Those of you who have been in the area for several years probably have fond memories of Little Pete’s at Grapevine Lake – pulling up for some dinner in your boat, enjoying the beautiful scenery and catching up with friends.
If you do, I have some great news for you! The old Sneaky Pete’s location re-opened four weeks ago as Chris’s at the Marina and it is just as awesome as you remember! And new owners, Chris and Graciette Reese, knew they were buying a local institution when they purchased the building at Twin Coves so they spoke with the previous Sneaky Pete’s owners to figure out what the locals loved about the restaurant back then and how they could bring it back with their own twist.
Chris Reese is a great guy who really has an inspirational passion for what he does. He first went to culinary school to pursue his love of cooking and then went back to school to become a teacher. He opened up his first restaurant out in Charlotte, North Carolina, moved here to teach in McKinney and Plano ISDs, and then decided to open up Chris’s at the Marina and pursue that full time.
What I love about his approach is that he works very carefully to perfect what he serves. So, the current menu is somewhat limited because he’s still experimenting in the kitchen to bring the very best dishes he can to his customers. In the near future, they hope to add breakfast dishes, desserts and I heard mention of some brisket making it onto the menu soon as well.
But what we had today was phenomenal, so I’m really excited to share it with you!
We started out with some of their most popular appetizers – fried pickles and onion rings. The batter on both was the perfect blend of spice and crunch. And you’ll notice that Chris’s fried pickles look a little different than most. Most places do fried pickle chips, but Chris decided to do fried pickle spears instead. I thought that was the perfect decision because there’s a great juiciness from the spears that you just don’t get from chips.
Eating at Chris’s we knew we had to get a couple of burgers, so Kari got a bacon cheeseburger with homemade fries and our part-time man Aaron got the plain cheeseburger. Everything is made fresh and it all tastes that way – it comes out steaming hot and ready to eat! And their burgers are served on Hawaiian bread buns which lend a hint of sweetness to the burger.
*Side note: We can’t talk about Chris’s burgers without mentioning “The Crane.” The Crane is their monster of a burger that only a select few have been able to conquer thus far. Check out the size of that thing!
And I was happy happy happy with my fried catfish platter that I ordered. The HUGE pieces of catfish were perfectly flaky and battered… I’m filled with happiness even just thinking about it again. The catfish also comes served with homemade fries as well as some of the homemade slaw which is fresh, creamy and delicious.
The best part is that you get to enjoy all of this great food while enjoying the beautiful scenery of the lake and watching the boats pull into the marina. It’s really a great spot and was a gorgeous location to eat lunch this week.
So, if you need to get away from the main drags, head out to Twin Coves Marina at Grapevine Lake and go on down to Chris’s at the Marina. They have their house band, One Bad Habit, that plays live shows out on the patio and we hear it’s standing room only on the weekends.
I think you’ll really enjoy the nostalgic feeling of being there and will enjoy the food, staff and atmosphere immensely.
When you see Chris walking around and talking to customers, tell him Jay Marks sent you and then chat it up with him. He’s a great guy and we really enjoyed dining with him and his staff.
Hope all you Foodies have a great and safe weekend – full of great food!
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