Rockwall Bites - Wade's Landing - The Rockwall Times

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Wade’s Landing, 308 N Fannin St, Rockwall, TX 75087

Short Version

This place is great. As in, this would be a place I would choose over other “fine dining” establishments in the Rockwall Area. The food is great, the service is amazing, the drinks are well crafted, and the portions are ample. Expect to spend a bit more than your average chain place but know that you’re getting value in quality and service to match. Remember, if you pull upfront, you will have to valet, or you can park anywhere in Downtown and walk over. This place is worth the visit, just go.

Long Version

Okay, this place has been around about 4 months now and if you ever spend a moment online reading reviews in places like Rockwallian or Rockwall Tx My Town as Facebook groups you cannot go a single day without seeing that someone has posted about this place. This place has been on my radar since it opened but with the reviews reading like a bipolar Ken or Karen, I wanted to let things settle down a bit. One day, the reviews would be glowing with nothing but good and admonishing things to say. Then there would be 4 days straight about how the service is bad, and the food is mid and overpriced. It has been the most polarizing restaurant to open in the Rockwall area in recent years.

So, if you are like me and have been slightly confused on the validity of these damning and the glorifying reviews, I will do my absolute best to provide you with a detailed recounting of my visit with my wife and Daughter.

When we arrived at 4:58pm on Saturday for a 5pm reservation I made online, there were only a few vehicles on site. The Valet is very prompt and was waiting at my wife’s door to open it as we came to a stop then promptly opened the door for my daughter in the back. I do love Valet Parking, especially when it is complementary. Though, I came ill prepared and only had a single $1 and felt bad at the end of the night when I came to get my vehicle. Though, my car was parked next to the door so it at least he didn’t have to run across the street in the rain or anything. Still though, plan to bring a $5 or something when you go.

When you are approaching the door there is small patio areas set up to the left of the door, for what I assume is to provide a comfortable waiting area for patrons instead of standing around. It will comfortable seat maybe 5- 6 adults. The entry door is a large and wooden with no windows to see it. It gave me the feeling of being a elevated private venue. As you enter, you are immediately standing at the hostess standing. The small entry room feels a bit tight if you have a large party, most will be waiting outside the door. They made smart use of their space here. As you enter the main dining area there are a few tables set up right inside the door in more relaxed seating and tables.

As you enter the dining area, and this is especially true if you have ever visited this building in the past, you notice how bright, open and clean the space feels! I cannot tell you how many times we visited here in the past and it just always felt very dark, and brooding. I think that may have influenced the servers because they never seemed all too happy. I love a bright and cheery atmosphere though, as I assume most people do. The bar is well stocked, bright and looks very inviting.

Okay, so, let’s get down to the food and drinks. When we sat down, we were surprised by such a simple menu. You have something for most anyone. There 9 appetizers, 4 salads, 8 staple entrees and 2 revolving house entrees with a Butcher and Market Catch option that rotates, 5 options for sides. Not a hard menu to make navigate. We started our meal with 2 appetizers, the Million Dollar Deviled Eggs, and Cauliflower Dynamite, for our entrees we had the Market Catch, hot chicken sandwich, and the Fusilli Alla Vodka with a side of Broccolini Mash.

The cocktail menu has 16 staple cocktails, and they offer a cocktail special also. We did try a few of the cocktails also. We had the Whiskey bent & Hello Bound, Watermelon Moonshine, Friends in Low Places, It’s Five o’clock Somewhere, Wishful Drinking and the Cocktail Special. Ill break down everything below and share how it all went.

Appetizers:

Cauliflower Dynamite: $10
Roasted Cauliflower, Dynamite sauce, Toasted Panko, Herbs

This was good. It reminded me of a version of fried cauliflower I’ve had at places like Buffalo Wild Wings, though these are a bit elevated. The panko crumps are crisp, there is no visible oil. The herbs look good but did not alter the flavor much with the dynamite sauce being the star of the dish. Something I want to try making at home one day, it was just good, light and flavorful.

Million Dollar Devil Eggs: $13
Deviled Eggs with Bacon Jam and Pickled Peppers

Yep, exactly how it is described. You are served 5 deviled eggs; they are cut on the short bias then filled with the yolk filling to the same stature of nearly a whole egg. Topped with a dollop of the bacon jam, and some thinly sliced peppers. They are plated very artfully and look amazing. I just wish it wasn’t such a time suck of a dish to make so it didn’t cost $13 because I would easily enjoy a whole order to myself. The filling is very natural tasting without a big presence of mustard or vinegar flavor. You get a clean egg yolk flavor with a very subtle flavor in the background. I tried the filling a few times with nothing else and just couldn’t figure it out. But well worth it and very good.

Entrees

Hot Chicken Sandwich: $16
Upgrade to Truffle Fries $3

Buttermilk Freid Chicken, Nashville Hot Sauce, Pepper Jack Cheese, Coleslaw, Dill Pickles.

My daughter said it was one of her favorite chicken sandwiches that she has ever had. The chicken is crispy, like, Crispy fried chicken kind of crispy. Not the standard soft breading found on most chicken sandwiches. She thoroughly enjoyed it. The hot sauce was pretty good, she said it was probably homemade or just one she had never had before. The surprising part was that the breading stayed super crispy even 30 minutes after. She cut the sandwich in half when it was served, and we got lost in conversation about the location. It was just so bright and cheery! When she went back to the sandwich it was still crispy, even though it was cold by then. That is a huge bonus in my book. Worth the purchase and would get again. The truffle fries were good. I am a big fan of truffle fries though and ended up eating half of my daughters’ fries. So, I would say they are worth the upgrade for sure!

Fusilli Alla Vodka $21.00
Add Chicken $5.99
Side of Broccolini Mash $5
Fusilli Pasta, Vodka Sauce, Calbrian Chili, Parmesan, Fresh Basil

My wife ordered this and added the Chicken. Since I am allergic to chicken, she requested the chicken on the side so I would be able to try the pasta. I am glad she did too, because that was a great bite of pasta. The pasta was served al dente, so it had a bit of body left to the pasta. That way, the pasta has a slight resistance when bitten into, and it a bit firm without being hard or chalky. Hard to get right, but amazing when it is. The sauce was good and paired well with the dish. The fresh basil was cut into slivers and with plenty available you could get a bite with fresh basil every time. That was a nice touch. I did not get to try the chicken, yet my wife said it was very good. The chicken had a great char and was full of flavor. The exterior of the chicken was seasoned tastefully so you could still enjoy the flavor of the chicken. She was confident it must be brined as the flavor went through the whole chicken and not just the exterior. It was very juicy too, and well, that is not always the case even with elevated establishments.

Market Catch: $42
Blackened Red Fish, Grit Cake, Braised field Peas, Collards, Crispy Okra

This is a special that changes from week to week I believe, so this may not help many people to know what to order but I figured it is still worth sharing. Who knows, they may bring it back again, and I can assure you I will be getting it. The portion of red fish they serve is nice sized. I would guess an 8oz fillet if someone put a gun to my head and said I had to guess. Can I just say that all the plating is artful, and you can tell that someone put thought into every part of these dishes, even the plating and the plates them self. I think that everything was served on a different plate. This dish was served in a wide brimmed bowl that, if you were to turn it upside down a kid could wear it for a hat with a 6-inch brim. Maybe that gives you a better picture in your mind of how the plating looked on this dish. It worked so well with this dish too. Underneath the fish filet there was a large Grit Cake. I was satisfied with the size, as I was picturing a small cake, this was a 3x5x2 grit cake that was resting in the center of the dish. The fish was draped across the top, with the field peas (that’s black-eyed peas in case you didn’t know) surrounding the cake. I was pleasantly surprised by the large bits of smoked ham or thick cut bacon in the peas! The whole dish was so hearty, filling, and flavorful I kind of wish I was having it now while I am writing this. Oh, let’s not forget the crispy okra. Again, I was thinking it would be a few slices of fried okra. Nope, it was 5 whole okras, breaded and fried. Man, this was just such a. good dish!

Cocktails
Whiskey Bent & Hello Bound $16
Sagamore Rye Barrel Aged Old Fashioned, Aged 4-6 weeks.

This drink has no other description other than above. The server shared that they do their own aging on the Sagamore Rye in barrels in the back. So, it is not always available. This was a fantastic old Fashioned. It was smoooooooth. Yeah, I put that many o’s intentionally, that wasn’t a typo. It is topped with a cherry. I would like to note that the cherry is included and even though it wasn’t listed. Like an Old Fashion is supposed to be. Unlike a few other places here locally that argued with me and then charged me $1 for each cherry. Anyways, this drink is perfect. This is the only item on the menu that did not have a price, I thought that being noteworthy as I am not sure why. There was another drink for $16 on the menu so maybe it was just a typo and left off the menu.

Watermelon Moonshine $14
Elijah Craig Bourbon, Fresh Watermelon Juice, Local Hot Honey, Fresh Lime Juice, watermelon wedge.

Dangerous and easy to drink, that’s my only caution tag here. The very first drink I took gave me watermelon pucker vibes so I could not shake that association the entire time I drank it. It was very sweet, that bourbon gets lost in this drink. With the other stuff going on, they could get away with using a lower shelf bourbon on this one, drop the price $2-$3 and still sell these like hotcakes. It is a very much a summertime drink in my opinion.

Friends in Low Places $12

Dewer’s 12yrs, Orgeat (before this visit I had never heard of this ingredient and will add it to my mental list. I am allergic to Almonds and did not realize this is a syrup made from almonds, sugar and rose water) Ginger Liquor, Cinnamon Honey, Fresh Lemon Juice, Candied Ginger.
This drink is just good. Think of an old fashioned with a twist. It was very smooth to drink, and the candied ginger was a nice treat to eat after I enjoyed the drink. I did not get any hints of lemon or cinnamon when drinking it, those flavors may have been subtle notes to complement the Dewer’s. This was amazing. It is a cocktail and brought to your table with a smoking disk on top. They remove it at the table, so you get the mini show of the smoke wafting around in your cup. This is a great drink.

It’s Five o’clock Somewhere

Wishful Drinking $13
Towns Vodka, Elderflower Liqueur, Lime Cordial, lemon Cordial, Pink Grapefruit Juice, Basil

Good clean drink that was refreshing and is grapefruit forward. The other citrus from the lim and lemon do not come through as much but add to the citrus backbone in the drink. The addition of the basil leaf gave it a subtle touch of flavor that complemented the drink well.

Cocktail Special
Honey Dew – Vodka, Melon Liquor, Honey Dew Basil Reduction, Lemon Juice, Basil, Mellon Balls

This drink is a light vibrant green and just looks good with those two skewered melon balls laid across the drink when they serve it. Very light, refreshing, and has a crispy flavor. Something you could drink on the, on the patio, or by the pool and feel you are on vacation.

Desert

No Name * I am calling it Peaches in a blanket.

This was an amazing little fried pie filled with fresh local peaches, then coated in cinnamon and sugar and served with vanilla ice cream! The only think I would change is maybe go with “Its Fate Creamery” for the vanilla because it is amazing. We shared 2 of these between the 3 of us, and wished we order 2 each. We were stuffed after dinner, but these really were just so good. Not overly sweet, the fried pie had zero signs of oil of any type. Just amazingly crisp. No clue if this is a normal item, as the desert is a verbal menu only. So, when our server mentioned this as the first item on the list, we didn’t even wait to hear the rest. I want some right now… With a cup of coffee. Ugh. The worst part of doing these reviews is right now, it is 11pm, days after eating and now I want to eat it all over again.

During our visit, I witnessed a well-oiled machine. I watched bussers patrol around looking for dishes, servers where all very attentive, management was up and walking around, touching tables, shaking hands and being seen. I watched a server spill a glass of water from their serving tray. The moment that happened it was like everyone’s training kicked in. The server spilled a drink, and two more appeared within moments, to help with towels. The original server disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a full mop and bucket, then the servers disappeared and came back with new dry towels to completely clean and dry the area, so it was ready for guests. Tables were moved, chairs wiped down, and nearby guests still never lost a beat on service as other servers swooped in to handle requests. This whole dance took less than 2 minutes. I was more amazed by that than most anything I have seen in any restaurant the last few years. It is clear they are trained well, and they all work very well together. That is an impressive feat all on its own.

When we left at around 7pm, this place was packed, with not a single table inside available for seating. So, if you are looking to go and do not have reservations, shoot for 5pm. However, if you are wanting to go and its after 6pm, I will say you most definitely will want to plan on making reservations to make sure you can get a table. They mentioned that are some HUGE plans for this place in the coming year. Everything from a temp controlled patio area, to a upstairs cigar lounge. I am excited to see this place succeed and to see what all they add on as time goes on.

Well, if you stuck around this long, you have read a good deal, so I thank you for your time and patience. Wades landing is an amazing place and will be a local gem for many years to come. I am always transparent, and I have never been compensated for a review. I have never taken food, money or any other form of compensation in trade of a review either before, during or after. This is a first for me to have anything given to me, so I want too completely honest. When the bill came, the desert was not on the menu. I was told when the server dropped it off, that it was a gift from management. Maybe it was because we ordered 2 apps, 3 entrees, and 6 drinks. or maybe it was because someone recognized me. But I can assure you, it didn’t shade my judgment in the least.

I hope you enjoy reading these reviews as much as I like to write them. Again, thank you for taking your time today to read this, and I hope you find time in your schedule to go check out Wades Landing, I am glad that I did!