mrbigjas

OK folks, here's a quick shot for you. This is about a pound and a quarter of fat (brisket) and a sausage, from Kreuz's Market in Lockhart, TX. I ate part of it, I brought part of it home. Other recommendations from the area: Railhead BBQ in Fort Worth for cowboy/biker bbq, Cuquita's in Dallas for mexican, Jefferson St. Cafe in Kerrville for ... uh, the only decent restaurant around there, Club deVille for drinks (but not for food) in Austin. God I love that state.

Why I oughtta... This morning was a trip to Kreuz's Market in Lockhart, 30 miles out of our way each way from Austin to Dallas. Worth every second, of course. In the true Holly Moore tradition, of course I took a pic of the butcher paper with a big pile of brisket, a sausage, a bottle of Big Red, etc. on the table. I'll post it when I get home. Considering the types of food I eat down here, wine hasn't really been in the picture, so I'll bow out now...

Yeah, you're right, and being the borderline pinko that I am, I wish it were better, and am rooting for the guy. But until then I'm gonna sit here and bitch on web boards and usenet until ... well, until I feel better. hmm..... hasn't happened yet.

See my problem is that overall I'm pretty unedumacated when it comes to wine, so I don't know deals like that when I see them... I'm learning, but more slowly than would be ideal (ideal would be that I instantly know everything with zero effort expended on my part).

"I think we can use our purchasing power to bring great deals for consumers." He keeps saying this and I keep not seeing it. Low- to medium-priced wines are still significantly more expensive here than elsewhere. I'd always heard that high-end wines were cheaper here because the state only marks them up the same percentage as the cheap stuff, as compared to a retail establishment which can and will mark up high end wines more. So when the new store opened at 12th & Chestnut, I wrote down some prices of the high end stuff, for a little comparison. I don't mean the 1995 Petrus they had in there for $600, but more like the Figeac and Lafite and Stag's Leap and whatnot. About two minutes of research on line showed that they were right in line with everyone else, not cheaper at all. So my quest to find anything positive about the PLCB is still unfulfilled, as it has been since the last time I found something to like about them: back in 1999, when they didn't mark up all the champagne for the 2000 new year. Also if the guy is a real wine lover, I wonder if he realizes--and I wonder if he can do anything about it even if he does know--the fact that all the stores are like 100 degrees inside. This is especially noticeable at the "superstores" like the one at 12th & Chestnut, which is like a sauna half the time--lordy be, there's some expensive wine sitting there in the sweltering heat. I'm still going to Jersey whenever possible, and DC when I'm down there to visit the in-laws...

Taco Cabana is the greatest fast food chain as far as I'm concerned, followed closely by Rubio's in San Diego. Which makes me wonder if there's a line to be drawn between national chains and "local" chains such as Taco Cabana, which to my knowledge doesn't exist outside of Texas, and Rubio's, which I haven't really seen outside of San Diego (not that I've really spent all that much time in Southern California)--the latter two sure suck a lot less than the TGI Friday's we went to in Cedar Point, OH.

Scrapple IS mostly devoid of pig taste. Basically you cook the bits'n'pieces off the head, boil them up, pour in cornmeal and spices, and make it into blocks. Good purveyors: any of the amish places in the terminal. If you want it cooked, down home diner does it well in the terminal, and the divey diner Little Pete's at 17th and Chancellor makes some good scrapple, all innocuous and cool on the hardened deep-fried outside, and searing lava inside. Usually not dry though, rather kind of a wet pasty texture, with a crispy outside. A lot of people eat it with ketchup; we always ate it with syrup.

And only about three blocks from Jack's Firehouse if you want to have lunch there instead of dinner.

Has this changed? (the line out the door I mean)

I can't say I have. Last time I was in Kennett I went to..... OK I don't remember the name. It was where you get off 1 at Avondale, and then make a left at the end of the ramp onto that other road, which a little while later merges at kind of a sharp angle onto another semi-major road, and it's about 1/4 mile up there on the right.... as you can see I don't know the western suburbs very well, but anyway there's a taqueria/grocery part and then next door a nicer restaurant? You know the one I'm talking about? Anyway, next time I'm in Kennett I'm definitely going to Moroleone--I've heard far too much about it to stay away. In the meantime, I'm continuing to frequent the places down on Washington Ave.

Yeah, you're right--I was coming across more stridently than I really mean to--and I should head back soon. The first time I had the pork molcajetes there was a total revelation to me; it's still one of my favorite dishes in the world. I should really learn how to make that. Also the filete grito, I think--the one that's speared through with serrano peppers? Man oh man. Also, one of the things I learned from going there with Mexican friends: there's a salsa that is made of habaneros, onions, lime juice and sometimes a little soy sauce that's ridiculously hot but very tasty. It's called ichnipec (sp?--a web search turned up nothing, but the guy who taught me what it was used to work there, so I know that's what it's called).

Can I talk about my problems with Tequila's, and why I haven't been there in well over a year, despite having been there probably 20 times over the last several? Well, I'll take the risk that I can. Here are my problems with Tequila's, and why I won't be back there anytime soon: 1. Are they still not taking reservations? If they aren't, it's bullshit. They have plenty of room for it. The whole "waiting for dinner in the lobby" thing lost its charm a LONG time ago, and lost the last bit of its charm when they moved into that big building and you still have to wait out in the entry. If this has changed, I'd love to know it, but I suspect it hasn't. 2. The [edited myself to tone down "gall" to pettiness] when it comes to certain parts of the bill. I don't care how much he paid to renovate the place: charging for every fountain soda refill, charging for every basket of chips, in a restaurant where entrees cost $20+, is completely pointless cheapness, and for my money, ain't gonna fly. If I go out with 5 people and dinner costs $200-250 just for the food, I don't expect to be charged $10 for fountain cokes, and another $3 for a basket of tortilla chips. I'll always appreciate Tequila's for introducing me to high-end Mexican food, and its quality and authenticity was affirmed to me when I went to Mexico--as far as the food goes, they got it right from top to bottom, in my experience. But the plain ol' [edited to say nickel & diming] turns me off to the point where I won't go there unless someone else is paying.

Oh man that's excellent news. Why just yesterday a friend of mine returned from North Carolina with a big tub of pulled pork and a jar of sauce for me, and next month I'll be heading to Lockhart TX to eat a bunch of Kreuz's brisket. BBQ is a great thing in all its shapes and forms. Oh and Holly--as a staunch defender of Jack's Firehouse, you might appreciate the fact that I was firmly in the "overpriced and average" camp for several years, but recently I went there for lunch and had his pulled pork sandwich which was freakin great and a deal at $7 or so with fries and slaw. Makes me glad to work in this neighborhood, yes indeedy. (first post here after lurking for a while)