Austin BBQ Meet and Eat Feb. 17-18, 2007

quote:

Originally posted by twinwillow

quote:

Originally posted by twinwillow

Originally posted by Al-The Mayor-Bowen


Twin-- Is there someplace on the 'outerloop' around from I-30 to I-35 that we could do a light meal (depending on arrival time of day??) if we leave Monday, and take our time coming down thru Memphis and Texarkana, we are thinking of staying in WEST to check out (pun intended) the Czech food Tuesday evening and Wed. Morning. (TENTATIVE and NOT locked in). Think about a lunch out on the SE side somewhere on Tuesday????
AL

Would you be ok with Mexican? I know of a place in that neigborhood with the very best Tamales. I will find their website and senfd you the link.

Al, check it out. www.lapopulartamales.com

Al, further to your request for a "light meal". There is no such thing in Dallas as a "light meal".

Hehehe, I do understand. (Tamales are fine) We will confirm a Tuesday stop in that area when we get closer to travel time. I am searching for a cafe/sausage market that I recall was located not too far east of Temple. We stumbled on it on a trip about 10 years ago and it had been there "forever". The village was called Zagreb or something close to that. It did start with a Z and was within an hour of Temple as I recall. They made some very good sausage...and had some Big Guy Tee Shirts for sale too!
During those few days before the Saturday BBQ meeting we want to visit West, and The Schulenburg area. There is a good cafe/bakery in Schulenburg that is calling us !!! AND of course I can't go to that part of Texas without a stop in SHINER. So the time allowed will be pretty busy!

quote:

Originally posted by Al-The Mayor-Bowen

Hehehe, I do understand. (Tamales are fine) We will confirm a Tuesday stop in that area when we get closer to travel time. I am searching for a cafe/sausage market that I recall was located not too far east of Temple. We stumbled on it on a trip about 10 years ago and it had been there "forever". The village was called Zagreb or something close to that. It did start with a Z and was within an hour of Temple as I recall. They made some very good sausage...and had some Big Guy Tee Shirts for sale too!
During those few days before the Saturday BBQ meeting we want to visit West, and The Schulenburg area. There is a good cafe/bakery in Schulenburg that is calling us !!! AND of course I can't go to that part of Texas without a stop in SHINER. So the time allowed will be pretty busy!

My son might know. He'll see this and respond.

Looks like it's shaping up nicely....Looking forward to meeting and eating again.

There is a possibility I might be joining all of you if I can find a roundtrip flight for $200 or less.

So far, I found a r/t from Providence to Houston for $198
That could be a possibility....

How long of a drive from Houston to Austin?

quote:

Originally posted by wanderingjew

There is a possibility I might be joining all of you if I can find a roundtrip flight for $200 or less.

So far, I found a r/t from Providence to Houston for $198
That could be a possibility....

How long of a drive from Houston to Austin?

About 3-31/2 hours at the speed limit.

joe

I'm about 99% sure that the Shiner Brewery is closed on the weekends.

I had to take a day off of work to go visit.

Thanks Jim, I guess we will move our Shiner visit to the Friday before the Saturday session. Anyone wishing to do the brewery walk-around and tasteing room is welcome to plan a visit on that day.

The little crossroad village near Temple is Zabcikville on RT 53. I hope that little cafe/meat market is still in business!

quote:

Originally posted by wanderingjew

There is a possibility I might be joining all of you if I can find a roundtrip flight for $200 or less.

So far, I found a r/t from Providence to Houston for $198
That could be a possibility....

How long of a drive from Houston to Austin?

I might be able to drive you if our schedules coincide.

quote:

Originally posted by Oneiron339

quote:

Originally posted by wanderingjew

There is a possibility I might be joining all of you if I can find a roundtrip flight for $200 or less.

So far, I found a r/t from Providence to Houston for $198
That could be a possibility....

How long of a drive from Houston to Austin?

I might be able to drive you if our schedules coincide.

Thanks for the offer Oneiron, however if I do decide to go, I think I am going to rent a car and spend at least one day in Houston before driving up to Austin. It looks like the only flight available would arrive at around noon in Houston on Thursday 2/15 . Then I would have to take a noon flight back to Rhode Island from Houston on Sunday. I hope to "load up on Texas Q" since I would like to make some comparisons and I've been dying to try Williams Smokehouse in Houston too!

quote:

Originally posted by Al-The Mayor-Bowen

Hehehe, I do understand. (Tamales are fine) We will confirm a Tuesday stop in that area when we get closer to travel time. I am searching for a cafe/sausage market that I recall was located not too far east of Temple. We stumbled on it on a trip about 10 years ago and it had been there "forever". The village was called Zagreb or something close to that. It did start with a Z and was within an hour of Temple as I recall. They made some very good sausage...and had some Big Guy Tee Shirts for sale too!
During those few days before the Saturday BBQ meeting we want to visit West, and The Schulenburg area. There is a good cafe/bakery in Schulenburg that is calling us !!! AND of course I can't go to that part of Texas without a stop in SHINER. So the time allowed will be pretty busy!

Unfortunately, I don't know where this place is. When you do find it and if the cafe is still open, I would definitely like to know. Thanks.

Eating-Out-Is-Fun

IT'S OFFICIAL!!

I'm Going!!

quote:

Originally posted by Al-The Mayor-Bowen

Hehehe, I do understand. (Tamales are fine) We will confirm a Tuesday stop in that area when we get closer to travel time. I am searching for a cafe/sausage market that I recall was located not too far east of Temple. We stumbled on it on a trip about 10 years ago and it had been there "forever". The village was called Zagreb or something close to that. It did start with a Z and was within an hour of Temple as I recall. They made some very good sausage...and had some Big Guy Tee Shirts for sale too!
During those few days before the Saturday BBQ meeting we want to visit West, and The Schulenburg area. There is a good cafe/bakery in Schulenburg that is calling us !!! AND of course I can't go to that part of Texas without a stop in SHINER. So the time allowed will be pretty busy!

The rest of you need to visit Shiner's before Al - because he'll clean them out.

One-Iron,
I wish that were true, but it's not!! Shiner does not retail beer at the brewery. If you do the tour you can sample a couple of the 'flavors' in the tap-room after the walk-around, but you can't buy direct from the source! It is possible to find the beer at a number of retail outlets in the area. Their gift-shop does have some nice shirts and other stuff for the shoppers in the group.

When we get a better idea of who will be around the Thursday and Friday we'll organize our visits to fit the group. Since they don't have tours on Saturday we are thinking that we could do that late Friday morning then drive up to Taylor to visit Louis Muellers for a late lunch Friday afternoon. (or vice versa on the sequence)

quote:

Originally posted by Al-The Mayor-Bowen

One-Iron,
I wish that were true, but it's not!! Shiner does not retail beer at the brewery. If you do the tour you can sample a couple of the 'flavors' in the tap-room after the walk-around, but you can't buy direct from the source! It is possible to find the beer at a number of retail outlets in the area. Their gift-shop does have some nice shirts and other stuff for the shoppers in the group.

When we get a better idea of who will be around the Thursday and Friday we'll organize our visits to fit the group. Since they don't have tours on Saturday we are thinking that we could do that late Friday morning then drive up to Taylor to visit Louis Muellers for a late lunch Friday afternoon. (or vice versa on the sequence)

That suits me. I plan to be at my son's house in Austin Friday afternoon. We would love to do Louis Muellers Friday afternoon. Everyone keep in mind-the rush hour traffic from Austin in the afternoon is CRAZY!

We haven't selected a 'Base-Camp' Motel yet, but we think it will be out towards Round Rock so that access to the East and Southeast will take us away from the traffic of 'Downtown' for most of the day-trips.
One of you Texicans may know where there is a Farmers market in the area. We would like to get some fresh citrus (grapefruit) to take home with us, but we don't plan to drive all the way down into the Rio Grande Valley to find them.

I'll be driving up from Houston to Austin Friday morning,so I'm game for Louie Mueller's too!

Where's Round Rock?

quote:

Originally posted by Oneiron339

Where's Round Rock?

Round Rock is north of Austin about 15 miles. Home of Bushie introduced Round Rock doughnuts which are very good.

I think it is sort of a techie place and home of Dell??

I have been there several times and enjoyed the company of Bushie.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

One-Iron,
Our plan seems to be setting up rather nicely. We will spend Wednesday nite in Temple,TX. There is a Czech Heritage Museum there that received some donated items from my Mother's Estate that we hope to visit. Thursday-Saturday nights we will be at one of the La Quinta-like motels that extend out to the north of Austin along I-35 (near Round Rock). I am checking out space and rates and hope to have a reservation in by this weekend. I'll post the location as soon as we confirm it, so you'll know where to find us.

The daily schedule is taking shape pretty well also!

Monday- Louisville to Texarkana area
Tuesday- Texarkana to Temple,TX w/lunch with Twinwillow in Dallas.
Wednesday- Ft Hood/Temple- Museum, Czech Food
Thursday- Schulenburg and the Czech Villages near it
Friday- Shiner Brewery (am) and Louis Muellers (pm) in Taylor,TX
Saturday- Kreutz Market and Whatever evening activity works out.
Sunday- Brunch with the group and hit the road for home.

quote:

Originally posted by Al-The Mayor-Bowen


We haven't selected a 'Base-Camp' Motel yet, but we think it will be out towards Round Rock so that access to the East and Southeast will take us away from the traffic of 'Downtown' for most of the day-trips.
One of you Texicans may know where there is a Farmers market in the area. We would like to get some fresh citrus (grapefruit) to take home with us, but we don't plan to drive all the way down into the Rio Grande Valley to find them.

If i'm not mistaken, there is a nice farm stand in Lockhart where you might get some Texas Ruby Red's. My son and I got some great homegrown watermelon there last summer after a lunch at Smitty's.

for any of those that are interested in architecture, right behind Smitty's (you/we will be going to Smitty's for comparison, no?) in Lockhart is a beatutiful example of an old Texas courthouse.

http://www.texascourthouses.com/Courthouse%20Photos/Caldwell.JPG

oh, and after your trip to Shiner, if you kind of take the long way back to Taylor, if you're an architecture, ZZ Top, or bbq fan, all 3 thirsts can be quenched in La Grange....with this courthouse:

http://www.texascourthouses.com/Courthouse%20Photos/Fayette.JPG and Prause's Meat Market, located right on the courthouse square in La Grange.

We (my son & I) would definetely want to go to Smitty's. It's our favorite. Other than the fact that the BBQ is fantastic, just to have a look at the way BBQ is done the "old fashioned way".
Their ancient smoking pit should be in the Smithsonium some day.
Same goes for the smoking pit at Louis Muller's. For those of you who have never visited these hallowed halls of BBQ, you are in for a real treat!

For those who want to join us at Louis Mueller's on Friday, bring a business card if you have one. I joined the hundreds who have put their card up on the walls of the old Gym almost 15 years ago. It is kinda fun to see that old smoke-stained card up with the others each time we go into the place.

Our main meeting on Saturday will be at Kreutz Market, those wanting to compare the quality of Smitty's to Kreutz will certainly have plenty of time to do so.

Jan and I may take a look at The LaGrange buildings Thursday when we head for the Painted Churches around Schulenburg.

Al, what time do you reckon at Louis Mueller's on Friday?

Since Muellers has supper hours now we might want to consider friday later in the afternoon???
Just thinking out loud, as I have no particular preference. If some of the friday morning arrivals in Houston want to join us then a later in the day time would be better. Perhaps we will hear from some of them to voice their thoughts.

I was just in Austin in September, and we went to Threadgill's on Sunday Morning. The Brunch was an all you can eat affair and you could also order off the menu, which is what we did. You might want to consider that for your Sunday get together before everyone goes home since you can accomodate many different palates.

Hope this helps in your planning. I wish I could join all of you.

quote:

Originally posted by Al-The Mayor-Bowen

Since Muellers has supper hours now we might want to consider friday later in the afternoon???
Just thinking out loud, as I have no particular preference. If some of the friday morning arrivals in Houston want to join us then a later in the day time would be better. Perhaps we will hear from some of them to voice their thoughts.

I'm ok with late Friday if the others are.

quote:

Originally posted by twinwillow

quote:

Originally posted by Al-The Mayor-Bowen

Since Muellers has supper hours now we might want to consider friday later in the afternoon???
Just thinking out loud, as I have no particular preference. If some of the friday morning arrivals in Houston want to join us then a later in the day time would be better. Perhaps we will hear from some of them to voice their thoughts.

I'm ok with late Friday if the others are.

That would actually be better for me too