Abuelo's - The Flavor of Mexico

This is an amazing restaurant we discovered in Abilene a little over two months ago. Since we have eaten at three different Abuelo's locations (Abilene, Austin and Arlington) a total of five times. We absolutely love this place! They have locations in 15 different states so if you are lucky enough to be close to one I HIGHLY recommend! Here is what we had on our first visit:

An appetizer of Queso Diablo with their wonderful salsa assortment - chipotle, 

tropical and regular (my names for these). With such wonderful salsas

we've decided the appetizer is unnecessary, but still oh so good!

 This was my enchilada plate. They have regular enchilada plates or you can

create your own. You can choose two to four enchiladas, each can be a different kind with

a different sauce. Above is two chicken enchiladas with fire-roasted queso sauce.

 John had the fajita chimichanga. One thing we love about this place is you can

get papas (potatoes) instead of rice. Neither of us are huge fans of rice, so having

a choice other than double beans is great! 

Yes, we even had dessert! Tres leches cake - yummo!

Other things we have tried - Firecracker shrimp tacos, fajitas, durango burrito, an enchilada plate with a spinach enchilada with cream sauce - avocado enchilada with ranchero sauce - chicken enchilada with green chile sauce. I'm sure I'm missing some things but it's all good!

Sweet Tomatoes

Tried this restaurant last night. It was quite good. The only thing I can compare it to would be a Souper Salads, only better. The Souper Salads I've been to have like two selections of soup to choose from. Sweet Tomatoes had around six! I did not try any of the pizza/pasta. I was there for soup and salad (and a little dessert) and that is what I had. I would definitely go here again when in the mood for a good salad! If you have one in your area you should give it a try!! The hubby and I both left full and satisfied. I did not take any pics, so here are some I found on there website and around the web:

Crazy Meatball Soup - SOOO Yummy!

El Chico's Abilene, TX

While we were staying at the Abilene State Park, we drove into Abilene for Date Night. We went to El Chicos in the mall. The food was good, the service not so much.

We started with Spinach Queso for our appetizer. 

Then John had a fried Burrito with Queso, Rice and Beans. 

I had the Burrito Bowl with Chicken.

Rockin' J's

Rockin' J's is a little spot on the road in Comanche, TX; about 30 miles from us. We will drive over for date night every now and then or stop by for lunch on our way to Stephenville. It used to be a convenience store with a little cafe. They have now removed all the gas pumps and converted the convenience store into a bar/extra seating for the restaurant. Great food, the service is ok when it's slow to moderately busy. If you're in there on a Saturday night when they are slammed, expect the service to be a bit slow. My fav is actually on the appetizer list - Boneless Buffalo Wings.

You have a choice of Frank's hot sauce or sweet BBQ sauce; I always get the hot sauce.

Then some yummy beer battered onion rings to share. The hubby's fav is the Double Double Bacon Cheeseburger.

Double meat, double cheese with bacon - yummo! If you're ever in the area it is definitely worth a try.

Yummy Indian Food and a Great Day with the Hubby

Friday John and I decided to get out of Brownwood. We headed for the Taj Mahal of Abilene. The food was wonderful. A couple of items we enjoyed from the buffet:

Butter Chicken

Chicken Curry

And of course the yummy dessert:

Fruit Kheer

After lunch we did some shopping at the mall. Picked up screen protectors for our new phones and bought me some new jeans. Then headed to Academy for a couple of things. Then stopped at Chili's for a couple of refreshing drinks! Today promises more adventures. We will visit with the grandbabies. Then later this evening we are meeting with some new friends for dinner. Looking forward to another awesome day with the hubby!

El Nuevo Mexico

This past Saturday we went to Bastrop to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. We stayed the night (actually in Austin, the Bastrop Hampton Inn had no rooms) and then met up with my mom, pops, younger sis and her hubby and their baby girl for lunch. Mom was in the mood for Mexican food and directed us to her favorite spot in the area: El Nuevo Mexico.

I've been here once before with mom. It's very yummy and I can easily see why mom loves it!

 John and I were not very hungry so we each had and appetizer of shrimp stuffed with jalapeno and cheese then wrapped with bacon and fried crisp.

 Pops and my brother-in-law Billy had the Chimichanga.

 Mom had the stuffed poblano pepper.

Sister Shanna had the cheesy enchiladas with chili sauce.

We all enjoyed our food and had a great time visiting some more. With so many people at mom's on Saturday, I felt as though we had hardly talked. We made up for that Sunday at lunch. Always nice to visit with the fam!

Date Night at Prima Pasta

I love date night out with my honey! It is possibly my favorite night of the week. Getting out with just me and the hubby for a couple of hours. Good food + good company = great time!! This week we went to Prima Pasta.

It's a great little Italian place here in Early, TX. They have awesome Italian and we recently decided it is the BEST place for pizza in town.

This is the Neopolitan (thin crust) with all our fav toppings - pepperoni, hamburger, jalapenos, mushrooms, onions and extra cheese! The sauce on this pizza is amazing without being overpowering, so you can still taste all the yummy toppings. They have many other great items on the menu as well - baked manicotti, spinach artichoke dip, chicken parmigiana, fettuccine alfredo with chicken,  and the list goes on and on! If your ever in the area you should give them a try!

Abilene Part 3

On the way home from Abilene we decided to detour through Ballinger. There is a Mexican food place here that we used to LOVE!

Alejandras!! We would ride the motorcycle over just to eat here (and of course to enjoy the ride). We started with the Queso. Then I had the enchiladas and John had the chimichanga. The food was good. If we lived closer, we would eat here occassionally but it is no longer so good that it is worth the drive. The service was adequate but very unfriendly. They made it quite obvious that since we were not from there we were not welcome! Overall we were extremely disappointed and won't be going out of our way to dine here again!

Abilene Part 2

For dinner we went to The Outback Steakhouse in Abilene. I had never been to one before, I am not big on steak so a steakhouse does not usually appeal to me.

I really enjoyed it, however, and look forward to going back again. Neither John nor I had steak but what we did have was delicious!! We started off with the Crab and Avocado Stack - yummy!

Then John had a burger and I had the chicken sandwich. Along with some yummy beverages it was the perfect meal. We both left satisfied but not overly stuffed. We sat at the bar, we do this often rather than wait for a table. If you have a good bartender this is always fun and with just two people you can still talk and have a nice conversation. Next time we go I will try to remember to take pics, these were borrowed from the web, lol.

Wonderful Restaurants Worth Visiting Again and Again - Part 3

As promised part 3 will cover restaurants in all areas other that San Antonio or Lake Jackson. There are MANY that I have already mentioned in previous posts. Here is a list of those:

Pepe Boudreaux's - Three Rivers, TX
China A - Rockport, TX
Blackbeard's - Corpus Christi, TX
The Roadhouse -  Bastrop, TX (not to be confused with the Texas Roadhouse or Logan's Roadhouse)
Guadalajara - Lockhart, TX
Jim's Pizza - McKinney, TX

That's a pretty good variety - Cajun, Chinese, Seafood, Burgers, Mexican and Pizza! Even with all those already listed I have plenty more coming up in this post! Wow - it looks like we eat out a lot, just keep in mind these are places we have frequented over the past three years since moving into the RV, plus a couple from Brownwood/Early where we lived before then.

Con Queso - McKinney, TX
From everything I am finding online it appears that this place has closed down, which is surprising because it was awesome and always busy!

Shrimp Pasta Diablo - Yummy!

The service was always great and we loved the food. My fav was their fish tacos served with a wonderful maple chipotle sauce. John's fave was the chimichanga. So sad to hear they are no longer open!

Clay Pit - Dallas, TX
We first tried this restaurant while on vacation in the Dallas area after discovering that our go to Indian restaurant had closed (for remodeling?). It was very good and we returned a couple more times when in the area. We never can remember the names of the Indian foods we enjoy so we always try to find a place with a good buffet.

Jodha Akbar Restaurant & Bar - Plano, TX
This was the ONLY Indian restaurant we ever ate at for a long time. Then on one visit to the area we found that it was closed. We took that as a sign that it was time to spread our wings and venture out to other Indian restaurants. Fortunately they did open back up.
This is another place where we always hit the buffet and everything was GREAT!

Daddy's Seafood & Cajun - South Padre Island, TX
We had the shrimp fondue as an appetizer and I had the almondy fish with a side of roasted red potatoes.
It has been a while since we have been to Padre but when we return I definitely want to visit this spot! The service and food were BOTH excellent!

Mi Familia Mexican Restaurant - Early, TX
We have loved this place for YEARS! We were each going here before we ever dated!
I LOVE their street tacos - seasoned sirloin with avocado on soft corn tortillas. John is a big fan of their chimichangas. Their salsa verde is awesome!

Prima Pasta - Early, TX
Wonderful Italian food!
Their pizzas are HUGE and yummy!! I love all of their baked pastas. John is a big fan of their spinach dip and chicken parmigiana.  The fettuccine alfredo with chicken is also a great choice. I have tried about half the menu and have never had anything I didn't enjoy. The service is good for this area, an area where the word service seems to be foreign. It is one of our favs when returning to the Brownwood/Early area.

Babe's Chicken Dinner House - Several Locations in the Dallas Area
The locations differ in what meat choices they serve. Anywhere from two to six choices. All locations have the basic two - fried chicken and chicken fried steak.
Choices at some locations include fried chicken tenders, fried catfish, hickory smoked chicken and hickory smoked ribs. Although all the locations do not offer all of these meat choices they all offer the same sides. The sides are served family style.
Each person at the table order which meat dish they want and all of the sides are brought to the table for everyone to share. The sides are all you can eat, you just have to ask your server and another bowl of whatever side you like is brought out. These include Green Salad (iceberg lettuce with a sweet vinaigrette dressing),
Grandma's Corn (sweet, creamy and extra yummy), Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes, Cream Gravy and Buttermilk Biscuits! It is also a lot of fun. During your meal they may start up the Hokey Pokey in the middle of the room. You can participate or just watch! Great fun for the kids!

Purple Cow Restaurant - Plano, TX
Wonderful food with the best shakes EVER, served soda fountain style.
I love the sliders - three mini versions of their best burgers.
Hot Mama - pepper jack cheese, pico de gallo, jalapenos and chipotle mayo. The Western - bacon, sharp cheddar cheese and smokey BBQ sauce. Herbed Butter - a basic burger with herbed butter. John likes the original Hot Mama. The onion rings are amazing!!

I'm sure there are other spots I have missed but that'll be a future post. This is all the best restaurants as far as I am concerned!

Wonderful Restaurants Worth Visiting Again and Again! Part 2

Well I mentioned before that there would be three parts to this. Here is part two - San Antonio area restaurants. Now Rosario's is my favorite Mexican food place in this area, I already did a post on Rosario's HERE. So I will not be mentioning it further in this post. I was surprised that this is the only restaurant in the San Antonio area that I had done a review on. Here are some other fabulous places that we really enjoy:

Cheddar's
This is a fairly recent discovery for John and I. I had eaten at one in Austin years ago and liked it but had never been back. While shopping at Academy we decided to give them a try since they were close by.
We loved it! Appetizers - we have had both the queso and the spinach dip, both were wonderful but I am partial to the queso!  On our last visit John had the philly cheesesteak sandwich with fries and I am pretty sure he has tried their burgers. Our last visit I had the sweet heat chicken and shrimp, the chicken was just a tad salty but not so bad that I wouldn't try it again. It is one of their seven under 700 calories and is served over ginger rice with a side salad that is topped with their house-made tomato vinaigrette - very yummy! On  our previous visit I had the monte cristo sandwich with fries, very good! I have also been quite impressed with their prices. You can get a great meal at a very reasonable price!

Matamoros Restaurant y Cantina
The food here is really good! Not quite as good as that at Rosario's and it is further from us. However, it might be worth the drive since unlike Rosario's (which is downtown), Matamoros has plenty of parking. We have only been here the one time on a trip to northwest San Antonio to go to Costco.We definitely need to make plans for a return trip! I had the shrimp enchiladas.

They were very good but also very different than expected. It was basically cheese enchiladas topped with shrimp and wonderful creamy chipotle sauce! Although different it was still very good.

Acadiana Cafe
This is another great place that we have visited only once.
We will have to correct that fairly soon! On that one visit John and I ordered the same thing! Cajun boudin served with red beans and rice! Sooo yummy, I don't know if I even want to try anything else on the menu, I am ready for more of their boudin!

Mexico Taqueria
Yes, more Mexican food! I love Mexican food and fortunately so does John! We have it often both at home and when we go out.
My favorite item at this little spot is their mini tacos. You get five mini tacos with a choice of meats served on mini corn tortillas, my fav would be the al pastor. If you want a good Mexican meal and are watching your budget this is a great place. The food is good and the price is right!

Fogo de Chao
Now this is NOT a place I would ever call budget friendly so it is a rare treat when John and I get to go here.
If you can go for lunch on a weekday it is much cheaper than dinner and they serve the same great food. Fogo de Chao is a Brazilian Steakhouse with locations across America. The one in San Antonio is located downtown and they offer valet parking.
You start off with their wonderful salad bar, of aound 30 items including smoked salmon, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, aged manchego cheese, Brazilian hearts of palm, asparagus, and the list goes on and on. You can order only a salad bar and leave satisfied but I would recommend going for the full meal. At your table each person dining has a round card in front of them. One side is red, the other green.
When you are ready for them to start bringing the meat, simply flip the card to the green side and anywhere from three to five gaucho chefs swarm the table, each bringing a different cut of meat that they slice directly off the spit onto your plate.

filet mignon and bacon wrapped chicken breast

John's fav is the filet mignon, mine is the lamb - either the lamp chops or the leg of lamb. The pork loin, crusted in parmesan and the bacon wrapped chicken breast are also wonderful. They offer these and many more. As soon as you have all you want remember to turn your card back to red, otherwise the gaucho chefs will keep coming and offering you more. They also have great side dishes which are brought to the table and served family style. They have cheese bread, garlic mashed potatoes, crispy hot polenta and caramelized bananas, all wonderful but I wouldn't eat too much of them with all that wonderful meat headed your way! Of course the service is top notch, I have never seen anything like it! They have a head waiter who watches the dining room (actually more than one) and makes sure the other waiters are staying on top of things and if they are not all it takes is a nod from him in their direction and a look towards are table and drink glasses are instantly refilled. They say you don't go here for the food but for the experience. Well it IS an awesome experience but the food is super great as well and it's the food that will bring you back!

Wonderful Restaurants - Worth Visiting Again and Again!

Normally when I post about a restaurant I do one at a time. I am so far behind on posting these that I have a LOT of places to talk about. So I decided to do three posts by area that the restaurant is located in - Lake Jackson area, San Antonio area and the third is just anyplace that does not fit into those two areas. I am going to start with the Lake Jackson area since we just went there on vacation, however the places listed aren't just from vacation but from our weekend visits there as well.

The Red Snapper Inn - Surfside
This is where we went with our friends for John's birthday lunch. Through Jason's job he is able to pay $10 for a $25 off discount or something like that. The food was VERY good with service to match. Their menu says "our fish spent last night in the gulf". Everything tasted sooo fresh that we could really believe this! John had the fried shrimp and oysters (sampled one of the oysters, it was great!). Patty had the fried shrimp (I think this is the only seafood she ever eats). I do not remember what Jason had, it was a filet of some sort.

I had the fried crab patties - wonderful! They only serve lunch from 11 - 2 on weekdays. Our friends had something come up that caused them to run a little late. So by the time they arrived and we ordered it was already getting close to 2 and it was 3 by the time we got out of there. NEVER at any time were we made to feel rushed. On leaving we apologized for keeping them so long. Our waitress kindly explained that they take food orders until 2 but are open for as long as it takes the last person to finish. She was great!

El Torro - Clute
Of course no matter where we are at we have to find good Mexican food. Fortunately our friends already know all the best places in the area so we didn't have to do any searching, just follow their advice!

We have been here with them more than once, so remembering what we all had when is impossible. I can't even tell you what all I have had for sure. I can tell you that Patty had the chicken fajitas, every time. She knows what she likes and once she finds it she sticks with it. When it comes to food, I can't do that, I always have to try something new.
No matter how wonderful the last dish I had at that same restaurant was, I'm on to the next one! Here I have had the seafood enchiladas but was not crazy about their white wine sauce; the pollo loco platter was great, no complaints there and the chicken fajita taco made me see why Patty loves the chicken fajitas here; and the Laredo Dinner, a LOT of food, all YUMMY! The chips and salsa (along with pico and an avocado sauce) they serve is wonderful, no appetizer needed! The service here is iffy, sometimes so-so, sometimes great. The only consistency in the service is that once you pay your bill you NEVER see your waitress again. So do NOT pay if there is a chance you may want or need something else (like a drink refill), it won't happen. Fortunately the food is good enough so that this can be overlooked.

Landry's Seafood - Galveston
This is our friends favorite seafood place, or at least it was before we tried the Red Snapper Inn. They have a membership here that allows them to earn points each time they dine here or at any of the other participating restaurants. These points once so many have accumulated get you $ off your ticket. You also get extra points for things like birthdays. Last time we went there with them they had enough points for $50 off the ticket! Jason gets the stuffed flounder here, every time, he loves it! Patty - fried shrimp. I think John has had the fried seafood platter but don't know if he had that both times we've been or not. I have had the cedar planked salmon (YUMMY) and the broiled stuffed shrimp pontchartrain (I think?). Everything here is wonderful and the service consistently great!
 They also have wonderful desserts you can share or not, they are so yummy you don't want to share but already so full you have to!

Last but not least - Bella Roma - Clute (they do not have a website that I could find)
If you are in the mood for Italian, this place is GREAT! We have been here twice and the service is always great. It tends to be a bit crowded but with great food and service we can overlook that. John has had the chicken parmigiana alfredo on one of those visits, maybe both times I'm not sure. I have had the cannelloni and the baked ziti with meat sauce (I think). Both times we've been we enjoyed the food, whatever it was, and had a great time!