Texas C-D'ers' Top Five Favorite Restaurants (Houston, Dallas: health, house, company)

[teatime]

In no apparent order, just as they came to mind, LOL:

Joe Allen's BBQ -- Abilene
Orlando's Italian Restaurant -- Lubbock
Gazpacho's Cafe (deli and Cuban food) -- Brownsville
Jason's Deli -- Abilene, but anywhere!
The Blue Shell (seafood) -- Harlingen

[JVTX72]

Originally Posted by CMDallas

IDK!!!!! I like some many food, i choose Chinese/Asian but i would choose Mexican too, it depends. they have a lot of poser restaurants of both.
I like
1)La Fiesta
2)I <3 pho
3) On the border
4) Royal Chopsticks
5) The Grand

a lot of those are poser restaurants, but i can't find authentic Chinese or Mexican without diving to Plano, Garland, or southern Irving.

CMDallas, you've been to LaFiesta in Waco?

[atxcio]

1) Hudson's on the Bend (Austin)
2) Mushashino Sushi Dokoro (Austin)
3) The Salt Lick (Driftwood)
4) Kubo's / Cafe Japon / Mai's Restaurant - tie - (Houston)
5) Cafe Cenizo (Marathon)

[case44]

Okay, peeps, here now is my five:

1. Hammond's BBQ - Glen Rose
2. Alamo Cafe - San Antonio (I-10 location)
3. Goode Company BBQ - Houston (I-10 location, less cramped)
4. Catfish O'Harlie's - Decatur (they have multiple locations)
5. Saltgrass - Lewisville (multiple locations)

[Spree]

>> 2. Alamo Cafe - San Antonio (I-10 location)<<

Is that location still there? I LOVE Alamo Cafe - we go to the mega one on 281 every time we visit.

Rosario's in San Antonio is good too, although I would describe it as more baja-mexican food.

[tstone]

My vote was for Tex-Mex. You absolutely cannot beat Houston and San Antonio for this.

Originally Posted by blueskies49

mpope409, isn't typical Southern cuisine the same as soul food?

I think nowadays it pretty much is. I see it as the good ol' Southern grub that'll give you diabetes, a heart attack and high blood pressure by age 40.

You can still find pig ears, feet & intestines (chitlins), beef tail/tongue at the grocery store. Never had it - I imagine this is from the old days where no potential food was thrown out. If an honest someone offered up a few bites I'd definitely be willing to try it though.

And oh yeah don't forget the uber-nutritious collared greens. (Yuck!)

[mpope409]

Originally Posted by blueskies49

mpope409, isn't typical Southern cuisine the same as soul food? When blacks immigrated north and west during the Great Migration, is that when the food was referred to as "soul food" to distinguish it from the northern and western white's food? I'm just thinking that whenever I hear soul food described, it just sounds like good ol' Southern cooking to me, black or white.

Well Southern cuisine was actually started by blacks. But the great thing about soul food is it isn't really a specific type of cuisine. In black families, whatever dish the mother (or anyone) puts time, creativity, and love into is generally considered soul food.

Nowadays, though, it's generally considered to be typical Southern cuisine with altered recipes fit to please black taste.

[mpope409]

Originally Posted by tstone

My vote was for Tex-Mex. You absolutely cannot beat Houston and San Antonio for this.

I've never been fond of the Tex-Mex in Houston or San Antonio. I don't know if it's because they're too far east, but if you want the best Tex-Mex you will have to go to El Paso or any place in southwestern Texas.

I think nowadays it pretty much is. I see it as the good ol' Southern grub that'll give you diabetes, a heart attack and high blood pressure by age 40.

Well a lot of dishes are actually full of nutritients.

And Southern grub combined with an unhealthy and sedentary lifestyle causes problems, but Southern grub with plenty of exercise, water, and balanced diets can allow someone to live a perfectly healthy life. Everyone in my family eats soul food, and not a single person has died before 40 because of natural causes.

[tstone]

El Paso? Sounds like you prefer the Tex-New-Mex variety.

Exercise is key for anything really... but soul food will definitely send the average, sedentary American to an early grave. Probably no worse than that Tex-Mex, though!

[JamesAbilene]

1. Pappadeaux's---all of them---Dallas, Ft Worth, San Antonio, Houston, etc.
2. Chuy's in Austin
3. Zentner's Steak House in San Angelo
4. Mary's in Strawn
5. Bee Hive in Ablany