Restaurant Wars DFW - The first two weeks

Since I'm working and living up in Arlington in the Dallas - Fort Worth area, I get to try a bunch of new restaurants. I figured I would do reviews and pass them along to you all. But I'm only going to do the laces that aren't in the Austin area. So let's get started. I will use a scale of 1 to 5 for my ratings with 1 the lowest and 5 highest. Boomer Jack's - Lincoln Square: There are a number of locations around the area but not sure if full on chain restaurant. I sat at the bar and the bartender, James, was very nice and attentive. Good beer selection with a lot of local and other craft beers. They had the Rangers game on so I enjoyed being able to watch. Food was pretty good. I had an avocado chicken club salad. The lettuce was cut a little small but the flavor was there. Overall, I would give this place a 4.0. Will definitely go back. The Keg Steakhouse and Bar - Arlington Highlands: This is a chain restaurant but not one I was familiar with. Nice atmosphere - looks like a fun date place. Again, I sat at the bar (it's just easier when you're by yourself). Jesse was the bartender and he was super nice! Very helpful and fun to talk to - talked about the area and fun things to do. I had a very nice glass of red wine and decided steak was the way to go for dinner. And I'm so glad I did! Excellent steak - cooked perfectly medium, very tender, and loved the bonus bleu cheese crust. Jesse recommended the twice baked potato for a side and that was a great choice. This restaurant gets the top score of a 5. I couldn't find anything wrong with it at all. Piccolo Mondo - Lamar and Collins: This restaurant is in a strip shopping center with Whole Foods as the anchor store. The décor is nice but simple. They have music almost every night. I enjoyed piano and saxophone when I was there. I also got to enjoy Emily, the very nice bartender. She was very nice and helped me make my dinner choice along with letting me sample a couple of wines. I also got to talk to the owner who is from Siena which is one of my favorite cities in Italy. Really delicious food! I had orecchiette arrabiata with Italian sausage. I decided I needed some limoncello after dinner and that was good. They had my favorite Italian dessert - cannoli so I had to order one to go. Had that today and it was good! I give Piccolo Mondo 4.8. Rio Mambo - Lamar and Ballpark Way; Pretty outside of the restaurant but it is kind of bland inside. Again, went to the bar area but no seats directly at the bar so had to sit at a little table. As you can't really tell from the name, this is a Tex-Mex restaurant. I got chips and salsa quickly. The red salsa was ok and the green was much better and spicier. Service could use some help. My waitress came over and I asked for water and I asked about a couple of beers. She brought me tastes of the beer. When she returned, I told her my beer choice and asked again for water which had not come and I also ordered an appetizer. My food came but no napkin/silverware brought. Had to ask one more time for water. I finally got that and then ordered my entrée. I ordered tacos al carbon. They were pretty good. Honestly, the chips and my beer were the best part of the night. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't all that. I might try them again and sit somewhere else. However, my rating for this particular trip is 3.5. That is all for the first installment of Restaurant Wars DFW!!