Not long after our visit to Bobby J's over in Helotes, and still sensitive to our split decision, my wife and I opted to try another burger place and see if we could agree on the taste, quality and above all, appearance of the food. We were tempted by a coupon that had been stuck to our refrigerator for at least a week or two, and finally decided to try the Cheesy Jane's over on Bandera at 1604. I should tell you that we ate at and enjoyed the one up by Stone Oak a few years ago, but just never found the need to go again.
For me, the atmosphere of the place is pretty wide open and warehouse like. A series of tables and booths, you have the old diner style grill area in the back and just a few decorations. I think they are going for the Happy Days burger joint without the associated girls on skates and regular appearances by Arthur Fonzarelli.
I confess, I'm more of a Chili's or Clear Springs, and yes, even Bobby J's atmosphere sorta guy simply because I like looking at the things on the walls. Cheesy Jane's does have a train track hanging from the ceiling that goes around in circles with advertisements on it.
But we came in for a burger, not entertainment! The menu does show a Chili Burger, but my wife opted instead to try a regular half-pound burger with cheddar cheese, and all the regular fixin's minus onions. She then added bacon and some guacamole. When our plates arrived, I suddenly had burger-envy.
I opted to try something called the Pecos Burger. It is a half-pound of excellent meat, cheddar cheese, BBQ sauce and covered with something called splinters, which are fried onions and jalapeños. It came with a side of ranch, so I poured that on for good measure!
We both enjoyed the buns (slighty toasted) and the great tastes of the burgers. The little jalapeños on my Pecos Burger were not hot at all, but simply added a different taste, so if you are afraid of hot stuff, worry not. Our server kept my iced tea filled and we especially enjoyed that the manager or head cook or whoever he was, brought the meals out to each diner just to make sure everything was alright. Great service and pretty quick.
Our only disappointment was with the onion rings. We got the regular order (enough for two people, easily), and they were the perfect texture. Not over cooked and not too crisp. I'm an onion ring snob I suppose, and if I recall from our first trip to the Cheesy Jane's in Stone Oak, the onion rings did not have the same unique taste these did. In spite of their good appearance and texture, the breading had some sort of awkward aftertaste to them. At first, I thought it was the taste of a corn tortilla. Surely, that wasn't what they were going for. In the end, we decided they simply need to change the oil. It wasn't enough to ruin our visit, so when you go, feel free to order them and let me know if you get the same corny taste we got.
Apparently, if you order a full one-pound burger and finish it, they take your picture and post it on the wall with your comments on the card. Before leaving, we stood there and read a lot of them - pretty funny stuff. I'm thinking on a day when I'm really hungry, I might just put on the ol' eatin' pants and give the one-pounder a try. 
But even if you aren't all that hungry, Cheesy Jane's has a burger right for you at a fair price, good service and something my wife and I can agree on. It is a Tasty Treat and get's my wife's Eeee-Yum seal of approval.
During the drives my wife and I take, we are constantly on the look-out for the perfect little place to stop and grab a bite to eat. We have a few methods of operation for finding places. First, it is not uncommon for us to get a recommendation from a friend to try a particular place if we happen to be in some town. Other times, we find our place visiting a small town and there is only one place to eat - that makes it pretty simple. The third and very often used method of selection is our friend Garmin.
When we made the decision to make our return home from Devine via Hondo, I consulted Garmin to reveal several potential dining candidates. One place that caught my eye was a Billy Bob's Backyard Barbecue. The other place that caught my attention was called McBee's. I recalled the name because we had seen a McBee's down in Pleasanton on Highway 97, and later, my brother-in-law told me that we had missed some good eatin'. There's only one problem; he is a vegetarian.
As it was already close to 2 in the afternoon, stomachs were rumbling and my wife and I thought we would give Billy Bob's a try. As we drove through town, we started to wonder if perhaps we would end up in some good ol' boy's actual backyard with a huge pit and a picnic table.
Well, it turns out, that is sort of close. When we pulled into the place, there seemed to be a regular restaurant called Billy Bob's Burgers, but in the back, there was a smaller take-out sort of place called Billy Bob's Backyard BBQ. It was such a beautiful day and the smell was great. But then the logistics of where to eat came up. There were a few picnic tables occupied by fine upstanding citizens I'm sure, but for my wife, this was not going to be her idea of a good time.
Not to worry - one day we'll try the burgers for sure.
But over two blocks or so is McBee's. As soon as we parked the smell hit us. This place meant business. The place had the look and style of an older Bill Miller's to it.
Everything looked and smelled good. I ordered a two meat plate - brisket and ribs with potato salad and Cole slaw. My wife got a single meat - chicken with potato salad and ranch style beans. As soon as we sat down, we divvied up all the food so we could each have a little of everything.
The sides are nothing to write home about. I'll just leave it at that and let you know that you can order meat by the pound instead of buying the plate with two sides.
You may recall my wife coined her Eeee-yuk rating when we tried Dickey's BBQ. She is a firm believer that good Barbecue must be able to stand on its own without the use of sauce, regardless of how good the sauce is. Dickey's had a great selection of sauces and for good reason; the meat was not that great.
McBee's chicken is pure heaven. The meat fell off the bones, the seasoning was not overpowering - just some sort of pepper and whatever goodness they rubbed into it before smoking it for however long it takes. I didn't even touch the brisket or the ribs until I had devoured ever edible part of the chicken pieces on my plate. I'm telling you, I would drive to Hondo for for a piece of chicken, and that is saying something.
I must comment on the portion sizes. This place does not skimp on the vittles. The single portion of chicken was enough for two people to share. For about a dollar more, the two meat plate was loaded down.
I am fascinated with ribs from the Rib House, but they are a different sort altogether. Those are your BBQ with sauce ribs. These are your BBQ with seasoning ribs. Do not under any circumstances spoil the deliciousness of McBee's ribs with sauce. They were tender and juicy and tasty.
The brisket had a great taste to it and again, they piled it on. I did break down and try out the sauce that was on the table. I don't know if it was some house brand or what, but it had sort of a sweet taste to it. At first, I wasn't sure, but when I took a piece of bread and covered it with the sauce to taste it, I decided I liked it.
Okay, I guess I will tell you about the sides. The ranch style beans were bland. The Cole slaw was passable and much better looking than what I got at the Rib House. The potato salad was dry. My wife ended up cutting up some pickles and mixing it in and sure enough, that was enough to fix it up. I put a little BBQ sauce on mine.
The chicken alone is worth the trip, and gets McBee's Bar-B-Q in Hondo both the Tasty Treats and the Eeee-Yum seal of approval. If you are heading out to Garner State Park but are worried about getting a grill site, just stop at McBee's, order up several pounds of the chicken and take it with you.
It makes no sense to drive all the way to Atascosa County and not stop someplace new to eat, so following our trip to Christine, my wife and I got off Highway 16 and headed East on Highway 97 from Jourdanton to Pleasanton.
I confess, I have never been to Pleasanton before and I was surprised to see how city-like it is. We stopped in the Tractor Supply Co. so my wife could purchase a few discounted Christmas items - 75% off! 
Once done, I had thoughts of driving back to San Antonio so I could throw some fajitas on the grill but it was already getting to be mid afternoon, and stomachs were growling. So, I clicked on the ol' Garmin and saw a restaurant called Fat Cowboys. How can you go wrong?
We whipped into the place and I found the parking situation to be entertaining. They have a few handicapped slots and a specially marked, Sheriff Only slot.
You know I love this sort of interior design - where friendly animals can observe you while you eat them, along with nostalgic items of interest for observation.
We looked through our menus contemplating how we might get an appetizer or perhaps try a steak or something when a group of teens seated at a table near us got their orders. Several of the kids got these huge baked potatoes loaded with things and I pretty much made up my mind, I was going to try that.
I will tell you that a few of the items on the menu were quite pricey. I don't recall exact prices but the Catfish was at least $15.00 and that is more than I'm willing to pay for something that may or may not be good. But don't let that stop you - they have lots of reasonably priced meals to choose from.
My wife ordered up a chicken sandwich with fries. She took about a bite into it and was already making her signature "Eeee-Yum" sound. I didn't try the sandwich, but I did inspect a few of the fries to confirm tastiness. My baked potato was huge. I ordered mine with chicken, something I would have never thought of, and of course, asked for it loaded with whatever else they wanted to throw onto it.
As much as I love baked potatoes, there was just too much of it and I ended up taking almost half of mine to go. It was good eatin' though.
One thing I noted about the menu was that they made note of the fact that they need time to make your order right. I expected we would be waiting a while considering the place was mostly full. Surprisingly, our food was out quite quickly, and that made me pretty happy. I'd certainly recommend this place if you happened to be in the area but like many other places we visit, I wouldn't drive an hour just to try it out.
Do you have a place you would drive an hour just to eat at? Tell me about it.
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!
Not long after our visit to Bobby J's over in Helotes, and still sensitive to our split decision, my wife and I opted to try another burger place and see if we could agree on the taste, quality and above all, appearance of the food. We were tempted by a coupon that had been stuck to our refrigerator for at least a week or two, and finally decided to try the Cheesy Jane's over on Bandera at 1604. I should tell you that we ate at and enjoyed the one up by Stone Oak a few years ago, but just never found the need to go again.
I confess, I'm more of a Chili's or Clear Springs, and yes, even Bobby J's atmosphere sorta guy simply because I like looking at the things on the walls. Cheesy Jane's does have a train track hanging from the ceiling that goes around in circles with advertisements on it.
But we came in for a burger, not entertainment! The menu does show a Chili Burger, but my wife opted instead to try a regular half-pound burger with cheddar cheese, and all the regular fixin's minus onions. She then added bacon and some guacamole. When our plates arrived, I suddenly had burger-envy.
I opted to try something called the Pecos Burger. It is a half-pound of excellent meat, cheddar cheese, BBQ sauce and covered with something called splinters, which are fried onions and jalapeños. It came with a side of ranch, so I poured that on for good measure!
Our only disappointment was with the onion rings. We got the regular order (enough for two people, easily), and they were the perfect texture. Not over cooked and not too crisp. I'm an onion ring snob I suppose, and if I recall from our first trip to the Cheesy Jane's in Stone Oak, the onion rings did not have the same unique taste these did. In spite of their good appearance and texture, the breading had some sort of awkward aftertaste to them. At first, I thought it was the taste of a corn tortilla. Surely, that wasn't what they were going for. In the end, we decided they simply need to change the oil. It wasn't enough to ruin our visit, so when you go, feel free to order them and let me know if you get the same corny taste we got.
Apparently, if you order a full one-pound burger and finish it, they take your picture and post it on the wall with your comments on the card. Before leaving, we stood there and read a lot of them - pretty funny stuff. I'm thinking on a day when I'm really hungry, I might just put on the ol' eatin' pants and give the one-pounder a try. 
But even if you aren't all that hungry, Cheesy Jane's has a burger right for you at a fair price, good service and something my wife and I can agree on. It is a Tasty Treat and get's my wife's Eeee-Yum seal of approval.
