El Charro has been serving Tylerites their favorites, including Tony’s Tacos, the Summer Plate, fabulous house margaritas and perfect chips and salsa for decades. The original location, located on Erwin, is the place to see and be seen on Friday nights despite the worn interior and sparsely decorated dining room. Their second location, on 5th and the Loop is much less bare-bones, but the food here never seems to taste as good to me as the original.

Gilbert’s El Charro #1
2604 E. Erwin Street
Tyler, TX 75702
(903) 592-9084

Gilbert’s El Charro #2
2623 E. 5th Street
Tyler, TX 75701
(903) 596-7222

Soju serves a broad selection of sushi rolls, specialty rolls and sashimi in addition to their entrees and noodle bowls.   Like Wasabi, Soju offers a nice variety of unique specialty drinks, extending way beyond the usual selections. Soju also has live music (Dustin Becker) on the weekends.

Located at the corner of Grande and Old Jacksonville, Soju occupies the location once home to Kung Pao before they closed their doors just months after opening. I have a pretty good feeling that Soju will enjoy much more success than the previous restaurant based on the positive buzz they are already generating.

Soju Sushi Bar & Asian Bistro
6361 Old Jacksonville Hwy
Tyler, TX 75703
(903) 939-1100

What About Kabob seems to have a great thing going… Tasty food, attentive and friendly staff, and a clean and tidy dining room with cool decor. I’ve heard not one bad thing about this place. Now the only question is – who’s available to meet me for lunch???

What About Kabob & His Gyros
713 WSW Loop 323
Tyler, TX 75703
(903) 581-7971

I’ve always been a believer that, for the most part, restaurant style Mexican food is pretty much the same anywhere you go.  An enchilada is an enchilada, fajitas are fajitas and a quesadilla is a quesadilla.  Therefore, the biggest opportunity Mexican chains have to set themselves apart from the competition is their chips, salsa and margaritas.  Chuy’s obviously understands where I am coming from because their chips and salsa do not disappoint.  They make their salsa fresca fresh every hour, and their chips are always crispy with just the right amount of saltiness. And there’s the creamy jalapeno sauce aka crack dip.  It tastes like ranch on steroids.  Of course, I also have to mention their complimentary queso, beans, and taco meat station every happy hour… Can’t beat that!  I do think Chuy’s house margaritas leave something to be desired (there seems to be a funny, artificial lime flavor that I don’t care for in their mix) but the mojitos are so awesome they almost make up for the margaritas.
The food is pretty good, too.  The chicka-chicka boom-boom enchiladas have been the best thing I’ve ordered so far, with the appetizer platter coming in second.  If you haven’t been to Chuy’s yet (which can’t be very many of you), you definitely should give it a shot.  I’d recommend waiting until an off hour if you want to park remotely close and not wait an hour for a table, but all the hype is well deserved.  I give Chuy’s dos thumbs up!

This Spring, Brookshire’s opened their new concept store, Fresh.  Fresh is to Tyler what Whole Foods is to the larger cities out there, only Fresh is owned by East Texas’ own Brookshire’s.  Fresh offers tons of fresh and unique produce, specialty cheeses, flavorful prepared foods, beautiful fresh flowers, a bakery, cooking demonstrations, a taco stand, deli, and a gelato station (plus much, MUCH more).  You can even purchase a glass of wine or bottle of beer to enjoy either while shopping or while listening to live music on the patio.  I love to read food blogs, and many of the specialty items I’ve read about were nowhere to be found in Tyler, even at my beloved Drug Emporium.  Now I can just run over to Fresh and pick up anything I could ever dream of, including Fresh’s own homemade tortillas and freshly popped rice cakes.

Though Fresh is under the Brookshire’s umbrella, they do not participate in the Thank You Card program, and discounts and good deals can be hard to find.  That being said, if a can of black beans costs 20 cents more at Fresh I’ll still happily pay it because to me, the experience justifies the higher prices. While some from larger cities may complain that Fresh still pales in comparison to Whole Foods… I’m from Tyler and I think Fresh is pretty darn cool.

hours: Sun – Sat 6am-10pm

FRESH by Brookshire’s
6991 Old Jacksonville Hwy
Tyler, TX 75703
(903) 747-3503

Upon arrival we were handed our menus and given instructions to select one entree or one pizza and either an appetizer or a dessert. It appeared as though each table was given a different menu to choose from, and I assume this was to give the staff experience serving and preparing each and every item they offer. The entrees that we had to choose from were the Field of Greens salad, Atlantic Salmon, the Calzone, or the Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwich. Their full range of specialty pizzas were also available for us to choose from. Since we were instructed to order just one item per menu per table, our table of four ordered one salmon, one salad, one combination pizza, and one Pizookie sundae to finish things off. The Field of Greens salad was my chosen entree, and it was quite delicious. It came with red peppers, candied pecans, mandarin oranges, purple onion, and mixed greens and was tossed in a light dressing. Any of the items would have paired nicely with one of BJ’s specialty brews, but since this was a working lunch I stuck with water. I can’t wait to go back another time and sample their beer selection. The star of the show was the Pizookie cookie sundae topped with vanilla ice cream. It was definitely worth the indulgence and not quite as sinful when shared with three other people.

BJ’s officially opens for business on Monday, February 28 and I anticipate the lines here to be long for awhile. The extensive menu, courteous staff and intriguing yet comfortable atmosphere make BJ’s a welcome addition to Tyler’s restaurant selection.

hours: Sun – Thurs 11am-12am, Fri 11am-1am, Sat 10am-1am

BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse
210 WSW Loop 323
Tyler, TX 75703
(903) 939-2840

When I needed to provide 10 gift baskets for the Saudi royal family Sweet Gourmet pulled out all the stops and arranged 10 of the most impressive spreads I’ve ever laid eyes on. When President Bush came to town it was a no-brainer to have Sweet Gourmet fix him up with an assortment of Tyler’s finest snacks which I later saw his staff carry to his car. I imagine he enjoyed some Firecrackers on his way to the Cowan Center where he was delivering his speech.

My favorites items to get at Sweet Gourmet are Lammes Longhorns, Texas Firecrackers, D.L. Jardine’s Salsas, and anything Godiva. I would recommend Sweet Gourmet to anyone and will continue to utilize their services as often as I possibly can.

hours: Mon – Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 12:30pm-5pm

Sweet Gourmet
4554 South Broadway Avenue
Tyler, TX 75703-1305
(903) 534-0840

I can’t do the fake nails with the thick acrylic and plastic tips, though their longevity is appealing. So my biggest concern with the gel nails was that they would seem too artificial, like the acrylic nails to do me. Well, this is not the case at all… The gel nails look just like regular, super shiny nail polish, and Serenity has a huge range of colors to chose from. The gel is painted on like regular polish then dries almost instantly so there’s no risk of smudging. I got mine done for the first time two weeks ago, and though the polish has grown away from the cuticle and the color has dulled a bit, there is still no chipping at all. I can’t wait to get a fresh set this weekend. All I need to decide now is what color to get!

Serenity Nail & Spa
120 E 9th St
Tyler, TX 75701
(903) 593-5866

The Junior League of Tyler’s annual Mistletoe & Magic holiday fundraiser brings holiday cheer, unique shopping, and the spirit of community service to Tyler each November, and this year’s event was no exception.

The event takes place at Harvey Hall which completely transforms into a holiday themed shopping wonderland.   Anyone familiar with Harvey Hall knows what a challenge it can be to make the venue look decent, much less good, but during Mistletoe & Magic the event is undeniably and unexpectedly beautiful.   Obviously, this is no easy task and the credit goes to the many Junior League members who donate their time and money to the cause, putting hundreds of hours into the half-week long event, making sure no detail is overlooked.

Each year Mistletoe & Magic begins with the Preview Party, where admission gets you access to view the vendors’ merchandise before doors open to the public, along with unlimited food, drinks, and front row seats to some of the best people watching Tyler has to offer.  After the Preview Party, it’s open range and every man (or woman) for himself as people scramble to purchase everything from jewelry to toffee to home decor to childrens’ toys.   I like to think of Mistletoe & Magic as high-end Canton.  Amidst all the shopping, there was a fashion show, pajama party breakfast, and a raffle drawing for a Rolex watch and a Volkswagen Bug.

Mistletoe & Magic 2010 is over and done, but I am already looking forward to next year.  The event truly is one of Tyler’s finest, put on by amazing people for a wonderful cause.  I better see everyone there come M&M 2011!

Harvey Convention Center
2000 West Front Street
Tyler, TX 75702-6854
(903) 531-1349

The yoga studio Emily teaches at is Windhorse which is located on 9th St. behind Steinmart. It is the quintessential yoga studio, complete with zen, soothing colors, flowing curtains, statues of figurines in yoga poses I will likely never achieve, and yoga mood lighting including recessed, track, candles, and a few cute, quirky lamps.

Windhorse offers a full schedule of classes for all different levels, from beginners to hard core yogis. I attend the sunrise yoga which I have found to be the perfect way to start my day. However there are afternoon, evening, and weekend classes available. The full schedule is available on their website at www.windhorseyogastudio.com. Anyone considering getting into yoga or any experienced yogis out there looking for a new class or change of venue, I urge you too try out Windhorse. You will not regret it!

Windhorse Yoga Studio
208 West 9th Street
Tyler, TX 75701-4100
(903) 592-9642