Matt's Page

Those interested in our Texas route can see it here. Also, LittleDog got written up yesterday on the Popular Mechanics website.

So I just got back from a week-long tour of South, East, and central Texas with a couple friends. Pictures will be up soon, but for now, here's the food we ate:

• Tue 7/31: Dinner at Hickory Hollow in Houston, where the small chicken-fried steak was still large enough to take half home for breakfast -- glad I didn't go for the large.

• Wed 8/1: Burger and shake lunch at Whataburger before heading into Reynosa, Mexico to poke around for the day. Dinner at La Fogata, which specializes in roast goat. Upscale mexican foot is great (especially at the price), but I find myself too floored by the heat of walking around all day to really make the most of it.

• Thu 8/2: Buffet Mexican breakfast at Poncho's in Pharr, TX before heading over to South Padre Island for a day at the beach. My first encounter with menudo is tasty, but I'm not 100% decided on tripe as a nutrition source. In the evening, head over to the Padre Island Brewing Company for their beer sampler, then to the Wahoo Saloon for excellent (and cheap) ceviche and peel-n-eat shrimp while watching the sunset, and finish up at Amberjack's for more Gulf seafood that doesn't quite live up to the Wahoo.

• Fri 8/3: Breakfast at Shipley Donuts in McAllen before heading up to San Antonio for a day or so. Very late (and large) lunch at Mi Tierra for some generous portions of Tex-Mex and fishbowl-sized margaritas. After seeing the Alamo, wander over to the Menger Bar, a great old bar with wooden fixtures and stiff drinks, where Teddy Roosevelt apparently first rounded up his rough riders. Midnight snacks back at Mi Tierra's bakery.

• Sat 8/4: Biscuit and gravy brunch at Guenther House before heading over to the zoo. Drive over to Austin for dinner at Moonshine, where the Corn Dog Shrimp and Green Chile Macaroni are excellent. After dinner, we find our way to The Ginger Man, which has on the order of one hundred beers -- on draft!

• Sun 8/5: Sunday brunch at the South Congress Cafe, which makes a super "infused" Bloody Mary with Tito's spicy pepper-infused vodka. Late night dinner at Cafe Magnolia. They serve Spribiscus, which is possibly the most refreshing soft drink I have ever tasted - a combination of Sprite and Hibiscus tea.

• Mon 8/6: Today we do our barbecue crawl in Lockhart, which is by all rights the capital of Texas barbecue. We start the day at Kreuz Market, move over to Black's BBQ and Smitty's, and by the time we leave City Market in Luling, we have each individually consumed over a pound of meat, between brisket, links, chops, shoulders, and ribs. I am officially not hungry at this point, but the barbecue has been a transcendent experience of near-religious significance.

  Despite our state of repletion, when we get to Austin we find that we are expected to meet up with some friends for barhopping. The Kelvin Arms has a great Scotch selection which can be sipped on cushy leather couches inside an old bank vault, and The Flat runs a cheap special on delicious frozen Mojitos. Finally, we find a midnight snack at a late-night taqueria before calling it a night.

• Tue 8/7: Although still digesting BBQ, we manage to consume a self-assembled six-course tasting menu at Hugo's which serves a serious upscale take on interior Mexican cuisine. Everything is delicious, but of particular note are the Cochinita Pibil -- slow-roasted piglet -- and the Flan de Queso for desert. Dinner is at Dolce Vita, which does gourmet pizza. They have an awesome pizza with pear and arugula, as well as a simple but near-flawless clam pizza.

Other food experiences include visits to the flagship Whole Foods Market in Austin as well as Spec's liquor store in Houston, both of which are some of the biggest stores of their type.