An Average Joe in San Antonio

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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