5 Foods We Do Well in Lubbock, And 4 We Don’t
This is really going to come down to dishes versus entire types of cooking, but here we go.
Rather than debate who has the best what, let's just talk about some good, almost no-fail, stuff that everybody does a pretty good job of here in Lubbock, and some stuff almost nobody does a good job of.
- 1
The Good: Chicken Fried Steak
There are any number of places you can go for a great chicken fried steak here. You probably don't realize it, but if you travel a bit, you'll find that they aren't on the menu across America. Enjoy them why you can, because you'll miss 'em like crazy if you ever move out of the region.
- 2
The Good: Mexican Food
We do fantastic fajitas and amazing tamales around here. We also have the amazing Abuelo's (for my money, one of the best restaurants anywhere) all the way to great quick stop stuff from Taco Villa and some mom and pop places. It all just rocks.
- 3
The Good: Brisket & Barbecue in General
I don't even know where to start here because I'm afraid to leave someone out. This kind of illustrates the point of this blog: it's hard to get bad barbecue in Lubbock, so just go anywhere, or secure an invite from your neighbor and get hooked up.
- 4
The Good: Burgers
I know that burgers seems kind of pedestrian and run-of-the-mill for a list like this, but we take our burgers seriously -- whether they're from a restaurant or cooked in the backyard. I could eat two meals a day, Whataburger in the morning and BurgerFi at night, and be totally good.
- 5
The Good: Steaks
Even the chain restaurants around here make great steaks. I can't ever recall a bad steak experience around here. Grilled, wood-fired or whatever, you'll most likely be happy with any steak place you find.
- 6
The Meh: Chinese Food
I'm not saying all the Chinese food around here is bad; I'm saying a lot of it is. I have a good place to go to for take-out, and another to go to for a sit-down meal,. But someone who doesn't know where to go is taking a chance.
- 7
The Meh: Italian Food
It seems odd that Italian food restaurants do not survive and thrive in the Hub City. In fact, I can name more that have closed than are still open. Your best chance of getting a real Italian food dinner here is learning to cook it yourself.
- 8
The Meh: French Food
I've been told all my life that French cuisine is the best. So where is it (other than France?). I think there's still a French restaurant around Lubbock somewhere, but don't get my lying as to where it's at.
- 9
The Meh: German Food
This is the one that inspired this blog. I called a friend and he was at a German Restaurant sipping on "the thickest beer I ever had and waiting on some schnitzel." It just sounded delicious. It's crazy to think we don't really have anything like that here when we have entire German communities not that far away.