Canyon Café By Jim White If you spend any time in North Dallas or Plano you’ve probably noticed a blossoming restaurant row springing up along the Tollway north of Trinity Mills. The area’s becoming a restaurant boomtown, and there’s more on the way! This is great for business-folk who trek through the concrete corridors of commerce up north. A convenient outpost for Southwestern cuisine is Canyon Café. It’s from the same people who bring us Sam’s Cafe in Preston Center and at The Crescent. The dining room is shaped like a wagon wheel and has a campfire in the middle, with wood ceiling beams that remind one of spokes. The restaurant works hard to achieve a southwestern feel. The colors are southwestern. The menu items sound southwestern. The food is good-it’s just not exceptional. Most of the things we tried, while satisfactorily prepared, were somewhat bland and formulary. Several different types of quesadillas are served. Grilled Chicken Quesadillas ($7.99) were light on the chicken but had a tasty flavor because of the caramelized onions. An interesting appetizer change of pace is Sedona Spring Rolls ($4.99); chicken and vegetables wrapped in flour tortillas served over chipotle barbecue sauce. If you have a group, The Coyote Sampler ($12.99) gives you an assortment of appetizers. Salads may be the highlight of the menu (especially during these dog days). I’d recommend the Sonoran Chop Salad ($8.99) with a choice of grilled shrimp, tuna or chicken. I enjoyed Hannah’s Roasted Chicken ($9.59) very much. It was tender and served over chile mashed potatoes with grilled vegetables. The chipotle dipping sauce is excellent. A sample of my companion’s Southwest Chicken Piccata ($9.79) and I agreed with his evaluation, “Average”. There’s lot of variety, including salmon, pot roast, shrimp and carne asada, and I’ll be back to sample more. In the meanwhile, I can only hope they train their waitstaff to be more attentive and less intrusive. How is it some of them manage to interrupt the punch line of every good story and then vanish when you need something? Canyon Café 17808 Dallas Parkway (at Briargrove) 972-267-0506 Send me an Email: jwdineline@aol.com