Abilene Restaurants (Allen, Lockhart, Winters: movie theater, price, food)

[hound 109]

I'm going to be in Abilene all weekend with a hungry 10 y/o who eats every 90-120 minutes. Plus he'll be competing in a tennis tournament & I'll need to line up several meals. (in all cases, preferably NO chain restaurants)

We'll be staying on the SW side near Buffalo Gap Road & the Freeway loop.

Was thinking of Perini's on Sat. late afternoon (he'll be done by 3pm) for our one big meal. (Agree or Disagree?)

- What would be your top two BBQ "joints"?. Casual, "Lockhart" type places preferable.

- How about a Breakfast Taco "take out joint" (the perfect breakfast food) or any Tex/Mex open for breakfast/lunch (no chains....preferably a place where there are as many hispanics as gringos).

- A Chinese Buffet place or a chinese take out place (not fancy).

- An inexpensive seafood place (something like Sea Island in Corpus or SA would be perfect.)

- Cheap spaghetti joint?

- A cheap, & good & quick Hamburger Joint. (I know Perini's was on "the TX monthly list"....but i'm talking a place where i can take a sweaty kid at 11am for a 20 minute $4 burger.)

I know these requests sounds extensive, but the kid will eat 7-8 times over 2 1/2 days & I'm hoping to put some $$ into the mom & pop dives of Abilene instead of the national chains.

Thanks Everyone!

[teatime]

Perini's is excellent but pricey. Expect to pay $20+ for a meal. The burgers are about $12.

It seems like you should find So. 11th Street as soon as possible. There you'll find Joe Allen's, which is a good steak and barbecue place. Right next door is Spano's, with good Italian food. For a fancier feed, Lytle Land and Cattle Co. is up the road from there, too.

For excellent barbecue, try Harold's on Walnut Street. (Google for directions and times. I know Harold has expanded his hours and is now open some nights for dinner but I really don't know the new hours. You may want to call.) Harold's is a local treasure and, since Harold is really wanting to retire soon, he won't be working at his establishment much longer. He's training someone up now to take over.

For Chinese, try China Star on South First or Buffet City on S. Clack near Southwest Drive. It's in the plaza with the Dollar Tree and a movie theater.

I've never eaten there, but I hear that the Seafood Tavern on S. Clack is quite good. And for all around good food at a reasonable price, I enjoy Zookini's. They've got some really interesting sandwiches, a good choice of entrees, and an excellent salad bar.

Hope y'all enjoy Abilene!

[TT Dave]

Tea Time had some really great suggestions in the post above and I concur with all that was suggested there. I would however go to China Star over Buffet City for Chinese. China Star always has good food, the last time we ate at Buffet City it wasn't that good.

A really good place to get breakfast burritos is at La Popular. The closest one to where you'll be is on the corner of S.14th and Barrow St. It's locally owned and they have great food (they have other Tex-Mex food besides breakfast items too and they have take-out)

As far as Italian goes you might also try Mr. Gatti's Pizza on the corner of Buffalo Gap Rd. and 27th street. It's cheap (a buffet) and they have pretty good pizza and spaghetti. They also have a huge video game arcade for the kids in the back.

Hope all this helps!

[TT Dave]

I forgot to mention, if you want a hamburger that's really good but isn't too expensive, check out Texas Steak Express at S 14th St and Texas Avenue (a little past the freeway going west on 14th)

[Cowboybootnut]

+ 1 on China Star and Harolds.

I'd add a Zookini's on the Winters Freeway, westside. Good salad bar and other stuff.

There is also a Golden Corral.

[bman15470]

Mcdonalds, BK, Carls JR, Dairy Queen. Its called franchising, their prob all locally owned.

[ChristieP]

Harold's BBQ is THE BEST!!!! It is not your typical Texas BBQ place. It is soul food BBQ, and you can get a side of collard greens with your meat. Their hot water corn bread is wonderful! Don't be surprised if the line is out the door at lunch; it's a small place and the line moves quickly.

[hound 109]

Thanks for all the great information!

& when i mentioned "dives" i meant it affectionately.


& until McDs or BK provides an side order of collard greens or turns their Dr. Pepper spiggot to "11"....I'll try to avoid their McRib in favor of Harold's or Joe Allen's RIBS (& sliced beef). Franchise or not.

& has Carl's Jr. taken Abilene by storm?


I'll report back.

[hound 109]

Thanks for all the excellent recommendations.

We ate several meals in Abilene, & not a bad one in the bunch. I've got comments in the two quotes below:

Originally Posted by teatime

Perini's is excellent but pricey. Expect to pay $20+ for a meal. The burgers are about $12.

We ended up skipping Perrini's....the kid didn't get off the court until 6pm Sat. & we didn't feel like a long sit down joint that night.

It seems like you should find So. 11th Street as soon as possible. There you'll find Joe Allen's, which is a good steak and barbecue place. Right next door is Spano's, with good Italian food. For a fancier feed, Lytle Land and Cattle Co. is up the road from there, too.

Joe Allen's & Spano's were both closed on Sunday....& the two men & two boys who went over there really wanted some BBQ....rats.

For excellent barbecue, try Harold's on Walnut Street. (Google for directions and times. I know Harold has expanded his hours and is now open some nights for dinner but I really don't know the new hours. You may want to call.) Harold's is a local treasure and, since Harold is really wanting to retire soon, he won't be working at his establishment much longer. He's training someone up now to take over.

Tried calling on Sat. but no answer....i'm thinking they're only open during the week.

For Chinese, try China Star on South First .....

Excellent Buffet & a spread so varied (salmon, fried chicken, ribs etc....along with the 3-4 dozen asian items) that even the "i don't like chinese food" member of our group was pleased. FYI - they serve "lunch" until 4pm.

I've never eaten there, but I hear that the Seafood Tavern on S. Clack is quite good. And for all around good food at a reasonable price, I enjoy Zookini's. They've got some really interesting sandwiches, a good choice of entrees, and an excellent salad bar.

We ate at Zookin's after finding out Joe Allen's was closed. It was festive & good.

Hope y'all enjoy Abilene!

& from TT Dave

Tea Time had some really great suggestions in the post above and I concur with all that was suggested there. I would however go to China Star over Buffet City for Chinese. China Star always has good food, the last time we ate at Buffet City it wasn't that good.

A really good place to get breakfast burritos is at La Popular. The closest one to where you'll be is on the corner of S.14th and Barrow St. It's locally owned and they have great food (they have other Tex-Mex food besides breakfast items too and they have take-out)

It killed me, but we ate the free breakfast at the Hampton. I drove right by La Popular twice (most of the matches were at Rose Park a couple of blocks north)....& i know that place was MY kind of place. At 7:30am on a Sunday (when there were no cars anywhere).....there were 6-8 cars parked in front of this place....you know it's good. It's on the "list" for next time.

As far as Italian goes you might also try Mr. Gatti's Pizza on the corner of Buffalo Gap Rd. and 27th street. It's cheap (a buffet) and they have pretty good pizza and spaghetti. They also have a huge video game arcade for the kids in the back.

The only "chain" place we went to was a cheap spaghetti take out place across the freeway from where we were staying. (Fazolli's i think). It wasn't any good, but served the purpose of a quick/cheap pasta fix for the tennis gladiator who eats 5 meals a day. On the plus side, it opens at 10:30am, they gave him extra bread sticks, & the serve yourself fountain Dr. Pepper was darn good.

Hope all this helps!

Thanks again guys.

[TT Dave]

Sorry you missed out on Joe Allens and Harolds for the BBQ but it sounds like you still hot a couple of good spots. I agree with you on Fazoli's, I've never been that impressed with their food either but it is quick and cheap. Like you said, hopefully you'll get to visit La Popular next time around, I think you'll like it.