I don't want to seem presumptuous, but I feel much of Texas was overlooked... and come on, Uncle Ted; you rock, but have you ever read Texas Monthly's annual BBQ issue? Your dive does not make the grade. Noone should take advice on Texas bbq from a Michagan boy. I'd say no offense, but... it's true.

Luling, Lockhart, Llano... good bbq comes from towns starting with the letter "L," I suppose.

Tex-Mex also takes on different styles and flavors as you move across the state. Herbert's in San Marcos and Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen in Houston are two great examples.

I don't seem to recall touching on any seafood in the last episode, either; even though Texas' gulf coast makes up almost half of the US's Gulf of Mexico shoreline.
We've got our own brand of Cajun food. Sorry, Louisiana, Emiril has some competition. Gumbo and crawdads in Beaumont are seldom matched.

I think an entire lifestyle was overlooked. The Hill Country and Coastal Plains are calling, you should answer. The first week of November, if possible. You'll never forgive yourself for missing one more of New Braunfels' Wurstfests.
To bring you up to speed, Wurstfest is a ten day salute to sausage. Beer will be served.

I urge you not to remake the last visit, but add a new and more delicious chapter to the legacy of Texas. Hell, I'll show you around myself and I promise we'll have a real good time.

I couldnt agree more! Lockhart is the BBQ capital of the world and is just down the road from beautiful Austin,TX. I think Tony should come and enjoy the variety of lifestyles and food cultures that Austin and the surrounding communities have to offer. After all, Austin is the LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL of the world! He needs to experience the atmosphere of The Salt Lick in Driftwood on a Saturday night. The busloads of tourists is amazing. The BYOB or your own keg is sure to make for a fun show when he sees the mounds of bbq they sling on the table when you order the family style all-u-can-eat! The live music on sixth street is a must! And yes Tony...We do have a Katz's deli owned and operated by Mark Katz! And just down the street from Katz's you will find the best burgers in Texas at Hut's! To top it all off is the Ginger Man Bar on 4th st. They actually have a beer menu to order just about any beer from any country in the world! And they are all on tap! And lets not forget the best Austin breakfast eatery: Kirby Lane Cafe!

Unfortunately, the Salt Lick sucks. Kirby Lane has some fancy pancakes. Let's not forget the Boiling Pot and Jazz, if we're in town.

Seriously though. Texas.

i agree... i found the Texas show totally inadequate and was kinda put off by it honestly. I found very little of that show to be illustrative of what Texas actually is. If I weren't from here, I would think everyone in the state was either a gun toting redneck or mexican working in the service industry.

first you had Ted Nugent... wtf? While he is a great guitar player, that guy is a total redneck nutburger and not indicative of what Texas is about... plus, he is from Michigan?!?!?! He should have hit up Willie or even Kinky instead if he wanted a bit of Texas kitch factor...

And he spent nearly the entire time on the border, and while that is most definitely a big part of Texas, the state is so large that the different geographic areas are pretty different culturally.

The hill country is bbq heaven... and Tony went to a crap bbq place compared to somewhere like the places in the "l"s that have been around for over 100 years.

East Texas is heavily creole/cajun and the seafood in SE texas is fantastic.

North Texas is both fantastically cosmopolitan and undeniably Texan. Dallas is as metropolitan and has as developed a cullinary scene as anywhere in the world. Fort Worth is the empitome of Texas with the old west and the modern world side by side, as well as both the down home cooking and innovative cuisine joining forces.

Personally, I think he should do a whole episode in the DFW area alone.

Here is an episode...

*intro... talk about the duality of the metroplex, past and present, stockyards and the tech industry, the honkeytonks and the nightclubs. It's economy is still rockin along, jobs are plentiful, restaurants are full, shopping is amazing, bars are plentiful, cars are selling and houses are amazing.

*Visit the Cowboys football team for some light hearted comedy... have Tony join them on the practice field.

*Eat at Ranchman's and Norma's for the down home cookin. Ranchman's is the ultimate in down home cookin and Norma's for soul food.

*Visit the Fort Worth Stockyards and/or Dallas's JFK museums for that bit of history

*Eat at Veracruz, Lanny's Alta Cocina, Sal's, Taco Diner, etc for the requisite mexican food

*Go to Billy Bob's for the kitchy night life shots... its the largest honkey tonk in the world and he can ride the mechanical bull

*Hit up Southfork Ranch for some Soap Opera kitsch. Crack a JR Ewing joke or two...

*Then hit up Jasper's, Lonesome Dove, or Fearings for the more top end restaurants. I am sure that Tim Love, Kent Rathburn, or Dean Fearing (all "celebrity chefs") would be more than happy to meet Tony there...

*go shopping at Neiman Marcus... the you can get friggin anything, even a lear jet, department store

*hit up the new front of innovative southern cooking like Hattie's, Local, Screen Door, etc... or perhaps some of the steakhouses... III Forks, JR's, Del Frisco's or Bob's Steak and Chop

And boom, you have got a show.


Not only do Texans dine out more than the rest of the country, but Dallas has more restaurants per capita than anywhere else in the United States, and bests "cullinary mecca" NY by nearly 280% in this regard.

...And yet Tony avoided all the large cities like the plague and hung out in a tiny border town and on a ranch with a redneck from Michigan... I don't get it?

Oh, and what was up with the big Jeeps? I never even knew people actually did that. Talk about finding the smallest nitch hobby and blowing it out of proportion... Lame.

Wow, I guess that show irritated me more than I thought and I love Tony's shows!

If you want me to show you around town or help you out, I would be more than happy to!

quote:

I don't seem to recall touching on any seafood in the last episode, either; even though Texas' gulf coast makes up almost half of the US's Gulf of Mexico shoreline.
We've got our own brand of Cajun food. Sorry, Louisiana, Emiril has some competition. Gumbo and crawdads in Beaumont are seldom matched.

I'm sorry but I can't let you do this. I'm a native Texan, but I've grown up all over the South and spent some time overseas as a kid.

I went to LSU for my schooling, and your assertion that Beaumont, Tx can match properly executed gumbo, boiled crawfish, or anything authentically cajun/creole is laughable.

It tells me two things, either you haven't been around enough in Louisiana to know good cooking, or haven't been around our fair state of Texas enough and ran out of ideas that led you to reach for cajun cooking in Beaumont.



Also, to the person who is talking about The Gingerman, there are 4 across the state, the original in Houston, the local in Austin might be the worst one of the four. Hut's is a pretty good burger, but by no means best in the state.