Hill Country

May 23rd-

Since it was Memorial weekend, it just felt right to eat barbecue. So......we consulted Zagat to find the best barbecue joint near Mood, where I needed to go to pick up some fabric. Hill Country was one of those spots, so we decided to give it a try. Once you enter, you no longer feel like you are in Manhattan. The place is HUGE.....roomy, tall ceilings, two floors (they have bands play downstairs).....and it was pristine clean. I thought I was in Texas! If I had to describe the decor, I would call it "rustic cute". They hand you a card when you enter and direct you to three stations: meat, sides and beverages. We started with the meat. I asked for six ribs thinking these are those tiny little things smaller than my hand. Thankfully, the guy at that station told me that was "a lot", so I ordered three, like he suggested, instead. When he brought them out and plunked them down, I got the picture. They were almost as long as my forearm! We moved on to the side station next where they offered everything from green beans to corn pudding to salad to cucumbers to mac and cheese. We opted for the last two. The tables are all set with salt and pepper, hot sauce, barbecue sauce and a roll of paper towels. I think I used half of a roll during lunch. The barbecue sauce was pretty good. I drenched the ribs in it. I've come to realize it isn't really the ribs I like, but the sauce. I wonder what else I could slather in it? Hmmm... The mac and cheese wasn't bad, either. The cheese wasn't made from some horrible powder like I expected. It was actually real mac and cheese. The cucumber were marinated in vinegar and if left for a time, would become pickles. In fact, they almost tasted like those homemade pickles you get at the farmers market. As we were devouring our lunch like hungry wolves, I noticed the drink menu out of the corner of my eye. I had to read it sideways, of course, because my hands were dripping with barbecue sauce, but I could see it well enough to discover that they had a huge selection of beer, tequila and bourbon. Oooh la la! So....bourbon does in fact go very well with ribs, just in case you were wondering. I had to try it out, solely for educational purposes, of course. The pecan pie looked good too, but we opted out of dessert. I doubt it would have been better than my mom's, and then I would just be disappointed. All in all, this was a pretty fun place. It made me feel like buying a pair of cowboy boots and booking a trip to Austin. Hee haw!