Lou A.
Yelp
I was searching for a brunch place in the McKinney Uptown area on a Friday morning. Found that Origin Kitchen and Bar was nearby and open for brunch on Friday. I also looked at the excellent reviews on Yelp and photos. I needed a brunch place, which had a varied menu, sufficient parking, and ADA accessibility.
Origin fits the bill on all counts. It is easy to get to. Plenty of parking spaces were available at 10:30 AM on a Friday. The ADA ramps are in the back parking lot leading directly into the rear door of the restaurant, which is the reception area.
Two of us were greeted promptly and seated right away. There are plenty of booths, Four Tops, and bar seating, viewing directly into the open kitchen galley. The atmosphere is casual. The open kitchen concept has bar seating in front of it. Open ceilings are high, well ventilated and include speakers playing music around the restaurant.
The food and beverage menus are descriptive and offer many choices. Most food ingredients here are locally-sourced, I ordered a fresh squeezed orange juice for $6.50 and it was perfect. My main was a perfectly chargrilled free range beef burger with shoestring fries, and a fried egg on the side. Let me tell you that was one of the best $18 burgers I've had in a long time. Worth every penny in today's costs. The burger was charcoal grilled. Furthermore, the taste of the beef was excellent and exuded high-quality. Moist, to temperature, and thoroughly cooked yet tender. My burger had cheese melted on top, which was a quality white cheese. It also included thick cut bacon, which was perfectly crispy even though the melted cheese and onions were on top. And I must mention that the my selection was served with housemade ketchup, I appreciate that ketchup since it is much better tasting and wholesome than any bottled stuff. In summary, this is the best bacon cheeseburger I've ever had.
My date had an egg white omelette served with 2 fresh avocado slices. She commented that it was unbelievably good. I had a taste of it and confirmed that it was outstanding. Light, fluffy, and tasty omelette.
For dessert, we shared the chocolate mousse. It was nicely presented topped with a blackberry, pecan pieces, and a strawberry slices on top. The only issue was that it was served too cold, and therefore too stiff. But the flavor was nonetheless good and we finished it.
Our total food bill was $63 for two people. I consider that reasonable for today's food prices. Note that the food here is such high quality, uses locally sourced ingredients, and is individually prepared to order.
Service here was very good. It seemed our wait person had charge of reception and all the tables on this Friday. He did very well circulating and keeping everyone happy. He did an excellent job explaining the specials for the day and also giving us details on the menu items and how they could be modified according to anyone's dietary needs. I believe this restaurant really does a super job catering to anyone special dietary needs.
I noticed several couples seated at other tables had ordered the champagne Mamosa special service. It seems very popular and fun to share. I will definitely try that next time as the pricing is very reasonable.