I pulled a fast one on my wife this evening. When I walked in the door from work, she immediately announced that it was ham sandwiches or I could take her out for steak. I knew she had Texas Road House on her mind and I was quick to respond with, "Let's go."
So as we drove down Culebra towards Loop 410, I quickly jumped into the right lane instead of the left prompting her to remind me that TRH is located near Ingram, not Military. And that was when I suggested she try the steak at Cheddar's.
You may recall that we had a good experience at Cheddar's on our first visit but since then, have not been willing to endure a 45 minute wait to be seated. My thought was that if we got there early enough (it was before 5PM), we could beat the rush, and if not, TRH was just up the road.
This time around, the parking lot was as empty as I have seen it since before the place opened, and we were going to be in luck. One of my brothers in FLA swears by Cheddar's Cajun seasoned catfish, and just last week, our neighbor Gus added his complete endorsement of said entree. So I knew what I was going to have. I thought it would be easy for my wife to just order a steak since that was what she wanted, but she instead studied numerous options on the menu (and they do have a lot to choose from) before settling on the 8oz steak.
On the first report, I could not say enough about the good service we experienced while several of you readers left less than glowing comments about your own experiences. I guess today was our day for seeing the difference.
Nothing happened to make me not want to return, but suffice it to say that things seemed to be in slow motion. I have never waited 15 minutes for a beer in a restaurant, especially after the waiter brought my wife raspberry lemonade instead of the raspberry tea she ordered. After a while, he came out and told me they were changing the keg and it would just be a few more minutes. It was a few more minutes several times before I did receive the Luke warm beer. Thankfully, I've lived in England and can easily revert to old times. Plus, it would have been rude to ask for some ice cubes. The waiter was certainly polite and apologetic, but still...
Anyway, that is minor, minor stuff. It happens at the best of places and I simply can't let stuff like that get me upset, especially when I can come here and whine about it.
Onto the vittles. My wife got the steak, a baked potato without sour cream, and some baby carrots. In spite of pointing to the white stuff on the potato, the waiter assured her there was no sour cream on it. Once she picked off the sour cream, she said her baked potato wasn't that great. I had a bite and thought it was fine, but compared to TRH, I'd have to go with the baked potato at TRH every time. The baby carrots were very good - she liked them and so did I!
The steak was simply not as good as TRH. I had a small bite and thought it was good, per se, but unfortunately, my wife had TRH on her mind and even if I would have done my own happy dance upon tasting it, I don't think I would have swayed her opinion.
The Cajun grilled catfish that I ordered was brilliant. It comes served on a bed of some sort of rice (that was a tad bit undercooked - in fact a little hard), and it came with two sides. I selected the green beans and the mashed Idaho potatoes.
My green beans were simply wonderful. I usually am not a fan of the flat style, but they were cooked - in fact, they may have been simmering on the stove for a week for all I know, but they were delicious, and I will definitely order them again. The mashed potatoes with gravy were simply excellent. Again, compared to the semi-warm baked potato my wife got, my mashed potatoes were outstanding.
I am usually a fried catfish type of guy, and fried catfish nuggets are even better. Our first time to Cheddar's, I didn't order the cat because of the fact it wasn't fried. But thankfully, I was told how good it was and now I am telling you: Order the Cajun seasoned grilled catfish and you will not regret it. It was melt in your mouth good, the seasoning was not overdone in any way and combined with the sides, it was well worth the less than stellar service. Next time, I hope to say good things about the bed of rice it comes sitting on.
Have you tried the Cajun grilled cat at Cheddar's? Do you like the steak there? How was your service now that they have been in operation for a few months? Tell me about it or leave a comment here.
I had written about Tacos Martinez a while back, so no need to go through the entire place with a fine tooth comb, but I did want to offer a comparative analysis of two well-visited taco places after our report on Taqueria la Tapatia which is a bit closer to The Five Oh.
My wife and her mother enjoy this place for tacos, but in my personal opinion (based on a one time lunch) their plates aren't that great. My wife says I went at a bad time (lunch?). Anyway, I will tell you that for breakfast tacos, they are quite tasty indeed.
If you recall, I reported that La Tapatia has fairly smallish tacos. Tacos Martinez serves up some much bigger portions, but I think the price is just slightly higher as result.
My wife ordered a potato con chorizo taco and a barbacoa with avocado, both on the home made corn tortillas. I'm not a fan of corn tortillas unless they involve enchiladas, but I have to admit, these things are pretty good. Needless to say, my wife was sitting in the booth doing her happy dance.
I laced em up tight and ordered my usual carne guisada with government cheese, chorizo and egg, and a country sausage and egg. Is it any wonder I am morbidly obese?
This carne guisada is worth making note of. I'm not sure what the story is behind the recipe, but there is some sort of spicy flavor to it, and it is extremely tasty but certainly not over the top to ruin it. Man it was good.
The chorizo and eggs (and this is true for most places you order chorizo from) are pretty darn greasy. You may want to take a napkin and soak it up before you start eating, or you can just do like me and double up on your high blood pressure meds! Just kidding. The soft freshly made flour tortillas are great for sopping it up.
I was not impressed with the country and egg at all. I soaked it in green sauce so as to mask the taste of what may have been week old sausage. Or it could just be prepared differently, who knows.
Like La Tapatia, this place seems to be always packed with a steady stream of diners. But for the price, you get bigger tacos and more importantly, the carne guisada race goes to Taco Martinez. Give 'em a try between heart bypass surgeries.
Years ago when I was in the military, an office full of us guys would make the lunch rounds along South West Military Drive and the usual places outside of the old Kelly AFB. Brenda's Burgers when it was close to Military and Five Palms, and a few other places around there were regular stops.
Without question, the group favorite was a place called Taco Mart at 1402 Quintana Rd near what we used to call East Kelly. There would be groups of 6 or 8 of us hitting that place twice a week for the Mexican Plate and the people there were fast in service, the price was cheap and the food was outstanding, as you would expect for a place called Taco Mart.
It had been years since I had been to Taco Mart and a buddy, one of our old group, and I decided to do lunch in there today. Only problem is, it isn't called Taco Mart anymore. 
Taking up residence in place of Taco Mart is "Mi Guadalajara #3". Well, I don't know about the #1 and #2, but #3 is no Taco Mart.
I will tell you that the place has spiffied up a little. The walls have been painted and they now have a nice flat screen mounted on the wall playing Novella's for the lunch time crowd.
You may notice that the restaurant seems empty. And with good reason. For a white guy like me, the Mexican Plate is a standard that needs to be met. If I can tell that your rice and beans don't cut it, how do you expect the locals to respect the place? Oh, and can someone explain to me the idea of the taco that comes with the Mexican Plate coming on two soft, raw corn tortillas, vice the standard crispy shell? Hell, if I want some meat and tomato chunks on two floppy soggy corn tortillas, at least have the decency to fry them up and make it a chalupa.
Though we were both hungry, my buddy and I sort of picked at our plates and finally admitted to one another that the nostalgia of returning to old stomping grounds was pretty much ruined by this over-priced imitator.
It was hard to even get a chuckle reminiscing about the time he walked in to the Men's room only to find our waitress sitting on the toilet. He was stunned but she calmly pulled up her pants, washed her hands and said, "It's all your's, Hun."
Those were good times. Todays mediocre lunch plate was not worth half the $8.00 it cost and we regrettably marked this impostor off our list. No Tasty Treats - not even one!
Perhaps we'll do Brenda's soon.
I am constantly looking for a better burger place to add to my list of potential dining selections for times that I might need to grab a bite away from my desk at work or firing up my own grill at home. Wednesday, the stars aligned and we had a rare opportunity for my wife and I to meet up with both of our kids for lunch. Since we were coming from different directions, I looked in the back of the Taste section of the Express-News and found an address for SA Burger on SW Military Drive right at I-35.
I have often found that some of the best food you can find comes from the hole in the wall type place, or the greasy little kitchen off the side of a bar; I wonder if this is what the SA Burger folks had in mind.
Located in one of the those strip center places next to the Mayan Movie Theater, you get the immediate feeling that you are about to enter a bar. That isn't a bad thing I suppose, but some of the signs on the door didn't necessarily give me that, "Welcome to Applebees, You Neighborhood Bar and Grill" sort of feeling.
But, the last thing I am is snobby! My goal was a good burger and fast! Once inside, the place did look like the owner wasn't sure if they were going for a bar or a restaurant. 
There used to be a TV commercial where it showed a corner business. At the start of the commercial, the business is a coffee shop of sorts. Then, as the morning fades, the shop is transformed into a clothing store or something - the coffee pots magically fold up and shelves with clothes fold out. Even later, the clothing store transforms into a restaurant or bar. I don't even recall what the commercial was about, but the idea was using the same space for multiple users at different times. SA Burger didn't see that commercial. Half the place looks like a restaurant and the other half looks like it may have previously been a bar, or maybe after we left, it transformed; I don't know.
Okay, the only thing you should take from all this is, this is not a good place to impress your date or a snobby client. But if you want a big burger, read on.
The menu is boldly posted right at the register so you place your order then find a seat. I love this type of set-up because if you can't figure out what you want, you can step aside and let someone in line behind you order. A very important thing to understand: You can dress your burger yourself at the fixins bar, so don't get all wrapped around the axle about what comes on each burger, like I did.
I ordered the El Rancho burger: A huge burger with Jack cheese, topped with grilled jalapeno halves and avocado slices. 
I added some mayo, BBQ sauce, pickles and onions and I'm gonna tell you, it was darn tasty. 
My son ordered the SA Burger with cheese. This is basically a slab of burger with cheese and it is left up to you to dress it however you'd like. Quite a good deal.
And of course, there are other selections like sandwiches, and such. My daughter opted to try the fried chicken tenders. She took a few bites then announced us all that through careful evaluation of her taste buds, she was able to discern for her self the chef's secret ingredients for the chicken tenders. She then stated, "I shall now give you the list of ingredients used t prepare this chicken: Flour." I guess that would be a no-go on the chicken tenders.
So wrapping up here, I can't say anything really negative about SA Burger. I was very pleased with my burger and honestly, the burgers are huge and the steak fries were just fried right. Oh, big bonus: They serve beer on draft and in bottles and they had a few TV's on with sports if you are looking for that sort of atmosphere.
They should perhaps hire an interior decorator or have one of those reality home design show people come in and give the place the once over. But as a take out place, or if you are just looking for a place to grab a burger, go fort it.
Two Tasty Treats...
We stopped by on our way to see my mother-in-law, used the coupon, got a dozen, a large coffee for me, some bagels for breakfast the next morning and a pound of Dunkin' Dounts brand coffee. 
I get the feeling that is the whole point of businesses making the coupons. You go in for a deal and end up buying a bunch of extra crap. Oh, sorry about the picture. Apparently, some people could not wait long enough for me to take a picture of the full dozen.
We go to the one on Military Drive near Lackland. It has been there forever (that I know of anyway). Honestly, how anyone could pick Kirspy Kreme over Dunkin' Dounts is beyond me.
