Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Restaurant Bargains from Texas Monthly


I love getting something for (almost) nothing...  Don't you?  

The cover of April’s Texas Monthly magazine promises “Free Food! (Almost.)” and Patricia Sharpe’s feature, “How to Eat Well in Hard Times” definitely delivers. Her selection of exceptional, economical restaurant meals from across the state includes four picks from right here in Big D: 



1.  Grilled Pork Over Vermicelli with Green Papaya from Bistro B
2.  The Fried Chicken Dinner from Bubba’s
3.  The Beef-and-Cheese Cachapa from Zaguán Latin Café and Bakery
4.  Chicken Potpie from Cowboy Chow

My mouth is already watering.  Has anyone tried any of these dishes?  If so, how do they rate on *your* cheapskate gourmet scale?  Some of her picks from other cities also looked tempting - I'll definitely reference this article on my next trip to Austin or Houston or even Fort Worth (but I'll let you pick up your own copy for those).

Click here for a extra-bonus slide show, narrated by Ms. Sharpe.

8 comments:

Food Czar said...

C&S, Bubbas is owned by the same fine folks who run Babe's Chicken Dinner House, and I can assure you that not only is their fried chicken stellar, but also their chicken-fried steak is one of the best in town, paired with all-you-can-eat sides and hot biscuits with honey and sorghum molasses!

Momcat said...

What is a cachapa???

Agree totally, Food Czar - we live near Babe's, and everything there is so good. The C-man gets the CFS, and I love the fried chicken. Speaking of fried chicken, we're going to check out Henderson's tonight (Royal & Abrams). It's been compared with our sorely missed Brother's.

Cowboy Chow is great! Didn't try the potpie, but the green tomato lollipops and cowboy caviar are so worth it. And now they have their liquor license, too.

Classy&Sassy said...

From what I gathered from the article, a "cachapa" is kind of a larger version of a gordita, with a more cornbread-y texture. But I could be way off, as I've never tried one :)

luniz said...

for the most part, La Me is both cheaper and better than Bistro B. It's a little less "anglo friendly" I suppose, if you're the type that's easily driven off by a room of mostly nonwhites and non-english lettering on menus.

You know, I have to say I wasn't impressed by the CFS at Babe's in Roanoke. I thought the version at Cowboy Chow was pretty reasonable.

Classy&Sassy said...

Luniz, I'm with you - I've never seen the big deal about Babe's. Maybe it's because on my first visit, I took a big bite out of a piece of chicken (expecting the best fried chicken I'd ever tasted) and it was completely *raw*. ew.

HeatherBakes said...

I've been meaning to pick up a copy of that magazine...

The smoked chicken at Babe's is pretty darn good, too.

Never tried the pork over vermicelli at B2, but Caravel's version is delicious and CHEAP.

Anonymous said...

The cachapas at Zaguan are outstanding.

Anonymous said...

very nice thanks for beautiful posting.......

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