52 Tables

Genghis Grill storefront

The Lighter Lunch

Remember Genghis Khan? How about Genghis Grill? We got hooked on Genghis Grill at one of the early locations in Fort Worth, located just off Hulen Street. Sadly, within 18 months of discovery, the location closed down. We were Genghisless.

Flash forward a few years, and a new store pops up on the north side Fort Worth. Naturally we had to give this one a try. I remembered the original—how good the food was and how fluid operations were, so I knew I was in for a treat. Our first visit left a lot to be desired. OK. So we went during the first month of operation and it was clear there were still some bugs to work out. We waited. Our next visit, was not much better. Management comp’d our meal and sent us some free meal coupons. Each visit seemed to present not much improvement over the previous, so we stopped going altogether.

Today we were pleasantly surprised and noticed a much improved experience. I’m still not fond of how this particular store handles cooking your bowl. The original restaurant fully utilized their counter space around the grill so there was never a line waiting to place their bowl down for cooking. However the current way works here as along as you aren’t there during the ‘rush’ of the lunch crowd.

Our fare was a bit lighter than the some of the tables we visit. However, I did not walk away hungry, nor did I need to eat an evening meal. I was stuffed by the time I left. We joked that if the food was bad, we had nobody to blame but ourselves as we are the ones who created our meals in the first place. And that, is exactly what makes this table so unique and fun to visit.

Dad, a retired Air Force pilot, had the opportunity to travel the world and try a variety fares. While on TDY in either Thailand or Japan, he recalled visiting a true, whole-in-the-wall Mongolian BBQ. After selecting his ingredients, it was briskly whisked off ‘behind the curtain’ to be cooked, unlike Genghis which cooks your food in plain sight.

Our waiter and recent UNT grad, Dustin, provided excellent service. Having been in the job hunt myself for nearly a year now, I was tickled when Dustin slipped immediately into his ’30-second’ commercial, letting us know a little bit about him. I attend a job each week which encourages the use of the 30-second commercial when you meet someone who could be a potential hiring manager. You just never know who will be opening that door for you. My mom, who is a former elementary education teacher, offered up a few tips of her own for Dustin’s job search. As it turned out, Dustin did some of his student teaching in the same school district in which she taught for so many years. Connections and networking are everything.

But I digress. Our conversation drifted to one of Dad’s TDY trips to Antarctica, as we’ve been having an unusually cold winter.  One of the challenges in flying into Antarctica is landing. The ground crew would first break up the ice, then re-pack it down to a smoother surface. This in turn would create some friction so that the planes would not go sliding off the end of the icy runway. Dad’s whole motivation for pursuing the assignment was to the ‘pretty ribbon’ as he called it. Amazing what motivates us to do some of the things we do.

This was a shorter visit than normal; it happens. We wrapped up this table by choosing our next table: Bistro LightCatcher!