San Antonio area trip report

E

El Paso Way

100+ Posts
The wife and I recently had a few days off, so we decided to get out of town. We first thought about heading to Santa Fe, which is abut 6 hours from El Paso, but at the last minute decided on San Antonio. The wife gets to do her shopping and I like to find new watering holes. On one particular day, I dropped her off at the mall on Anderson Loop and Nacadoches (sp?). I decided to cruise north on Nacadoches and came into a little town called Braken, and in this little settlement was an old bar called The Hangen Tree Saloon. What a great bar. If you are in the area I highly reccomend it. I found out Dale Watson was playing that night so the wife and I went to see him performt. Damn, if you like real country music the way I do, he will not let you down. We left out Sunday morning and stopped in Junction for fuel and meal. Instead of eating at Coopers, we went towards town and ate BBQ at a gas station called Lums, I believe. The BBQ was really good. Just wandering if anyone has been to Lums BBQ or the Hanging Tree. My next trip to San Antone is the 3rd week of Oct. Plan on catching some country acts and then heading down to Port A for a few days of fishing.
 
I've eaten at Lum's in Junction and now it is my usual BBQ stop whenever I'm headed West from Marble Falls.

I like it better than Cooper's in Llano, Mason and Junction or Hard 8 in Brady..

BTW, Opie's BBQ in Spicewood on Hwy. 71 is very good too.

The place in Bertram that was named in Texas Monthly's Best BBQ List is OK.

I can't remember the name.

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If you need a good burger in SA, try Chris Madrid's on Blanco Rd. between Hildebrand and Fredericksburg Rd.

It's be there so long, you've probably been there or heard of it.

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Next Door to the hangin Tree is Braken Cafe. They have as good a hamburger as you will find anywhere. Grumpy's in Braken is not bad either.
 
Seb,
I started to take the wife into that cafe, because I've always found that the little mom and pop cafes are the best. I will check it out in Oct.
 
Bertram Smoke Haus indeed is the unnamed place in Bertram that I said was, IMHO, just OK, jimmyjazz and pulque.

In comparision, I think, Lum's BBQ in Junction and Opie's BBQ in Spicewood are both very good.

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There's also a place called Teague's BBQ in Burnet on W Hwy 29 that has pretty good ribs.

I haven't tried their other meats yet.

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I don't think it is. Grumpy's used to be located across the street until it moved into a bigger building.
 
The Hangin' Tree is an awesome joint. And there probably isn't a much better place to see Dale.

Next time in SA and looking for some music, you should check out the new Casbeers in King William. They book music in this old church that they converted. Well, they didn't do much to the actual chapel other than adding some lights and sound system. It's a bit odd to sit there and pound beers while sitting in a church pew, but the venue is the tits. They usually book terrible music, but it really is a remarkable place. If someone halfway decent is playing, it's a must see.
 
Grumpy's there in Bracken probably has the biggest breakfast tacos ever. They are pretty damned good, too. Try the Henry -- it's named for a regular patron of the place, as is the Mayor taco.

Grumpy is a pretty profane guy. One day I was in there when their food service delivery came. It was about two years ago when fuel prices were really starting to climb, and apparently the food service folks started putting a "fuel surcharge" on the bill. Grumpy totally went off on the delivery guy -- "FUEL SURCHARGE?!!! WHAT THE ****?!!!" It was pretty funny to see.

Figlio's is an Italian restaurant across the street in Grumpy's old building, and it's pretty solid, too. The calzone and the Vesuvio are awesome.

The burgers at Bracken Cafe are indeed great. If you can eat one without getting messy you are one talented individual. The women who run the cafe are a pretty good story, too -- you can read an article about them there in the store. The onion rings are awesome. How many cafes do you know of where trains stop on the tracks across the street so the engineers can come in and eat? They do that at Bracken regularly.

The Hanging Tree truly is a neat place, you're right.

Next time you're down, come on out to the Caverns. Let me know when you are coming and I'll either take you on tour or set you up on one. I can make it more or less worth your while depending on the time of year.
 
Thank ya Thunderhoof, I may just do that. Of course, I'm buyen. My ol lady and I will be in town in the last part of October. We plan on goin to Wurstfest and Port A for some fishin. Would love to meet up with any of my horn fans. If any of ya'll are coming to El Paso for the game, please don't hesitate to let me know and I will do my best to fix y'all up.
 
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