Editorial Review

by Contributor

Elegant restaurant tucked in a strip mall in McKinney serves high-end American favorites

12/29/06

A good choice in McKinney

by mmccalpin

My wife and I had our first meal at Marry's on a week-night in the week between Christmas and New Years Day. The place was quiet, but the music and the layout prevented us from feeling awkward.

The staff appears to be largely Chef's Marry's family. Our waiter was older than I, a treat in this world of waiting tables as a McJob until a "real" job comes along. The service was appropriately invisible and the pacing was right.

We chose the wine special based on the price: $3 per glass. I must say that my cabernet and her chardonnay were perfectly acceptable - if simple - and a great value. I regret to say I don't recall the name.

I had a quite good cream of mushroom soup and my wife enjoyed her French onion soup. The crabcakes were crunchy with chopped peppers - really more than I would prefer - but were filled with big pieces of crab and were tasty.

Marry's claim is to create "comfort food with a twist," and the starch choices with my beef stroganoff demonstrated it: I was allowed either penne pasta or rice pilaf covered with the beef, mushrooms, and the brandy cream sauce. The beef was tender and the sauce was the right consistency: not too runny to cling, but not pasty either.

My wife considered her gorgonzola chicken linguine unremarkable. She never found the mushrooms that she thought were part of the description.

The chocolate eruption for dessert was a large, cake-shaped item made from many different chocolate components such as a thick mousse. It was not, as the name seemed to imply, a lava cake. It was good, but too large - even to share - as is sadly normal these days.

The ambience represents a good effort: considering one is in a suburban strip-mall, the place looks good as long as one is facing away from the parking lot.

Marry's represents something all-too-lacking in suburban McKinney: a non-chain restaurant that offers a moderately upscale experience without the pretension or the drive to Dallas.

• Pros: quiet, efficient service; convenient location
• Cons: almost great food

01/22/06

best kept secret in mckinney

by canadiankicker

Marry's Bistro should have the highest rating in mckinney. The food and the service was excellent and the menu had a great variety, the food was all fresh and tastefully prepared. The prices were affordable for the quality of food that we recieved. We will definitly go back.