Hubbard's Cubbard: Good Food in Garland, Texas

       It's Christmas vacation time, and since Charlie (first grade), Van (pre-school), and Jessica (pre-school teacher) all have a couple of weeks off, I took a few days off from work to enjoy free time with them.  We're not going anywhere special or doing anything in particular this year.  We're just staying home.  I guess these days what we're doing is called a stay-cation.  And even though I'll never use that awkward word again, it's an apt description for how we're approaching our days.  Nothing beats sleeping in, waking up to a morning cup of aromatic coffee, and then casually driving to a nice diner for a delicious breakfast.  Yesterday, that diner was Hubbard's Cubbard.

       Hubbard's Cubbard---we just call it Hubbard's---is located at 901 Main Street in Garland, Texas.  I was turned  onto this great American food diner a few years ago by my friend Jeremy, and since then, it's become a more-or-less regular monthly stop for our family.  (We haven't tried it yet, but there's also a Hubbard's location in Rowlette, Texas.)

       I'm a big fan of breakfast food, and Hubbard's has a good breakfast menu, with enough variety to keep me coming back without getting bored.  Yesterday, I had a three egg omelette with my choice of three added ingredients.  I chose smoked sausage, cheddar cheese, and jalapenos.  With the jalapenos, I had my choice of fresh or pickled and I went with fresh for that extra zing of flavor.  Like most breakfasts at Hubbard's, my omelette came with either toast or biscuits and gravy----I chose toast, and hash browns or grits---I chose hash browns.  It was all delicious.  No complaints from me.

 

       Jessica went with the chicken fried steak and eggs, with biscuits and gravy and hash browns.  We're a sharing kind of family when it comes to eating out, and so I can testify that I agree with my wife's verdict regarding  the chicken fried steak: it was quite tasty.  I didn't try her biscuits and gravy, but believe her when she declared them to be the best she's had in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

 

       Our waitress had barely set our drinks down and picked up her pad and pen to take our order when Charlie informed her that he wanted pancakes.  He and Van are fans of pancakes in general, and Hubbard's pancakes have never let them down.  We ordered a short stack with bacon and split them between the boys.

       And speaking of the waitress, the wait staff at Hubbard's are all of a certain type.  It took me a few visits to realize this, but then, I saw a sign on the wall of the restaurant and it hit me.  I think that Hubbard's sells T-shirts with the words and image from the sign.  I'd buy a T-shirt, but I get enough dirty looks from my wife without wearing something like that.

       The prices at Hubbard's are fairly reasonable.  Both of our breakfasts were $8.25 each.  Not bad for an occasional visit, and especially for good food that leaves us full, happy, and ready to face a lazy stay-at-home vacation.

      Hubbard's is a cool place to eat!  I recommend that you give it a try!

Club Schmitz: Serving Dallas Good Food and Beer for over Fifty Years!

       On Saturday morning, Jessica took the boys to Charlie's first basketball practice.  While they were gone, I relaxed at the house and pondered what I'd like to do for the rest of the day.  As always, I was in the mood for good food, but couldn't quite decide on a location for lunch.  By the time the family got home, I'd still not made up my mind, but piled the family into the car and headed out anyway.  Then, after a few minutes on the road, it hit me: Club Schmitz.

       Located at 9661 Denton Drive in Dallas, Club Schmitz has been around since 1946 and looks like it.  Having  driven past it countless times in my workday travels, and having heard nothing but good stories about their hamburgers,  I've always wanted to stop and give it a try, but knowing that it wouldn't look good to have my City of Dallas truck parked outside a bar, I've always passed on stopping.

        But on Saturday morning, in my own car and with my family, I still had reservations.  I'd never been inside Club Schmitz and wasn't sure if it was appropriate to bring my boys, so Jessica called my parents and asked if they would watch the boys for a few hours.  My parents readily agreed and I turned my car toward their house.  As for the boys being cut out of our lunch plans, they showed their feelings by loudly proclaiming "Yay!" when told that they would be spending time with their Grandmother and Paw Paw.

 

       Within an hour, I pulled into the gravel parking lot of Club Schmitz and parked in the back.  Jessica had never heard of Club Schmitz and since I had never been inside and wasn't sure of what to expect, I said to her as we walked to the door "Remember, I've never been here before."

 

       I can't say for sure what I was expecting to see when we went inside, but it was exactly what I should have expected.  Club Schmitz is an old bar that features a juke box, sports pennants and neon beer signs, a pool table, tables and chairs and booths, a bar, a kitchen, and a friendly waitress and bartender.  There is no smoking in Club Schmitz, just as in every other bar in Dallas, but it's obvious from the walls that there was lots of smoking in there over the years.  We fell in love with the place right away.

 

       We took a booth in sight of the television so that we could watch the Texas Tech football game, and ordered a pitcher of beer.  We were in the mood for something light, so we got a pitcher of Budweiser Select.  I'd never had it before, and it wasn't bad for a light American beer.

       Next, we looked over the menu and ordered our food. 

       I had a bacon cheeseburger with jalapenos and an order of large fries.  I got the burger with mustard and it came with lettuce, tomato, chopped onions, and pickles.  It was a good burger, no doubt, but what really stood out was the bacon.  I gave Jessica a bite and she'll back me up on this: the bacon is the best we've ever had.  It was thick cut, cooked to crispy perfection, and had just the right salty flavor.  It was delicious!

       Jessica had a regular cheeseburger with mayonnaise instead of mustard, and immediately after tasting the bacon on my burger she regretted not also getting the bacon on her cheeseburger.  For a side, she chose tater-pops, which were similar to tater-tots but the potatoes were mixed with bits of jalapeno and cheese.  They came with a side of ranch dressing.  They were good and went well with the burgers.

 

       While we were in Club Schmitz, we noticed a few families with children.  I'm not sure about later in the evening, but at one in the afternoon on a Saturday, it seemed perfectly acceptable to have children in there.  Jessica and I agreed that there will probably be a day when we eat lunch at Club Schmitz with Charlie and Van in tow.  There's a chicken strip basket on the menu that has their name written all over it.

       Including a tip for the waitress, our bill came to about $29.00, and for that price Jessica and I left full and happy.  I was happy to have finally given Club Schmitz a try and even happier to find that I loved their food---especially the bacon.  It felt good to eat in a place that has stood the test of time for over fifty years.  It felt like participating in a little bit of Dallas history.

       Club Schmitz is a cool place to eat!  I recommend that you give it a try!

Taqueria La Huasteca: Tasty Tacos and Exciting Mexican Soccer!

       Our Sunday Mass and Sunday school schedule is as follows: Van goes to Sunday school from nine to ten,  Jessica teaches Sunday school from nine to ten on alternate Sundays, and Charlie and I go to Mass---with Jessica on alternate Sundays--- from nine to ten.  After Mass, Charlie has Sunday school from ten-thirty to eleven-thirty.   

       A careful review of this schedule reveals our weekly challenge on Sunday mornings: how to fill the hour when Charlie is learning about Zaccheus climbing a tree.   We usually choose one of three options: we go grocery shopping, we go get something to eat, or we go grocery shopping and get something to eat.

       The problem with the second and third option is that Charlie is hungry when we pick him up at eleven-thirty and we've already ruined our appetites for lunch.  In this situation, our stellar parenting instincts are to buy him a donut and head for home.  This is not only nutritionally unsatisfying to him, but it puts an enormous guilt trip on me.  For these reasons, we try to hold off on eating until after Sunday school.  We're not always successful, but yesterday we managed to avoid spoiling our appetites and picked up Charlie with our minds set on lunch.

       Our route to church passes a taco joint called Taqueria La Huasteca.  I've not only passed it a couple of hundred times on the way to church, I've passed it countless times in my work travels.  It looks like an appealing place to eat, and the wall outside advertises a great deal of five tacos for five dollars.  And yet, somehow I've never found the time to stop and give it a try.  Until yesterday.

       Located at 723 South Beacon Street in Dallas, Taqueria La Huasteca boasts a menu that includes burritos, nachos, tortas, menudo, enchiladas, and of course, tacos.  And if fruit is your thing, they offer a wide variety of fruit dishes featuring cream or chile and lime.  In short, it's just the sort of place that a family hungry from almost three hours of church-related activities can eat and be happy.

       Having never been inside Taqueria La Huasteca, I was surprised to find that they had a rather large dining area that was clean, well lit, and had plenty of televisions featuring an exciting Mexican soccer match.  Jessica and I already had our minds set on tacos, and the boys inevitably go for quesadillas, so I took the boys to sit in a booth while Jessica ordered our food at the counter.

       After a short wait, the very friendly and helpful woman who worked behind the counter brought our food to us.  It looked delicious, and of course, it was.

       We ordered five chicken and five pork tacos wrapped in corn tortillas, and they came with a lime wedge, chopped onions, cilantro, and a side of delicious green sauce.  Jessica and I split up the tacos so that we could both have chicken and pork. 

        I sprinkled my tacos liberally with my lime wedge and then put the green sauce on three of them.  There was a squeeze bottle of red sauce on a shelf nearby ---Jessica overheard somebody say that it was Valentina brand hot sauce---and I applied it to my remaining two.  I preferred the red sauce over the green, but a casual observer watching me inhale the tacos would not have been able to tell which I preferred.  Red and green were both good on Taqueria La Huasteca tacos.

       Our boys split a cheese quesadilla and both seemed to like it.  The quesadilla came with sour cream, tomato slices, lettuce, and a couple of avocado wedges on the side.  My boys have yet to develop a taste for anything green, so Jessica took the avocado and put it on her tacos.

       We washed this tasty meal down with two cans of Coca-Cola that we shared, while watching the Mexican soccer teams Toluca and Atlas battle to a 1-1 tie.

       As we left, we waved goodbye to the lady behind the counter and told her that we enjoyed the food.  We were satisfied, full, and ready to face the next few frustrating hours of watching the Dallas Cowboys struggle against the mediocre Minnesota Vikings.

       Taqueria La Huasteca is a cool place to eat.  I recommend that you give it a try!

Burger House: Great Burgers and Even Better Fries!

       A few weeks ago, I was tasked with collecting water samples from locations north of Dallas, and after completing my route and dropping off my samples at a laboratory, my mind turned to lunch.  I ran through all of the lunch options that were between me and my office, and I settled on an easy choice, Burger House.

       There are a few Burger House locations in the area, but the one that I exclusively frequent is at 6248 E. Mockingbird Lane in Dallas.  I'm a man who knows what he likes and sticks with what works, so besides going to the same location every time I'm in a mood for their food, I always have the same thing: a cheeseburger with jalapenos.

       The Burger House cheeseburger is delicious!  There are a few great burger joints I've tried, and it's hard for me to nail down an absolute favorite, but the Burger House cheeseburger is easily in my top three.  What's not to like?  It comes in a basket with crisp lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and onions, a hot and juicy meat patty,  melted cheese, and a fresh bun.  I get mine with mustard, and to add the perfect kick, have them throw on some jalapeno slices.  I've never been disappointed in this burger.

       While it's hard to pick a favorite burger, it's easy for me to say that the fries at Burger House are my absolute favorite.  And it's not just the fact that they are fried to golden and crispy perfection every time---paramount for my enjoyment of fries is that they not be soggy or limp.  The Burger House fries are sprinkled liberally with their own special  seasoned salt.  I don't know what's in the seasoning---I think there is at least pepper and salt---but it makes all the difference when comparing the Burger House fries to every other fries I've tried!  On the menu, they are described as "Jack's Famous Fries" and there is a good reason for the fame.

       Oh, and a word to the wise about the Burger House fries.  If you are eating alone, be aware that the large fries portion is huge!  I should have remembered this when I bought my cheeseburger with jalapenos for lunch.  When Jessica and I eat at Burger House with the boys, we normally just order a large fries for the family and it's plenty.  It pained me to throw half of those delicious fries away when I finished my lunch and headed back to the office.

       Besides burgers, Burger House serves chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, chili, and even a garden salad.  Not that I'm likely to try any of these items.  I'm firmly sold on the cheeseburger with jalapenos and fries.  If I ever feel like mixing it up at Burger House, I'll just have a vanilla milkshake with my meal instead of an ice-cold coca-cola.

       Burger House is a cool place to eat.  I recommend that you give it a try!