Best of Ryan’s Good Eats: #1 Lockhart, TX barbecue

 Black’s Barbecue – Lockhart, TX

One of the best places I’ve ever been.  We had Turkey and brisket which are both excellent. 

FULL REVIEW

Kreuz Market – Lockhart, TX

Excellent barbecue.  They had large smokers that you could see what they were smoking.   We had Turkey, brisket and sausage which came with white bread.  Inside was really smoky.

FULL REVIEW

Best of Ryan’s Good Eats: #4 Gristmill River Restaurant – New Braunfels, TX

This place had huge onion rings and a really good chicken fried steak. 

FULL REVIEW

ye old pancake Station - Amarillo Texas

October 29, 2015

We had a long travel day ahead of us so we decided to have breakfast and I found this place on my phone. Their website said they had the world’s greatest pancakes. First thing when we got there was everyone here was extremely friendly complete with plenty of y’all’s and they knew most of the people in there that were regulars.

 

 I had the pancakes and eggs with bacon. These were definatly not the best pancakes in the world, but they were good. And the bacon was pretty good as well. My mom just got pancakes and my dad got one of the bigger breakfasts.

 

Right before our meal our waitress brought out little cups of syrup and kept checking throughout the meal to see if we needed anymore. She was also very on top of the coffee and made sure mom and dad’s cups were constantly filled.

 

 

 

 

 

2800 Virginia Cir # A, Amarillo, TX 79109

 

 

 

Tacos-N-Salsa – San Antonio, Texas

October 28, 2015

When researching restaurants in San Antonio I kept coming across breakfast tacos all over the place. We didn’t have a chance to stop at any places, so the last morning in San Antonio we made sure to get some breakfast tacos before we left. We had an interesting time getting and a table figured out but that’s a whole different animal. We sent my mom up to order some chorizo and potato tacos and bacon tacos. While she did this we got some salsas from the salsa bar.

After mom ordered they brought us out a basket of chips. The chips were pretty thick and had some sort of seasoning on top. The four salsas they had were a pico de gallo, a red one, a smoky chipotle maybe salsa and a green salsa. My two favorites were the pico de gallo and the red one. The green one was kind of hot and I didn’t think it had that much flavor.

The chorizo and potato taco was excellent especially when I added the pico to gallo to the top and it wasn’t terribly greasy either. Also I thought the potatoes were cooked very well.

The bacon and egg one was good too, but not as good as the chorizo one. The tortillas were homemade and they were excellent as well. This was a perfect way to end my food tour of San Antonio with apparently one of San Antonio’s favorite foods breakfast tacos.

5123 North Loop 1604 W, San Antonio, TX 78249

Trilogy Pizza & Wine Bistro – San Antonio, Texas

October 27, 2015

This Pizza place was not too far from our hotel and on our last night in San Antonio we thought pizza would be an all right thing. We arrived maybe a little bit after regular dinner time. Inside was mostly empty. We all three of ordered cokes when our waitress returned with these we still we weren’t ready to order, I wasn’t at least. After I looked over the menu for a while

 

I decided on the pepperoni pizza,

 

mom ordered some kind of spinach pizza that had spinach, mushrooms and red onion

 

 

and my dad got the meat pizza.

 

 

These were solid pizzas but not quite top-of-the-line.  Everything about mine was good and I actually like mom’s a little bit better than mine.

 

 

 

 

 

19141 Stone Oak Pkwy #113, San Antonio, TX 78258

 

 

 

 

The Original Blanco Cafe – San Antonio, Texas

October 27, 2015

This restaurant was in downtown San Antonio near the Riverwalk this had not the greatest accessibility and the accessible restroom was closed so we started with an adventure and then eventually made it in and were seated in the back meeting room. All three of us ordered a Coke and when the waitress returned we were ready to order and we all three got a cheese enchilada plate that came with rice and beans. The menu said it was supposed to be two enchiladas, but when they arrived there were three.

 

Before our food got delivered our waitress delivered some green hot sauce in a jar.

 

 

Then when she arrived with the enchilada plates she also brought a box of hot fresh homemade flour tortillas. I thought the enchiladas were all right, but after a while I wasn’t so sure about the cheese in there. I’m not sure what kind it was but I don’t think I particularly liked it. The sauce was good and the tortillas in the enchiladas were good too. But the fresh hot tortillas were excellent. The green hot sauce tasted pretty well but was a bit on the hot side. At the original Blanco Café we had a pretty good meal the enchiladas were fairly good and they may have been real Tex-Mex enchiladas but I’ve definitely had better cheese enchiladas elsewhere.

 

 

 

 

 

419 N St Mary's St, San Antonio, TX 78205

  

Kreuz Market – Lockhart, Texas

October 26, 2015

We stopped here second on our barbecue journey in Lockhart Texas. This is a huge building and only one side was open at the time we were there. So they must be packed at other times, but this was midafternoon.

 

 Right away when you walk in there is a big long hall where the line forms. At the end of the hall is the smoker room where you order and pay for your meat. The whole place was smoky immediately when you enter.

 

  

So when we were ready to order we went up to the meat counter and we ordered some brisket and turkey along with a jalapeno cheddar smoked sausage link for dad and me to try. All this was served on butcher paper with three sheets wrapped up with plastic knifes and white bread and we were supposed to have saltines, but we didn’t get any. After you get your meat and pay you go through the doors to the eating area where you can buy drinks and sides. I wanted a Coke and a plastic cup for my barbecue cup collection, but they only give you Styrofoam cups with the bottled Mexican Coke.  To get the plastic cup you had to order a lemonade or iced tea even though the Coke cost more.

 

 The brisket was amazing kind of burnt on the edges and very flavorful and had a bit of fat on top. I Also very much liked the turkey and I also typically don’t like sausage at all, but I tried this jalapeno cheddar smoked sausage and we probably should’ve got more of it because it was so good. 

 

  This for food is about a simple as you can get smoked meat and bread on butcher paper, but it was so good that that’s all you needed.  It’s a different experience and one I would highly recommend.

  

619 N Colorado St, Lockhart, TX 78644

Black’s Barbecue – Lockhart, Texas

October 26, 2015

 

This place was not wheelchair accessible, so mom and dad went in and ordered. This was our first stop on our Lockhart barbecue journey so we didn’t want to do overdo it. We just got a plate with turkey and brisket and a couple sides and took it out to the side of the building where there were a couple of picnic tables. This I think was the one barbecue place in Lockhart that did have sauce, but I’m not sure why you would need it after how good the barbecue was.

The turkey was real good, but I think the brisket was even better and the best part of the brisket was the burnt part on the outside. The sides were okay, we tried the  regular coleslaw and potato salad and the one I like the most was like a spicy coleslaw. This at the time was the best barbecue I’ve ever had, but another Lockhart stop was coming shortly.

 

 

 

 

 

215 N Main St, Lockhart, TX 78644

 

 

Gristmill River Restaurant – New Braunfels, Texas

October 25, 2015

I had a tip that this place was really good and once I checked out the pictures on yelp I knew we had to come. Once we got there and were seated our waiter explained their specials and other stuff about the restaurant and took our drink orders and we ordered the regular size onion rings. In a bit we ordered the rest of our meals which we all three got a chicken fried steak which came with a side dish we all took mashed potatoes with gravy.

 

Right after this the onion rings arrived and they were huge and we probably would’ve been okay with the small size. These were excellent and some of the best I’ve ever had and some of the biggest. They did need a bit of salt though. These came with ranch dressing although you kind of had to cut the onion ring before they would fit into it. After we ate our onion rings for a while the chicken fried steaks arrived.  

 

These were quite large, and they were oh so tasty.  They were fried and crispy with just enough gravy on top and the mashed potatoes were clearly homemade and excellent and the gravy on top made them even better. This was one of the best meals I’ve ever had and has to be the best chicken fried steak I’ve ever had.

 

 

1287 Gruene Rd, New Braunfels, TX 78130

  

River City Seafood and Grill – San Antonio, Texas

October 24, 2015

This was kind of a chilly day and I knew they had gumbo which sounded good and it was not too far from our hotel so we decided to stop in. We were seated quickly and our drink orders taken quickly. Soon after we ordered.  All three of us got a cup of the Seafood Gumbo which had crab and baby shrimp. And I ordered the blackened catfish. mom ordered the salmon and dad ordered the fried shrimp.

 After we ordered the waitress brought out some bread as well as the gumbos. The bread was really good and the gumbo was even better. I haven’t really ever liked shrimp that much but they were small and tasted all right to me in this. And the crab in there was good too. The whole thing had really good flavor and wasn’t too spicy.

 

After a while our food was brought out and the lady asked who had the tilapia which no one did. So she went back then came back out and said it was really the catfish so I said it was mine. I’m not exactly too big of a fish expert so I don’t know if I got tilapia or catfish. Whatever it was it just didn’t seem like it had too much flavor and was kind of bland the fish part anyways, but the blackened outside was a bit spicy and tasty. This also came with red hot smashed potatoes and veggies. The potatoes were kind of good and the veggies were just veggies.

 

 

Mom’s salmon came with a rice pilaf and the same veggies. She really liked her salmon, she let me try some and I sure wish that’s what I would have ordered.

 

Dad’s fried shrimp came with French fries and hush puppies he didn’t think his shrimp were all that great but were good and he said he really liked the hushpuppies. While we were eating it seemed like the service kind of slowed down and they weren’t very quick on getting refills. This place was pretty good some of the stuff like the gumbo was really good and some of the other things were just all right but we did end up having a good meal, maybe a little bit on the pricey side but I thought it was overall a good meal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

115 TX-1604 Loop #1108, San Antonio, TX 78232

 

 

Smokey Mo's BBQ – San Antonio, Texas

October 24, 2015

This day was kind of cold and rainy, so the place was pretty empty. We went up to order from the counter I wanted to get the fried okra as one of my sides. This was on the online menu, but I couldn’t find it in the menu in the store. So I ordered a turkey sandwich combo with one side which I got potato salad, dad got the sausage sandwich with baked beans and mom had the pork sandwich with coleslaw. After we ordered we went to fill our drinks and load up from the condiment station. And shortly thereafter our food arrived at our table.

 

 

I thought my turkey sandwich was decent, but not as good of barbecue as I would hope to find after driving all the way to Texas. The barbecue sauce was not too exciting but we were in Texas and I don’t think that’s what they worry about the most. My potato salad I didn’t think was anything special. I did think that my dad’s beans looked very good.  All 3 of us thought this was okay barbeque, but not really too exciting and kind of disappointing.

22106 Bulverde Rd, San Antonio, TX 78259

Ajuúa! Mexican restaurant – San Antonio, Texas

October 23, 2015

When we arrived the place was not too busy at all and we were seated quickly.  

 

 

Chips and salsa were brought right away. The salsa was warm which is all right just different than most places. It wasn’t too spicy and it tasted all right. Eventually when we ordered I ordered the enchilada trio with chicken as did my dad and mom ordered the chicken fajita tacos.

 

The enchilada trio had one enchilada with chipotle cream sauce, one with a green sauce and one with a regular red chili sauce. I really liked the chipotle cream and green ones the best and thought the red chili was kind of plain and not too exciting. I liked the rice and beans quite a bit and the enchiladas all had plenty of sauce which was good with both the rice and beans. The enchiladas were good but I kind of wish there would’ve been different kinds of meat in each of them because they all were basically the same chicken enchiladas the only difference being that different sauces.

 

 

Mom said she liked her tacos and I thought they looked pretty good hers came with borracho beans. Which is kind of more like a bean soup.
 

Ajuúa! Mexican restaurant

11703 Huebner Rd #208, San Antonio, TX

Magnolia Pancake Haus – San Antonio, Texas

October 23, 2015

This restaurant was featured on diners drive-ins and dives however I didn’t know that until I saw a poster of guy on the wall. When we arrived on a late Friday morning the place was absolutely packed and we had to wait out front for at least a half an hour, but at least the weather wasn’t bad or anything. When we finally got in the service was very good and we didn’t have to really wait very long for anything. I ordered an orange juice and mom and dad both got coffee. Pretty much when the waitress returned with the coffee and drinks she took our orders I wasn’t sure what to get until I happened to look at the special menu and the ham and cheese waffle peaked my interest. So that’s what I ordered which came with two eggs which I got over easy. Dad got a basic breakfast and mom got pancakes and eggs.

In a few minutes our waitress back and dropped off some butter and syrup and shortly after that our food arrived.

 

 

At first I wasn’t sure how the syrup would go with a cheese but it seemed fine to me and the whole thing with absolutely delicious.  The syrup on the eggs not so much, but everything else was delicious. I don’t usually get waffles although I’m not sure why because all the ones I’ve had have been pretty good.  This one though was by far the best one I’ve found. And in fact this makes me want to be on the lookout for more waffles.

 

 

 

 

 

Magnolia Pancake Haus

606 Embassy Oaks #100, San Antonio, TX 78216