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Pizza Hut in Dallas Area

August 14th, 2010

Pizza Hut
11928 Elam Rd.
Balch Springs, TX. 75180
(972) 557-1400
www.pizzahut.com

For some reason I have not had very good luck with pizza places. I will call up to order some special deal they have and find out that the deal is no longer available, or it really costs more than they said it would be. I have also discovered on more than one occasion that my house is a little outside of the restaurants delivery zone. And they will not venture one block beyond that designated area. I often just hang up the phone in frustration and call some place else or just give up on the pizza idea altogether. Fortunately I have discovered one pizza place near me that is reliable and has never given me any problems. It is the Pizza Hut on Elam Rd. in Balch Springs.
Now, not all Pizza Huts are the same. I’ve had plenty of trouble with other Pizza Huts like the one on Buckner in Pleasant Grove. This one, however, is a good one. It is not a sit-down diner, though. It’s just for carry-out and delivery. I always just go to pick up the pizza since it’s so close. Hey, we can use every dollar we can manage to save in this economy.

Speaking of the economy, it has forced Pizza Hut to come up with a great deal. You can get any size pizza you want, any style, any toppings, any crust for just ten dollars. That sure beats the old prices. Pizza Hut has six specialty pizzas to choose from. There is the good old Supreme Pizza (pepperoni, beef, pork sausage, green peppers, red onions, and mushrooms), the new and improved Super Supreme (ham, pepperoni, beef, pork sausage, Italian sausage, red onions, green peppers, and black olives), the Veggie Lover’s pizza (mushrooms, red onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and black olives) the Cheese Lover’s Pizza (lots of cheese along with two toppings of your choice), Pepperoni Lover’s pizza (two layers of pepperoni so you get pepperoni in every bite), and the Meat Lover’s pizza (pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, pork sausage, bacon, and beef). The Veggie Lover’s pizza allows people to fool themselves into thinking they are eating healthy or at least feel better that they are not eating animal flesh. Personally, I almost always get the Meat Lover’s Pizza. I like lots and lots of meat.

Of course you don’t have to get a specialty pizza. You can always do the Build-Your-Own Pizza option. You tell them the size, toppings, and crust, and they give you whatever you want. This is what my wife likes to order. Her pizzas always have to have extra cheese and mushrooms. Oh, and she always orders the pan-style crust for her pizza. I am happy with pan or thin-n-crispy. She usually gets several other toppings as well. But as long as it has the extra cheese and mushrooms on a pan-style crust, she will be happy. However you make your pizza it will be just ten dollars. Unless of course you get a stuffed crust pizza. That extra ring of cheese in the crust will run you an extra two dollars. It used to be only one dollar extra but they changed it. I used to order the stuffed crust when it was just one dollar more. The ten dollar pizza deal is not the only good deal Pizza has going on right now. They also have three items on their value menu. Stuffed Pizza Rollers (jumbo-sized rolls stuffed with pepperoni and cheese) cost five dollars for an order of four and come with your choice of ranch or marinara sauce. The Personal Panormous Pizza is four big slices of pan pizza with your choice of one topping. I think that is also five dollars but don’t quote me on that one. The P’Zone Pizza is like a one pound, foot-long calzone. You can choose pepperoni, classic, or meaty style. It costs $5.99 and comes with marinara sauce.

For you pasta lovers, Pizza Hut also has three pasta options. The Tuscani Creamy Chicken Alfredo (grilled chicken breast strips and rotini pasta with Alfredo sauce and melted cheese) comes is a single pan which feeds two or a family size pan which feeds four. The Tuscani Meaty Marinara (meat sauce and rotini pasta topped with cheese) also comes in the single pan and family size. The Tuscani Lasagna (Lasagna noodles with Ricotta, Parmesan, and Romano cheeses in meat sauce) also serves two or four. Of course you can order breadsticks, cheese-sticks (bread sticks smothered in cheese, not to be confused with mozzarella sticks) to go with your meal.

If you have a big sweet tooth and have room for dessert you could get the Hershey’s Chocolate Dunkers (fresh baked dessert topped with white chocolate blended with Hershey’s milk chocolate, and served with a rich chocolate dipping sauce), or the Cinnamon Sticks. Personally, I don’t like the desserts served at pizza places. They always seem cheap and sickly sweet.

Whenever I go to pick up my pizzas at the Pizza Hut on Elam Rd. it’s always hot and waiting to go. I have never had any problems with them and the pizza has always been very good. One time my wife went to pick up the pizzas. She was waiting for her pizza to be ready. A Pizza Hut employee asked her what her name was. Then he asked if she had lost something. She had. It was her credit card which had apparently fallen out of her pocket on her way in. He had spotted it and returned it to her. So while not all Pizza Huts are alike, and pizza joints can be a pain, I really like this one and recommend it.

If you are in the area give them a shot. They are open Sunday thru Thursday from 10:30am until 11:00pm and on Friday and Saturday from 10:30 until midnight.

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Customer Review and Rate This Dallas Business
Rating: 4.0/5 (1 vote cast)
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McDonalds Restaurant in Balch Springs

June 30th, 2010

McDonald’s Restaurant
3535 Elam Rd.
Balch Springs, TX. 75180
(972) 286-9056

My three boys treated me to lunch the other day. It was getting close to lunch. I was about to whip up some peanut butter sandwiches when my sons asked if we could go out to eat at a restaurant. I told them that was fine if they were willing to pay for it.

You find out really quick how serious your kids are about something when their own money is involved. Well, on this particular day my boys were quite willing to pay. All three broke into their piggy-banks and dug out their treasure from birthdays past, tooth-fairy payments, chores and whatever other occasion their grandmother has found to spoil them.

We collected the necessary funds and headed out to eat. Where to? Where all children like to go to eat – Mickey D’s. I had to be sure to keep the cost of our order low since we were dining on the kids’ dime. That meant no happy meals. Sorry kids, no Shrek 4 toys this time.

I ordered a McDouble from the dollar menu for each of them and I ordered the double cheeseburger value meal (Super-sized!) so we could all share the large fries and drink. The burgers were fine. The fries were hot and fresh.

I know that’s not always the case. It really stinks when you’re expecting to get some crispy, piping-hot fries fresh out of the grease and you get these limp, barely warm look-alikes that have been sitting out too long.

I don’t know why, but I love ketchup from the pump in those little white paper containers. Is it really better than ketchup squeezed from the packet? I think so. I let my sons take turns choosing our beverage every time we got a refill. We started out with Strawberry Fanta, I think.

Then we got some Sprite. And finally we ended with a bright orange concoction with a cool name like orange lava or something. After we finished our meal we had to find some way to get rid of all that sugar-energy. And what better way than to let the kids run wild on the McDonald’s playground equipment.

This is a bittersweet experience for me. I love to watch my boys have fun, but I cringe at the shrill cries of delight which constantly emanate from the play area.

Oh well, it’s all part of the McDonald’s experience. I also think it is funny how my kids seem to make a new friend every time they enter one of these fast food playgrounds. Maybe there is some social bonding agent used in the manufacturing of all those playground tunnels, slides, etc.

Perhaps the United Nations should hold negotiations inside a giant playground. Just a thought. Well, I had a great time with my kids and no one found a finger in their burger or got scalded by coffee so, yeah, I’m lovin’ it.

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Customer Review and Rate This Dallas Business
Rating: 4.0/5 (2 votes cast)
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Balch Springs Public Library

June 30th, 2010

Balch Springs Public Library
12450 Elam Rd.
Balch Springs, TX 75180
(972) 913-3000

The Balch Springs Public Library is a small, attractive library on Elam Rd. right next to the Balch Springs Police and Fire Department. It has beautiful bookshelves stained dark red. And everything is nice and orderly. Of course, looks aren’t everything. What’s on the shelves?

Well, like many libraries these days, the book selection leaves something to be desired. They usually have the new most popular books and books by popular authors. But they are lacking in many of both the classic and contemporary works of literature. The Balch Springs Public Library, does have an inter-library loan program, however, which allows you to check out two items at a time from some other library if Balch Springs doesn’t have what you need.

You just need to get a TexShare card. I got mine through my university. You can check into getting one of your own at www.texshare.edu. The library does have a decent young adult reading selection with all the must-have books such as the Twilight series, Harry Potter, the Spiderwick Chronicles, the Chronicles of Narnia, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew etc.

Also they have several graphic novels and there are some good audio books available for kids and teens. The kids book section has its own room and a decent selection of children’s books, magazines, and board books. Behind the kids section are two small rooms. One has a few toys for the kids to play with (you know, the kind where you push beads over twisty wire). In the other room there is a computer available.

This computer can be used by any child between the ages of four and eleven who has a library card. The child has to be supervised by an adult, though. If your child wants to use the computer, they just check in at the circulation desk, where they can also check out some computer games if they would like. I like to find some good books and read to my kids at one of the small tables in the kids section. Speaking of reading to your kids – if you read to your kids or they read by themselves, they can win lots of prizes. It’s part of the library’s summer reading program.

If your child reads for five hours they get a reading certificate, a sucker, and a ticket to see the circus. If the child reads an additional five hours (ten hours) win a free book, a free kids’ meal at Chick-Fil-A (awesome!) and they get their name entered in a drawing for a grand prize. Finally, if they read five more hours (fifteen hours) or if you read to them, they win a Golden Corral coupon, a Celebration Station coupon, and have their name entered again in the grand prize drawing.

While the book selection is not stellar at Balch Springs Public Library, the DVD selection is excellent for both kids and adults. They have new releases, classics, documentaries, kids videos etc. Books can be checked out for two weeks and cost fifteen cents for every day they are late, but DVDs can only be checked out for a week and cost $1.00 for every late day. The adult audio books (like the books) located next to the DVDs and videos are also pretty limited in selection.

The library also has some useful features for adults. There is a large room filled with computers for anyone looking for internet access. The computers can be used by anyone twelve or older with a library card. Just go to the library circulation desk, show them your library card, and they will give you a slip of paper with a code to type into the computer. Then you have up to sixty minutes to use the computer.

If you have your own laptop, you can check out a cord to plug into a phone jack and get internet access. The library also has a small study room where you can go to enjoy the quiet and get some work done. There are six chairs and desk spaces in the study area. I often use this study area as my office away from home. Once in awhile, though, the study area isn’t as quiet as it should be.

One time a lady was in there with her two little girls, who were being pretty loud and rambunctious. The mom was doing her best, but it wasn’t going so well. Not a good time to study! Also sometimes people talk or play their music too loud and you can hear it through their headphones. Still, most of the time it is a good, quiet, and most importantly, free workplace.

Speaking of noise, sometimes it is the librarians who are making it. I’ve never seen a library where the librarians are more laid back, talkative, and joke around so much. I think I prefer the quiet, serious librarian but if you like them more friendly and outgoing you’ll love the Balch Springs Public Library.

If you are a book lover like me, you might also want to check out the library’s ongoing book sale. They always have several books available for purchase. Hardback books cost fifty cents and paperbacks sell for a quarter. They also have a few videos for sale and sometimes they even have a box of free books and magazines that you can look through and take what you like.

If you don’t have a library card and would like to get one, you just have to bring in a Texas picture I.D. even if not in the Dallas Texas area and a piece of mail showing your current address. The first time you use your card you can only check out two books and no audio-visual material.

But when you return those items on time you get to check out up to ten items (no more than three DVDs at a time). The library’s summer hours (June 1 – August 27th) are from 10:00am – 7:00pm on Monday thru Thursday and 11:00am thru 3:00pm on Saturday. It is closed on Fridays and Sundays all year round.

One last fun thing about the library is the small pond outside. Right next to the library there is a small pond full of ducks (and ducklings), turtles, minnows, and fish. They have a catch and release policy there, so you are free to do a little fishing as long as you are good and throw them all back.

There is also a white gazebo near the pond and a couple of picnic benches if you want to relax or get a little shade. Just beware of the pervasive duck poop. If you live in the area, be sure to get yourself a card and some books, and don’t forget to bring some bread for the ducks (and maybe even your fishing pole).

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