Long Draw Pizza: Terlingua

THIS IS THE BEST PIZZA IN TEXAS.  I've heard the magic ingredient is coyote pee!  Whatever it is, it sure is good.  Long Draw Pizza located just West of the Terlingua Ghost Town is a sure bet on any Big Bend trip.  Don't bother with the small pizzas, get the bigger one because you will be happy to take the leftovers home Mark my word, this pizza is as good cold as it is hot.

In fact, this is my leftover Six Shooter pizza.  Six Shooter has your usual toppings: pepperoni, sausage, onions, mushrooms, black olives, and Anaheim peppers!  Every pizza comes out scorching hot with half of an Anaheim pepper on top of it. 

Make sure you stop in and see Nancy on any and every Big Bend trip.  You will not regret it!  By the way, she is open Wed-Sun, so plan accordingly for THE BEST PIZZA IN TEXAS and get a cold beer too!

Long Draw Pizza
FM 170 W between Terlingua and Lajitas
432/371-2608

MasFajitas: Caldwell

Wow, today's format more like a grocery list.

Chips and Salsa: Chips are stale.  Salsa is fresh

Introducing The Laredo:

Rice: fluffy with a hint of chili powder, not much taste other than that

Charro beans- very good.  Slightly spicy, good taste, with chunks of bacon and jalapenos present

Beef Taco: Shell is stale, Lettuce and Tomatoes extremely fresh.  Meat is not real seasoned- odd consistency.  But, overall, pretty good.

Chicken Enchilada- Red Chile Sauce was lame- FULL of chicken except it is mostly dark meat.  The chicken did have a really good taste, but overall, I would skip the enchilada.

Service started out OK, but ended up horrible even at 1:30 pm.  Tea was never refilled and plates sat in front of me forever.  Staff was watching futbol instead! 

The thing that really killed my experience was when I went to pay my bill- of course, I didn't have my check because my waitress disappeared.  Their credit card machine went down, so I was asked if I had any cash.  I didn't, so huffing and puffing, the guy rebooted the computer to see if it would fix the problem.  I asked if he would like me to go get some cash, and he said yes.  When I asked where the closest bank, he pointed across the street.  He was still huffing and puffing- and, he was not asthmatic.  You would think they would have offered to comp or discount my $8 meal, but no, he rudely took my cash offering no apologies.  The funny thing is they had a printed copy of a list on why patrons don't return- 69% was the attitude of the server!  I guess you know that I will not be returning.

MasFajitas does have another location in Taylor.  I hope the staff is nicer to their patrons there, but I can say if you are in Caldwell, Texas, just keep driving past MasFajitas. 

MasFajitas
305 Hwy 36 S
Caldwell, TX. 77836979/567-4007
www.masfajitas.com

Fuzzy's Tacos: College Station

With Butt Burning hot sauce on the tables, hard rock blaring, and signs that say Eat Me, my first visit to Fuzzy's Taco Shop is an adventure.  The friendly man behind the counter asked me more questions than Willie Nelson at a Border Patrol station.

I ordered the Mexican Dinner- 1 taco and 1 enchilada with a large ice tea- they serve Ceylon tea.

The crispy ground beef taco ROCKED!  The meat was a little strange- almost like it was mixed with beans and pureed.  It was topped with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, feta cheese, cilantro and garlic sauce!  Yummy!

The borracho beans- I swear I can taste beer in there!  Yummy and lots of bacon!!!!!

Mix Mex Fried Rice was so-so- pretty much mixed message.  It was spicy yet creamy like risotto. 

Chicken Enchilada is full of chicken- spicy chicken.  The green sauce on it is a little salty and not really tasty.  The spice from the chicken kept my lips burning even after the fact!

The real rock star was the taco- after all, it is a taco shop.  If in the College Station area, give Fuzzy's Taco Shop a try.  Located just south of Campus on Southwest Parkway, its worth the stop!

Fuzzy's Taco Shop
1712 Southwest Pkwy
Suite 100
College Station, TX 77840979/764-8226
www.fuzzystacoshop.com

Ramsey's: Victoria, Texas

Ramsey's has been around forever since 1948.  This diner serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's Sunday, and breakfast at the counter sounds like the plan.  This place does a booming eat in business and you should see the take out. 

As I take my perch, I decide on a cup of coffee and a short stack of pancakes with bacon.  They are known for their cinnamon rolls, so I was in luck that they had one left.  I chose pecan over raisin.

Wow, this cinnamon roll is HUGE!  It is more like a cinnamon pecan biscuit.  Finally, in the center, tons of pecans and glaze.  It was really kinda overkill and quite overwhelming. 

The short stack arrives.  Three thick cut strips of crispy bacon on top of 2 huge pancakes.  The bacon totally rocked.  The pancakes were fluffy about half an inch.  They were very good, and hit the spot.

I asked the waitress if it ever slows down, and she said this is slow.  If this is slow, then this place is a gold mine and then some!  Its also a great place to people watch and meet the friendly locals!  Definitely, check out this established, local eatery the next time you are in Victoria whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Ramsey's
1403 N Navarro
Victoria
361/572-3287

PJ's Seafood Shop and Diner: Victoria, Texas

PJ's is one of my original eating haunts when I come to Victoria.  Its a local seafood diner serving up food for over 30 years since 1977.   

Tonight, I had my usual Regular Fried Shrimp dinner with cole slaw and hush puppies.  There are 6 golden fried shrimp- they melt in my mouth.  Delish!  The red cocktail sauce is much runnier than I remembered, but it has a great taste!  The hushpuppies are great, but cole slaw was a let down.  It was runny too with no taste.


PJ's is always a stop for me when I am in Victoria.  Stop on in for friendly fast service and great fresh seafood.


PJ's Seafood Diner
1804 N. Navarro, Victoria, TX
Phone (361) 578-7302
http://www.pjsseafood.com/

Cielito Lindo: Brenham, Texas

Tonight, my husband is having a sleep study done, so I REALLY wanted to make sure he snored.  We decided to try the new Mexican restaurant in Brenham: Cielito Lindo.  Yes, another Mexican restaurant in Brenham.....

Cielito Lindo is actually a very beautiful place inside.  The design and rock work is gorgeous.  Two stories of hacienda dining.  The food is OK.  It hits the spot for Tex-Mex.  It's not the best and it's not the worse.  It's just average.

We decided to have the Special Dinners- basically guacamole, taco, and 2 enchiladas.  For me, the cheese enchiladas; for my husband, the chicken.  The first plate comes with the crispy beef taco and the guacamole.

I really don't like these kind of taco shells since you can't pick it up and eat with your hands.  Well, I guess you can, but it is a total mess.  This taco was VERY good.  The meat was slight spicy, but it was very greasy.  The guacamole was fair.  The second plate arrives with the enchiladas.

The cheese enchiladas were good, but VERY greasy.  I love good cheese enchiladas (always seem to be comparing them to Molina's in Houston).  I do think there could be more cheese filling in the enchiladas, but overall the sauce and the enchilada was good.  Now, my husband's chicken enchiladas were interesting.  I love good spicy red chicken enchiladas, but these totally missed the mark.  The sauce was like tomato paste- it was gross.  He ended up eating the tons of shredded chicken out of the enchiladas.

Cielito Lindo is the first Mexican place on Hwy 290 as you are coming into Brenham.  They will do a good business since this is the 4th location.  They did have a lovely couple singing music on the evening we were there.  I will go back and drink a few margaritas, and listen to them sing the night away. 

Cielito Lindo
2821 S Market Street
Brenham, Texas 77833

Ventura's Tamales: Victoria, Texas

OK, Ventura’s Tamales claim to be “the absolute best tamales in Texas.”  They are known through out the State.  I remember seeing their location times before, but now I have a reason to stop.

For some reason, I remember their location being on Hwy 59 business, but now it is on North Navarro.  Based on their beautiful website, I was expecting a beautiful little restaurant, but I was totally shocked by the building as it looks like an old Taco Bell that has been painted.  Never judge a book by its cover.

Besides tamales, you can get the usual Tex-Mex suspects too.  Today, I opt for a dozen spicy tamales.  You can chose either regular or spicy.

First thing, I thought that the price for a dozen was a little high.  Second, when I opened up the tamales, I thought the actual tamale was even smaller for the price.  I sure hope that the taste of these tamales makes up for everything!

And, it did.  The masa was perfect in taste- not bland at all with a perfect corn taste and moist.  The spiciness was lacking.  The tamales were a little stingy on the meat which I think was pork- never saw anything on what it was.  The hot sauce was super fresh with a thinner consistency and a lot of garlic.  It actually reminded me of Elena’s in Beaumont- see that Blog earlier in the month.

The dozen was consumed over the next 3 days, and it was hard not to eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Overall, I thought Ventura’s was really good.  I still think that they are pricey for the actual tamales- in size and in meat, but it is always good to find a place with yummy tamales.  It will definitely be a stop when I come to Victoria.

Ventura’s Tamales

3907 N Navarro

Victoria, Texas 77901

361/578-5161

www.venturastamales.com

Pico de Gallo: Victoria, Texas

This place was packed.  Cars were waiting on the main street for the drive thru.  The inside is tiny but booming.  This morning, a bacon, potato, and cheese breakfast taco with a cup of pico.

The tacos are HUGE.  The flour tortillas are awesome- home made- thick and just bliss.  The potatoes were so-so- very bland.  The bacon was a little burnt, but very edible.  The cheese was scarce, but the very fresh pico de gallo made up for it.  Overall, this taco was very good and very filling.  It's definitely worth a stop if you are in Victoria.

Pico de Gallo
609 E. Rio Grande
Victoria, TX 77901
(361) 578-7968