The stars at night are big & bright...

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

...the Roadfood army or the US Army

Uh, the...



...National Lard?

Thank you for the tribute,BB. I don't quite know what to say except that is quite an honor to know a roadfood champion such as yourself. Look forward to seeing you again either on the road or in Pittsburgh, a city in whih i have not spent nearly enough time.

Saturday April 26 cont.

The bus had only gone a short distance down the road from Southside Market when it pulled over for an unknown reason. From the row in front of me, ChiTownDiner makes a suggestion, "Maybe we should all jog to Lockhart!" Unfortunately, I was way too full and lethargic to give him the pummelling he deserved for such an idea!

The first place we stopped at in Lockhart was Smitty's.

This place is on the short list of places with the best Roadfood atmosphere. As long as you don't mind smoke. Like CTD's buddy Rick said, "Now I know what it is like to be a fireman."

Some behind the counter scenes.....






I don't think the guys who work here are used to being such the center of attention.


Look at the soot and smoke on this brick wall!


They had the room upstairs reserved for us.


Excellent assortment of sodas available!


Prime rib and sausage.



Here is Rick showing us how it is done!


Unfortunately, by the time Johnny had placed his order, they were out of the prime rib. But, due to generous donations from Marc Bruno and Bruce & Sue, we got to sample some. Thanks again!

There are few things Johnny enjoys more than me photographing him while he is eating.

See what I mean?


This is Jay and Mary Jane, from California.

I met them on last year's bus tour and was happy to see they were back. Jay collects t-shirts from all the Roadfood places he visits and I'm sure he has quite the collection! I hope to see you on next year's tour.


More crowd scenes.....




Kerry sure seems to be enjoying his meal.

I don't think ChiTownDiner stopped smiling the entire day.


Michael Stern had mentioned on the bus that Smitty's was his favorite of the places we were visiting today and I can see why.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=584&RefID=584

More to come.....

Edited to correct a mistake, noticed by Bruce Bilmes. Thanks Bruce and good eye!

The sage in bloom is like perfume...clap, clap, clap, clap

Saturday April 26 cont.

It would have been great to have a little time before our next meal, but Kreuz Market was but minutes away.


You know they mean business by the amount of wood they have behind a locked fence.


The menu board

Traditions are paramount in Texas barbecue.


Behind the counter scene



And finally, the food




If I have been remiss in my duties of describing the food, I hope you will forgive me. At this point, all the food just ran together. I wish I had taken notes. As good as the food was, I had completely lost my desire to eat anymore. ChiTownDiner told me he was in a "meat coma". Marc Bruno told me he had the "meat sweats". I'm not 100% sure what that is, but I can't imagine it is good!

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=587

Back on the bus for the drive back to Austin.

Michael Stern has the look on his face like, "Okay, who made me eat all that barbecue"?


On the way back, we were able to watch the rough cut of the film made by the German documentary crew. Part of it was filmed in Nashville on the bus tour last year. ChiTownDiner was the first of us to make an appearance in the film and the bus roared its approval. Ellen, mr chips, Johnny and myself can also be seen. The film was very well done and I would love to have a copy of it, if at all possible.

Once back at the hotel, Johnny and I said our goodbyes to new and old friends. We would have loved to have stayed and socialized more, but we had a long drive ahead.

We made it back to Houston right around 8:30 and checked into our hotel near Hobby airport.

More to come.....

Sunday April 27

Johnny and I had a 6:00AM flight back to BWI. Since I had a couple of hour layover, I headed for O'Brycki's. Johnny would have joined me, but he was understandably concerned about his luggage sitting around too long. So, I said goodbye to Johnny and hello to some crab soup

and a crabcake sandwich.


I boarded my flight back to Pittsburgh and was home by 3:00PM and the end to the vacation.

The dogies bawl and bawl and bawl, deep in the heart of Texas!

Thanks to everyone for reading my trip report!

And you squeeze in Obrycki's on a layover. Cliff, you are a stud.

I think they have an airport location.

Yeah, I can see that I didn't make that clear. I did eat at the O'Brycki's at BWI.

BB: My last trip in that area I found Smittys had the best sausage and Kreuze had the best brisket. Just my thinking on that particular day.

Paul E. Smith
knoxville, TN

More great pics, Buffetbuster! This is all going to be in your new book "Eating our way thru Texas", right? (LOL) , "the Roadfood exploits of Cliff and Cousin Johnny". I'd buy it.

I see you got a little ahead of me, as I'm just about to post Smitty's now.
It was funny the other night , cause I had just posted pics of my bronzed chicken from Threadgills, thinking I was real unique (ooooh, bronzed chicken)
then I took a break to read other trip reports, like yours, and YOU were talking about bronzed chicken, too! (as well as posting a pic of that infamous bronzed chicken)

Oh well, welcome back to Pittsburgh..... how have your Pirates been doing?

Wow...that is a heck of a trip report. I stand in awe of your seemingly hollow stomach and photographic genius!

Central Texas is one of my most favorite Roadfood regions to visit and I can't wait until my next trip there.

quote:

Originally posted by mr chips

Thank you for the tribute,BB. I don't quite know what to say except that is quite an honor to know a roadfood champion such as yourself. Look forward to seeing you again either on the road or in Pittsburgh, a city in whih i have not spent nearly enough time.

Right back 'atcha mr. chips! Sure do wish you could have been in Austin with us, but your place was with Trudy. You are a good man.

Ellen-
With us both doing reports and being on the same trip, it was inevitable that there would be lots of overlapping. It is just funny that it worked out that we were doing the same part on the same night! And we BOTH got bronzed chicken! How funny!

I look at it this way.....I'm sure anything I missed, you covered and vice versa. There was so much going on at the Roadfood bus tour, it would be impossible for any one person to catch everything. I know I learned some things about the trip through your thread and I was there!

Well, you stayed a couple of days in the area longer than I did. Looking forward to seeing where you went.

Oh, and about the Pirates, they stink. But, at least they didn't give up 7 home runs to the Reds in one game!

Cliff - Congratulations on making the "Digest!" You've got your own show! Nice going...

We - Rick, Kerry and myself - just had an Austin reunion dinner at a local pub. We laughed, told stories and reviewed the threads for 2 hours!

BTW - when the owner heard about the trip, he offered a little something special. He butter-flied a filet, prepared it Vesuvio Style with a boatload of garlic, then added mushrooms, 2 kinds of sweet peppers, hot peppers and onions to the other ingredients. It was pretty darn good!

CTD-
That is really cool the three of you got together for a fun night. And that sounds like a fantastic dinner, too. I know chicken vesuvio is one of my very favorite dishes.

BB - Rick had it with pork chops - seems to be his thing lastely - spiced up with tons of fresh jalapenos. It was great - yeah I tried it!

Oh - P.S. - Kerry had the Chicken Vesuvio...mighty fine also. NO Pies though!?

Robert Downey Jr., move over! Cliff...is...Iron Man...da na na na na na na na na!!!! WOW!!!!!

A true RF legend. Just the sheer volume and diversity of food is staggering! You and Johnny tried just about every type of RF there is. I loved the view from the San Jacinto monument. Reminded me of the view from the top of the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown, MA. I love climbing up into historical monuments. The corn cob with the nails thru it was a nice touch. Pie Happy Hour at the Blue Bonnet? I think someone has been reading my diary! That bowl of fruit at the smokehouse looked amazing! The ham with the root beer sauce? Texas Pie Company? Peppermint Patty Pie? How was that by the way? Was it mostly minty? Or was there a balance between chocolate and mint?

I was particularly scared by and yet laughed over Johnny's adventure in the local laundromat! Seems like it can be a whole different world in some parts of Texas.

Since I've had some time on my hands this week (work has been slower than I'd like), I put together a list of all the places BB and Cousin Johnny hit:

Feltner's Whataburger
La Mexicana
Christy's Donuts/Kolaches
Avalon Drug Co, & Diner
James Coney Island
New Zion Missionary Baptist Church
Donut Junction
Bryce's Cafeteria
Celebration
Joe T. Garcia's
Sonny Bryan's
Mecca
Clark's Outpost
Paris Coffee Shop
Chas. Kincaid Gro. Market
Angelo's
Cattlemen's Steakhouse
Little Czech Bakery
Blue Bonnet Cafe
Rosie's
Hoover's
Sandy's
The Big Kolache
New Braunfel's Smokehouse
Olmos Pharmacy
Texas Pie Company
Texan Cafe
Joe's Bakery & Mexican Food
City Cafe

and for the Austin RF Tour:

Threadgills
Round Rock Donuts
Louie Mueller's
Southside Market
Smitty's
Kreuz Market

and ending with O'Brycki's

just outstanding!! I live vicariously through you guys.

Oh, I counted 16 slices of pie consumed (not including the whole mini pies at Texas Pie Company and the ones from Bud Royer). Can I guess that no pies were harmed in the making of this trip report?

Wow...just seeing that list posted by billyboy makes me think that Cliff and Johnny ate more Roadfood (well, at more different Roadfood joints, anyway) last WEEK than I ate in the last six years!

You guys are troopers.

I love that list you made, Billyboy...

How the heck does Michael Stern stay so thin!

Baah Ben-
He was asked that on a previous bus tour. His answer was something like, "working out like a Banshee".

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

This simply superb Trip Report by buffetbuster prompted me to go to[url='http://www.nbsmokehouse.com/']New Braunfels Smokehouse's[/url] web site and -- like that Texan transplant of mine whom I mentioned earlier on this thread and whom still annually orders his delicious smoked turkey each year from this Lone Star state smokehouse -- ordered something which they are currently featuring [url='http://www.nbsmokehouse.com/product.asp?slv=p&itm=255']on sale[/url] that being their...



...smoked breast of turkey, a four-to-six pound one of which is currently on sale for just $ 24.95 (regularly $ 35.95). Such arrived today, we carved it up for dinner and its smokey pink goodness was pure bliss. What a treat! And all because buffetbuster ate Texas out of house and home (on the range...).

FYI.

Epilogue

Best Dessert
Johnny - Peach cobbler @ Bryce's Cafeteria
Cliff - Peach cobbler @ Bryce's Cafeteria

Best Pie
Johnny - Pineapple Cream @ Paris Coffee Shop
Cliff - Peanut Butter @ Blue Bonnet Cafe (Have I mentioned yet they have PIE HAPPY HOUR!)

Best Tex-Mex
Johnny - Joe T. Garcia's
Cliff - Rosie's

Best Barbecue
Johnny - Clark's Outpost
Cliff - Clark's Outpost

Best Roadfood Atmosphere
Johnny - Louie Mueller's or Smitty's
Cliff - Cattleman's Steakhouse

Best Meal
Johnny - Clark's Outpost
Cliff - Clark's Outpost


* As good as the food was on this vacation, we both think it is still a step below our trip last Fall though Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia.

* A big thanks to Bruce Bilmes for giving me a copy of the original Roadfood book, to complete my collection. It is in good hands!

* Both Johnny and I agree that this was the best Roadfood tour, yet! On last year's tour we really felt rushed everywhere we went and it was over way too quickly. This year, we had plenty of time. The high quality of the restaurants on the tour certainly helped, too. Oh, and the addition of the dinner the night before was a great idea. Thanks to the Roadfood.com braintrust for doing such a great job, year after year.

* Besides being given the new Roadfood book on the tour, we were also given nice Roadfood.com tote bags. This was perfect, since this now enabled me to get all the college t-shirts and sweatshirts I bought, home.

* This trip was made infinitely more fun by being able to share so many meals with ChiTownDiner, who is as fun and good a guy as they come. I'm looking forward to future eating adventures with you CTD!

billyboy-
I can't thank you enough for having the interest to make that list up. The only number I knew for sure was that Johnny added 30 new places to his list of visited Roadfood spots. Not a bad week's work!

As for the peppermint patty pie, I would say it was definitely more minty than chocolately. I loved the pie except for the fact the small pieces of candy in the pie tasted old or stale. In fact, I didn't eat most of those. No big deal, though.....I would definitely get it again. Unfortunately, I have to tell you, MANY pies were harmed during the making of this trip report.

Oh, and the idea of you living vicariously through my trip reports? Please! Everyone on this board, including me, says the exact same thing about you. You make me realize it has been way too long since I have been to NYC.

billyboy - bb added enough stops to pass 800 Roadfood places...this is so amazing...that's more then an entire edition of Roadfood, which has 700! My bib's off to you Cliff!

BB - The feeling s mutual...and I beleive we've got a few ahead of us...after all, we've only hit one city in the whole universe, and then only partially.

I added a few pictures to my Austin thread including one of the Hut's half and half.

You all did a marvelous job on reporting-I smelled the smoke,tasted the food, and enjoyed the smiles.Thanks to all my fellow roadfooders!!!!!!!!!

Ann - Can't wait to hook up with Bob and yourself sometime over the summer - we had fun with CSD and Biker Jim yesterday. See you soon!