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As per our tradition, we hit a Mexican Restaurant on our first night in town. It was a big hit, pretty much everyone said it was great, Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant 2 miles from the hotel. Margaritas and other forms of booze flowed throughout the night. 🤓
Great turnout for the weekend, we had 20 people in attendance. I was sitting next to texastweeter and we spent most of the night discussing how we could cut down on cow flatulence. He said he’d be more appreciative if I would cut back on my own flatulence.
Last edited by Panhead John; April 19, 2024, 06:37 AM.Comment
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Whichever one of you guys called and woke me up at 3:30 AM I couldn’t understand everything you were saying because of all the ruckus in the background but I did understand the word jail.. Answer is San Marcos Bail Bonds 512-392-8999.
Don’t call again tonight!Comment
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The Homewood Suites has turned out to be a nice, clean and welcoming place for our stay. The rooms are nice sized, and the addition of a full size fridge and small kitchen is a much appreciated amenity. The indoor and outdoor seating areas are large and have worked out well as a gathering place for us. This isn’t the whole group, so we will be posting more group pics during our stay…..
SEATED FROM LEFT TO RIGHT
58limited-David, J-Melt-Josh, Uncle Bob and wife Lee, TxF-Don and wife Julia, Triple B-Dean, LaPork Butt-Sunny and wife Irene
BACK ROW STANDING LEFT TO RIGHT
Mosca-Tom, Oak Smoke-Lynn, Troutman-Steve
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Looks like everybody is having a great time, enjoy.Comment
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Valentina’s. There will be a lot more written about Valentina’s. Here are some food pics.
Brisket sandwich. Uncle Bob proclaimed it good, and that it would have been better if it was hot:
Smoked carnitas taco. It was okay. It would have been better had it been hot:
Real Deal Holyfield breakfast taco: beans, egg, potato, cheese, and brisket sliced with the grain. I cut the brisket into bite sized pieces cross grain. It was damn good, but it would have been better….
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I have now had the best brisket of my life!!! And it is less than a 10 minute drive from my Mom’s house! Interstellar BBQ was incredible! I meet 58limited Troutman and TripleB for some good conversation and great Que.
This was my first time having smoked pork belly and it did not disappoint. Troutman let me try the smoked duck which was also amazing and the other guys shared their sausage which was top notch. I will definitely be going back anytime I am visiting my folks.Attached FilesComment
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Interstellar was Stellar 👍 We’ll do a big review coming up. Owner was a super guy, knew AR and Meathead,
visited with us for a good long time.
Now as 58 mentions above, we sought out and found bbq nirvana today, and it was called KG BBQ. We have a special report as soon as we recover from the meat flu. Stay tuned 👏Last edited by Troutman; April 20, 2024, 06:36 AM.
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OH HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN…
Valentino’s Tex Mex BBQ started out a few years ago as a food truck and quickly gained a reputation as one of the premier BBQ spots in the Hill Country, even gaining a spot on the highly respected Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ spots in Tx. a few years ago. Last year they moved their operations into an impressive brick and mortar building in a little town called Buda, Tx., just outside of San Marcos.
Several of us went there this morning, anticipating an enjoyable lunch…I was eagerly looking forward to it, as none of us in the group had been there before. Well, if they’re somehow able to stay in business, I’ll never set foot in the place again. I just had the most absolutely horrible dining experience I’ve ever had in my 67 years of dining out, BBQ or otherwise! Everything that happened there today would be absolutely laughable if it wasn’t for the fact everyone in our group was pretty pissed off! One disaster after another…..and it started the minute we walked in the door and looked at the menu, foreshadowing what was to come.
When we looked at the menu, it said they were sold out of both of their sausage offerings….at 10:45 am?!?! Me and several others were very disappointed to say the least. I’m a sausage freak and really wanted to try theirs. Here’s where it starts getting really stupid. So I order 1 pork rib, a slice of brisket from the point and some pulled pork. The slow as shit cashier looked like he needed medication. After I order he says, “I think we’re out of pork ribs.” What?! Are you kidding me?! I politely asked him to go check and he went to the back and then somewhere else and returned 5 minutes later!!! All the while a line grew behind us. He then says we’re out of pork ribs. This was absolutely incredulous to me…a BBQ joint being out of 2 of the top 3 meat items at 11:00 am!!! I couldn’t believe it. I just ordered the pulled pork and a slice of brisket. My 2 sides were charro beans and some Mexican rice from the blackboard.
Most of us didn’t have our food delivered to us for a good 15-20 minutes after ordering! When I finally got my food, the guy hands me my tray and then says, “I’m sorry but we’re out of the Mexican rice”. Are you f’ing kidding me!! I was getting pissed at this point. I snapped at him and said “ Why wasn’t I told that when I ordered, this is absolutely ridiculous!” He apologized and I ordered something else. Well 10 minutes later I’m done eating and he still hasn’t brought me my replacement order! Steam is coming out of my ears at that point. I went up to the counter later and demanded a refund on my side order…..more on that later…..
Not only were they out of sausage, but several other menu items that weren’t even mentioned as being out!
Everyone with our group complained of their food being cold, lukewarm at best. Not only did they not have sausage, pork ribs and the aforementioned Mexican rice, but I found out later from others they were also out of Queso and smoked corn! How the hell are you out of melted cheese and corn? The men’s room was completely void of ANY toilet paper or paper towels and one of the urinals was out of order! One of the ladies in our group went to the Women’s room and said she’s seen cleaner restrooms in a truck stop. The trash can in there was overflowing with trash. The ice machine quit working halfway through our meal and there were several dirty tables with leftover trays and trash on them, no one ever came around to bus them. A few people in our group also got their orders screwed up and were served the wrong or missing items.
The restaurant itself was very nice, but we had the worst service and experience you could imagine. My brisket tasted fine but was cold, my charro beans were excellent but would have been better if served……hot. We were all at a loss as to how such a once highly respected joint could have totally turned to shit….. I’ll let the others who ate there chime in with their own experiences….I’m done.Comment
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Indeed. We went there a few weeks ago and had a similarly disappointing experience. Pretty sad. I’m hoping he rights the ship soon. -
I have enough distance between the meal and now to get some clarity about what I experienced. To me what we were served was obviously leftovers. Now way it was cooked fresh that day. From a veteran of 3 cases of food poisoning in my life I want my food served either cold from the fridge or at least 165F. I received neither. The lady I asked where the silverware was didn’t speak English. Pros-no one got sick, Cons-bad food and service. The cashier had dried white foam in the corners of his mouth -
Interesting post from Valentina’s today. Apparently they are shutting down to implement some new changes due to the substandard service and quality. I’ve been to both the original food truck location and new storefront. Sadly the store is not even a shadow of the food truck. The food at the food truck really was spectacular. Especially considering it was smoked in an offset with Mesquite! That’s a tough wood to get just right. Anyway, I’m hoping when the reopen it returns to its former glory.
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You probably should of done a u turn and exit stage left at the first sign of the issues. Always easier to judge after the fact I know you were anxious to eat there. Had similar situations, it sucks.Comment
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I heard Panhead John was going to the gentlemen club tonight as it was all you can eat buffet for the $5.99 cover charge. He invited me and Amanda but we were busy with more Bible study, and then feeding the homeless after. I look forward to his write up after. I heard he recruited Uncle Bob to ride shotgun incase there is a barfight.Comment
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I hear he doesn't even mess around with fighting anymore, he just kills and maims. Donw
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I'm really sorry to hear about the other attendee's experience at Valentina's, I have wanted to try them out myself but not now.
Me and Steve Troutman and Dean TripleB met Josh J-Melt at the No. 2 Texas Monthly place Interstellar BBQ in North Austin at 10:40am. The line wasn't too bad but it was about an hour wait to get our food. I bought a 1/4 lb of everything on the menu: smoked duck, pulled lamb shoulder, brisket, pork belly, pork ribs, turkey, and a side of poblano cream corn. I also bought the Polish style sausage and the Frito pie sausage.
All of this was good: the Polish sausage was mild, the Frito Pie sausage actually tasted like Frito Pie. Brisket was top notch as were the ribs. The lamb was good too. The duck was good but didn't knock my socks off and I could have eaten another serving of the poblano cream corn.
Next stop ended up being the star of the show: KG BBQ. The owner, Kareem, is from Egypt and has done an outstanding job of making a fusion BBQ. We told him that we were members of AR and his face lit up. He chatted with us for several minutes then took our orders. He said that he learned how to BBQ from www.amazingribs.com and Aaron Franklin's book. When our food arrived he had added a few extras for us to try.
Pictured from the left top: Lamb Shawarma pita, smoked lamb chops (amazing), brisket rice bowl, brisket, lamb bacon ribs, pork ribs, Egyptian cowboy mac 'n cheese, and Mediterranean pork sausage. This is some of the best BBQ I've ever had. https://www.kgbbq.com/
From the left: Dean TripleB, me 58limited, Kareem holding a tray of joy, and Steve Troutman
Our third and final stop was the new Leroy & Lewis location. We were pretty full although Steve was able to put away an entire burger. I bought the beef cheeks, smoked flat iron steak, and the habanero mozzarella sausage, The beef cheeks were as tender as butter, the flat iron was tender with a good beefy flavor and bark. The sausage was pretty hot but good.
Last edited by 58limited; April 19, 2024, 09:55 PM.Comment
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"He said that he learned how to BBQ from www.amazingribs.com and Aaron Franklin's book." How cool is that! 👏👏👏
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Those of us who went to Valentina’s missed out on the Austin journey. But Sid P Sid, Purc Bill and his family, Uncle Bob and Lee, and someone else… Panhead John John? Maybe John, we all went to the Natural Bridge Caverns, which were absolutely AMAZING, and I myself was totally gobsmacked.
The pictures themselves don’t do it justice, like videos of Niagara Falls aren’t the same as being there. Imagine this filling your entire field of vision, and being 50 feet tall and 250 feet deep. And the tour lasted over an hour, “room” after “room” of wonders.
It was a bit of a workout, especially the trek back up from 200 feet or so down. And it was slippery and wet in spots; thanks, Lee, for helping me regain my balance and find a hand rail there for a moment! I would recommend this to anyone.
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Got up around 5:45 this morning and drove to Loli's Cafe for a breakfast taco! Combination Ranchero taco:
This was excellent!Comment
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