FM there with his family on occasion.

I enjoy the food, and as I have mentioned, I also play trivia on their NTN trivia game. I have always enjoyed soaking up trivia and quiz type games so I find this an integral part of the fun at the No Frills Grill. And it doesnt hurt when I outscore the 'Brain Trust' some nights.

But, the real reason I love to go to the No Frills Grill is the people. Not just the employees but the customers. I have seen and heard many things at the No Frills Grill. I've overheard loud conversations about sexual habits, I've seen grown men gather in an extremely organized manner to draft their fantasy football team live, I've seen a kid suck the ketchup out of a ketchup bottle while his mom wasn't looking. I've seen drunk people in Halloween costumes, I've counted the number of plastic cups a person has stacked in front of them on dollar beer night and wondered how they were getting home. But tonight was a banner night for observation and experience. Tonight I saw a girl reserve a table for 10-20 of her closest friends to have only 9 show up and that was at least an hour after she shoved 3 tables together. I saw Barry get dragged to the bar by some women holding his hand and shouting choo-choo like a train as she drug him along behind her. I saw a man in the dining room pull a saxophone out of its case and proceed to serenade someone in the bar and in the dining room with Happy Birthday and more importantly, I saw the girl with 9 friends walk around from the dining room to the bar several times with a piece of toilet paper hanging out of the back of her pants like Rapunzel. Here are two "blurry" cell phone pictures for proof, and when I left still no one had told her.

[Sitting at her table]

[One of many treks to the bar]

This is why I love the No Frills Grill.

Carry on.