Mark another off the list...
As my wife and I were making our way back to San Antonio from our afternoon in San Marcos, naturally the topic of eating came up. This happens often when we get in the car.
Anyway, since we were near New Braunfels, she suggested that maybe we should stop into the Clear Springs Restaurant off Hiway 46. Hindsight being 20 - 20...
Anyway, she also had mentioned the fact that she has never been to Pappadeaux. That was about all it took and I made a beeline down I-35 and off of Loop 410 and onto McCullough so we could get some.
My only previous experience with Pappadeaux involved a business meeting, an expense account, lots of steak & shrimp and numerous beers, so even though I would be paying this time, I was sort of happy to return.
The first thing you need to know is that the place is fairly big. The place looks mighty friendly on the outside with great landscaping, covered porch with rocking chairs, and just an inviting atmosphere to it.
Inside, there is a fairly large bar area where you can imagine people staying in nearby hotels routinely use for an after work hang-out.
We sat at a table near the center of all traffic; every person entering the place seemed to walk by us and every member of the waitstaff hung out or got their trays loaded in front of us. Sure, we could have asked for a different table, but I like to watch the excitement.
Pappadeux offers something I really like to see in a restaurant and that is a hustling staff. The people were really moving and maybe it was the time that we visited (around 5PM), but our appetiser and food arrived fast.
With our drinks, we got a loaf of hot & fresh french bread that was nothing short of outstanding. In fact, I could have just stopped there, but my wife wanted some too.
We decided to get the calamari as a starter and it was out in a matter of minutes, very hot (which is required for calamari) and it came with two sauces. One was some sort of cocktail sauce that was out of this world and the other was some sort of creamy, lemony sauce that I can't recall the name of, but it was also good.
My wife ordered the fried shrimp and instead of fries had the steamed broccoli. Dude, look at the size of that broccoli! Once she cut away all the excess undercooked parts, she was good with it. She was also happy with the shrimp, though in fairness, it was basically bland. At a Cajun place? Really.
If I had seen a steak & shrimp combo, I probably would have ordered it, but I just didn't see it on the menu. Instead, I went with the ol' standby and ordered catfish and shrimp. How can you screw that up if your a seafood place, right? Can I just say that they give you entirely too many fries? Of course I can, it's my blog. I mean, is it any wonder why people in San Antonio are so enormously fat?
More importantly, it creates a logistics problem. I don't really care for fries, so they just get in the way. Not to worry, the catfish was hot, but again extremely bland.
I know that the Pappadeaux people will spice up your meal if you want it really hot or they will tone it down if you can't handle the pica, but geeze, this crust was just so without taste that it seemed a shame to cover the nicely cooked catfish beneath it. And the shrimp was not special at all. Look, if we were talking about Long John Silvers, I'd be okay, but in case you hadn't seen the menu, prices for this stuff start at about $20.
It's a shame too. We had great service, it was fast - in fact my wife joked that the meal came faster than a lot of fast food places we have been to - and although it was loud, the place has a nice atmosphere. But when you into a place and spend $60, it should be at least as good as what you can get at Chili's or some place like that for $35.
In a head on comparison, I'll put Clear Springs restaurant and their catfish and their shrimp (and their fries for that matter) up against Pappadeaux any day of the week. And I promise it will cost a lot less.
Fire the cook.
I got a really nice e-mail from Rich, a reader who visits the Blog from Schertz, and since he and his wife were out in Driftwood, TX, thought he would fill us in on Salt Lick BBQ. In case you didn't know, Driftwood is north of San Marcos, roughly between Austin and Johnson City.
Rich tells us, "I've really enjoyed reading your blog for awhile now and check it often. Thought you may be interested in our visit today to Salt Lick BBQ up in Driftwood...Hill Country near Austin. If you haven't been to Salt Lick yet I recommend it."
"I'll have to say I failed "Dave 101" and didn't take a photo of my plate upon arrival. About halfway through my meal I realized I should have, so I shot my wife's half-eaten meal."
"The ribs were fantastic, brisket was good, potato salad was a little different but ok, slaw was good, and the bread was great. If you haven't been up there yet and are in the area, go for it."
"Also, you need to get over here to Harmon's in Cibolo. We still prefer it over all others. Hopefully when you do come it won't be an off day for them."
Yea, I'd say that Harmon's is a must visit. Easily, we get more suggestions to try it out than any other place. We'll have to get out there soon. 
"Last, Cooper's BBQ from Llano is putting in a new restaurant in New Braunfels on hwy 46...photo included. Hopefully it will be as good as the Cooper's in Lllano."
"
Keep up the great blog work."
Thanks, Rich. We love to get recommendations form folks, and especially when they come complete with pictures! Have you been someplace we need to go to? Tell me about it, or leave a comment.
I may have to interrupt this dinner report with a quick session of purging if only to allow my stomach to fit conveniently below the computer desk. With that bit of appetizing information, I will now tell you of bar none, the best catfish ever.
Years ago, my late grandparents along with my parents came from Florida for a visit to San Antonio. They stayed at some forgettable time-share place out at Canyon Lake, and during that trip, my grandfather had inquired as to the availability of catfish in the area. Thankfully, the store clerk he had asked had advised him to skip all the local Canyon Lake area eateries, and head directly to Clear Springs Restaurant on Highway 46 between New Braunfels and Seguin. The next day, we made the trip and it was a thing of beauty.
As we all went around the table ordering up the various plates with sides and such, when the waiter got to Boppa as we called him, he asked for a pound of catfish and nothing else to interfere with it. I'm guessing he was about 80 at the time and between sips from a draft beer, he promptly consumed that full pound of catfish and barely did more than eat and smile during the meal.
That was back in the mid-90's and both Meemo and Boppa are gone, but I get a warm feeling when I think about catfish and I have a special fondness for Clear Springs. When they opened new restaurants here in San Antonio (one at Afton Oaks and the other over off of Bandera Road which closed soon after), I thought it would be so wonderful, but I have to be honest, I like the feel of the original on Highway 46.
Okay, so on to tonight. Eating lunch - any lunch today was a mistake; wolfing down half a muffeletta was plain silly. I might have been better off fasting for a week or so. Nevertheless, we had plans to take my son and his girlfriend out for an early birthday dinner and he decided he wanted Clear Springs. The one issue I have with the Afton Oaks location is the location. Those of you who live in Stone Oak or the greater 1604 - 281 nightmare, I just don't know how you stand the traffic.
When you arrive at the Afton Oaks Clear Springs, you are taken away from the traffic and road rage, and welcomed into a quiet, down home atmosphere with lots of trees and a porch reminiscent of an old country home.
Once inside, they mix the look of your standard Chili's full of old stuff mounted on the walls and ceiling beams with the atmosphere of a hunting lodge. Add in a huge bar and it is time for a cold beer and a hot serving of onion rings.
Unless you have a group of 5 or 6, the small order of onion rings are plenty. Trust me on this. My wife and I are pretty particular about onion rings and onion blossoms and such. The trick with these is, dip them in Clear Springs creamy tarter sauce. You simply can't go wrong. Or eat them plain. You still can't go wrong.
I had this idea that I would just order up a small plate or maybe even share a plate with my wife. But once I started seeing the plates come out for the people seated around us, it was clear that I had to go with the Fisherman's Platter. You get both catfish and shrimp. And these aren't the tiny little shrimp that resemble sea monkeys, I'm talking good sized shrimp breaded and fried.
My wife went with just the shrimp (she can't bare to eat catfish, what with it being a bottom feeder, but she is cool with the shrimp).
Some how they have it timed so just as you take that last bite of onion ring, the food comes sizzling out to your table. The standard sides are fries, Cole slaw and ranch style beans, but I substituted some green beans with mine. They also serve up some tiny little hush puppies that come equipped with little chunks of jalapeño pepper in them.
The most important thing you need to know is that the breading on the catfish (and the shrimp and the onion rings) is not some sort of overpowering super seasoned mixture. Far from bland, it simply gives you a surface for which to hold the aforementioned creamy, heaven-like tarter sauce on. One of my huge complaints about some catfish I have had is that it is so crispy and crunch that you feel like it is work to eat. I try not to over use this phrase, but I mean it when I say that your catfish will simply melt in your mouth, and regardless of what you had for lunch, you will simply consume it all and consider getting a pound to go.
Another thing to consider when dining is the wait staff or lack there of. At Clear Springs, they know they have a crowd coming for dinner and they have the wait staff to handle it.
I will tell you this, you pay for what you get. The Fisherman's Platter is $12 or $13, but well worth it. For those of you not down with the seafood, you can still go and enjoy burgers or steaks or chicken, though in all the times we have been, I couldn't tell you what any of it tastes like. 
Clear Springs always has and always will be a Tasty Treat in my book.
And, they have a nice beaver.
Oh, and apparently, Colon is Good.
This is a continuation of our trip to Buc-ee's in Luling, TX reported here.
I like to have a good idea of where we are planning to go when we set out on one of our little trips, and as you might have gathered from reading past reports, I tend to take eating into a big consideration in the plan. When I first suggested we take the drive to Luling, I thought we would zip into Buc-ee's check it out, buy a few souvenirs, then head back toward Sequin and New Braunfels so as to have lunch at the Clear Springs Catfish Restaurant on Hiway 46. But when we didn't even leave our house until a little after 11am, it was pretty clear that we would need to obtain vittles closer to Luling.
We thought of grabbing something to eat in Buc-ee's, what with the Pulled Pork Sandwiches and deli-like atmosphere seeming to be a huge hit with the never-ending stream of people, seemingly all needing gas and all hungry at the same time. But there wasn't really a place to sit down and take pictures of my food, a requirement if you are obsessive about providing historical documentation your lunch like I am. So, we consulted Garmin and sure enough, just a few miles up the road on Hiway 90 was Luling BBQ.
But before you can eat, you have to see the local land marks. Though Luling is known for being involved in the oil business, (there is even a museum in town), they seem to currently be known for their watermelons. 
Or at least the Watermelon water tank.
Oh, and there is a big chicken on the side of the road. 
Attention residents of Luling: It is January. You may now place Santa back in the attic until next year. I just love these little oddities that dot the Texas landscape in just about every small town we visit. They say something very welcoming about the communities; If you move here, you won't have to worry about being the weird family - we got plenty here already. And I like that.
We pulled onto Davis Street and found a parking spot just across the street from Luling BBQ. There seemed to be some sort of flea market situation happening and interestingly enough, the convention of Mopar cars we had seen at Buc-ee's had pulled into the same area to show their nice rides. But we were hungry - and as soon as we opened the doors of the truck, we could smell the goodness in the air.
In San Antonio, we love the idea of the "hole-in-the-wall" as a place to eat. I'm not so sure the outside fits the description, but once inside, you get the distinct impression that these folks are more concerned about the eats and less concerned about how spiffy the place looks. Which is fine by the way. 
It wasn't dirty or anything like that, just quaint. Who needs matching restroom doors anyway?
We didn't even bother to check out the menu, instead my wife asked the kind lady what sort of plate deal they had, and we opted to go with the small plates consisting of one meat and two sides. We wanted to try everything, so she got chicken, potato salad and mac & cheese.
I got the brisket, green beans, and some sort of broccoli salad. Then we just sampled from one another's plates.
I read a review written by some barbecue aficionado from several years back about this place, and he wasn't dismissive of the quality, but seemed put off by small portions and that they hadn't trimmed all the fat from his brisket. Whatever. We both ate for under $12 and everything - everything was lip-smacking good.
My wife has this thing about meats being able to stand on their own flavor and the seasoning that they were cooked with. To her, if you add some sort of barbecue sauce, it is an indication that the meat wasn't prepared in a tasty enough fashion. Though I agree with her reasoning, I like the sauce.
Her chicken was so tender and flavorful, it would have been offensive to smother it in sauce. The brisket was extremely tasty and though, I'm sure I've experienced just as good or possibly better, it was certainly a delightful taste; one I would easily recommend. I did add a little of the house sauce to it, just because that's how I like it. The plastic squeeze bottle on the table had a taped on label that identified it as BBQ Sauce, so I don't know if it was something they made locally or if it was as my wife suggested, Hunts. Either way, I was pleased.
On to the sides. The potato salad was nice and creamy and had a really good taste. The green beans were just your standard fare with no real hint of anything fancy, but I'm a lover of green beans just out of the can, so I was pretty pleased with them. The mac & cheese was also standard but well cooked and cheesy.
The important thing was the broccoli salad. I'm not sure how they made it, but what it tasted to me like was a recipe for Cole Slaw, but replaced the cabbage with the cut up pieces of broccoli. I'm here to tell you, it was fantastic!
I should also mention the sweet tea. I ordinarily order my tea unsweetened (just cause that's how I like it) but for some reason, I filled my cup with the sweet tea. 
No telling if it was some house blend or if it came directly from HEB, but it was a fine treat for sure. After lunch, I refilled my cup and sipped it all the way back to San Antonio. 
Make no mistake, Luling BBQ gets the full Tasty Treat accolades and we'd be happy to recommend it to others. My wife reserves a special "Eeee-Yuck" for places she doesn't like, but three bites into her lunch, she was in full "Eeee-Yum" mode. So there you go.
You should know that Luling has more to offer than just the one diner. In fact, there are a few other places we would be glad to try out. I'm assuming that Honey-Buns Inc. is a place to get some pastries, but you never know.
I really enjoyed the old-style buildings that made up Davis Street along the railroad tracks. I could see someone picking a place to film a movie here.
And perhaps if we had more time, we could have stopped into Monte's for a cold one. Either way, Luling makes a nice day trip and isn't too far from San Antonio.
Where did you go this weekend? I'd love to hear about your small town adventure.
Anyway, she also had mentioned the fact that she has never been to Pappadeaux. That was about all it took and I made a beeline down I-35 and off of Loop 410 and onto McCullough so we could get some.
The first thing you need to know is that the place is fairly big. The place looks mighty friendly on the outside with great landscaping, covered porch with rocking chairs, and just an inviting atmosphere to it.
Inside, there is a fairly large bar area where you can imagine people staying in nearby hotels routinely use for an after work hang-out.
We sat at a table near the center of all traffic; every person entering the place seemed to walk by us and every member of the waitstaff hung out or got their trays loaded in front of us. Sure, we could have asked for a different table, but I like to watch the excitement.
With our drinks, we got a loaf of hot & fresh french bread that was nothing short of outstanding. In fact, I could have just stopped there, but my wife wanted some too.
We decided to get the calamari as a starter and it was out in a matter of minutes, very hot (which is required for calamari) and it came with two sauces. One was some sort of cocktail sauce that was out of this world and the other was some sort of creamy, lemony sauce that I can't recall the name of, but it was also good.
My wife ordered the fried shrimp and instead of fries had the steamed broccoli. Dude, look at the size of that broccoli! Once she cut away all the excess undercooked parts, she was good with it. She was also happy with the shrimp, though in fairness, it was basically bland. At a Cajun place? Really.
If I had seen a steak & shrimp combo, I probably would have ordered it, but I just didn't see it on the menu. Instead, I went with the ol' standby and ordered catfish and shrimp. How can you screw that up if your a seafood place, right? Can I just say that they give you entirely too many fries? Of course I can, it's my blog. I mean, is it any wonder why people in San Antonio are so enormously fat?
