The New Zorro's Buffet In Hurst Hits 100% On The Dud Meter

I do not think I've been to Zorro's Buffet since Thanksgiving of 2008.

Zorro's Buffet on Thanksgiving in 2008 did not make for a good Thanksgiving. No carved turkey, with all the fixin's. Among other shortcomings.

When Zorro's Buffet first opened I opined enthusiastically about it, because I thought it was good, on a par with buffets I've been a pig at in Las Vegas and Reno and elsewhere.

Subsequent visits were on a par with the first, til that Thanksgiving turkey debacle ended my visits to Zorro's Buffet.

Til today.

A short while ago a new Zorro's Buffet opened close to where I live, in Hurst, in the Northeast Mall complex.

Today was fellow former Pacific Northwesterner, Big Ed's, 39th birthday, give or take a year or two. I asked Big Ed if he wanted to go to the new Zorro's Buffet for his birthday. The answer was in the affirmative.

I'd not been to any sort of buffet type deal since I was in Arizona and we went to the Sweet Tomatoes in Ahwatukee. That was a really good buffet experience.

The buffet experience, today, at the new Zorro's Buffet in Hurst, was not a good buffet experience.

The new restaurant looks nice, big and open. Clean. Cool looking cement floor. Several buffet stations.

The first problem is the Zorro's Buffet plate has been shrunk to dessert plate size. A BBQ beef rib overwhelmed the plate.

Another problem was the food was not tasty. For instance, the aforementioned BBQ beef rib did not taste even remotely BBQed.

The only protein that tasted good was a grilled fish of some unknown variety. There was fried, grilled and roasted chicken, none of which seemed to be seasoned or tasty.

There were no fresh yeast rolls like I'd learned to like at the original Zorro's.

The prepared salads were blah.

There were slabs of some sort of steak product covered with what might have been intended to be BBQ sauce, but which was pretty much just a slab of tasteless, tough leather.

Blindfolded I would not have guessed what the chile rellenos were. All I tasted was egg.

The chicken flautas were like hard, flavorless cigars. The chicken enchiladas were like the hard, flavorless chicken flautas, only with a sauce poured on top.

The original Zorro's did dessert well. Simple, with few selections, all of which seemed fresh and made on the premises.

The desserts at the Hurst Zorro's were not fresh, did not seem as if they could possibly have been made on the premises, all had that previously frozen, mass-produced look. Like the awful cherry cobbler with little evidence of cherries and a crust that might be a new construction product. The peach pie was not peachy.

And the ice cream. At the original Zorro's you could scoop up the ice cream yourself and put it on the cobbler. At the Hurst Zorro's an employee scoops the ice cream for you. A golf ball size scoop.

I don't know what has happened with Zorro's Buffet. Did the original owner sell out? I think the cost cutting measures and the quality reduction portend for a very short life for Zorro's Buffet in Hurst.

Too bad.

The original Zorro's Buffet was really good. Originally.

Wild Boars, Copperheads, River Legacy Biking, Zorro's Buffet & Whataburger

I think I mentioned I was in Arlington this morning, having something that needed to be tended to at 11:30, so, before that, I went mountain biking at River Legacy Park again.

The bike riding was uneventful except for running into a guy named Robert who was working on the trails. Robert told me disturbing new River Legacy news, that being that there are Wild Boars in the park. I did not know this. Robert also mentioned numerous Copperhead sightings. I have had Copperheads mentioned to me before at River Legacy, as in someone shouting something like "watch out, there's a pair of Copperheads on the trail ahead." But I've never seen one. Not at River Legacy. I did get chased by a Copperhead once at Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

Eventually I ended up at Fry's and got a new keyboard and a music playing device. It was time for a feeding. My favorite restaurant, that being Sweet Tomatoes, was virtually walking distance away, but I was out-voted on going to Sweet Tomatoes.

Then I suggested the new Wolfgang Puck restaurant that recently opened in Reunion Tower in Dallas. It is called Five Sixty, due to that being how high off the ground Reunion Tower's rotating restaurant is. The Seattle Space Needle, built in 1962, is a bit higher and also has a restaurant that rotates once an hour. I've never been to the Space Needle's rotating restaurant. Rotating above Dallas sounded fun.

But again I was out-voted. I hate living in a democracy.

So, where did I end up going? Zorro's Buffet in Fort Worth. Friday is Seafood Day. When I left Zorro's I saw a stack of FW Weekly's. I'd not seen FW Weekly's at Zorro's before. When I got back here I saw that this week's FW Weekly restaurant review was all about Zorro's Buffet.

Apparently a high energy Israeli immigrant named Ricki Epstein, who arrived in America sometime in the last decade of the previous century, built a very successful catering business in the Fort Worth zone. But, she wanted to do a high quality buffet. And so Zorro's Buffet was born.

Today Zorro's was packed with a very eclectic blend of buffet aficionados, many of whom I thought maybe they should steer clear of anything or place where they can eat all they want. But, like I said before, I may not like it, but we live in a democracy where people can eat and say anything they want.

Like what I'm going to say right now. In Arlington I saw an un-tacky looking Whataburger. I opined, to my captive throng of ardent, buffet slut, listeners, that I did not understand how there can be a non-tacky looking Whataburger, like this one in Arlington, while the majority of Whataburgers are very dated looking eyesores, one of which my eyes were greeted with upon leaving Zorro's, sitting right across the street from Fort Worth's best buffet.

I think it's Whataburger's A-Frame with the orange and white striped metal roof that bugs me. I have never been in a Whataburger, but I've had more than one person tell me that Whataburger makes good burgers.

Anyway, that's been my exciting day. It started off in the 70s with a half hour swim. Those balmy temperatures with the windows open all night have not lasted. It has gotten colder all day long. We are heading towards possibly freezing again. I doubt I will last a half hour in the pool tomorrow morning.

Senior Citizens & Screaming Kids at Zorro's Buffet

I went to Zorro's Buffet today for lunch. It was good. Friday is seafood day. I had a lot of shrimp. Apparently I am funny when I separate the shrimp from its shell. A lady one table over couldn't quit laughing. I did not find anything funny. I found it messy.

There were at least 3 tables with screaming kids today. I don't like listening to screaming kids. How come you have to get training and a license to drive a car, but no training or a license before you reproduce? That is just wrong.

Another thing that was just real wrong today at Zorro's Buffet was this. Towards the end of the Zorro's stay I glanced down at the receipt. To my shocked eyes I saw I'd been charged for one "adult" and one "senior."

I believe I must have been the "senior." Due to the other adult not possibly looking like a "senior."

So much for my delusion that I look like a vital, youthful, young lad. Apparently I'm a grayed out, grizzled geezer. And due to that, today I saved a buck.

I want a refund. In the meantime I'm going roller blading. I don't know if senior citizens should be roller blading.

Beautiful Downtown Fort Worth, Zorro's Buffet & Getting Hot

I'm having me a day. I've been up since a bit past 3 this morning. I slept well, woke well-rested and have been busy all day and am not tired. Why, I do not know.

I started in on a new project today, the details of which I don't want to talk about right now, except for the fact of starting a new project.

I blogged earlier today about my disdain for what I see as the bad design of the new Fort Worth Convention Center Omni Hotel. Little did I know, when I blogged about it, that I'd be up close to it again a few hours later.

I went hiking at the Tandy Hills today about noon. It was 29 degrees out when I got up this morning. It was almost 60 when I left for Tandy Hills Park. I wore long pants and a t-shirt. I was overdressed. I couldn't do anything about the long pants, unless I wanted another Naked Hiking episode, but the t-shirt had to go. I'd just photo documented hiking shirtless on Christmas and did not feel compelled to do so again 4 days later.

Hiking at the Tandy Hills today made me extra hungry. It's a short distance from the Tandy Hills to Zorro's Buffet. Today is Steak & Shrimp Day at Zorro's. But, along with several types of steak and shrimp, all my favorites from Mexican Day were there too. Plus some new good stuff, like Eggplant Salad.

The route to Zorro's from Tandy Hills is via Lancaster Avenue. You go under the downtown Fort Worth Mixmaster and take a left on to Interstate 35 and head south for a few miles, to Seminary Drive. Driving under the Fort Worth Mixmaster you can not help but admire what an incredible feat of highway engineering it is. Even if it took them over 12 years to build. It is almost like a giant sculpture.

And through that sculpture you can see the new Omni Hotel standing above the Sheraton Hotel with the Omni's goofy balconies clearly on display.

The picture at the top is the view west from a high point in the Tandy Hills, looking at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth. In the picture you can see 4 of what look like skyscrapers. The skyscraper on the left is the new Omni Hotel. It really doesn't scrape to high into the sky. Nothing in downtown Fort Worth scrapes too high into the sky.

It is 73 right now, coming up on 5. I've got all the windows open. I don't recollect being able to have the windows open so much in December before. Maybe this Global Warming thing isn't a hoax.

Zorro's Buffet and the Fort Worth Cops

Being deeply depressed due to my swimming pool being closed on a day so warm I've got my windows open and the ceiling fan spinning, I went to Zorro's Buffet, again, for lunch.

Friday is Seafood Day at Zorro's. I've decided Seafood Day is my favorite Zorro's day. I didn't care for Thanksgiving at Zorro's. Mexican Day is okay. But Seafood Day is more than okay, as in I liked it as much as my first visit to Zorro's, which was also on Seafood Day.

One thing about Zorro's, that I like, is there are always new things. Today I had a really good spring greens salad that had apples and walnuts mixed in with bleu cheese. There was a couscous type salad. You don't see couscous in many mainstream buffets. The grilled shrimp were prawn-sized, tasted like they'd been grilled in butter with garlic. Speaking of butter. Despite being told twice by commenters that the yeast rolls were excellent, I'd not had one til today. They are homemade, like mom's, well, actually better than mom's. And mom's are darn good. The Zorro's yeast rolls are very light and very buttery.

Anyway, good pigout at Zorro's today.

I like to take the backroads back here from Zorro's. It's like a drive through a 3rd World Country. I take visitors from up north on these type tours and jaws always drop. You just can't see this type scenery anywhere that I know of in the Pacific Northwest.

On the way back from Zorro's, last week, I came upon a long abandoned gas station which still had its gas prices on display. Gas prices which, ironically, match about what we are paying now. So, I wanted to take a picture of this to show you. And so I did.

I snapped several pictures, not realizing that there were 2 Fort Worth cop cars parked under the dead gas station's awning.

After taking the pictures I went down a side street, for a bit, due to seeing an odd scene of a kid on a horse in a fenced yard. These were little houses and little yards. The horse and rider looked way out of place.

I'd made it about a block when I saw a cop car behind me, lights flashing with one toot of the siren. I pulled over.

The cop got out, walked up, asked to see my license. I showed him. "What did I do wrong, officer?" I politely asked.

"Why were you taking pictures of us?" the cop asked.

"Huh? You mean just now?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"I didn't see you. I was taking a picture of the gas price sign."

"Why would you take a picture of that sign? They don't sell gas anymore.

"It's for my blog," I said.

"Why would you put that on your blog?"

"Because I think it's ironic and sort of funny."

"I don't see anything funny about it," the cop said, starting to sound cranky.

"Well, you probably don't wanna be reading my blog then."

"Okay, I'm gonna let you go. Watch what you're taking pictures of next time."

"Thank you, officer, I will be more careful in the future."

So, that's been my day. First Fort Worth robs me of my pool. And now the Fort Worth police are harassing me for taking pictures. What's next I tremble to wonder?

Fort Worth Space Shuttles, Swimming, Hiking & Zorro's Buffet

I did not see the Space Shuttle Endeavor fly over me when I was in the pool this morning. I was not in the pool very long. I got up real early, as in before 4, I was down at the pool a bit past 7. I don't know when in the morning the Shuttle lifted off from Fort Worth.

It is supposed to get in the 70s this weekend, followed by an Arctic Blast coming in on Monday that might bring snow with it.

I went hiking at the Tandy Hills around noon. And then on to Zorro's Buffet. It's Mexican Food Day on Thursday. Zorro's has added some new Mexican food since my last Thursday visit. There were tamales, chipolte chicken, chicken mole, BBQ pork ribs and all sorts of other good stuff I'm not remembering right now due to a cerebral bloodflow problem.

The chicken mole looked like chicken covered with thick chocolate. I had to ask what mole meant. I was told it's like BBQ. It was messy, but tasty.

Every other time at Zorro's the nearby gas station has a new record low. But not today. The Tandy Hills Gas Station remains the lowest I've seen, at $1.44. Zorro's gas was $1.48.

But on the way back here I saw a Fina station at $1.43. Trouble was this Fina station appeared to have been closed for years. I don't know if it was ironic or funny that this long closed station's long ago prices are now back what we're paying today. Just a couple months ago I would have seen that sign and thought, those were the days, we'll never see them again.

Hiking, Eating at Zorro's Buffet & Getting Gas

Like I said earlier, the plan for the day, that day being Thanksgiving, was to go hiking then eating at Zorro's Buffet, it being the biggest buffet in Texas, or so Zorro's claims.

The hike took place at Oakland Lake Park, which happens to be on the way to Zorro's, which is located south of downtown Fort Worth on the east side of Interstate 35.

That's Oakland Lake you see above. It was looking very much like a fall day there today. Before I did my pre-eating hike I needed gas so I went to the nearby Tandy Hills Gas Station. To my shocked mortification the price had gone up. It was $1.61 when I drove by there yesterday. Today it was $1.65.

After I got gas and drove back to Oakland Lake I called my Mom in Phoenix to tell her I got gas. My Dad answered so I told him instead. After talking to my Pa for a bit my Mom demanded the phone so she could tell me something.

They are coming to Texas. In January. I'll have a long list of chores for them and a few gallons of berries they can turn into jam. I can't wait.

The merciless hiking went on for about an hour. Then it was time to go to Zorro's. I expected it to be busy, but when we got there it obviously was not. As in there were plenty of parking spaces. Zorro's was good today, but I didn't like it as much as the previous 2 visits. And I didn't get stuffed.

As you can by peeking through the Zorro's covered walkway, the gas at the Zorro's Racetrack gas station is the lowest I've seen here in Fort Worth. $1.59. But I didn't need any.

X-Rated Happy Thanksgiving

Last night I was over at Miss Puerto Rico's, sitting out on her balcony, enjoying the view, when I looked up to see a giant X in the dark night sky. The contrails of 2 jets had intersected above me. I'd never seen that happen before. The photo does not do justice to how weird it looked.

I neglected to mention that I went swimming yesterday. It was not as cold as this morning's Thanksgiving swim.

I'm going to go hiking sometime around noon and then we're off to Zorro's Buffet for turkey.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's editorial page today consisted solely of people saying what they are thankful for. About half were in some way or the other thankful that God and Jesus had done some good thing for them, like fixing their health or getting them a job.

I'm sitting here trying to think of anything I'm thankful for. Well, I'm thankful I'm able to go swimming in November. I'm thankful I'm in good shape and healthy. I'm thankful I'm not obese and stupid. I'm thankful for all the people who are good to me. I'm thankful I'm not cooking Thanksgiving dinner today.

On a sort of thankful, but different note, my TV Blog continues to amaze and amuse me. There was a time when I thought I was doing well if this Blog you're reading now and my Eyes on Texas website got over 2000 visitors a day. I started the TV Blog a couple weeks ago. My TV Blog has been getting around 5000 visitors a day for over a week now. It is now, by far, my biggest ad revenue generator.

It's time to get ready to go hiking, so I can get really hungry and then go to Zorro's Buffet and eat a lot. I am thankful I am able to eat a lot. And not get fat.

Thanksgiving Tomorrow Rhymes With Zorro

Last year I went through the extreme bother of cooking all the basic Thanksgiving stuff, everything from pumpkin pie to turkey. It's way too much bother for 20 minutes of eating. Even though the leftovers are a nice thing to have, they aren't really all that nice.

Some of the previous Thanksgivings, in relative-free, Texas I've gone to restaurants. Twice to one up on Eagle Mountain Lake, the name of which I can not remember. One memorable Thanksgiving was spent in a very crowded Truck Stop Iron Skillet Restaurant in Weatherford.

A couple years ago a nurse friend, who can not cook, invited me over for Thanksgiving. At one point I politely asked to have the platter of rolls passed to me. Rather than passing, her uncouth 13 year old daughter tossed a roll my way. Needless to say this was the last time I ate at that house. I recently learned the uncouth daughter is now 16 with a driver's license and recently ran into a wall in her mother's brand new car, rendering a door useless, among other bits of damage.

Tomorrow I am going to go to Zorro's Buffet for Thanksgiving. If Thanksgiving tomorrow is as tasty as the previous visits to Zorro's, it should be one good Thanksgiving. With no cooking. And no one throwing rolls at me. I hope.

Fort Worth Gas Price, Rats & Zorro's Buffet

Earlier today I blogged about obesity. And then a few hours after that I found myself talked into going to the biggest buffet in Texas. That being Zorro's Buffet.

I've blogged about Zorro's Buffet before. Sadly, for Zorro's Buffet, their official website is badly designed, so my blog shows up before their website when someone Googles "zorros buffet fort worth."

The Race Way gas station next to Zorro's had gas at $2.64. There was no line. You can get the stuff in the $2.60 range all over this zone now.

A large percentage of the Zorro's Buffet customers today were obese. One sat near me. Obese people can really eat a lot of food.

Today was Mexican food day at Zorro's. Which included chile rellenos, which is my favorite Mexican food. I had 5 rellenos. They were good. I always judge the quality of a Mexican restaurant by the quality of their rellenos. Zorro's was not quite as good as Esperanza's, but like I said, I had 5 of them.

Two guys sitting behind me, judging from overhearing their conversation, were exterminators. They were having their best extermination year ever. Getting rid of rats.

And now the weird part. One of them said the rats were on the move due to all the gas drilling disturbing their habitat. So, the rats move into people's homes and garages.

Now, as much as I find much to be disturbed about regarding all the urban gas drilling, I find it hard to believe that it has caused a mass exodus of rats.

I've not seen any rats in my neighborhood and I've got a gas operation going on right across the street.

Zorro's Big, Fat, Texas Buffet

Ever since I blogged about Zorro's Buffet, last month, my blogstats indicate that it's one of the most clicked on postings I've written. Today I found out why. My blog comes up #1 when people Google for info about Zorro's Buffet. Ahead of the actual Zorro's Buffet website.

So, this morning I got a message from someone who thought I'd "badmouthed" the place. Which I hadn't. All I said was if one were to judge the quality of the food by the quality of their website one might have cause to be cautious.

It seemed obvious to me that the person writing this was not a man and his wife out for dinner, as the writer claimed, then going to such lengths to wax poetic about the place. I figured it had to be either the owner or their ad agency or some other flak. The person suggested I try the place before passing judgement.

So, I said, give me lunch for 2 and I'll give Zorro's Buffet a try for lunch today.

I was told to tell the check-in person that I was Durango.

I took along a buffet expert, Big Ed. We got to Zorro's a bit past 1. The parking lot was pretty much full. Eventually found a place to park. Walked inside. Zorro's is huge. Walked up to the cash register, said, uh, I'm Durango. She said, we've been expecting you. She handed me a drinking glass and a knife and fork wrapped in a paper towel and told me to sit anywhere.

Found a seat, then found the buffet. Zorro's buffet is huge. The first thing I noticed, that I really liked, is Zorro's addressed my #1 buffet pet peeve. That being having to touch all those serving utensils that others have already touched. Usually they're sticky. I always find a napkin to use as a sort of glove. Sometimes it can be difficult to locate a napkin. But Zorro's has napkin dispensers at each buffet table. This should be a universal practice.

Today was Seafood Day. I tried a crab cake, but there was way too much cake and not enough crab. The grilled shrimp were very good, as was the salmon. The fried fish was catfish. Yuck. BBQ baby back ribs were smoky and meaty. The Zorro's grilled chicken was well done, like I like it.

The salads were all good, for the most part. The carrot salad would have been perfect, but there were those little type marshmallows in it. I don't care for that. There were 2 types of cole slaw, both good, a wilted spinach salad, that I liked. And several others I didn't try. The potato salad was not your usual buffet type, with too much mayo. It was made with red spuds with the skins on. Zorro's makes very good potato salad.

One thing that was a good thing, is every time I went back to the buffet there'd be something new. Like one new thing was a mixed seafood noodle dish, with clams in the shell lining the edges and lots of little shrimp in the sauce. It was nice and garlicky.

That's another thing. Most buffets, of the type that try and appeal to the masses, shy away from adventurous seasoning. Zorro's does not shy away. Some were quite adventurous, like a pasta salad that I thought was tossed with some sort of greenish pesto sauce, but instead the green turned out to be from cilantro. That was quite tasty.

I'm not a dessert eater, but there were quite a few dessert choices, including hard ice cream. I did have a dish of flan. It was very good.

So, is Zorro's Buffet the best buffet I've ever been to? No. Is it better than Golden Corral? Oh, by a long shot. Would I go again? Yes. But not anytime soon. And how did Big Ed like it? Well, you'd have to go all the way back to 1995 and the Luxor Buffet in Vegas, when Big Ed so overstuffed himself that sweat balls were popping out of his forehead, after which Lulu's first husband decided we were all Buffet Sluts. The name stuck.

Largest in Texas: Zorro's Buffet in Fort Worth

UPDATE: I have now experienced Zorro's Buffet in person, July 18, 2008, for lunch. Read what I thought about it in today's Blogging.

For a couple weeks I've been seeing ads for a new restaurant in Fort Worth called Zorro's. Zorro's claims to be the largest buffet in Texas. They don't say by what criteria. Largest building? Largest buffet table? Largest selection?

Zorro's being in Fort Worth. And in Texas. Both known to greatly hyperbolize, I guess I'll have to check it out myself to see how large Zorro's Buffet is.

A few weeks ago I told you how shocked I was when former highly respected food critic, Lulu, declared that a Golden Corral restaurant in Spokane was the best buffet she'd ever been to. I'm sure Lulu would love Zorro's Buffet.

The info on Zorro's website is a bet worrisome. In that if you don't get your verbiage right on your website, how am I to trust that you will not overly salt your clam chowder? For example..."Zorro's is a haven for both carnivores and vegetarians, our homogenous gourmet salad bar..."

Homogenous? I'm guessing the word they were looking for is humongous. They didn't even spell homogeneous right, if that was the word they meant to use.

There are some missing spaces after some commas which cause me to worry about Zorro's quality control. As in, "...our wide variety of succulent meat dishes to include country cooking, Tex-Mex, BBQ, Seafood, Italian,steaks,ribs, to name a few..."

In addition to the missing spaces after commas, that phrase "to include" seems off too. Shouldn't it just be "includes"?

And then there is this, "Zorro's Legendary and Experienced management team Promises to make your visit a unique buffet adventure like no other."

Zorro's has only been open a short time. How did it get Legendary already??

In addition to the website errors that cause me to worry about Zorro's quality control, the restaurant is in a sort of seedy section of Fort Worth.

But, even though I have serious concerns, I'm sure I'll be trying out Zorro's Buffet at some point in time before it goes out of business. I'll be sure and let you know how much I liked it.