Looking for a restaurant near Fredrickburg

[Thorkel]

I have to be in Fredricksburg this weekend, and want to try a place I've heard of. But now I can't remember the name. There's a place that is supposed to be pretty good on Hiway 87 west of town. Or is it Hiway 290? Anyway, if anyone can think of the name, I'd much appreciate hearing it.

[amazinc]

Some friends recently had dinner at the Navajo Grill and raved about it. I haven't been, but
both these friends are good food lovers so will give it a try. Had lunch there long ago, but I
understand they are no longer open for lunch. At the west end of town is the German restaurant in a hotel/motel operation, Friendhelm's. Had lunch there a while back and it was excellent...the spatzel was delicious, as was the schnitzel.

[addlepated]

I feel duty-bound to warn people off of Der Lindenbaum, where the food is actually made of sugar.

[verily]

And they don't accept Visa or Mastercard, just Discover and AMEX. I felt embarrassed after bringing people to this restaurant based upon recommendations and the food turned out to be pretty mediocre and overpriced.

[tom in austin]

It didn't used to be this bad. My last two visits were shocking.

Almost everyone in Fburg is serving stuff of a Sysco truck these days. :(

[stephanieh]

What do you remember hearing about it? Was it German food or something else? You might try searching the Texas board for Fredericksburg and see what you get. Alamo Springs Cafe is mentioned in the "Best Burger in Texas" thread. Another place that comes up often is Hill Top Cafe.

[Thorkel]

Hill Top Cafe on 87 - that was it. Once you reminded me I was able to Google it.

I didn't remember a single thing about it or how I heard about it. It was derned annoying - there was something buzzing around in my head about it but I could not come up with even one bit of information. Must have had temporary brain damage.

Thanks.

[stephanieh]

Glad I could help! I don't know anything about it. It's on my "wish list". Report back on what you had and how it was. I have to live vicariously sometimes. ;-)

[tom in austin]

In my opinion, Hill Top Cafe is more of an "experience" than a chow destination. Repeat visits haven't given me any great chow.

[Thorkel]

I found Hill Top Cafe and gave it a try last Saturday. I screwed up and tried the chicken fried sirloin. It was nothing special. The meat was OK but any flavor it had was overwhelmed by the gravy. The crust was so light and flaky it felt almost like it was made of phylo dough. Under the gravy it disintegrated so it was obviously too light for that application. After a minute instead of having cream gravy on top of a crust, I had cream-gravy based crust soup.

It was accompanied by okra, which I can't stand, in a tomato-based sauce, and potatoes that were cooked in some kind of herb mix. Judging from the color the potatoes were done with some kind of curry mix, but the taste was so mild I couldn't be sure. Overall, an entirely bland meal.

My girlfriend, on the other hand, loved what she got - oxtail soup. She said that it was some of the best she had ever had and that if it had been just a tiny bit less sweet, it would have been the best. She was also very favorably impressed with the cleanliness of the kitchen and the bathroom.

We're willing to give it at least one more try, to see how they hold up when things are busy. Since we were there on a Saturday afternoon the place was mostly empty. It may prove to be a viable choice on days when we're in F'burg for something else, but I certainly would never dream of driving 2 hours for it by itself.