Houston Food Blog

Photo by Robb Walsh

​The Cliff House is famous for its chicken-fried steak, but it also serves a pan-fried steak with onions and green peppers, something you don't see just anywhere. The restaurant is located just off the Haskell Highway. The building is weirdly constructed -- it was originally a mid-century modern motel. Wednesday is the night the CFS lovers flock to the Cliff House. That's when the restaurant serves an enormous chicken-fried steak that's bigger than the plate and considered by many to be the best in Texas.

Stamford is most famous for its celebrations of Western Heritage. Every 4th of July weekend, it hosts the annual Cowboy Reunion Rodeo, which was founded in 1930 and is open only to working cowhands. The rodeo is held at the same time as the Texas Old-Timers Reunion, an event for cattle industry pioneers; the Texas Quarter Horse Show; and the John Selmon Memorial Art Show, an exhibition of Western Art.

Photos by Nikki Metzgar

​Having seen the steak challenge at Amarillo's Big Texan on television, I had to drop by the restaurant when I swung through West Texas. For the unacquainted, the challenge touted on billboards hundreds of miles away requires you to eat a 72-ounce steak, a baked potato, two fried shrimp, a side salad and a roll within 60 minutes. (You puke, you lose.) If you win, you get girls, glory and a free meal.

The restaurant is all about putting on a show. It provides a free limo ride from a number of motels down the interstate. The exterior features an enormous steer and glittering lights. Inside is a gift shop, slot machines and, to go with your huge steak, huge beers. And that's pretty much all it has got going for it.

Not up to the challenge, we were seated at a standard table in the large dining room with a menu listing the standard-size cuts of meat. We waited for about 15 minutes for our waitress to appear, and once we ordered our food we waited another hour for that. To pass the time we observed the drunken tourists nearby and witnessed one loss and one win of the big steak challenge.

Photos by Mike Giglio

On a recent tail-between-legs retreat from a rough weekend in Austin -- sunburnt from a long float down the river, broke and dehydrated -- the Texas Traveler wanted only two things: free water and cheap sustenance.

Luvianos in Kyle had plenty of both. Water-filled bags hung around the comfortable patio, supposedly to keep the flies away, and the glasses were both tall and wide, and constantly refilled despite the Sunday-brunch crowd.

One regular described the fare as "real Mexican food for real Mexican prices," and a cool $7.50 brought a large huevos rancheros plate with a barbacoa taco for good measure (along with the free chips and salsa, which were decidedly not half-assed).

Photos by Robb Walsh

Highway 59 slows to a crawl as it meanders through the small town of Timpson. At a traffic light I glanced to my left and noticed a barbecue smoker set up in an abandoned Texaco Station. A hand-lettered wooden sign said "Coming Soon: Ribs & More" in red paint. And then over top of that were two small white signs advertising sliced and chopped beef sandwiches. We were on our way to Arkansas and running behind, so I didn't stop.

But my decision nagged at me as I drove. Sometimes the food at the occasional restaurants we call shade-tree barbecue stands in Texas is terrible. But more often, these dedicated amateurs turn out truly exceptional barbecue. You never know when you're going to see one of these places. And when you do, you never know if it will be there next time you drive by. After about five miles, I turned the car around and drove back to Timpson, much to the chagrin of my traveling companions. I just had to check it out.

Photos by Mike Giglio

It started with 24 ounces of Icehouse.

Texas Traveler was headed to Austin Friday morning with a couple of friends. We'd already stopped at the overflowing Buc-ee's along the way, and managed to secure some fudge samples -- peanut butter, rocky road and cookies and cream, all equally great -- to hold us over. Next up was Salt Lick, the famed BBQ haven in Driftwood with the option for all-you-can-eat brisket, sausage and ribs. And at Salt Lick, you can bring your own beer.

The first mistake had been forgetting a cooler, leading to the grudging purchase of an $8.99 Styrofoam box at a ramshackle gas station along the way. The second was filling that cooler with 18 Keystone Lights for the men and 12 Bud Lights for the lady. And the third was the 24-ouncers we grabbed for the road.

At around 1 p.m., the atmosphere at Salt Lick was more festival that restaurant. People were sitting along the stone walls lining the walkway, and on the benches in the courtyard outside, where a guy with a guitar and tip jar played country music for the crowd. The Salt Lick veterans were easy to tell. They walked inside, got their food to go, and brought it into the air-conditioned and relatively empty comfort of the building just across the way.

We signed up for a table. The wait was more than an hour. Which meant that, by the time we made it inside, we were a lethal combination of hungry, drunk and cocky -- enough to openly worry about the sign on the wall limiting dining time to 90 minutes.

Photo by Katharine Shilcutt

Canapes with house-made chevre and garden herbs

As the fourth course of the meal was set in front of me, I marveled at its elegant construction but was more struck by a far subtler thing: Every ingredient in the dish had been plucked fresh from the organic garden outside, no more than a few hundred yards from where I sat, that morning. The first course of tomato salad with house-made chevre and the second course of risotto with sweet basil puree and homemade remoulade had shone brightly, but the fourth course was breathtaking.

The plump round of ratatouille on the plate was wrapped in paper-thin slices of bright cucumber and accented with a snappy emulsion of elephant garlic, while a lively mound of microgreens in balsamic vinegar kept it company in one corner. There was no mistaking the freshness of the vegetables in every crisp bite, bursting with the underlying taste of country soil and hot, summer air.

Tucked away in acres of Hill Country pasture outside of Brenham is the Inn at Dos Brisas. Aside from its obvious accolades -- it's the only Relaix and Château destination in Texas (and one of few in the United States), and it houses the only Mobil five-star restaurant in the state, which keeps it in company with Charlie Trotter and Jean-Georges -- the property and its restaurant offer something more intriguing to genuine lovers of great food: the opportunity to eat meal that's not just farm-to-table, but table-on-a-farm.

Nearly all of the produce used in the restaurant to prepare each day's three meals is grown on site, in organically certified gardens overseen by Johnnie Boyd Baker, who personally tends each patch of vegetables, each clump of herbs and each fruit tree on the property with her crew of four employees.

Photo by J.C. Reid

All of the cheese is made and aged on-site

Aside from the produce, all of the inn's cheese is made on-site with local milk; its bread is baked fresh each day; and they're even experimenting with making their own soft drinks. You'd think that the house-made cheese would be amateurish, but it's some of the finest cheese I've ever tasted. And you'd think that such a focus on vegetables would be boring, but it's actually a revelation. The Inn is a veritable food epiphany.

Photos by Brittanie Shey

The canning process

Up until March of last year, there weren't a whole lot of good reasons to spend a Saturday afternoon in Conroe. But now there's at least one: The Southern Star Brewing Company.

Southern Star celebrated their one-year anniversary this spring with the release of their second canned beer, Bombshell Blonde. Perhaps you've seen the pleasantly phallic logo in your local grocery store -- a royal blue can featuring a cowgirl pin-up riding an A-bomb Slim Pickens-style. Their first canned beer, Pine Belt Pale Ale, has been available for about a year in grocery stores like Central Market, Whole Foods and Spec's, and unlike other Texas microbrews, in other states as well.

The brewing company was born from a partnership between friends who met playing Frisbee golf at a Woodlands course. Both men were homebrewers. One, Dave Fougeron, was a head brewer at St. Arnold's. Symbols of this meeting are displayed at their Montgomery County brewing warehouse -- four well-worn Frisbees hang above the tap wall.

Fougeron and co-founder Brian Hutchins have been giving Saturday brewery tours since the month after they opened the brewery. The building, a pre-fab with lettered instructions still visible in the rafters, is located on a farm road east of I-45, in a small patch of piney woods. It's remote even for Conroe, and it takes about an hour drive from Houston to get there.

Photos by Craig Hlavaty

This past weekend, we visited the hometown of Whataburger, Corpus Christi. The burger chain is based there, but the center of operations will be moving to a bigger complex in San Antonio in the next few months.

The move is a sad one. The chain has been based in Corpus since 1950, when Harmon Dobson opened up its first location there in the middle of town off Ayers Street.

Corpus is teeming with Whataburger locations -- there are almost a dozen by our count off the main South Padre Island Drive artery alone, not to mention the ones in nearby Portland and the two on Mustang Island over the Kennedy Bridge. The chain even has burgers inside Whataburger Field, home of the town's own Double A baseball team, the Hooks, who are a part of the Astros farm club system.

Photo by J.C. Reid

On a recent trip to the Bolivar Peninsula with a carload of friends, I stopped in the small town of Winnie, Texas for a quick pit stop at the local Texaco gas station that had a hot food counter serving mostly pizzas and fried foods.

These counters, combined with a few picnic tables outside the gas station, are becoming more prevalent in small-town Texas. As mom-and-pop restaurants and big chains close in these small towns, this concept is taking their place.

Photo by Jeff Balke

Waco isn't the first place that comes to mind when people think "road trip." Instead, visions of an ultraconservative town that was once the site of an epic, fiery battle between a cult and the United States government spring to mind. Fortunately for Waco, the town actually has much more to offer than the distant memories of a standoff gone bad and a now-vacant field.

Photo by Groovehouse

The entrance to the museum is around the side...

One of the things on tap in Waco is the Dr Pepper Museum, the only non-profit museum in the world dedicated to a soft drink. Sitting in an old, cheerful brick building in downtown, the museum is a tribute to one of the nation's favorite beverages, which was invented (along with Big Red) in the city on the Brazos. For only $7 per person ($3 for children), you can take a trip through three floors of Dr Pepper and soft drink history.

The tour starts with a recreated soda fountain area, complete with stained glass advertising "crazy water" and the creepiest animatronic character since Chucky telling the story of Dr Pepper as he jerks and sways his way through the (rather dreary) tale. Move along past this section quickly, especially if you have easily bored or frightened children. It gets better.

Photo by Robb Walsh

Buffalo Gap is a hamlet outside of Abilene whose main claim to fame is the Perini Ranch Steakhouse. The current issue of Food Network Magazine claims that the Perini Ranch Steakhouse makes the best burger in Texas. I love the Perini Ranch and count Tom Perini among my friends. But read the menu -- it's not a burger, it's a "Hamburger Steak." It doesn't even come on a bun unless you request one.

The Perini Ranch Hamburger Steak is a half pound of quality beef, ground on the premises, and topped with cheese, green chile and mushrooms. This is what they called a "Top Chop't Steak" at Austin's old Nighthawk Chain, or a Salisbury steak elsewhere. It is a fine Texas tradition, but it isn't a classic Texas hamburger.

Photos by Robb Walsh

This is the week that the "Dublin" signs on the highway are changed to read Dr Pepper, Texas.

The 118th Dublin Dr Pepper Birthday Festival climaxes this weekend with an exciting schedule of events, including live music by Layne Golden and the 10-2-4 Band.

There is a charity run and a kid's bike race on Saturday and free tours of the plant. Best of all, there's free Dr Pepper and birthday cake all day long. Saturday night's grand finale will feature a hot air balloon exhibition.

Photos by Robb Walsh

James DeWolf and rabbit sausage

The Hill Country town of Fredericksburg is the capital of the Texas German Belt. You can pretty much tour the whole town by driving up and down Main Street. The coolest restaurant in town is Rebecca's Table next door to the Rather Sweet Bakery and Cafe. Both businesses are owned by the famous baker and chef Rebecca Rather.

The last time I stopped by her assistant chef, James DeWolf, was making rabbit sausage. The creamy meat filling made the fat links look like bratwurst. The sausage was served on a bed of Napa cabbage with apples, onions and bacon braised with vinegar and chicken stock.

German food in Fredericksburg ranges from sauerbraten and dark beer at the enormous Friedhelm's Bavarian Inn to agurksalat and Riesling at the charming little Der Lindenbaum, an old house with wooden floors and lace curtains. For breakfast, don't miss the cinnamon rolls at Dietz Bakery, but be forewarned -- it's only open for a few hours in the morning, then they hang a "Sold Out" sign on the front door and lock up. The best beer in town can be found at Fredericksburg Brewing Company, the oldest brewpub in Texas. Like every other business mentioned, its located on Main Street.

Photo by Robb Walsh

My old friend Bud Kennedy from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram e-mailed me this morning. Since his favorite Tex-Mex joint in San Antonio, Karam's, is out of business, he wanted some suggestions on where to go in San Antonio for old-fashioned enchiladas. I told him that Blanco Cafe was my favorite, and I recommended the lunch special with fajitas and cheese enchiladas on the same plate.

Blanco Cafe still uses the old red tortillas for their enchiladas, and while they aren't served in chili con carne the way Bud likes them, the chili gravy is pretty tasty. The restaurant is small and funky too. I also told him about Jacala, one of the many places that claims to have invented puffy tacos, and Mexican Manhattan downtown, which is another Karam family-owned restaurant. Casa Rio on the Riverwalk may be a tourist trap, but it is very old. And for a really eccentric experience, there's Brown's on Hackberry, a Tex-Mex joint by Anglos for Anglos. Any other suggestions?

Photos by J.C. Reid

Yes, those are toy alligators in pink boas playing accordions

Summer travel season is here, and soon Mom, Dad and the kids will all pile into the family truckster and head out on the open roads for two weeks of familial bliss.

Unlike yesteryear, when kids had nothing more than a game of "I Spy" to keep them occupied, kids today have DVD players and video games. But some things about the summer family vacation never change. For instance, there is always the obligatory "rest stop" for lunch and bathroom breaks at a gas station or restaurant along the highway.

In Texas, one of the most popular of these travel oases is the ubiquitous Buc-ee's Travel Centers, with its lovable chubby-cheeked beaver mascot. What many people don't know is that before there was Buc-ee's, there was Stuckey's. And although there are only a few standalone Stuckey's left in Texas, one of them is prominently located on I-10 between Houston and Beaumont.

Photos by Robb Walsh

Should you find yourself hungry while passing through Aggieland, I recommend a stopover at the original Koppe Bridge Bar & Grill on Wellborn, just south of FM 2818, for a burger basket. The restaurant buys fresh-ground 80/20 chuck and has it delivered daily from a local meat market. The kitchen crew hand-forms the patties. The standard size is half a pound, but there is also a quarter-pound version for dainty eaters. The bun is expertly toasted, and condiments are fresh. Add some bacon, pickled jalapeños and mayonnaise from the list of extras to a cheeseburger all-the-way, and you've got yourself a world-class burger experience. The fresh-cut french fries served on the side are exceptional.

The restaurant also serves one of the best corny dogs anywhere, but if I am not mistaken, it is only offered on the children's menu. Restaurants generally frown on adults eating kids' meals. So tell the lady at the counter you promised junior you'd bring a corny dog home, and take it to go.

Photos by Robb Walsh

Messina Hof Winery makes some of the best wines in Texas. In fact, their "Angel" late-harvest Riesling won the Best in Texas award at the Rodeo several years in a row. The winery offers tours for the public and group tours by reservation. There's a tasting room where you buy wines and snacks for a picnic, and there's also an elegant restaurant where you can drink wine with a nice meal. The restaurant overlooks a vineyard, and at this time of year, the greenery is lovely.

Photos by Robb Walsh

Whenever I drive to San Antonio, I try to stop for barbecue in Luling. There is no better breakfast in the world than juicy brisket and "wet" links with a sleeve of saltines. You don't have to worry about arriving before lunchtime -- City Market, the legendary barbecue joint on Davis Street, opens at 7 a.m.

First you visit a smoky room in the back, where the butchers carve smoked meats and serve them up on red butcher paper. Then you go up to the cashier, where you get your drinks, barbecue sauce, knives and napkins.

photos by Robb Walsh

Chef Scott Cohen was trying out some new sandwiches for the summer menu when I stopped by San Antonio's hottest new restaurant, Brasserie Pavil on Loop 1604 at Huebner. When I first walked in the door and took in the high ceilings and dark wood, I was immediately reminded of the spectacular Brasserie Georges in Lyons, a restaurant that first opened in 1836. Brasserie means brewery in French and the oldest examples of the genre, like Brasserie Georges, brew their own beer. Brasserie Pavil doesn't brew, but the bar features Texas microbrewery beers from Real Ale, Live Oak and Saint Arnold.

A graduate of the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, chef Scott Cohen trained under Georges Blanc and Roger Verge in France. He has put together a French-inflected Texas beer food menu that features burgers, sandwiches, seven steak frites variations, seafood platters, house-smoked salmon, and some amazing French fries served in a paper cone. The casual menu seems to suit the recession-era zeitgeist because the place was packed.