Lunch Report: Maverick Grill in Floresville...

So it isn't like we have never been to Floresville before. In fact, my wife's late uncle and his family lived on 40 acres or so out there, and we've visited. When my kids were a lot younger, we took them to the big dairy that was out there and we also enjoyed the park. But it has been years. We had a good reason to go and as is usually the case with us, it involved a restaurant called Maverick Grill. But before we would sit down and try out the vittles, there was lots to see. You can read about the rest of our sightseeing south of Floresville here.The growth, like every other small town near San Antonio, is incredible. The main strip along 181 has exploded with new stores from the last time we visited, and in fact, the people in Floresville even have Cell Phones now, so they can drive around while talking on them just like people in San Antonio do, yet maintaining that small town feel. How nice.We pulled into the downtown business district so we could take a gander at the famous peanut. I know, you sort of expect something bigger. Anyway, we noticed a few markers on the yard and they were of time capsules that had been planted years ago. One was buried in in 1984 and is supposed to be open in 2034. Mark your calenders. The other one which was buried to celebrate the Wilson County Centennial was buried in 1960 and they plan to open it just two years from now in 2010. We might go just to see what was so important back then.I know it sounds goofy, but I just love seeing these small towns that maintain that original Andy Griffith town square feel to them. The Wilson County Courthouse makes me think of stories where everyone was gathered around just waiting to see the outcome of the big trial. I always wondered if the people portrayed as townsfolk in the old movies had jobs.
In the case of places like Floresville, it seems as though there is an effort to preserve the old structures by repurposing them for restaurants, craft shops and other stores. And of course, why build a new post office when you can use an existing building in the downtown area? I like it!As we drove around the downtown area a few times, we found a small little place called Mrs. Annie's Peanut Patch. How can you not stop there?

We were pretty sure we had seen this company at the SA Rodeo before, and sure enough, the nice lady who opened up rather than slip off for lunch so we could shop told us that they would be at rodeo this year. She offered me samples of some jalapeño peanut brittle. Who would have thought of that? It was awesome! We bought several bags of different peanuts and some peanut brittle and we'll probably just get fatter and fatter as a result.Of course, we drove right by the White House Cafe and Saloon which is on our "to do" list, and just another reason to go back to Floresville sooner rather than later. I liked the idea of a Beer Garden off to the side. I bet this place gets lots of use during the Peanut Festival.Aside from the downtown area, you have to appreciate the open views and beautiful country surrounding Floresville - probably one of the main reasons so many people who work in San Antonio decide to live there and make the short commute to town for work.But one must eat, and after several hours of driving, we made our way to the Maverick Grill for some good vittles.You can probably tell by the places I eat that I enjoy the country style, old signs on the wall, hunting lodge sort of atmosphere in places. I'm not sure if the way a place looks and feels adds to the taste of the food, but it can't hurt.

Once again, I had my little menu selection situation going on in my mind and I found myself agonizing over the steaks that had been suggested by a co-worker and the fact that they had catfish on the menu. Some guys seated near us seemed to be eating a huge plate of fajitas and it looked mighty appetizing.For my wife, the choice was easy. She had some sort of grilled breast of chicken sandwich on Texas Toast with an order of the onion rings. The onion rings were outstanding - thicker and tastier than Blakes, and possibly on the level of Clear Springs. Her chicken was thick and juicy and the sandwich had real, thick bacon and the toast was actually Texas Toast, not regular sized toast pretending to be Texas Toast. When she asked for some honey mustard, our waitress was there lickety-split with a tub of it.

I could not resist the temptation of the catfish, and I went for it. We did have a minor communication issue with the ordering. I asked the waitress if anything came with the catfish and hush-puppies and she said no. So then she asked if I wanted something else. Thinking that I was paying more for whatever I ordered, I decided, what the heck, I'll try the Mac & Cheese. Then, she asked if I wanted salad, green beans, fries or several other items. WTF? I guess I was asking if I got to choose some sides with the meal and she thought I was asking if anything else came on the plate besides the fish the hush-puppies and the two sides that come with it. Either way.I went with the catfish, mac & cheese and the green beans. This catfish was good and plenty. Not as good as Clear Springs but way better than Blakes. I don't mean to pick on Blakes, but it was the most recent place we had catfish and onion rings. The green beans were user friendly, not like the ones directly from the can at Lone Star Grill. The mac & cheese was different. Look at the picture; does it not look as though some guy boiled up some macaroni, then tossed some shredded longhorn cheese on top of it? It made us laugh though, and that was entertaining.
We really enjoyed our lunch and can't complain about a single thing (goofy mac & cheese not withstanding). My wife was so happy with her grilled chicken sandwich, she was already saying, "Eeee-yum" before I had even taken my first bite of fish. And overall, Maverick Grill gets the Tasty Treat from me. Just don't get the mac & cheese. Unless you like it like that.

Tell me about your favorite small town restaurant so we can go try it out!