The smoke gets you before the building does. Turn onto Springdale Road in East Austin on a weekend morning and it’s already in the air, oak and rendered fat drifting out over the parking lot before the line even comes into view. That smell has hung over this part of the city since 2012, first out of a trailer parked in a lot on Rosewood Avenue, now out of a building that used to be a church.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
The name suggests a border town, sun-bleached and dusty, somewhere along the Rio Grande. Cafe Del Rio is actually about as far from the border as Texas gets, sitting deep in the Piney Woods of Lufkin, closer to Louisiana than to Mexico. The name misleads you before you’ve even walked in.
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Kreuz Market sits in Lockhart, a town of roughly 15,000 people about thirty minutes southeast of Austin that has somehow earned the unofficial title of Barbecue Capital of Texas. The market’s own history stretches back to 1875, when Jesse Swearingen opened the town’s first meat market. Charles Kreuz Sr. bought it in 1900 and put his name on it, and by 1948 the business had passed to a longtime butcher named Edgar Schmidt, whom everyone called Smitty.
For decades under Smitty and later his sons, Kreuz Market did one thing and did it without apology: meat smoked over post oak, sliced and served on butcher paper, no sauce, no forks, no sides beyond crackers, pickles, and onions.
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Texas hides its best food in places that don’t show up on a typical road trip map. These are the restaurants worth the detour: a general store with no printed menu, a garden nursery with a wood-fired oven, a house-turned-tea-room that only opens for lunch. None of them are trying to be famous. They just kept cooking the same way long enough that people started driving hours to find them.
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There is a particular kind of restaurant that Dallas doesn’t have enough of — the kind where the building itself is the first course. The Rathskeller in Fredericksburg is that restaurant. Fredericksburg sits about four hours southwest of Dallas in the Texas Hill Country, a small German-settled town of 12,000 people surrounded by vineyards, peach orchards, and limestone hills that turn gold in the afternoon light.
You walk down a flight of limestone steps off Main Street, duck through a low doorway, and find yourself in the basement of a building that was already old when Teddy Roosevelt was president. The walls are 1880s Hill Country limestone. The ceiling is low. The light is warm. The food is better than a room like this has any obligation to produce.
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Texas is a state that refuses to be normal, and its strangest corners are often the most unforgettable. Forget the Alamo or the Hill Country wineries for a minute — if you really want a story to tell, you need the weird, the whimsical, and the downright bizarre. Texas Travel suggests a start in Amarillo with Cadillac Ranch, where ten vintage cars are buried nose-first in the dirt like some kind of desert monument to excess. Don’t just drive by — grab a spray can, leave your mark, and feel the thrill of being part of a constantly evolving roadside masterpiece. A little westward whimsy can be found in Bandera, where cowboy culture meets prickly pear mania. Cactus candy, prickly pear jelly, and even margaritas await you, proving Texas knows how to turn the desert into dessert.
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The Big Texan Steak Ranch has been a cornerstone of Amarillo’s culinary scene since 1960. Founded by Bob Lee, this iconic restaurant started as a humble establishment on Route 66, catering to travelers and locals with its hearty Texan fare. Over the decades, it has grown into a legendary dining destination, renowned for its rustic charm, live entertainment, and, most famously, its 72-ounce steak challenge.
The Big Texan embodies the spirit of Texas hospitality and cowboy culture, making it a must-visit spot for anyone passing through Amarillo.
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In Texas, a truly memorable burger is about more than just beef and buns. It’s about balance, texture, and flavor that hits every note: a patty that is juicy and seasoned deeply, a crust that delivers a satisfying crunch, a bun that supports without overshadowing, and toppings that complement rather than compete. The best burgers marry comfort and precision, offering richness without heaviness, heat or tang without bitterness, and a combination of textures that keeps each bite engaging. It’s the interplay of juiciness, crispness, seasoning, and temperature—plus the intangible satisfaction of a sandwich that feels deliberate in every detail—that sets an exceptional burger apart. Across Texas, independent shops have mastered this craft, each adding their own regional touches and personality.
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