Dwight's comments:
We were in El Paso for ConDiablo this weekend, so we really didn't do a Dining Conspiracy per se.
We did eat out a lot (including Saturday night) but, with the possible exception of the San Francisco Grill (across the street from the Camino Real hotel, near the convention center), all of our experiences were disappointing. (This was not the fault of our superb El Paso liason, RoadRich: it was just the way things worked out.)
(Hint: avoid places that bill themselves as "Mexican/Arabic".)
(Hint 2: avoid dining at the Camino Real.)
900 E. 11th St.
477-2516
Men's room rating: did not rate.
Dwight's comments:
Another barbecue place. (Lawrence had been deep into the Austin Chronicle barbecue issue.
I liked Ben's a lot more than I did Lawrence's: but I was still disappointed.
Ben's seems to specialize in pork (the menu and the sauce remind me of the late lamented Capt'n Tom's Barbecue, way way up North Lamar.), and the meat is well prepared.
My mutton had a nice flavor (helped along by the excellent sauce), and I've had much worse beef.
So what do I have to whine about? The same things I had to whine about Lawrence's:
I wish there were larger combination plates (two meats just ain't enough, folks), and that they'd offer fries and hushpuppies as well as cole slaw/beans/potato salad.
And, while the barbecue is good, it's not exceptional enough to make me drive that far out of my way.
Worth one shot, or eating at if you're in the area, but...I still haven't found what I'm looking for.
3223 E. 7th St.
385-8898
Dwight's comments:
By the time we got there Saturday night (having called earlier in the week), Chubby's had changed names (to Chimichuri's or something like that). The menu's still said "Chubby's" though, and they still served Salvadorian food (between 5 PM and 9 PM on Saturday, I think: call ahead if you're looking for that experience.)
Lawrence was so put off by the name change and the generic burger joint feel that he just ordered a burger: John tried one of the Mexican dinner plates, and I...
I was the only one to brave Salvadorian food.
How was it? Thanks for asking. Pretty good, actually.
Chubby's offers (offered?) a sampler plate, with a "tamale", "quesadillas", fried plantains and fried yucca.
The "tamale" looks superficially like a typical Mexican tamale, but is much softer and has much less sauce.
The "quesadillas" are really more like a grilled flatbread, with pork in the batter.
And the yucca and plantains are a delight: the yucca is crisp and has no trace of oil, while the plantains are perfectly soft and carmelized.
Give the Salvadorian food a chance, but, for God's sake, stay out of the bathroom.
Men's room rating: 2.5.
Dwight's comments:
The pure products of America eat at buffets.
That's one reason I stopped going to them.
But there's a range of purity even in this area: if you want a really scary experience, try Golden Corral.
On the other end of the range, both Buffet Palace locations allow you to have a semi-decent meal without seeing people in bad K-Mart designer polyester fashions.
Ignoring the crowd, the food is okay, for warmed-over steam table buffet eating. If I have to do a Chinese buffet (and I do, sometimes: most often after a Nova Express layout session), I'd rather take people here than Shanghai River or China Buffet.
For good buffet style food, I'd suggest giving Mongolian BBQ a try first, and using Buffet Palace as a fallback position.
(To be fair: we didn't try the sushi bar. Next trip. maybe.)
Send e-mail to Dwight Brown (stainles@bga.com).
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See the logs for August of 1996.
See the logs for June of 1996.