An Average Joe in San Antonio

With the days getting longer and the nights having just a hint of a chill, folks will begin exploring the hill country and might even be looking for a patio to enjoy a brew.  Traveling ten miles north of 1604 on Blanco Road can transport you to a place as Texan as a Bob Wills fiddle, Specht’s Store.

Built in 1887, Specht’s has been a watering hole for over 100 years.  In fact, there is a legend that William Specht had a way to procure beer during Prohibition when other saloons had run dry.  Today, the restaurant is operated by the sixth owner in its history with the inside adorned with a variety of ephemera (most of it being directly related to the history of the store/saloon) that makes Specht’s as much museum as restaurant.

What I love most about going to eat here is the drive — it is just long enough to leave behind the hustle and bustle, but close enough to be accessible.  This most recent trip proved how San Antonio is sprawling even further and further north — there seemed to be only a couple of miles of country between the McMansions and the country store.

Even though I was in the mood for a beer, I decided to go with a little sangria wine and was not disappointed.

I stopped by Specht’s on the way back to town after a hike in the Canyon Lake Gorge with my girlfriend.  It was later in the afternoon, and there were a couple of regulars on the porch who were chewin’ the fat and told us to go on in.

Even though Specht’s seems like more of a beer joint, I was in the mood to try their house sangria wine, and being in South Texas, I couldn’t get that Jerry Jeff Walker song out of my mind.  The drink was sweet, refreshing, and the perfect compliment to the half day hike.  For lunch, I decided to order the Jäger-Schnitzel with the burgundy mushroom sauce.

You can see how the breading is similar to a chicken fry; this makes it really good.

As opposed to other Jäger-Schnitzel that I have had in the past, the one at Specht’s was breaded like a chicken fried steak with a nice and flaky crust.  The pork was tender and the the brown sauce was chopped full of mushrooms and had a pleasantly “wangy” type of taste to it.  While the green beans were all right, the mashed potatoes were really good.

My date got the chicken fried steak and she was convinced it was one of the best she has ever had.  What she really liked about it was that they put the cream gravy underneath the steak so that it wouldn’t make it soggy.  I hadn’t ever seen that before and if you think about it (especially if you like the crispy breading), it really is pure geniusness.

The next time you have an aching to get out of the city, head a little bit farther North than you might typically be used to and stop by Specht’s to see what they got cookin’.

Value: 8/10 (the lunch plate seemed to be right at $11-$12 with a tall glass of sangria being $6; this is a little pricey in my mind for lunch, but I was impressed by the quality of the food)
Atmosphere: 10/10 (while places like Applebees tries to manufacture history in their restaurants, Specht’s is the real deal; be sure to check out all the cool things that they have on the walls)
Service: 9.5/10 (the waitress was incredibly friendly and accommodating, letting me have all the time in the world to make up my mind)
Taste: 9.5/10 (down home country cookin’!)
Website: http://www.spechts.com/
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If you are like me, you might have grown up with going to smallish churches and having the Sunday pot-lucks when all the little old ladies at the church brought in dishes to serve the congregation.  In the present day of tele-evangelists, mega-churches, and overall swell of population, you might not have had the opportunity to get some of that down home cookin’.  If you find a pang in your heart for this type of food, be sure to go check out the 4th Street Cafe.

Owned and operated by the First Baptist Church of San Antonio, the staff comprised of all volunteer servers dishes out comfort food from 11:00AM – 2:00PM Tuesday through Friday.  Often, they will have a blue plate lunch special, but expect to spend right around $7.00 for lunch.  All the proceeds go to support their ministry and the website states that the tips go to support the San Antonio Food Bank Community Kitchen at  Haven for Hope, Christian Assistance Ministry (CAM), and Haven Chaplaincy Ministry.

Being a chicken fried steak fan, I couldn’t resist the daily lunch special of chicken fried steak, two sides, cornbread, and a side salad; I ordered mashed potatoes and fried okra as my sides.

I knew I was in for a treat when I first got my side salad and tasted the ranch dressing that came with it.  The dressing was incredibly creamy and rich with little pieces of bacon added in it; later, I confirmed my hypothesis that the ranch dressing was homemade while talking with the lady at the register.  In fact, she told me that EVERYTHING is homemade all the way down to the dressings.  This was a nice touch that you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a cafe run by a church.

Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, okra, cornbread, and a side salad at the 4th Street Cafe.

The main course was really good; the gravy made the mashed potatoes and you could tell that it didn’t come from a package.  The fried okra was piping hot and the cornbread was dense and sweet (some people don’t like sweet cornbread, but I really do).  While the chicken fried steak was not near as big as Lulu’s (then again what is?!), it wasn’t far off the mark of the taste.

I have to admit, I was skeptical about the chicken fried steak going in.  Any sort of “church” chicken fried steak always seems to have that breading that is greasy and not all that good.  4th Street Cafe really delivered on the goods here, the chicken fried steak had that flaky, crispy breading that I love.

Finally, I have to mention the service.  Everyone is extremely nice and it is a very welcoming atmosphere.  Because of the fact that everyone is a volunteer who is serving the meals, you get people who are truly happy to be there and who are truly happy to have you there eating their food.  Remember to tip well as the proceeds go to helping out some of San Antonio’s homeless community.

The 4th Street Cafe is so good that it will cause you to dance with joy; in this case, I don’t think the Baptists would even mind that kind of dancing.

Value: 9/10 (maybe a little on the higher end for a lunch, but the money does support different ministries in town that help those in need)
Atmosphere: 9.5/10 (down home feel in the middle of downtown)
Service: 10/10 (volunteer servers are happy to be there and happy to have you there; and don’t worry, they are not the least bit “preachy” either)
Taste: 9.5/10 (great meal that will fill you up for the day; the salad dressings are amazing)
Website: http://www.fbcsa.org/templates/cusfbcsa/details.asp?id=34507&PID=354546

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Lulu’s has recently been given a lot of pub by making an appearance on the popular show “Man Versus Food” when they visited the restaurant on the 2009 season premiere to see how they make their cinnamon rolls.  Lulu’s was one of those restaurants that are a standing favorite and I was working my way to talk about them, and it was the fact that it was my roommate’s, Serrano Aaron, birthday that we decided to go pay Lulu a visit.

Lulu’s is a diner in the classic sense: it is open 24/7, has a bar that you can order and eat at, and of course has the black and white checkered floor.  They also serve up some of the best home cookin’ that you will find in San Antonio, and a lot of local celebrities frequent the diner for that good food (the waitress informed us that the deputy was dining at the bar just across from us and that we should be on our best behavior; I have also heard that Shaq likes to go to Lulu’s when he is in town playing the Spurs).

If you are on a diet, don’t bother showing up to eat, because the item that you must have is the chicken fried steak.  It comes in two sizes covered in cream gravy, the smaller size is still as big as your head, along with two sides and a roll.  I always opt for the mashed potatoes and fried okra.

As Tom Petty says, “the waiting is the hardest part”; this is not because they are slow, but because you should have been gearing up for the meal by getting really hungry before going to Lulu’s.  By seeing all the delicious plates of food coming out of the kitchen, your stomach will begin to growl in anticipation of the feast that it is about to receive.

Your stomach is growling in anticipation of this!

The reason I love the chicken fried steak is because the batter is light and flakey; that is the key to a good chicken fry in my mind.  As you cut into the main course, you can hear the crunch that is associated with having that flakey type of batter.  The cream gravy equally compliments the chicken fried steak and the mashed potatoes (heck, even the fried okra too!).  The roll is pretty dense (upon picking it up my roommate was shocked at how heavy it is), but it is still soft at the same time.  It is even better dipped in the cream gravy….

So for several bucks, take you and your Texas sized appetite over to Lulu’s.  You will probably not only walk out full, but there is a good chance that you are going to have a box of leftovers for the next day!

Value: 10/10 (one of the best in the city)
Atmosphere: 10/10 (I am a sucker for the old time diner feel and checkered floors)
Service: 8.5/10 (when they get busy, it can be tough to get refills)
Taste: 10/10 (my favorite chicken fried steak in the 2-1-0)
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De Wese’s Tip Top Café is a little family owned restaurant on the Westside of town.  Having been in business for over 70 years, the inside looks more like a hodge podge of a house (complete with a mounted deer head and bass fish) than a restaurant; you definitely expect some home cookin’ going on in this joint.

Love the old neon sign out front!

You need to know that the Tip Top Café does not take credit cards, only checks or cash.  I overheard the cashier say that this is their response to the credit collapse and to “encourage people only spending the money they have.”  Just make sure you have some greenbacks before you go in.

The restaurant has a cool neon sign outside, a little lean in the foundation on the inside, some old booths, old curtains on the windows, and even a bar that you can eat at.  I will warn you, try not to take a seat to the immediate right when you walk in as you get a waft of mouth balls when a door opens and closes.  Just an FYI.

There is an assortment of fried food, Mexican food, and sandwiches.  There was special mention of the onion rings on the menu, but I decided to forgo them as an appetizer and just jumped right in with the chicken fried steak.  After having a few plates of hot onion rings being carried by my table, I can tell you that this was definitely a mistake, and don’t advise you to make the same one that I did!

My chicken fried steak came out and it was pretty dang big!  I ended up cutting it in half and split it with my roommate Serrano Pepper Aaron.  The weird thing about it was that the cream gravy was served underneath the chicken fried steak; I had never seen that before!  It makes sense because it keeps your breading from getting real soggy.  The chicken fried steak was definitely better than average, but I wasn’t blown away.  The side salad was really nice, and you got the feeling that it was actually made fresh instead of being from a bag.  The mashed potatoes were, again, above average but nothing that actually rocked my world.

BIG chicken fried steak with the gravy underneath.

I guess overall, I had a nice time at the Tip Top Café; I enjoy getting to go to throwback diners and this definitely fit that bill.  The food was good, but not mind blowing; it was also fairly reasonable (I think that the chicken fried steak was like $9, but was $7 on a particular night of the week (Tuesday I believe)) considering the portions that you got.  I will return someday just to try those onion rings that I missed out on!

Value: 7/10 (pretty reasonably priced home cookin’)
Atmosphere: 7/10 (you feel like you are in your grandma’s house (if she lived out in the country); avoid the seats to the right of the entrance as you get whiffs of moth balls…)
Service: 7/10 (nothing to write home about; the guy at the register was a little terse)
Taste: 7/10 (above average, but definitely not mind blowing)
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