Texas Land & Cattle – Tomball, TX

A little Chicken Fried Texan math: Bacon + Jalapeno + Melty Cheddar Cheese = delight.

Our waitress told us about a new menu “soft” rollout with some tasty fried goodies. The one that caught my eye was the “fried jalapeños.” These were not your corner bar’s stuffed jalapenos. These plump heaters were lightly breaded and stuffed with cheddar cheese, bacon and onions, unlike traditional fried jalapenos filled with only cream cheese or cheddar cheese. The seeds were left inside, giving the redesigned “poppers” a nice but understated heat.

These new poppers with a cold beer and some helmet-on-helmet football violence on Sunday afternoon and I’m a happy man.

Texas Land & Cattle -- Tomball, TX

I tend to be wary of Texas-themed restaurants – they tend to mask poor quality food with the spectacle of Texas, hoping non-Texans (and Texans) won’t notice. Texas Land & Cattle deviates slightly from this mold but isn’t without it’s problems.

Like other Texas-themed restaurants, the décor was western themed, although more tasteful than you might imagine. The notable exception was the giant steer head on the wall.
The CFS ($11.95) was a southern style breading soft and juicy round steak. The tenderness was unexpectedly moist and tender, almost fork tender. The breading was soft and not overly crispy. The gravy was a classic luscious white gravy. There was a nice hint of cumin that brought a nice smoky flavor. As good as the technical preparation was, the flavor was a bit bland. Every level (breading, meat, gravy) needed salt and at least a hearty dash of pepper.

The garlic mashed potatoes were tasty and it was clearly prepared freshly and with care. The skins were left on and the garlic tasted like it was roasted, then added, giving the potatoes a nice smoky-sweet flavor instead of overpowering the dish. Still, a dash of salt would have again been warranted.

For a slow Sunday lunch in an empty restaurant, the service was slow, although our waitress was attentive and polite.

If you ignore the wall-spanning Lonesome Dove scene painting on the wall, Texas Land & Cattle ends up like other restaurants. A little more salt and I’d be right at home.

Texas Burger - Fairfield, TX

Free from the vegetable-loving Mrs. Chicken Fried Steak, tater tot and I set out on a road trip in search of fried tasty vittles in central Texas.

One of my favorite chain burger places is Texas Burger – a place I insist on stopping by each time we make a long haul to Dallas.

This particular Texas Burger in Fairfield shares space with a Subway (and it seemed that most of the patrons were waiting in line for the subway at lunch on a Thursday). The inside is modest but comfortable.

The CFS: Departing from my usual “Double Texas Burger” order, I ordered the steak finger basket. The “meat” itself was too salty but was moist and chewy. I won’t speculate on exactly what it was, but the quality of the filler was low.

Breading: Very thin. So thin you could see the meat itself through the breading. It was also very salty and a bit unpleasant.

Gravy: The gravy came in a little side cup. It didn’t have much flavor but did have the look of a traditional gravy.
Knife: None. Steak fingers are for fingers.

Sides: A little bag of french fries. Texas Burger fries (at least at this location) have a nice little kick and rekindled tater tot’s love of the salted potato stick, thus making my life easier.

Cost: $7.99. A little expensive considering the quantity and quality.

Service: Very good. The woman who took our order also waited on us at our table. She brought our order out swiftly and also brought out our cookies when they were ready.
Music Selection: None.

I recommend sticking to the burger products at the Texas Burger. But, do try the homemade shakes! They can make up for a lot.

Cracker Barrell - Houston, TX

The Cracker Barrel is as ubiquitous to road travelers as bluebonnets in spring, highway patrol in August along I-45, the winds of west Texas and humidity in Houston.

Most of you have been to a Cracker Barrel and most of them are basically the same. There is a little "general store" at the entrance full of knickknacks, clothes and candies (including something called a “nut roll”).

Mrs. CFS challenged me to a game of skill with one of those little “peg hop” games, but I declined (knowing when I was over matched).

As most of them are, the one we visited was filled with tin signs, old clocks, antique rifles and framed, old pictures of distant relatives (many of which appeared to be for sale since there were price tags on them). It felt a bit contrived, especially since we were in the middle of Houston, not in rural Missouri, but we went with it. It’s hard to successfully replicate that old timey look.

The CFS: It wasn't particularly good overall but oddly no piece by itself was particularly bad. The steak itself (ground round) was tender. But, the flavors didn't mesh particularly well together.

The Breading: "Southern style" in origin but it was a bit thin. It was a bit like fried chicken in its consistency, so it wasn’t really crispy enough to give the CFS that great difference in texture (or hold up to the heavy gravy). Perhaps a bit oversalted (complimenting the undersalted gravy!).

The Gravy: Heavy and a little bland. This was strange because there was a meaty taste as well as some of that meat (bacon?) in the gravy. It had an odd sweet taste that I couldn't quite place. Interestingly, they have a "brown" gravy which they offer on the mashed potatoes but only the "white" gravy was offered on the CFS. Frankly, the "brown" would have been preferred.

A side tasting of Mrs. CFS's chicken fried chicken was actually surprisingly good; much better than the CFS. For some reason the gravy which wasn't too good meshed much better with the sweetness of the chicken than the meatiness of the steak. She wasn't that happy that I ate most of her dinner, but, for the good of the blog, she acquiesced.

The Knife: standard knife fine here.

The Sides: Three are chosen with the dinner menu; I chose fried okra, mashed potatoes (having a bit of a hankering that evening) and green beans (a rare foray into a non-fried vegetable). The fried okra was awful! (and coming from me you know it must have been bad). It was cold when it reached the table and was clearly pre-frozen and refried (perhaps earlier that afternoon). The mashed potatoes were good (with "brown" gravy), skins on and were lumpy. The green beans were a bit soggy but I liked them. Sort of reminded me of how my grandmother makes them; rich, chicken and bacon tasting beans -- frankly, you can't really even taste the beans.

The tot (who accompanied) enjoyed the macaroni and cheese, but he, like me with okra, is not discriminating when it comes to the M&C.

The Cost: $8.99 (with three sides). A pretty good bargain.

The Service: Competent and helpful, if not a little distant. Perhaps our 4:30 dinner threw them. She flirted with the tot and checked on us regularly.

Music selection: Cracker Barrel’s own inspired tunes – mostly older bluegrass and older country (we heard some Hank Williams, a favorite of mine).

There is something that draws people to the Cracker Barrel – the fact that it was pretty crowded at 4:30 pm on a Sunday made that clear. May it is nostalgia, cheap knickknacks, a clean bathroom or a pre-assembled rocking chair for the road (see picture). Perhaps there is something deeper, where travelers are looking to recapture something lost from ages ago when most all roadhouses and restaurants were like the Cracker Barrel. But, times have changed (for the most part). There are plenty of good road places to amble into to find a nice heaping plate of CFS, bottomless iced tea and a waitress to call you “hon.” You may have to look a little harder but they are still around (and most are not incorporated).