So after a day of running around looking for wood to BBQ with and then sanding & painting my smoker, I decided to finally hit up Barnett’s Pub for some grub and a pint.
I had been to Barnett’s once before for a friend’s birthday. It’s a nice little place on Franklin, with a little outdoor seating area and a dart board in the back. Currently all they serve is beer right now (as of 11/04/10), but I hear they will soon be serving Top Shelf liquors.
For food they have a small and simple menu, appetizers, some heartier items and dessert.
While there I try a new beer, a Hearty Oat Stout, recommended by my friends Casey and then place an order for their Home made Shepard’s Pie and their Guinness 4 cheese sauce on the side. The beer was fine, fairly mellow, with a slight bitter aftertaste. Not bad, and I’m not usually a stout fan.
After hangin’ out a bit with Casey and sippin’ on my beer, my food is ready dine down on. The Shepard’s pie comes out in a while large gratin dish, and both are piping hot. The pie consists of ground beef, carrots, onions, peas and topped with mashed potatoes and green onions. The potatoes are fresh and creamy but with a flaky top from being in the oven. The meat is flavorful, well-seasoned, tender and juicy, while the veggies have a nice flavor and good texture, not all dry and bland. Wasn’t a big fan of the peas, but I just hate peas. lol The cheese sauce I had ordered on the side in case I wasn’t a fan, but I ended up really liking it. The guy who makes it also tends bar there. Told me a little bit about it while I was eating, he makes it every day fresh. Using 4 different cheese and Guinness beer. It had a nice consistency, you could actually taste the beer and the cheese flavors mixed well. I finished it all, minus most of the peas ;) and was stuffed. Great dish for this slightly cool and wet weather…. warms your body, heart and even soul.
But I still had enough room for their Bread pudding… oh yeah. I actually usually don’t go for dessert, but Id heard a lot of good things about this one, so I had to give it a try and besides who can pass up homemade Bread pudding! Its comes out in a little dish, it’s a pretty nice helping. Smelled awesome, you could smell the cinnamon and freshness of the ingredients, and it looked just as awesome. The pudding had a great flavor, just the right amount of seasoning and “sauce” and nicely sweet. It was warm and delicate and creamy in texture with just the right amount of raisins. Was the best bread pudding Id ever had and will definitely be getting it again.
Next time I go back I’m going to try a new beer and their Club sandwich, which Casey told me is pretty good. Over all I had a great dining experience and good company.
So if you are in the down town area and are looking for a place for some hearty food and a pint, check out Barnett’s Pub.

So I stumbled upon this place after visiting Texas Cheese House, it is right off I-35 on the north bound side. It sounded good, cause who can’t pass up real southern cooking, so I went there for my lunch the following week. Before I went to eat there, I did a little research on the place and found out that and it is managed by the long time Waco veteran restaurant manager Raymond Carter; who used to manage Ryan's Cafeteria in Waco.

You walk in it’s a real nice homey place, friendly, and clean. You get truckers, travelers, and people from all walks of life and obviously the locals who know everyone there. Our hostess/waitress, Deborah, was very nice and had that sweet southern accent. She seated us and asked us if we’d like to eat off the menu or the buffet (single meat or all meat combos). We went with the buffet, all meat combo, cause I was hungry and wanted to try a little bit of everything.

The first thing I grabbed was some garden salad with Italian dressing, yellow potato salad, yams, mashed potatoes, and chicken fried steak fingers. All of it was great; the garden was fresh, the potato salad was creamy and had great flavor. The yams were a little different than I’ve had before, the texture was really interesting, but the flavor was there and it was great (I had two servings of them). The mashed potatoes were fresh, not that boxed crap that a lot of places are switching to. The chicken fried steak tenders were excellent, great flavor and there were tender enough to cut with my fork. Next I went and got some of the Chicken N Dumplings, some Liver N Onions, some more of the yams and throw in some steamed broccoli. I love liver n onions, so I can be really picky when it comes to eating them; these were really good, very flavorful and tender. Same with the dumpling; the chicken wasn’t dry or flavorless, and the broth had good flavor and the dumpling were good too.My dad got the same buffet deal I chose and his favorite dish was the fried catfish; had a nice light flaky batter and the fish was cooked nicely. All this just for a little over $20 for the both of us- WHAT A DEAL!

Ill definitely be going back for more of the buffet and to try some items off their menu, like the rib eye steak, their burgers, and a few other items. If you like good quality southern food (and food like Lubys serves) I definitely recommend giving this place a try. Raymonds is only a few minutes outside Waco, and has such a great selection of food for a very fair price, with a great atmosphere and service.

So I learned about this place off the Waco Win Board, and it sounded really interesting. They are a local eatery and store down in Lorena Texas right off I-35. They make and sell their own cheese, as well as other local cheese manufactures. “Texas Cheese House is dedicated to the principle that excellent cheese is manufactured in Texas.” They also carry local honey (local honey comb is great for allergies), Wiseman House Chocolates, other sweets, oils, and meats from Troy Texas.
They really have a nice selection of items to buy and a nice little menu to choose from. They have your basic grilled cheese to a sirloin sandwich or pizza fold-over. All really fairly priced… most are all below $5. I ordered the Beef Sirloin with Blue, which is Beef sirloin, Veldhuizen’s Bosque Blue Cheese, and South Texas Mesquite Bar-B-Q Sauce in a ¼ baguette loaf. My father ordered their Grilled Club sandwich, which is turkey, ham, Boyaca cheese, bacon and sauce.
So we ordered our food, and while waiting for our food I scanned the store and what all they had. Im sure I could’ve spent $100 real easy in there on cheeses, meats and other stuff they had. So our food and tea arrives, looks delicious… real simple, sandwiches and tortilla chips (jesses of course).
Before we get to the food, lets talk about the tea. The tea is served unsweet, and to sweeten it you got a couple choices- Splenda, pure sugar and “Kelly’s Delight Liquid Sugar”. That last one is a sweetener made locally in Eddy Texas. Its really cool stuff, it sweetens the tea and doesn’t leave all the graininess that you get when you try to mix regular sugar in cold tea. Love it.
Now I try my sandwich. It looks really good, fresh bread, plenty of meat and cheese (can deff smell the cheese) and some sauce. First bite and I really regret ordering a wheat bun, was too overwhelming… that’s my mistake. The meat was nice and tender, good flavor, Im betting it was some of the local beef that they had for sale. The sauce was nice and sweet, went well with the beef and cheese. The cheese was great, had a strong smell and deff strong aroma. Ive never really been a fan of the aroma of Blue cheese (reminds me of ass), but I like the flavor (deff not ass)… kinda weird I know. Could tell the cheese was fresh by the flavor and aroma, was really good. My dad really enjoyed his Club, he’d never had Boyaca cheese before, and said he had to get used to the flavor… but really enjoyed it.
Before we left I decided to purchase one of their goat cheeses for me, the Peach Chipotle, and I picked up some of the white chocolate fudge with pecans for my mom. I haven’t tried it yet, but I am highly anticipating it, and will post my thoughts on it once I dive in.
Overall I had a really nice experience, great food, great service, nice town and customers. Cant wait to go again, well worth the 15 minute drive… which is really nothing compared to the trips Ive taken so far. If you love cheese and small towns, you’ve got to give this place a try.




Part II::
So I finally tried the Goat Cheese I purchased from Texas Cheese House, made by ‘On Pure Ground Dairy’. It was “100% Natural Farmstead Goat Cheese- Peach Chipotle”. It was awesome, great product. The flavors were very well balanced; I could’ve eaten it straight up just by itself. I even gave some to my boss to try and he really liked it. I ended up using it on some homemade pizza I decided to make for dinner…. Turned out to be some of the best pizza I’ve ever had. It was a little on the costly end, but I guess it really wasn’t that bad considering that it was locally made from scratch.

So we’ve got a new bar and grill here in Town, called the Salty Dog. Its basically a sports bar, with plenty of TVs and sports memorabilia. It has a very nice patio with an outside bar and some seating (besides the bar seats). The inside has two large separate bars, plenty of seating around them and plenty of tables too~ very comfortable, even when crowded.

I’ve been there twice during the night time for some drinks, with friends. Always had great service and Ive met Randy and Richard, the owner and head manager, both are real nice guys. The bartenders are good at checking up on you and making their drinks, even got a few cute female bartenders *wink wink*. The place just has an over all great atmosphere.

Today I went to actually try some of their food. Most of their menu, as of now, consists of Burgers~ can even get a burger salad. I decided to try their Mouth of the South Burger along with their fries.

~~Mouth of the South Burger: 8oz patty, topped with pepper jack cheese, guacamole, homemade salsa, grilled jalapeno peppers and onions.~~
I ordered this, minus the onions, as I’m not a fan of raw onions on burgers.
It was cooked very well (not well as in doneness, but in quality). The burger was juicy, the salsa and guacamole, combined with the cheese and jalapenos… was just great. All tasted fresh and most of it was probably made in house. I would definitely order this burger again… and probably try to make one of my own at home. The fries were good, better than most places~ nicely crunchy and great flavor.

While I was eating the bartender was trying to get one of her friends to order their hot dog… her friend didn’t, but one of the other patrons did. Let me tell ya, this hot dog is nothing to just mess around with. It is huge and topped with all kinds of stuff. Might have to take a friend and order this some time.

(addition)
--Ive been back a few times more to try their lunch specials like their hamburger steak, chicken fried chicken and to try other items on their regular turkey menu like the turkey burger, catfish, Philly cheese steak, salad burgers and other burgers. Pretty much every item Ive gotten there I have enjoyed. My stand by is their Philly cheese steak. Its not exactly a traditional one, but it still has good quality meat, good cheese, nice bun and fresh peppers and onions. Along with their fries, it is a tasty meal for a good price. On days I feel like I need to “diet” Ill chow down on the turkey burger which is really tasty or Ill get one of their salads with whatever kinda burger I feel like.

They haven’t been running the lunch specials much lately, but I enjoyed it when they did. They almost always put out a good, cheap and filling meal and it always brought in a decent crowd at lunch time. Hopefully they'll start them back up soon, cause I enjoyed trying the different things I made up... never got old.

I defiantly recommend this place for lunch and for an after hours drink (or two of three).

The Eyes of Texas are Upon You
Part 9


So one of my best friends told me about this place a couple weeks back, and that I really need to try it. She raved about the food and about the people who own it, so I figured I would give it a try.
Me and my dad decided we would go there for lunch today, he apparently has been before back when he was a mail carrier for the USPS and how packed this place gets when Baylor is in session… always a good sign.
It’s a nice small building, what you one might call a “hole in the wall”… but those are usually the best. So we go in and are greeted by the owners and workers. There is a lady in front of us placing an order and another gentle man sitting down chowing on some bbq. I look over the menu; they have brisket, sausage, hot links, ribs, chopped, sandwiches, beans, yellow potato salad, chips, cookies, cake, and plenty of drinks to choose from. I decide on the two meat plate with Ribs, Brisket and two orders of potato salad, since I don’t do beans. My dad goes with the rib plate, beans and potato salad.
So we sit down and the first thing I try in the potato salad. The PS is very smooth and creamy, almost like mashed potatoes, very little mustard is used and a little bit of sweet relish is used to make it sweeter than “Bite.” I liked it. Next up is the ribs, covered in their BBQ sauce. The meat was tender, came off the bone very easily… but wasn’t over cooked so it still had a little crunch to it. I would’ve like to have been able to taste the meat pre-sauced, so I’ll have to request that next time I go. The sauce though was pretty good, a “thin-ish”, sweet, tomato based BBQ sauce. Last but not least I tried the sliced brisket- was tender and had great texture. Again it was covered in the sauce, so Im not sure how it tasted alone… but it was still really good. I’m sure if either meat had a bad flavor it would’ve shown through the sauce. So overall I really enjoyed the food and polished off my plate.
While we were sitting down eating, a man who was is a member of the Army National Guard came in to grab a bite. My dad noticed it and the guy noticed my father’s Airborne cap. So while I finished up, that discussed the Iraq, the heat over there, and how he is still under “contract” for the guard for another 2 years. Real nice guy, really glad to be back home for a while. Before we left we chatted with the owners for a min or two about the weather and whatnot. Real nice couple…
I will definitely be going back again to chow down on some more BBQ, and highly recommend you go give them a try. Support your local businesses and enjoy some quality BBQ. Tell’em DavieG sent ya ;)