Our Lunch (mostly) Spots in Austin and the Hill Country

From Livingston, we went over to Katy, Texas for a night, then on to Austin and then to Fredricksburg for a few days.  Along the way we ended up having lunch at three different places.  Our first experience was in the South Congress (SoCo) area of Austin at Guervo's Taco Bar.

I read up on it by perusing some recommendations and the verdict was mixed.  Some loved it and some were not so complimentary.

But we really liked it.  As I mentioned before, it may have been the best Mexican food I have had in a long long while.  I had a regular tamale plate and Pam had a couple of tacos.  I don't remember what Mark had but Megan had a black bean tamale.  On a scale of 1 to 5 I'd definitely give it at least 4, maybe 4+, and would go back again.

Two days later, we found out we could meet Georgeann and her daughter Sally in Clear Springs, Texas for lunch at the restaurant in town.

She said it was famous for catfish although it had other things on the menu.  We found the place and had a very nice time.  It was a Texas historic site because it once country store of sorts.  Now it is just the restaurant with some interesting Texas Country atmosphere.

It was great to see Georgann and Sally and the teenagers, and the atmosphere was fine.  It was a busy Sunday afternoon, but we still got served pretty quickly.  I had catfish and Pam had a hamburger.  All in all it was fine.  I'd give it probably a 3+ or so.  We may be back if we are nearby.

Next, we headed for Hill Country and spent a few days in Fredricksburg.  As you probably know, the area was settled by Germans and other eastern European immigrants back in the mid 1800's.  Pam and I lived in Germany for three years and love German food.  So we decided to splurge and eat lunch and dinner at some local German restaurants.  I looked at online reviews and did not find any 5 star accolades.  Most were rated about 3 (out of five.)

First we tried Der Lindenbaum.  It is right on Main Street in the historic downtown area.

The atmosphere was fine.  It was a little different trying to imagine a German place in the heart of Texas but they did a pretty good job.  We had brats for lunch.  Bratwurst and knackwurst along with German potato salad and sauerkraut.

I don't know what we were expecting, but it was just OK.  Nothing that memorable.  As we expected, it was pretty expensive so all in all, I'd give it a 3 out of 5.  Not sure we'd be back - too many other restaurants in town to try!

Even so we were not deterred and had already scouted out Friedhelm's Bavarian Inn and Restaurant on the edge of town.

It was closed the first night we were in town and drove by to check it out.  But when we went back on Tuesday night it was open and we joined half a dozen other people that were there for dinner.  The place definitely is well decorated and has the look of a Bavarian place.  And the waiters and waitresses wear German attire so that was interesting too.

It was a place that is geared for high volume during their busy season.  The middle of the week in the middle of June it was not real busy which was good for us.  We split an order of Jagersnitzel which was pretty good.  Again it did not remind us of the fantastic food we remembered from Germany but it was OK.  We got tagged with a 'share a plate' charge and ate off of pewter plates which I do not prefer.  It gave me a 'medieval' kind of feel, but I don't ever remember eating from metal plates in all our travels in Germany.  All in all I'd give it a 4 for atmosphere, a 3 for the meal and a 3 for the cost so a combined 3+.  Not sure we'd do that again.

The next we went over to Luckenbach Texas for lunch which is about 10 miles away.  We were so close we had to go see where "Willie and Waylon and the boys…" had been.  I read up on it and they said no lunch was served there but we thought surely they must have something.

There was a little store/post office and a bar out back. The whole town is more like a bar and a small neighborhood.  It was about 11:30 when we got there and sure enough - no food.  We could get a beer and a small bags of snacks, but not hot dog or hamburger or anything.  Looks like a fun place for happy hour or an evening concert (they have a bigger stage, big parking lot and area for the really big events and dances nearby). But for lunch on a scale of 1 to 5 I'd have to forgo a rating --- and we went back to the RV for lunch.

So that's a quick look at some places we've eaten in the last week.  More on the Hill Country in another post.  

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...