planojim

I know I'm a little late for this question...... but when I used to travel out that way on a regular basis, say 6 or 7 years ago, I used to eat at The Golden Truffle every time I was in the area. No one mentioned this restaurant. is it still decent?

Widmer Brothers Broken Halo IPA. Nice beer. I think it's just now arriving in Dallas.

as far as BBQ on the way up 35, I like to stop at Schoepf's in Belton. It's only about an hour north of Austin. Wonderful pork chop. map for you: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?count...&homesubmit.y=2

I made it to North Main BBQ on Saturday. They were accepting credit cards. I went at an off hour (3pm) which can sometimes be a little dicey, but they were more than accomodating to putting fresh stuff out for me.

I went there today. Wonderful. Everything in the store was clearly labeled on the shelf in both Chinese and English. All the produce, meat, fish, frozen food, all in English and Chinese. They sold pigs blood there. The sold pig uterine. Pigs feet. Pigs ears. Pigs heart. all manner of pigs. They also had beef (eye of round) sliced really really thin that I use to make cheesesteaks. Decent Chinese beer selection too.

Is Cajun ethnic? Nate's Seafood is just off of Beltine on Midway in Addison. I normally only go there in the spring when crawfish are in season, but everything we've had there has been really good. Across the street from Nates is Snuffers, which has a decent burger (order it more done than you normally would, they tend to undercook them), but has the best cheese fries on the planet.

I picked up a 6 pack of Founders IPA while in Grand Rapids, MI last week. A really good IPA. http://www.foundersbrewing.com/beer_styles.php?recordID=2

funny enough, after going to Fallingwater near Pittsburgh, I stopped in to a beer distributor in the small town of Donegal, PA to get a case of Yeungling to bring back to Dallas. As I was walking around the place, I was dang near shocked that this guy had cases of Shiner for sale. fwiw.

Just got a report from one of my good friends in Grand Rapids, MI, that Bells Beer is selling cases of Oberon at Costco there for $27.99 I guess the new brewery he built has enough capacity to move up a level in the quantity he's able to supply.

Wow, I can't beleive no one has mentioned Stephen Pyles newest creation. Was he out of the game so long, people don't think of him? I've not been, but everyting I've read about it, has been GLOWING. http://www.guidelive.com/portal/page?_page...L&item_id=38450 also, tell your friend that if they want the best piece of meat this side of Schwartz's Deli, to rent a car, drive 3 1/2 hours south, and go to Lockhart, TX. There, they'll find both Smitty's, and Kreutz BBQ. Not Montreal smoked meat, but defintely Texas smoked meat.

Kreutz does better brisket. Clark's does better ribs. imho.

I just got a note in the mail that Clark's Outpost in Tioga was now shipping their brisket and ribs. It's not Austin BBQ, but it's the best in Northern Texas. http://www.clarksoutpost.com/cgi-bin/clarksbbq/index.html

jason there are 4 bbq places in the Austin area that are MUST tries. Louie Meuller's in Taylor (just east of Roundrock) http://www.louiemuellerbarbeque.com/ Kreuz Market in Lockhart http://www.kreuzmarket.com/index.shtml Smitty's in Lockhart http://www.smittysmarket.com/ City Market in Luling If you were able to fit those 4 places into your itinerary.....I think even the most ardent bbq fan (myself included) would have to admit that you were at the best places in all of Texas. Personally, I prefer the brisket at Smitty's, but, try them all and tell us which ones you like best. For something a little out of the ordinary, on the way to Louis Mueller's, you might want to stop in Roundrock for a Roundrock donut. They really are quite good. http://www.roundrockdonuts.com/

I've had a couple of beers from Rahr Brewing in Fort Worth, and those were decent enough. I think I picked them up at Central Market. I see that they're coming out with a bock this spring. That should be worth a taste. http://www.rahrbrewing.com/

ahhh....Barbeque. I mentioned Bakers Ribs above. The only other place I can think of that's near the M Street is Peggy Sue's BBQ, which is on the other side of 75 from where you'll be, but not far at all. Some people rave about it, I think the Dallas Observer rated it best in Dallas, but from the couple of times I've been there, I wasn't overwhelmed. They do have great fried pies though. http://www.guidelive.com/portal/page?_page...L&item_id=14024

The M Streets are a great area for Dallas food, especially Greenville Ave. There's a hambuger joint called Snuffers that has the best cheese fries on the planet. Order your burger over cooked as to what you want, as the kitchen tends to under cook them (medium comes out medium rare, medium rare comes out RARE) etc. http://www.guidelive.com/portal/page?_page...L&item_id=14124 Right across the street from there is a place called Gloria's that has El Salvadoran food. That's pretty good. http://www.guidelive.com/portal/page?_page...AL&item_id=4818 A couple of miles north of there is Bakers Ribs, if you'd like to try a respectable version of BBQ. http://www.guidelive.com/portal/page?_page...L&item_id=14108 A good breakfast can be had at Cafe Brazil, the corner of University and 75. http://www.guidelive.com/portal/page?_page...L&item_id=14106 On Mockingbird, near the corner of Grennville Ave is Campisi's, which some consider a Dallas institution. Italian food. Cash only. http://www.guidelive.com/portal/page?_page...L&item_id=14116 Ali Baba has really good middle eastern food, with a great international market next door. 6 different fetas the last time I was in the market. http://www.guidelive.com/portal/page?_page...AL&item_id=2474 Mockingbird Station has a great Irish Pub, called Trinity Hall http://www.guidelive.com/portal/page?_page...AL&item_id=6478 Deifinitely check out the Central Market that was mentioned above at the corner of Lovers and Mockingbird. There are a lot more great restaurants, like Hectors or Hibiscus, that are near you, but they tend to be a little pricey. Enjoy your stay

took the family down to Jimmy's yesterday (Dec 26). Very frustrating. The store itself looks great. Much much nicer than the original. But, they were out of almost everything I went there to get. Now, maybe this was because of the holidays, or at least I hope that was the case, but the conversation pretty much went like this, them "can I help you?" me..."yes I'd like some prosciutto de parma" them, "we're all out." me, "how about some jamon serrano?" them, "we're all out" me, "OK, I'll take about a pint of green olives with the pit" them, "we're all out" me, "Ummm...maybe some hot Italian sausage" them, "we're all out, but we have sweet" anyone else have a similar experience, or did I just catch them at a bad time?

while I don't know about the food, although I've heard it's decent for bar food, Crescent Moon Alehouse has one of the better selections of good microbrews on tap that I've found in the midwest. Crescent Moon Alehouse 3578 Farnam

my buddy just got back from Munich and brought me a case of Augustinerbrau as a Christmas present. 20 beautiful 16.9oz bottles. Christmas will be very merry indeed this year.

I finally had a chance last week to take a day off of work, travel to Austin, and compare the Austin barbeque troika. To get a fair sample, a buddy and myself decided to go to Louie Meuller's, Smitty's and Kreutz, and order the same thing at each to share. 1lb of fatty brisket, 1lb of ribs, a 1 sausage ring. Since we were coming down from Dallas, Louie Muellers in Taylor was the first stop. Great atmosphere. We liked the sample while waiting, reminiscent of my trip to Katz Deli this summer. It was at this time that we first deviated from our plan. Mueller's had 2 types of sausage, regular and jalapeno. In the name of science, we tried them both. The jalapeno was very good. The brisket was good, nicely dark with the right amount of fat. The ribs were decent. Back on the road towards I-35 and Lockhart....we decided we needed dessert already so we stopped at Roundrock Donuts and got 6 glazed and 6 chocolate glazed. Very yummy indeed. Still warm ever though it was 12:30. We then proceded to Smitty's. Now this is what a barbeque place is supposed to be. You walk in, and are greated by smoke, a fire, and meat. We got 1 lb of brisket, 1 sausage, and instead of ribs, got a pork chop. This was, by far, the best brisket ever smoked by man. Back char on the outside, a layer of fat beneath that, that is almost liquid, not the tough chewy kind one would associate with a steak. The pork chop was dissappointing. We got an end cut chop, which was a little tough and dry. The sausage tasted decent, but nothing special. Back north on 183 to Kreutz. By this time we were as full as ticks, but we soldiered on. As a concession, we only ordered 1/2lb of fatty brisket, 1/2lb of ribs and 1 sausage. The brisket cut was actually a little too fatty. I had to peel some of it off so as not to gag. But, that meant I wasn't able to eat the char on the outside, which left off some flavor. The ribs were real good, the sausge again decent, but nothing special. All in all, it was a fantastic day of barbeque. If I had to rank them, I'd say: atmosphere: Louie Mueller, Smitty's, Kreutz brisket: Smitty's, Louie Meuller, Kreutz ribs/chop: Kreutz, Louie Meuller, Smitty's sausage: Louie Meuller, Smitty's, Kreutz

Had quite an enjoyable Pale Ale tasting with some buddies yesterday after travelling to Austin for some of the best BBQ in America: Stone IPA Great Divide Titan IPA Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA Great Divide Denver Pale Ale Left Hand Jackman's Pale Ale Flying Dog Snakedog IPA Pyramid Thunderhead IPA Shipyard Fuggles IPA The winner out of all of those, was the Titan IPA. The loser, by far, was the Shipyard. Anyone out there had the Shipyard Fuggles IPA? Did I get a bad couple of bottles? Because that thing was almost downright undrinkable.

I think that Stephen Pyles' new restaurant should be open by that date. That would defintely be worth checking out for a Saturday night restaurant. I'm not sure of the name yet, but in articles it's said that his name would be included in the name of the restaurant. It's in the arts district, which would be very close to your hotel. I hope he has Heaven and Hell cake on the menu. Is Cowboy cuisine ethnic?

what I find somewhat fascinating in Texas BBQ, is the difference between Austin and Dallas. In Austin, I've found that the only seasonings they use on their brisket and ribs, is salt and pepper. In Dallas/Fort Worth, they use a rub. 200 miles, yet worlds apart. personally, I much prefer the brisket in Austin, and the ribs in Dallas. The best ribs I've had in the Dallas are at Clark's in Tioga. The best brisket was at Smitty's. BTW, I know a lot of people rave about the sausage that they sell in the Lockhart area, but I don't really care for it. Does anyone else feel the same? BBQ should NEVER be sauced. As Ray Green from North Main BBQ once told me, "the only reason to use sauce, is to hide a mistake"

In looking at their ad for this week, I see that they have: USDA Prime cross rib roast for $2.99/lb http://www.sprouts.com/flyer/view_flyer.as...Coit+%26+Legacy Now, for all I know, this may be a hoof....but it's a USDA Prime hoof.

I was at Sprouts last night in Plano, and they had some USDA Prime top sirloin steaks for $4.99/lb. I don't think I've ever seen that grade of meat at a store before. I looked at Kroger and Tom Thumb, and all they had were Select and Choice. I don't eat red meat much, unless it's brisket, so am I right in thinking that USDA Prime in a supermarket is unusual?