Frank's Restaurant, Schulenberg off I-10

Bacon done the right way ... that's Frank's Restaurant in Schulenberg, Texas.  Frank's has a short country breakfast menu with nothing on it out of the ordinary.  What's out of the ordinary is their high quality preparation.  This is an old family restaurant which has been serving the locals and passerby's for eight decades.  I love the breakfasts here at Franks.

Frank's is an easy stop off and on of I-10 in Schulenberg.  The restaurant is located on the access road on the south side of the interstate.  Coming from the San Antonio area heading east, the place is a regular stoop off for breakfast.  The coffee is good, and I make it better with a pinch of salt.  Salt gives some coffee that added dimension.



French Toast & Custom Sausage:

Great French toast with a sausage that a local meat market custom makes for Frank's.  A little bit of butter and syrup, and you're good to go.



Bacon-n-Cheese Omelet:

This is awesome.  Nice bite-size pieces of bacon fried to a crisp before being dropped into the omelet.  Add onions and cheese, and then fold.  This was really good.  I chose hashbrowns with this dish.  The red stuff is their home-made salsa.  Really tomatoey!



Pancake Breakfast:

Their pancakes are on my bucket list for my next stop in Schulenberg.  Sorry, no photos yet.





Country Breakfast:

Look at those biscuits.  Crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  Comes with country gravy.  The eggs are always cooked the way you order at Frank's.  And the grits pass the pepper test.  What makes Frank's a great place for breakfast is that they're consistently good.  When you're on the road, that's very important.  

Jalisco Mexican Restaurant of Rockport

Oh yeah!  And this is not their big burrito!  Look at all of that cheese!  Don't tell my internist that this is what I ordered.

Tx-35 takes you to Rockport.  Cut off to Business 35 and ride on the main street of Rockport until you find Jalisco.  It's on the opposite side as the Gulf.



Cheese Omelet:

Whether fancy or simple, Jalisco of Rockport does breakfast right.  Look at the cheese oozing out of that omelet.  Great potatoes and beans as well.




Beef Fajita Burrito:

This is hog heaven for me, and this is the mid-size burrito.  They make a larger one.  This was custom made for me: beef fajitas stuffed into a burrito and covered with chili con carne and cheese.  Look how much cheese!

Sausage Omelet:

Here's another omelet, sausage, mushroom, and white cheese.  This place has great choices when it comes to omelets.



Waffles-n-Eggs:

If you have kids, Jalisco makes both waffle and pancake plates.  Look at how perfectly cooked the bacon is.



Bacon-n-Egg Burrito:

This is a smaller burrito but quite tasty.  Filled with bacon, peppers, onions and eggs.  This is eating lite at Jalisco.


Selection of the Menu:

Nice prices as well as great food.  Tacos make great to-go food.  Dining in, I prefer the plates.

The Reel of Spring Branch

Look at this thick bisque.  The flavor reminds me of a cheese dish my mother made -- Welsh Rabbit.  This is one of many great dishes at the Reel.  Spring Branch is slowly acquiring a cache of really good restaurants and this is one of them.

The Reel Is found on TX-46 about five miles east of US-281.  The owner was in partnership with McAdoos in New Braunfels before taking his act to the west.  And we are grateful.


I like bread and butter:

The Reel bakes its own bread and at times flavors its butter with garlic.  Great starter for a fine meal.



Crawfish Bisque:

This is a cream bisque with cheese, tomato, and (my guess) a hint of Worcestershire Sauce.  The owner-chef can correct me if I'm wrong.



Creole Gumbo:

Nice thick gumbo with shrimp.  Stewed down in tomatoes.  This is really good stuff, and spicy.  Yes, very spicy.  Usually, I add Tabasco or Louisiana Hot sauce to my gumbo, but not here.



Lunch Trios:

This is a fun offering the Reel does.  Pick three items and they serve small portions of each on one plate.  Above is the crawfish bisque, crawfish po-boy, and catfish fillet.

Here's another trio: shrimp po-boy, shrimp taco, and shrimp gumbo.  I was in a shrimp mood.  The Reel calls their trio: Create Your Own Catch.



Seafood Cheese Enchilada:

The picture says it all.  The Reel has been able to combine both Tex-Mex and Louisiana cuisine for a bang-up dish.  This is my favorite!



Blackened Drum New Orleans:

The reel used its Mahi-Mahi dish to make drum.  Whenever Gulf drum is on the special board, I don't look at the menu.  The drum was blackened and topped with a Zydeco butter sauce.  This dish was served with a mixture of jambalaya and crawfish ettoufee.  I love drum any way it's cooked.



Fried Shrimp Plate:

Their fried seafood plates include shrimp, crawfish, oyster, and catfish.  All are perfectly deep fried.



The Po-Boys:

This is a meal.  Either eat it with a fork or as a sandwich.  This is the crawfish po-boy.

Here is my favorite -- the oyster po-boy, and look how big the oysters are.  This was a mess of food and a messy sandwich.  Just order extra napkins and enjoy.

Finally, the shrimp po-boy.  If I leave anything on my plate, it's the fries.  The shrimp is history as soon as the plate is served.



Crawfish Platter:

Here's where it's at if you're a crawfish lover.  Crawfish ettoufee and fried crawfish tails.  If you can't eat the whole thing, finish the fried tails and do takeouts with the ettoufee.  Ettoufee reheats better in the microwave than the fried crawfish.

For more info on the Reel and their menu go to http://www.reelseafoodhouse.com.

Sandra's Cantina & Grill of Spring Branch

Eggs over cheese enchiladas ... can you believe it.  This stuff is great!  Sandra's will do breakfast combinations that I have yet to find anywhere else found else.

Sandra's is off the north bound lane of US-281 past TX-46 and past the Guadalupe River in Spring Branch, TX.   Spring Branch, by the way, is due north of San Antonio.  This is a great place for gourmet breakfasts.  By the way, Sandra's opens at 8 a.m. and is closed on Monday.



Mega Breakfast:

This is a difficult breakfast to get through unless you're a tackle or guard for the Smithson Valley Rangers: two eggs over two cheese enchiladas and carne guisada with sides of beans and potatoes.  And yes, this plate comes with two flour tortillas.  By the way, if you don't want that much food, you can a la carte the eggs over enchiladas with a side of beans.   If you are a lite eater, I highly recommend a la carting what you want off this plate.



Egg Enchiladas with Bean Sauce:

This is a dish!  Egg enchiladas with Monterey Jack cheese ... mundane ... but add refried bean sauce with grilled onions and crisp-fried crumbled chorizo.  And that's not all, it's covered with chili Serrano and topped with avocado slices.  This breakfast has a fantastic medley of flavors.


Chorizo & Eggs:

One of my favorite Tex-Mex breakfasts is chorizo-n-eggs, but I have to have cheese on everything!  Sandra's melted Monterrey Jack all over my eggs and my refried beans as well.  Great rib-sticking breakfast.  Look in the upper left-hand corner at how perfect those flour tortillas are.

Egg Enchiladas Divorciadas:

This is a combo from these two breakfasts: (1) egg enchilada with green sauce and (2) egg enchilada with ranchero sauce. Both have  Mexican cream and queso fresco (fresh white cheese).  Good stuff.



Egg Enchiladas with Chipotle Sauce:

No picture here yet.  But this one's on my bucket list.



Breakfast Tacos:

Like most Tex-Mex restaurants in the San Antonio area, the breakfast tacos are to die for.  Above is their barbacoa taco which is served only on weekends.  In a later posting, I'll show an easy way to make barbacoa.


Cowboy Burrito:

This is a lunch item that my cousin Bob ordered.  It's filled with rice, beans, lettuce, guacamole, and a choice of meat.  Bob chose chicken fajitas.  Me, I would like to custom this one with grilled onions and cheese.  By the way, half is topped with a rich spicy gravy (left) and the other half with queso sauce (right).

Note: I love photo shooting Mexican breakfasts.  They're always so colorful, but Sandra's takes both taste and color up a few notches for breakfast.

Breakfast Burrito:

The breakfast burrito is on my bucket list as well.  It's filled  with eggs, bacon, and potatoes.  It's topped with melted Monterey Jack cheese, bean sauce, crisp fried chorizo, grilled onions, and chili Seranno.  But I would get the potatoes on the side.


Coffee:

Their regular coffee is great, but if you're a decaf person, they serve instant Folgers.   I like my coffee brewed so I indulge and get their great regular coffee when I'm at Sandra's.

Atomic Omelet, Corpus Christi

When I go to a restaurant that I may want to blog, I always order last to select something no one else has ordered.  On this trip to Atomic Omelette, all my friends ordered regular egg plates.  How boring!  This is Atomic Omelette, guys!  Being the last man ordering, I had to order an omelet ... and look at it.  This is an omelet!

Hey, if you're not familiar with Corpus, this is not an easy place to get to.  But here's my best recommendation: take TX-358 (John Kennedy Memorial Freeway) from the interstate through most of the northwestern part of Corpus to South Staples.  Go north on South Staples to Wooldridge Road and turn left till you get to it.  Please GPS this one.  I've only been there once and someone else was driving.  I don't want you to get lost looking for a great omelet.



Bacon-n-Eggs:

The bacon is hiding off the side of the plate.  Look at those roasted red potatoes ... and the skins are still on these nuggets.  All breakfasts come with a fruit cup.  Give me an extra slice of bacon instead!



Sausage-n-Eggs:

Look at those eggs ... perfectly beat and cooked.  But what do you expect ... this is the Atomic Omelet!  And you get two nice size sausage paddies.



Yolked-Up Fire Fox:

This omelet was Atomic's white-board special of the day ... the Yolked-Up Firefox.  That was my choice: four eggs, yes, four eggs ... with green onions, tomato, mushroom, bacon, red pepper flakes, avocado, and mozzarella cheese.  I swapped the oatmeal for a fruit cup ... the lesser of two evils.  

Omelets not ordered (yet):

In the words of General McArthur, I shall return ... to try out the other omelets.  Note all other omelets are made of three eggs.

There two standing omelets are (1) the Atomic Omelet with Serrano peppers, red peppers, pecan smoked bacon, and cheese; (2) the Vege Omelet with mushroom, tomatoes, avocados, and Monterey jack cheese.  I would add meat to the Vege Omelet ... but then it wouldn't be a Vege Omelet anymore.

You also have the option to design your own omelet ... like take the Vege Omelet and add meat.  For more information go to atomicomelette.com.

Blanco Barbecue, San Antonio

This is a photo of left overs from a great meal at the Blanco Barbecue in San Antonio.  Yes you can take it with you.

There are two loops in San Antonio, and knock on wood, neither have tolls.  Take one of the loops, I-410 or 1604 to Blanco Road.  If on I-410, then go north on Blanco.  If on Loop 1604, then go south on Blanco.  The place is on the west side (south-bound lane) of Blanco Road.

Pecan Smoked Meats:

I have done a lot of smoking over the years and found that pecan is the most available wood that gives a great flavor to meats.   Oak has to be green or the flavor is too harsh.  Mesquite, green or not, puts a strong flavor into the meats.  Hard hardwoods work the best (pecan and hickory) to gently flavor the meats with smoke.  Blanco Barbecue uses pecan to smoke their meats.

Bar-B-Q Meats



Spare Ribs:

The pork ribs are so lean that you wonder if there's any fat at all.  But there is ... just enough to flavor the meat.  Look how perfectly smoked they are.  Something about a pecan smoked flavor on pork.




Brisket:

Blanco only smokes up Angus beef.  And the brisket has just enough fat to flavor the meat without it being greasy.  Some places have too little fat and the brisket tastes bland.



Pulled Pork:

This dish has to be they're best product.  I know people who do not like barbecue and like Blanco's pulled pork cooked down in their homemade sauce.


Smoked Turkey:

I used to smoke meats for a family reunion and smoked turkey was always the first item that we ran out of.  Look at this turkey ... moist, smoke-pink rim, and lean breast meat.  Doesn't get any better than that.

Smoked Sausage:

The smoked sausage at Blanco Barbecue is the deal breaker.  Many barbecue places have great meats, but fall short on the sausage because it's too fatty or the meat is insipid.  Not at Blanco Barbecue.  The sausage has taste and is as lean as sausage gets.    



Smoked Barbecue Chicken:

Look at this:  the picture speaks for itself.  Half a chicken with crisp skin.  I could just eat the skin.  Anybody out there on a fat free diet, I'll eat the skin and you can have the breast meat.  Contact me, I'm serious.  I'll have the wings and thighs as well.



The Sides



Mac-n-Cheese:

This side is the all time favorite of the staff and most of them are under the age of 20.  The cheese sauce is thick, not runny like in other places.  Get an order of Blanco's lean smoked sausage and mac-n-cheese, and you have a great feast.



Steak Fries:

The French fries still have the skin on them and are sliced big and well salted.




Potato Salid:

Next to the mac-n-cheese, I like Blanco's potato salad.  Great stuff and they have all of those green and red things in in the salad to make it taste better.



Stewed Green Beans:

If you're on a low carb diet, this is the way to go.  Meat and beans.  The green beans are cooked in onions, tomato, and bacon.  Really good stuff.

They do large orders & cater:

Here is ten pounds of brisket.  Remember, this is Angus beef.

Their Monster Platter:

Blanco Barbecue calls this their Mixed Platter: I call it the Monster Platter.  Left to right: ham, sausage, pulled pork, brisket, ribs with sides of mac-n-cheese and potato salad.  And no, I didn't clean the platter.  Had to take a rib and the ham home for later.

For more information on Blanco Bar-B-Q go to blancobbq.com.