When my friend Boot asked me to come along on a road trip to San Antonio, Texas to drive his new car back with him, I jumped at the chance. I love a good old fashioned road trip, eating my way through the adventure (what else would you expect). Even though I just got a sample of the many different places to eat, it was a pretty darned good sample, ranging from fast food to slow food, across BBQ, Country, and Tex-Mex. I did not have a bad meal the entire time and have been looking forward to being able to tell you all about it.
As we snaked along I-10, we stopped at Filiberto’s just outside Phoenix for some standard border region Mexican fare. I had a loaded Carne Asada burrito and some taquitos that really hit the spot. Our next stretch of driving was a little longer, taking us all the way to Las Cruces, New Mexico before hitting a place called Dick’s Cafe. Dick’s is an awesome little roadside diner that does a great burger as well as a lot of Mexican options. Our final stop before our main destination came in the form of a Dairy Queen in Junction, Texas. The double meat, double cheese burger on Texas Toast was a guaranteed heart attack but served the purpose quite nicely.
The real treats came once we made it to San Antonio. Our first day in town Boot and his girlfriend Laura took me to a place called Chuy’s. We started off with a Texas staple called Queso, which is basically chili con queso. It was cheesy and spicy and got us started for a great meal. I went for the Elvis Green Chili Fried Chicken. This is a boneless skinless chicken breast that is breaded in Lays potato chips and then deep fried and covered in green chili and cheddar cheese. It was absolutely delicious, and came served with rice and beans that were almost too much for me to finish (which is a lot!!). I only wish that they were out here in Cali.
Next up was breakfast at the Cracker Barrel. This stronghold of the South used to have locations in California, but has since retreated. That is not the case in Texas, as Cracker Barrel signs are all over the place and it seems that there is one every few exits in the metro areas. As many of you know I am always on the mission to find the best chicken fried steak, and the Cracker Barrel has a darn good one. It is thick and breaded to perfection, smothered in wonderful country gravy and served up with biscuits and gravy and potatoes all for 7 bucks. I was in chicken-fried heaven!
That evening Boot took me to a BBQ place called Rudy’s, which was started by the same guy that started Romano’s Macaroni Grill. Rudy’s is now all over Texas and serves up some of the best BBQ I have ever had. All the locations are connected to gas stations and are just a walk-through line and counter with outside picnic bench seating. They sell meat by the half pound and have sides such as creamed corn, many different kinds of potatoes, and corn on the cob. We ordered up a half pound each of turkey, brisket, and chop, along with two sausages and a side of creamed corn. Our feast also came with a half a loaf of bread and some pickles.
The turkey, which was smoky, moist and peppered, was out of this world. If I lived near one of these places I would go and buy pounds of it and make sandwiches all week long. The brisket was deliciously tender, and the sausage was as wonderful as I expected it to be. Now, I am a sucker for creamed corn, and this might have been the best that I have ever had. It was thick and very creamy, sweet and not soggy; I could have eaten three portions. If you ever see one of these places STOP and EAT!!!
You can read more about my latest Adventure in Part II…