More Notes From South Texas

It was a little more tolerable down here today. According to the thermometer in my truck, it was 'only' 101 in the shade. But the humidity was lower and there was a northerly breeze, which helped. I know Harper doesn't believe in global warming, but I'm starting to feel like the fellow below.

 

In other news, we have some visiting hotshots coming to town next week. I've been tasked with taking them out to eat one night. There aren't a whole lot of fine dining establishments down here, although the range of ethnic choices is surprising. In addition to those South Texas staples -- Tex-Mex and barbecue -- there are a few Mediterranean and mid-east places (lamb dishes, kabobs, pita dishes, etc.) along with a nice assortment of Asian restaurants. But what really blew me away when I first came down here was the proliferation of sushi joints. Even the local grocery stores have in-house sushi counters where they will prepare to your order a selection of fresh bait sushi.

Anyway, my go-to wining and dining joint is an old but recently refurbished hotel, shopping, and dining complex located in the town's historic district. It's a stylish linkage of long ago Mexican and Texan cultures. In fact, it is literally within spitting distance of the Rio Grande, and I could throw a rock from the patio into Mexico.

It also has great food, an exceptional wine list, and killer margaritas. But I haven't been there in a while, so I thought I'd check it out online and make sure it was still up to snuff. While doing so I came across the following review, which made me spew Shiner all over my keyboard.

I tend to judge restaurants based on their reaction to my people (vegetarians). The restaurant is like 99.9% of the restaurants in South Texas...they act like they've never HEARD of vegetarians down here, I swear.

Just skip South Texas completely if you're a vegetarian. Seriously. If I eat one more plate of cheese quesadillas I might lose my mind. Their idea of a vegetarian 'meal' here was a plate of beer battered fried asparagus - which was fine, but not a meal. My coworker the meat eater left very full and happy, though. His pork chops were a thing of beauty, and by the way he cleaned his plate I am going to guess they were worth every penny of the $35 they cost.

Just to remove any doubt, the above review was written by someone from California. What they were doing in South Texas is anyone's guess...