Chuc Wagon

Doug Hazlewood came up with a picture of one of the Chuc Wagons in Houston. Not the same one next to Waltrip High School on 34th, but close. Thanks Doug!

Salado - Johnny's BBQ

Salado is a pretty small town, settled between Georgetown and Temple on I-35. Johnny's BBQ looks like it has been around since God was a child. The building is rustic (under statement), the wooden floors are slanted and bits of Texas are splattered on the many times painted walls.

Daily specials are served every day, all day long or until they run out. Their specialty is mesquite grilled steaks (hand-cut certified Angus beef) and Texas pit barbecue. No liquor license, just soft drinks, tea, water & coffee to go with their large menu. Besides the steaks and barbecue, Johnny's offers fried chicken, shrimp, chicken-fried steak. There was lots more on the menu but we came to a screeching halt when we read chicken-fried steak (small or large option). We chose the large to split and ended up with 2 nice size chicken-fried steaks served with excellent cream gravy. It came with a baked potato that didn't leave me compelled to write much about (packaged butter, packaged sour cream, packaged bacon bits) but the chicken-fried steak made up for what the potato lacked.

Johnny's doesn't offer a breakfast menu (that I know of), so I'm guessing all the cars (I mean pick-ups) in the parking lot in the early morning hours are locals gathering for coffee. No matter what time of day, the parking seems to be full though, which is a good indicator when I'm trying to decide if this is a good place to try out.

301 Thomas Arnold Rd.
Salado, TX 76571
www.johnnyssteaksandbbq.com

Houston - Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich Shop

I was watching "The Secret of Pizza" on the Food Network one Saturday after the first of the year and realized I didn't know or ever thought about the difference between thick-crust and Chicago deep-dish pizza. After that episode, I had learned something new.

Thick crust is thick. Period. But Chicago deep-dish pizza starts out with a pizza dough pressed down and up the sides of a round heavy pan with probably a 2-3" raised rim. The segment on television next showed a thick layer of cheese placed right on the dough which then went into the oven. After however many minutes, the pizza was brought out, topped with vegetables, meats, more cheese and then sent back into the oven. Now I knew the difference between thick-crust and deep-dish pizza.

We were going to see the Aeroes play the next day so Rich did some quick internet research and found where we could sample a Chicago-deep dish pizza before the hockey game. Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich Shop is in a small and sort of dilapidated strip center in the 1700 block of Airline between W. Cavalcade & North Main. The restaurant (and the strip center) looked like it had been there since the 60's, if not earlier. The first thing I noticed as we walked in was a chalkboard near the order line which read "Whole Roasted Pig, Order In Advance." No problem, I thought, since I've only experienced a whole roasted pig on one occasion and decided it's not my thing. I love ham, bacon, all kinds of pork, I just can't handle the idea of picking meat off a roasted carcass. I know this is a delicacy and very much a tradition in some cultures which I honor, I just can't eat pork that way.

The restaurant was simple with a friendly wait-staff who informed us the deep dish pizza could take as long as 30-45 minutes, which was okay since there were several mounted plasma TV screens around and the Texans were playing New England for their first play-off spot. The extended time also gave me a chance to study the extensive menu and the memorabilia on the walls, which as expected, was rich in Chicago history.

As I said, the menu was extensive with a wide variety of selections that would take some time to decide what to order unless you already knew, like we did. Otherwise you'd be drumming your fingers against your chin trying to decide between gyros, fish tacos, wings, po-boys, burgers, pizza, hot and cold sandwiches, or hot dogs, etc. I felt a little bad for Rich. He was born and raised northwest of Chicago and adores Italian Beef sandwiches. As much as I know he'd have loved Italian Beef, he was a good sport and stuck to the plan...Chicago deep-dish pizza.

The restaurant wasn't very crowded (cold & rainy mid-Sunday afternoon) and the pizza didn't take as long as was promised. After several bites I realized this pizza was different from the one I had seen made on the "Secret of Pizza" segment. Instead of cheese layered over the dough, this pizza started out with a pizza/tomato sauce, then the vegetables, then the cheese. This pizza was warm, gooey and very filling. Small dollups of the pizza/tomato sauce were dropped on top of the pizza which I think could have been omitted and the cheese layer first over the dough might have kept the bottom crust from being soggy. But all in all, it was a good first Chicago deep-dish pizza experience. Especially since the Texans beat the Patriots which had me on cloud nine until the Jets got the crap kicked out of them later that night. So long playoffs...

www.chicagoitalianbeef.org

Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich Shop warrants another trip for us. I'd like to try either the po-boys or the fish tacos. And I know, without a doubt, Rich will be having the Italian Beef.

Schulenburg - Oak Ridge Smokehouse

This funny looking wooden structure with red-trimmed paned windows hanging at odd angles is situated on the north side of I-10 at Hwy. 77 in Schulenburg. I stop there every year on the way back from one of my Hill Country trips to buy at least 4 packages of their beef jerky (peppered beef is their original flavor) for Christmas favorites for my grown kids and grandkids (not grown).

Last December Rich and I stopped there for lunch on our way to San Antonio for my nephew's wedding. This particular day was the oh-my-gosh-I-can't-believe-it's-snowing-this-far-south day. We were seated in the back dining room where we were able to have an enjoyable cozy lunch while gazing through the paned windows at the flurry of snowflakes. I know people from up north (which is probably anywhere north of Dallas) would not find this to be any particular phenomenon, but once again, being a native Houstonian, I sat and marveled at the quiet, white beauty of it all.

Now the food. The Smokehouse offers a huge buffet for $10.95 which seemed a bit high until I checked it out. Fried fish, sausage, fried chicken, BBQ ribs, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, other vegetables, great salad bar (with good salad greens), biscuits, rolls, a drink, and an entire separate dessert buffet with cakes and several types of hot cobblers.

I scanned the menu and my eyes fell on one particular item....chicken and dumplings. Snowy-cold day outside, cozy setting inside and the chance to have one of my all-time favorite comfort foods. The chicken and dumplings were $5.95 which I assumed would be more like a small bowl and had me thinking I'd be picking at Rich's buffet plate. But when the serving-size bowl was placed in front of me, I settled back and zeroed in on my own food. The dumplings were perfect, the chicken tender and the broth was just the right consistency. I was in heaven. After briefly considering rubbing the remains of my meal I couldn't finish across my face, I heaved a satisfied sigh and pushed back from the table.

Before leaving I had to stroll through the gift shop where I've always been able to pick up a couple of fun things for stocking-stuffers for my grandkids. Not only is the Oak Ridge Smokehouse a restaurant but also a deli, bakery and a truly unique gift shop (toys, books, cards) with tons of what I consider "old-time" candy (gobstoppers, limonheads, bit o'honey, tootsie rolls, sugar daddies, sugar babies, sloe pokes, almond joys, hot tamales, jr. mints, milk duds, tootsie roll pops).

So, on your next trip heading west on I-10 out of Houston, make the Oak Ridge Smokehouse one of your stops, either for a meal, driving break or to pick up some of their home-made jerky (try the jalapeno jerky). Come to think of it they also offer turkey jerky (say that fast 3 times).

www.oakridge-smokehouse.com

Canyon Lake - Lucky Sailor Oyster Bar

Sister to Lucky's Kitchen & Cocktails, the Lucky Sailor Oyster Bar is right down the road at the Canyon Lake Marina (280 Marina Drive, Canyon Lake, TX 78133).

We went for happy hour which turned into dinner for 2 reasons. #1: they have excellent outside seating and it was beautiful sunset over Canyon Lake. #2: we eyed the food being delivered as we enjoyed a glass a wine and became particularly interested in a platter of fried shrimp that passed our table. We found what we were looking for under appetizers which turned out to be 8 (EIGHT) hearty buttermilk battered fried shrimp served with cocktail sauce.

Long, long ago in a land far, far away, I lived in New Braunfels (mid 80's). Friends had suggested the fresh fried shrimp at a local restaurant and it was a meal I suffered through. Being a native Houstonian makes me somewhat of a snob when it comes to fresh seafood. And what was referred to as fresh fried shrimp in the 80's was more accurately categorized right beside Mrs. Paul's in the frozen section of the grocery store.

Having added that tidbit, the fried shrimp at Lucky Sailor's were some of the best I have ever had, and needless to say, fresh. As with Lucky's Kitchen, each appetizer and entree was served on unique-shaped plates with the presentation ever bit as classy.

The next time I'm at the Lucky Sailor I have already decided on the Lucky Sailor platter, which seems to be a Canyon Lake favorite (fried fish, shrimp & oysters served with fries, jalapeno hushpuppies and Shipwreck Sailor slaw).

www.luckysailoroysterbar.com

Note: if traveling in the area, check the hours of operation on the website. During the winter season the Lucky Sailor is open mostly in the late afternoons and evenings.

Additional Note: all the places I write about have more figure-friendly and probably smarter choices, but when I'm on a road trip, the figure-friendly options seem to fly right out the window.

Austin - Cover 3

Came in at #12 on the Texas Monthly's "50 Best Burgers in Texas" list. I found Cover 3 to be a really nice up-scale sports bar (similar to BJ's Brewery, if anyone is familiar with that brewhouse). The tables aren't packed in so you feel like your eating off your neighbor's plate and they have some cool round (horse shoe?) shaped booths with soft leather (or leather-like) cushions.

The Chop House Burger (must add the longhorn cheese and applewood smoked bacon) was what was recommended in Texas Monthly, so that's what we ordered. The burger was served on a square ciabatta bun which wasn't too thick and this hamburger was quickly bumped up to the top of our own Texas Monthly list. The flavor of the meat was excellent (sometimes forget how important that is) and the applewood smoked bacon and the thick slice of longhorn cheese MADE the burger. Another added delight were the french fries which were shoestring in shape and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

Food choices can be basic (burgers, sandwiches, salads) or kicked up a notch (grilled Pacific salmon, sauteed shitake mushrooms & scallions with a light soy-ginger broth or the sauteed Gulf snapper with fresh blue crab with lemon caper butter and pistachios). The wine list is extensive and I would also recommend Cover 3 for nice business lunches or dinner.

Cover 3 is located at 2700 Anderson Lane, Austin, TX 78757 and can be found on Facebook.
www.cover-3.com

Definitely a "thumbs up."

Canyon Lake - Lucky's Kitchen & Cocktails

My new year's resolution to bring my blog back up and running has now fallen about 15 days late. So much for NY's resolutions..

Anyway, back to the good stuff. I have been working though to compile info about the places I've visited over the past couple of months so I've got a lot to report. Back in November I mentioned I had eaten at Lucky's Kitchen & Cocktails, which is now my favorite eating and happy hour spot at Canyon Lake. It's a welcome upscale change with a bit of class from the usual eateries in the area, but not someplace to shy away from if you're in shorts and a t-shirt. Once again it's one of those places I feel Jimmy Buffett could call home (are you picking up a pattern here? I seem to seek out these types of places).

My first visit a couple of years ago was for happy hour. I sat at the bar (really cool bar) and watched the bartender juice about 40-50 limes for the margarita machine. No pre-made mix in this place. Good tequila was added and simple syrup, just the way margaritas were intended to be made. My first drink was a glass of wine...and my second was naturally a frozen margarita. It's been a long time since I've tasted a really good margarita. And none of this watered down stuff either which also made me realize I should have skipped the glass of wine and stuck with just one margarita.

Besides the friendly wait-staff and the kick-back-and-have-fun ambiance of the place, the next impressive point made was the menu. It too had class. Example: Mini Shrimp Rolls (5 fried wontons rolled up with shrimp, ginger, carrots, cabbage and garlic. Served with a mango ginger habenero sauce). See what I mean? I think you'd be hard pressed to find another restaurant in the area that made a fresh mango ginger habenero sauce.

My favorite appetizer was the Texas Caviar (Texas jumbo lump blue crab meat perched on top of crispy crostinis & bathed in a rich browned butter sauce). I know it sounds simple and it is but those little crusted rounds were to die for. All the appetizers and entrees have special touches and are served on unique-shaped plates (usually triangular or rectangle) with iron chef quality presentations. Just a lot of extras that add class to the place.

Happy hour draws a large crowd and Thursday evenings are referred to as Bobcat Thursdays (Texas State University, about 30 min. away). Did I mention the wide variety of beer they have on tap?

Visit the website (www.luckyskitchenandcocktails.com) to view the full menu and take a look at the photo gallery. The pictures give you a good idea of just how cool Lucky's really is.

The official address is 18100 FM 306, Canyon Lake, TX 78133 but if you're traveling up FM 306 from I-35 (New Braunfels), Lucky's is past the dam at the top of the hill on the right just past the SilverLeaf Resorts.

And don't feel like you have to wait for summer to stop in. This place draws a crowd year-round. Their sister location is right down the road at the Canyon Lake Marina, Lucky Sailor Oyster Bar (post to follow shortly).

North Padre Island - Padre Island Burger Company

I'd say I'm saving the best for last but in the blogging world, the best shows up first. Sunday morning our long weekend on North Padre was coming to an end. It was rainy and we could have packed up early and got on the road or be lazy, take our time packing and squeeze one more eating experience in before heading back to Houston. Geez, what to do...

We'd passed by the Padre Island Burger Company a couple of times and I really wanted to stop. The building sits close to the intersection of Hwy. 361 (to Port A) and SPID (South Padre Island Drive). A sign "Hippies use the back door" is posted right outside the door which is pretty funny because the back door is the front door, or should I say the main door to the joint.

Two things caught my attention as we entered the building: the menu and the Solara Internet Jukebox. The appetizers list interesting things like sweet potato fries, garlic fries and Dr. Pepper wings to name a few. The burgers were divided into 2 categories: boring (or boring with cheese) and not. The not boring burgers all had unusual names and gourmet ingredients (Rockefeller, First Date, Dr. Pepper, Corpus Cold Front, The Hang Over, Mr. Beckham, etc.) I've got to give a few examples here. The Rockefeller burger has spinach, artichoke, bacon & Parmesan. The Corpus Cold Front is a burger with cream cheese, roasted red peppers & cucumber. And all burger plates (which include either garlic or sweet potato fries) offer 1/2 lb. fresh ground beef, marinated chilled chicken breast or marinated portobello cap.

We split a boring 1/2 lb. beef burger with cheese and got both kinds of fries. It was excellent. Excellent. Excellent (even if it was boring). On the back of the sheet of bright stock paper that is used as a menu is the story of Padre Island Burger Company and the picture and a story about a guy named Kory. He was killed in a traffic accident in 2008 and was project manager of the PIBC. The story said he is largely responsible for the hand-crafted bar, most of the unique, high-quality furnishings and also the beaming white hood of a VW that is mounted on the ceiling, covered with heart-felt messages from many of his friends.

I've never seen an internet jukebox (over 1,000 selections) which looked real space-age (think Jetson). This is a place not to miss. They have drink specials all day and a kids menu which adds "of all ages," which I like. The owner (Jason Johnson) completed his culinary externship at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and seems to be a really cool dude, seeing how he's away from the fancy-pantsy scene and now back on the Island. Padre Island Burger Co. is also part of a restaurant delivery service (www.wineanddinedelivery.com). So check it out the next time you're down at North Padre.

www.padreislandburgercompany.com

North Padre Island - Snoopy's Pier

Snoopy's Pier is located on the east bank of the Laguna Madre close to the SPID (South Padre Island Drive) bridge. The building looks pretty solid but I wouldn't bet on it still being around after a hurricane. The weathered planks on the floor match the guy's face behind the counter who had a box of Marlboro reds tucked in his front pocket. He was courteous but without so much as a smile anywhere around. Rich and I have eaten there for years and have always had the fish and chips, a Snoopy's specialty. However recently my best friend and her husband spent a long weekend down in the area and reported the fried oysters were really good.

Rich stuck with his fish and chips and I ordered the fried oyster sandwich as did the people in front and also behind me. Wow. I was impressed. The oysters were lightly breaded and fried to perfection. The bun (just a nice fresh hamburger bun) was warm and it was served with lettuce and tomatoes. I had to assume the fish and chips were as good as always because there wasn't much conversation between the two of us once our food got to the table.

The inside dining area has a free standing round fireplace and garage doors separate the two outside eating areas. The "outside" part of the outside eating area is open to the elements which include sea gulls perched on nearby pilings. Highways of fishing line are strung around the area to hopefully deter the sky pirates from helping themselves to a piece of fish or a French fry.

The walls of the "inside" outside eating area are worthy of more than just a casual glance. There is a chipped and faded wooden sign that reads "African Queen," small antiquated 3 HP outboard motors (actually at least a dozen or so are mounted on the walls), two huge old fiberglass surfboards (look big enough to be sidewalks), and pictures of sun-burned, happy faces of people after a successful fishing trip with smiles mostly likely tainted with salt-water, grit and possibly a beer or two.

Snoopy's Pier has a Jimmy Buffett feel to the place which invites all sorts of people. It's easy to spot the locals from the tourists or weekenders, but that's a whole other entry I'll save for later.

An ice cream shop is parked next door, appropriately called "Scoopy's" and feel free to arrive by boat to either place. Oh, and one last thing...no checks or credit cards accepted. Cash only but not to worry, a free-standing ATM is perched in the inside dining area for your convenience.

Houston - The 59 Diner

Rich and I went to the Stafford location on Saturday for lunch and it was packed. After being seated at a booth and scanning the menu, I walked the perimeter of the diner, being a casual snoop, to see what looked good. Although it was almost 1:00 in the afternoon, I'd say at least 40% of the people were eating breakfast. I did see some eye-catching onion rings on a burger plate which I did feel compelled to order.
The decor is cool, especially if you were actually around in the 50's to remember the laminate, chrome-edged tables surrounded by chairs with Naugahyde vinyl, the Wurlitzer Bubbler jukebox (which now holds CDs and actually doesn't cost anything to play), the chrome backing on some of the walls or the light fixtures hanging from the ceiling. Large framed black and white photos I found particularly interesting. Especially a picture of the old Texas National Bank building downtown with the globe on top that turned different colors when the weather changed (white=getting cold; red=getting warm; green=good weather; blinking=rain). Time and weather predictions seemed to be a bit simpler in those days. To kids (excuse me...people) of the younger generation would probably find this weather announcement as barbaric as the caveman who looked outside and if the rock was wet...it was raining.
Although "Blue Plate Specials" are offered, I found most people stuck with the breakfast menu (offered all day) or the burgers, which I wish I had ordered, although my chicken tender basket with a side of onion rings was excellent. The milkshakes and malts have been voted the best in Houston, according to a sign posted on the counter and I believe a huge draw is that the 59 Diner is open 24/7.
http://www.59diner.com/

Houston - Bubba's Texas Burger Shack

There is a lot to say about this little dive. First its location. This small building is literally (and I mean literally) sandwiched between the Westpark Tollway and Hwy. 59. Think 2 pieces of white bread (Westpark Tollway & Hwy. 59) and a single slice of Buddig lunchmeat (Bubba's). Sitting outside is preferable since they're only about 3 tables inside but it has you speaking a little louder than usual to be heard over the traffic on the feeder roads. There's an outside window for pickup orders with a tip jar sitting on the window ledge hosting a sign that reads "tipping is good karma". Take out seems to be a good part of their business, especially on Saturdays.

Waiting in line to order is tricky, trying to maneuver around people sitting at the 3 inside tables. And if you need a refill for your ice tea you might have to stand in the order line for awhile to clear one of the tables that blocks a bee-line to the tea container.

There were a lot of buffalo meat options on the menu but I stuck with the beef cheeseburger on a wheat bun. I don't think Bubba was there but a nice woman was taking orders. I glanced behind her to a young man tossing saucer-size patties on the grill. He then threw on some salt & pepper and generously sprinkled a red-colored (paprika/chili powder?) seasoning on the meat from a large shaker container.

Our burgers were delivered to us outside, wrapped in white paper with an American flag toothpick stuck in it. Silverware is plastic but that's okay, I only needed a knife to cut the huge burger in half. The wheat bun was probably the best wheat bun I've ever had. And the meat had a kick to it (the seasoning?) and was juicy without being greasy. The meat/bun/cheese/condiments ratio was perfect.

Now, I need to explain something here. My intent as we were heading to Bubba's was to let Rich order a cheeseburger and I'd take a bite (I've got this cholesterol thing going I'm trying to pay attention to). Once we got there I thought, okay, I'll order my own but I'll only eat half. Well, none of those two things happened. I finished my burger on my own, barely speaking between bites except for a hmmmm sound once in a while.

I was curious about the seasoning and after waiting in line to get to the ice tea refill, I was able to grab one of the people delivering the burgers. She told me the seasoning was called Est Bueno (Es Bueno? someone needs to help me out here) and a mix of over 7 spices (at first I thought she said 70). She said I could buy a bottle of it at the counter for $2.99, which I did. And once I run out, if I brought the bottle back, they'd refill it for $2.00.

Music was playing inside and out (Doobie Brothers, Dylan, Bob Marley, that kind of good stuff) and we sat at our table outside for awhile after we had finished eating, just enjoying the ambiance. The building is painted royal blue and white (many times over) and the floor inside might slant a bit. I couldn't be sure whether I was walking lop-sided because of the flooring or my eyes adjusting to the new glasses I'd just picked up yesterday morning.

Cadillacs, Lexus's, SUVs, pickups, Saturns (vehicles from all walks of life) lined the narrow parking area between the two busy roadways. No frills, no fries, onion rings or tater tots. Although there is a variety of chips to choose from and some other side items (I've heard the jalapeno potato salad is excellent). You can get a Lone Star for $2.00 (other beer is served, Lone Star is just their beer special) or a glass of wine for $2.50. Long necks also come in buckets, all brands $15.00, $13.00 for happy hour.

I'd go back again. And again. And again. I want to meet Bubba. I'm sure there's a story there.

Bubba's Texas Burger Shack is located on Westpark between S. Rice and 610 Loop.
Thanks go to Mere for her comment suggestion on Texas Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives.

PS - tried the seasoning on grilled fish last night. EXCELLENT!

About Blogging

Funny thing about blogs (I compare my learning curve to the Sam Houston Tollway) is that one needs to write, ie blog. I need to see what Webster has to say about the word "blog" or maybe better yet, the origin. I've never been fond of the word, however, it's starting to grow on me.

Since I started Texas Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives I've spent a large chunk of time trying to learn about blogs instead of writing. How do I get Google Blog Search to recognize my blog? How do I get people to follow/read? Where do people go when they can't remember how to find the blog (have already had that question asked). I have few answers to these questions except an inkling to the one about people following/reading the blog. It's a voice that's coming into its own and is speaking louder everyday. Today it yelled, "JUST DO IT!" I thought I heard the word "DUMMY" after the "just do it" but it could have been my imagination.

My husband, Rich, told me several weeks ago to just jump in and see what happens. Rich is a jumper-in-er. Me? Not so much. I want to know how deep's the water, what's the temperature, where's the bottom, what's on the bottom, is there anything in there that might hurt/bite/sting, etc. You get the picture...

Rich has been kind enough to not bug me about it. My alter-ego, on the other hand, has been a total B*^ch lately. So, today is the day I'm going to send out the invite. People can't follow unless they know about it...dummy (my word). I'll keep posting and will still try to find the answers to my questions about the ins and outs of b-l-o-g-g-i-n-g.

Cheers for now.

New Braunfels - Pat's Place

The second on the list of Texas Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives is Pat's Place in New Braunfels. It is an unassuming wooden building located at 202 S. Union. What used to be a local hang-out is now a popular well-known, yet hard to find, place to eat for those floating the Comal or coming from a day at Schlitterbahn's.

Ice tea, water and soft drinks come to the table in mason jars and it's the first time I ever had cheese enchiladas served with chopped lettuce and tomatoes on top (which is now how I love to eat cheese enchiladas). The nachos are slathered with a good quality cheese which always has me pushing the word cholesterol back to the far corners of my brain. The burgers are great, as are the chicken-fried steak, fried okra & macaroni and cheese, which is a favorite on the kid's menu.

Attire is casual, anything except nudity is acceptable I believe, the prices are low and the parking can be tight at peak hours. So can the wait and the service, therefore I suggest going early for lunch, mid-afternoon or after the 6-7 PM dinner crowd.

Pat's Place has been around since 1977. I started going there in 1982 which means the place was only 5 years old, however the wooden floors and some of the antiques have seen many more years. A distinguished old wooden bar wraps itself around the inner half-circle of the place where food as well as full-serve bar drinks are served.

I believe a majority of the locals have found other places to hang their hats, yet I've been there plenty of times over the years where the same group of people sitting in the corner talking were there when I arrived and still there when I left.

Next time I'm in New Braunfels I think I call Pat and ask her for an interview. Maybe she'll tell me what kind of cheese is used for the nachos. I really want to know.

The Idea

The idea for Texas Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives came as Terry (Evans) Gilmour and I were driving across Texas on our Thelma and Louise trip after her daughter's wedding in Midland. She handed me the August edition of Texas Monthly. "I want to go there," she said, pointing to the humongous burger on the front cover, #3 of the 50 best burgers in Texas. Okay, why not, I thought. The burger looked at least 10 inches high and could easily feed a family of four. This was Monday, August 10th. We had until somewhere between Thursday and Saturday to make it to Houston for her to catch a Southwest flight back to Midland. "We'll be in San Angelo around lunchtime, look and see if there's anything there," she instructed.
Being the good co-pilot I am, I thumbed through the feature article and sure enough, one of the 50 best burgers in Texas was in San Angelo. It was ranked #27.
After evenly dividing and devouring the "Miss Hattie's" burger, I wiped the chipotle sauce off my hands as the waiter handed us our check. We had told him about the Texas Monthly thing and his response was, "if you're ever back in San Angelo, come back at night and try our steaks. That's really our specialty." Ending up in San Angelo after dark was probably not ever going to happen, but we nodded and thanked him kindly.
"Well, what do you think of the Miss Hattie's?" I asked after the waiter took away our plates.
"I give it a 7," Terry G. said.
Hmm, I thought. "What makes it a 7?"
That, along with the waiter's comment about steaks being their specialty was the beginning of my idea. A Texas version of Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives.

Fredericksburg - Alamo Springs Cafe

The first official entry to Texas Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives and the second stop on our burger quest was approximately 15 miles outside of Fredericksburg on a road I could have sworn led to nowhere. That is until we came upon a filled parking lot which appeared on the left at the top of a hill along with a small faded sign that read "Alamo Springs Cafe", with an arrow pointed further back to the left. The cafe was perched next to the "Old Tunnel" which is a Wildlife Management Area, an abandoned railroad tunnel and home to over three million Brazilian bats between the months of May and October. Hence, the filled parking lot of people waiting to see the spiral effect of millions of bats making their way out of the tunnel at sunset.

With the haze of white shale filling the air and sticking to my tires like chalk, we had arrived at the home of the 3rd best ranked burger in the state of Texas (according to Texas Monthly).

The place was crowded and smokey. The grill was in the same area as the indoor seating and the exhaust system had either failed from overuse or never worked in the first place. We couldn't exactly find the burger on the menu described in the magazine but the wait staff knew, without a doubt, what we were asking for.

Terry and I found one of the two outdoor tables available (flies were better than the exhaust fumes...our throats and eyes were burning). As we waited for our burger, I noticed a huge chicken-fried steak being delivered to the other outside table. The "porch" was small and the tables were close enough for me to feel comfortable to comment my "wow" loud enough for the recipient of the chicken-fried steak to hear. "It's their Monday special," the guy said, obviously a local and a regular customer. "I always come here on Mondays because of this," he said, pointing to the steak the size of 3 large fists (can't think what else to compare it to). "This thing will hurt ya," he said with a grin.

About that time, a platter was placed in front of us with a hamburger on a jalapeno cheese bun that was stacked, stacked and stacked every bit as high as the one proudly displayed on the cover of the August Texas Monthly. The only addition was a steak knife (Texas toothpick?) piercing the burger all the way down to the platter.

The burger was excellent and had to be devoured with a knife and fork. But I gotta say, I still wanted a taste of that chicken-fried steak.

Anyone know of a special place (doesn't have to be a hole-in-the-wall) to talk about? I've already started my list.

Gone But Not Forgotten - Houston - Chuc Wagun

This segment of Texas Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives is reserved for places that are long gone but far from forgotten in our memory banks. Therefore, I'll begin with the Chuc Wagun, located on 34th St. in Houston, TX, next to Waltrip High School.

Before if was transformed into the Minute Man, I remember the outside structure was actually built to look like a covered wagon. Don't remember if there was an inside area (did that happen when it became Minute Man?), but I do remember walking up to a window, placing the order, well my dad did...it was "bdl" (before driver's license), and walking around the railing to the street side of the building to pick up our order. My dad used to always order hot dogs (hot dogs?) and root beer. Occasionally we'd get chocolate malts. Can't even remember what else was on the menu besides maybe burgers and fries. Any ideas? Do you remember when it became Minute Man? Adl (after driver's license) any errand I offered to run ALWAYS involved driving by the Chuc Wagun, which would have probably been the Minute Man by then, but I still called it the Chuc Wagun.

What is your gone-but-not-forgotten memory of Texas Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives?