Lubbock – When you come across a place called Flippers, you’re not sure exactly what’s flipping folks’ lids in this place. That is until you walk in to see the plethora of pinball.

“The first day that I walked in here, I was just like, “This is like the coolest place ever,” said customer Ashly Ponce.

“It’s such a cool thing,” said another customer Kylie Dixo.

The sound of flippers at Flippers is a normal thing around here. “It’s like white noise. I don’t even know it’s there anymore,” said General Manager Simone Cee.

Simone has been flipping tables at Flippers since 2015, she’s originally from Seminole but has worked in restaurants around the country, including what some consider the happiest place on earth, Disney World. “I worked at the German restaurant in Epcot,” Simone said.

Simone came back home and found Flippers, a fine establishment known for two things. “Have you seen this place,” joked customer Andrea Stone.

We’ve already pinned down one of them. The other? “Our hot dogs, of course,” stated Simone.

“A pinball restaurant with gourmet hot dogs. Where do you hear that,” said Ashly.

“I was super intrigued, because from the get-go it was gourmet bratwurst,” stated Simone.

“When I first came here, I was like, ‘Wow, these are fancy hot dogs.’ I mean, I had had hot 7-Eleven hot dogs. I thought that was top notch. But this place does something else,” explained Chef Briana Upton.

“The gourmet hot dogs, and you can’t get better than that,” stated Ashly.

“The things that this kitchen has come up with have been out of this world. Does not belong in Lubbock, at all. So it’s nice, coming from a culinary standpoint, to do fun stuff and not just a plain chili cheese dog,” said Briana.

With so many out of the ordinary offerings at Flippers, I was flipping out trying to figure out which one I should try, but once Simone told me about the “Take Bahn Me” dog, I was like, A-ha! “I don’t know what Bahn mi stands for, but it’s a big hit,” said Briana.

Brianna got us started on this curious creation that’s not your average dog. “We all put our creativity, ourselves into it. We collaborate. We’re all fun people having fun,” Briana explained.

And so am I, especially when you can throw in some 80’s references.  Unfortunately, Brianna didn’t understand my references to the 80’s classic, “Take On Me” by A-ha. I am officially the old guy in the room, because that A-Ha moment may not hit everyone. “Oh. Well, it just went over my head. I’m too young for that,” joked Briana.

Let’s make a hot dog. Briana then gets some large hoagie buns and toasts them to perfection. Then comes the weenie which happens to be a combination of, green curry, coconut milk, and pork. “People come in and we tell them, ‘It’s Thai coconut curry.’ And they’re like, ‘Eh. I don’t think so. We’ll bring one out, test it out. If you like it, we’ll make you a dog with it. If not… And it’s always a yes,” joked Simone.

Back in the kitchen, Briana finishes preparing my hot dog by topping it with pickled vegetables, jalapenos, sriracha sauce, and some Thai basil mayonnaise. Quite the list of flavors that I cannot wait to taste.

The smell on this is unreal. It smells like the freshest hot dog I’ve ever smelled in my life, and I am going in for a bite. The sausage has a sensational flavor. It’s not overpowering at all. It is clean. It is fresh, and it’s perfect for the palate. The jalapenos add a great little hint of spice, but then those pickled vegetables, along with the cilantro, really blend together perfectly with that green curry brat, bringing out some bold flavor.

“I’m a picky eater. So I started slow with some of the more, just basic ones. And it’s actually made me open up a lot more and try new things,” said Kylie.

We need more pickled vegetable hot dogs. Well, besides sauerkraut.

“That’s my favorite. Just the pickle. Everything. You get the sour. You get the meat. It’s awesome,” said Andrea.

Those jalapenos are starting to kick in. That’s when you know they’re hot and spicy, when you start getting the hiccups… the spicy hiccups.

“Oh, yeah. That would probably tear up my stomach. That’s a lot of spicy,” joked Ashly.

Yeah, this really shouldn’t be in Lubbock.

“Any time anybody comes in, they’re like, ‘Oh, this belongs in Austin.’, you’re like, ‘It could go to Austin, but it belongs to grand Lubbock, so.’,” explained Simone.

“So, being from Lubbock, everything’s kind of the same, and just here, it’s just so different. You don’t feel like you’re in Lubbock. It totally has that Austin vibe,” explained Andrea.

Well, if finding unique flavors is what you’re fond of, look no further than Lubbock for the Take Bahn Mi, an incredible take on an incredible hot dog. And well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List.

“When people go out of town, they don’t want to go to restaurants that they have in their own town. They want to see something different, and this is definitely the place to go,” said Ashly.

Bryan – Downtown Bryan is booming in the Brazos Valley. With an assortment of watering holes and restaurants, it’s hard to pick just one. But if a grocery store with a bakery and deli is what you seek, Zeitman’s Grocery is a great stop!

“It hits home. It’s good. You can tell they’re fresh,” said customer Jacob Palat.

“It means a great deal to downtown Bryan,” said Brandi Lampo.

“I love downtown Bryan. The community is hyper-local. They support each other, which I think is amazing,” stated owner Blake Zeitman.

Blake was born in Houston but he spent his high school and college years in the northeast. One fateful trip to the Brazos Valley changed all of that.  “My mom made the mistake of bringing me to a Texas A&M football game and I had a bunch of friends that were here and there were dollar beers and beautiful women. And I was like, that sounds like a good deal to me,” joked Blake.

He grew up Jewish and that kept certain kinds of foods off his plate for a time being. “We didn’t eat pork. We didn’t eat shellfish and then I turned 14 after my bar mitzvah. They let me do what I wanted to do and I became a Texan. So, I ate all the things,” joked Blake.

Take bacon for example. It’s big here and Blake didn’t get to try it till later in life. Now he loves it and so does his stepfather. “He and I both share love for bacon, two Jewish guys from the east coast, eating bacon. He likes to say it’s not pork. It’s bacon. It’s its own thing. It’s a direct gift from God,” joked Blake.

And what goes better with bacon than bread? At Zeitman’s Grocery, you’re in luck because Blake bakes everything in house!  From rye bread to bagels, it’s a smorgasbord of buns. “They make the fresh bagels. You can’t get a good bagel here in town. There are other places that have them but it’s a good New York style bagel,” said Brandi.

“I call it a garlic bagel for a reason. It’s got garlic all over the top, onion bagel, onion all over the top. They’re not kidding,”said Jacob.

“Well, I’m super excited because I’m from New Jersey and Philly was right across the way. So the fact that they have Philly cheese steaks and good bagels, I am enthralled with it,” stated customer Kelsey Evancho.

You heard that right too. Blake’s sandwiches are what take this place to a whole other level. “We just amp them up a little bit,” stated Blake.

“Good local spot to get some really good sandwiches,” said Jacob.

“They’re tasty, they’re delicious, they’re hearty,” said Kelsey.

Well Blake didn’t just want to feature one or two sandwiches, he wanted to feature three! So Blake got started on a couple breakfast bagels and one of his signature Reubens.

First up was the Lox bagel.  It starts with a toasted sesame seed bagel that is made here in house. Once toasted, it gets smeared with double whipped cream cheese. A tomato slice and 1/3 of a pound of salmon swims right on top. Topped with red onions and capers, that’s all she wrote.

Sandwich number two is The Richie Rich. An onion bagel starts this one off. Then while that bagel is toasting, it is topped with over easy eggs, Vermont cheddar and bacon. Lots of bacon! Seven slices of bacon!

This behemoth of a breakfast sandwich is as messy as you’d imagine.

“When you speak of the quality of the ingredients, the bacon tastes better. You can tell they’re putting some good bacon in there,” stated Jacob.

And finally, the New York sized, I mean Texas sided Rueben.  It starts with three slices of seeded rye and a silly amount of sauerkraut and Swiss! Then comes the pastrami that’s cured in house and smoked in house. This sandwich sure is a double-decker! “And then we’re going to take our anti-Putin dressing. We’re going to stack this bad boy. Just like that,” explained Blake while finishing off the sandwich.

Well, now we have the two other sandwiches here at Zeitman’s Grocery and the first one, The Richie Rich, obviously incredible. So now we’re going to move on to the lox, a little bit of a healthier breakfast option, I guess you could say.

First things first, the cream cheese obviously gets everywhere, but it is amazing cream cheese. The sesame bagel brings out so much flavor, but it’s all about that salmon. Absolutely fantastic.

“It’s hard to find a lox, bagel. A true lox, New York style bagel,” said Brandi.

A sandwich with salmon on it might be a fish out of the water here in the Lone Star State, but you want to dive in for this one! “It’s just such a great mix of flavors. It’s smokey, you have the cream cheese, which is just delicious and all of it together. It just works,” explained Kelsey.

Onto the gigantic Ruben, our third sandwich on this trip of The Texas Bucket List. But Blake just has that many amazing things to try here.

“It’s probably one of the best Reubens I’ve ever had,” said Brandi.

I’ve had this sandwich in New York City and this is better!. Normally, I don’t have to eat this much sandwich on camera, but we’re just making sure we got it.

Well, if you’re looking for a bountiful breakfast, full of bacon or salmon, or just one of the most incredible Reuben sandwiches I’ve ever had, come into downtown Bryan and trying Zeitman’s Grocery is definitely well worth a stop, on The Texas Bucket List!

“Texas is a melting pot of cultures and people, we all came from somewhere and we got here as quick as we could and we’re serving up great food. The size of Texas pallet,” stated Blake.

“To have a place like this, that I think is so unique and so different. It opens Texans up to a whole different realm of food. Again, I think it’s incredible,” expressed Kelsey.

 

Austin – When it comes to being a food cart that makes the cut in the Capital City, you’ve got to have something creative and that’s exactly the case at El Perrito.  Here they’re not serving up your typical Tex-Mex, it’s more of a west Texas way of doing things. “The first week I ate every day for five days,” said customer John Bomhardt.

“To be honest with you, it’s the most work I’ve ever done,” said owner Ivan Enriquez. Ivan may be dog tired, but his creations are keeping foodies from a particular part of our state extremely happy. Being from El Paso, his creations are homages to that city’s finest offerings. “It’s awesome. Well, I mean, for me at least because I get to bring like a little piece of home,” said Ivan.

“If you want a taste of El Paso, this is a good start,” claimed customer Roman Grijalva.

“What, like 90%? I think my customer base is 90% El Paso, maybe 10% everyone else, for sure,” said Ivan.

“I come, I try it. I cried. I cried. I had found home. That is a God honest truth,” expressed customer Cathy Lowenberg who also hails from El Paso.

Yes, you’ll find tacos with a little twist on the menu but the signature specialty is their ELP Tacos. “ELP tacos, standing in for El Paso or El Perrito tacos, whichever you want to call it,” joked Ivan.

Very similar to Chico’s Tacos in El Paso, a place we featured a few years back on The Texas Bucket List, the ELP tacos tend to have the same cult following as their counterpart’s way out west. “It’s the same style, you’re drowning or already drowning in nice spicy broth, and it just hits home. It just hits like home,” stated Ivan.

If you’ve ever talked with anyone from El Paso, they’re truly unique Texans thanks to their incredible isolation in the far reaches of our state.  And trust me, there’s nothing that people from El Paso like to debate more than the food.

“Being from El Paso, we complain a lot. We like to say, ‘Oh yeah, our food’s the best.’ or we always want to complain about something like, ‘Oh, out here, they don’t have this. Oh, wow. This is missing.’ So it was one of those things I better stop talking and better put up, so I’m like just, ‘You know, I’m going to open up a food truck out here.’ And, yeah. That’s how I just started with that mindset, ‘I’m just going to do it myself. I’ll figure out a truck and just go from there.’,” explained Ivan.

“Not only are people coming here and learning a new way to eat good tacos, but the family of El Pasoans, we have finally found our El Paso people. I’ll tell you,” said Cathy.

Ivan and I squeezed into his trailer to drown some tacos and the Tour of El Paso.

“We’re going to start first with our ELP tacos, which are El Paso tacos, our version of the other guys. So pretty much it’s just our drowned taquitos. People can get them in order of three or they can get them in an order of six,” explained Ivan while preparing the dish.

Ivan pops the taquitos in the fryer and adds in some bonus items. “We’re also going to do some shredded beef flautas. A lot of people don’t do them out here in Central Texas, so this is something I definitely wanted to bring over here. Pretty much what I use is brisket,” said Ivan.

After rolling them up and adding them to the fryer, tacos also got put on the menu. “Old school style crispy tacos, just like if you’re back home in West Texas, like your mom or your grandma was making for you at the house,” joked Ivan.

As those finish up on the flat top and fryer, the ELP Tacos start coming together. Ivan poured the delicious sauce, topped them with Mexican cheese and they were ready to go! And if you like the sauce enough, you may not even need a drink!

The flautas then get topped with red sauce, green sauce, crema, lettuce, tomato, avocado, queso fresco.

Well, when it comes to the tour of El Paso, I start things off with the crispy tacos.They seem to be the least messy of all the offerings, so I guess we’ll just go to town on this taco and it is truly a terrific taco.

From there, we find the flautas. These massive offerings filled with that shredded beef, it’s like the tastiest cigar you’ve ever had. The shredded brisket has a very unique flavor, almost a sweet tinge to it on top of that smokiness, with that incredible tortilla wrapped around there. Delicious and different!

And finally, the star of the show, the ELP tacos. You might have seen these once before on The Texas Bucket List. A little bit different here with the green salsa on top of it. And the first thing you notice is they’re not as soggy as some of the other ones I’ve tried before. They’re actually still crispy. After a few bites, I was back in El Paso but this time, much closer to home. I know it’s a big debate, but I love them.

“It’s a clone. I mean, it’s maybe a little bit thicker sauce, which is really delicious,” said Roman.

“I slept that night like my abuelita was patting my back. That’s how good these are. I’m telling you,” said Cathy.

“It does have a little bit more of a bite, but it has a richer flavor. This has been what I’ve been eating for forever,” explained John.

“It’s like they know me. They looked me up in the book and said, ‘I’m going to make a taco just for Chatty Cathy.’,” joked Cathy.

There’s only one test left for this famous El Paso dish, drinking that amazing sauce and it’s pretty darn good. Not as soupy and much thicker.

“You got to try at least once before you kick the bucket,” stated Roman.

“Everybody always gets close, but just never gets to the king, who I would like to call him back home,” said Ivan.

Well, if you’re looking for a taste of the West Texas town of El Paso and you happen to be stuck in the Central Texas town of Austin, you can find it here at El Perrito. Well worth the stop on The Texas Bucket List!

“You leave and you’re happy. And you go home and you’re like, ‘I’m going back tomorrow.’,” joked Cathy.

Round Rock – In the middle of downtown Round Rock, just a stone’s throw away from the town’s namesake, you’ll find the Palermo Pasta House. An elegant, yet down home Italian restaurant that has Argentinian roots.

“We’re really aiming at the pasta side of Argentine culture,” said owner Tony Giner. Tony grew up way south of here, in the South American country known for their Italian lineage. “In Argentina, half the people are of Italian descent. Even if I don’t have an Italian surname, there was always an Italian in the family. We grew up with Italian food as not Italian food, we just call it food. For us it’s normal. Doesn’t everyone’s grandma make ravioli on Sunday? That’s what’s expected,” explained Tony.

While he’s not a grandma, Tony does make all his own pastas and sauces by hand. “I do not describe myself as an Italian American eatery because it’s not exactly what I propose and what I aim for. I try to keep it more Italian with some of the influences of Argentina too,” stated Tony.

Tony has also mastered the art of making his own pasta. “It’s a different flavor and texture than dried pasta. There’s perfectly good, dried pasta, but making it fresh, it’s a different flavor, different texture. This is part of the Argentine thing that I imbue into what I do,” explained Tony.

Once you’ve picked your pasta, the next task is trying to figure out which of the 28 different types of sauces you want to try. “Kind of mind boggling because you read on through and then I got to go back to the beginning and see what I missed,” said customer Sue Gleisner.

“We start with red and white. Basically, you start with tomato basil and cream sauce. Cream, Parmesan, and butter. Then we start adding things. It’s like music. This is a chord and you add different layers to it,” explained Tony.

“It’s fascinating, even to see them and the distinction between all the sauces as well, the distinct flavors, the distinct looks, we’ve tried multiple different flavors of the sauces they’re all good,” said customer David Steward.

One does not simply order pasta here without a plethora of questions, so we let Tony put together his own tour of Italy.   Ramon the kitchen manager got things started.

“Now he’s going to be making the mushroom Marsala. That’s our mushroom base. It’s already been cooked with garlic and butter and seasonings. Now he’s going to caramelize them,” explained Tony. After that, cream and parmesan cheese complete the assemble while linguine warmed up and put in for pasta.

Next up in the pink mushroom sauce. Mushrooms are added once again but this time the tomato basil and cream sauce gets blended together while fusilli pasta is added.

Last but not least is the Puttanesca. The Puttanesca starts with capers, chopped kalamata olives and not butter, but garlic. Tomato basil sauce is added with a spicy topper.

With three distant dishes to try, I got my gaucho on and saddled up for wild ride of Argentinian/Italian cuisine. I dig into the mushroom Marsala with a fettuccine pasta first. The sauce smells buttery, and garlicky, and delicious. I must be telepathic because I knew that before I even tasted it!

“The food is fantastic,” said Sue.

“I love this place. It’s my favorite Italian place. It really is,” said customer Emilee Garner.

Next I moved on to the pink mushroom sauce with a fusilli pasta, kind of like a spiral pasta with a nice little mixture of tomato basil and cream. The tomato basil really comes out in that pasta, but it’s not super heavy. It’s very delicious. The fusilli pasta definitely gives this dish a little more oomph, a little more heaviness, but the sauce is amazing.

“It’s thicker. It’s better. It’s buttery. You can tell it’s fresh and it’s not frozen. That’s just the difference. You can really taste it,” said Emilee.

“Authentic, the flavor, everything is fresh, everything is great,” stated David.

Onto the Puttanesca. This has got a tomato basil with those capers and of course the Kalamata olives. Big bold flavors with a fancy tagliarini pasta.  This is just a big bowl of deliciousness!

“It’s so much better than anywhere else. I just can’t get anything else like I get here,” said Emilee.

“It’s pretty close. I’ve been to Italy,” stated Sue.

Well, if you’re looking for the perfect pasta dish or if calzones and pizza are more your speed come into the Palermo Pasta House in Round Rock, Texas. It is truly well worth the stop on The Texas Bucket List.

“You can’t go wrong. That’s what’s crazy. It’s like oh maybe this one won’t taste so good. You get it. You’re like, no, that tastes pretty good,” said David.

“It is a little bit different than what people are used to, but that’s what we’ve carved our niche, making fresh pasta and fresh sauces. Everything’s made in the house. Not everyone does that,” expressed Tony.

Houston – On the Northwest side of H-town, you’ll get a whiff of Gatlin’s coming out of the Oak Forest neighborhood. That smell of smokey, seasoned to perfection BBQ is so good that even all the gold in California couldn’t keep you away. “Out of body experience, that’s the best way I can put it,” said customer Anthony Lafleur.

“We do enough stuff to keep you on your toes,” said owner Greg Gatlin. Gatlin got things started at his namesake restaurant in 2010 and in case you’re wondering, he’s not related to the infamous singing Gatlin Brothers.

He is related to his parents Henry and Mary though. They’re on hand every day and when you arrive, you immediately feel like family. “When it started, it was me, my dad, my mom. Dad and I used to come on separate shifts in the middle of the night. He would come in the middle of the night, then I would get here probably… Over there probably about 4:30. And then he would come in right about 5:30, right after he took his nap, and then we were doing that every single day. Right now, I think it’s crazy, but then it was just the norm,” explained Greg.

Greg wasn’t always a BBQ man, he majored in economics and management and leading up to opening his Gatlin’s he was in commercial real estate. “We were going out and we were eating, you’re entertaining people, you’re traveling and whatnot, and I’m like, ‘I can cook better than some of the stuff that I’m eating.’,” said Greg. That’s when Greg got to work on Gatlin’s. “We used to barbecue all the time, it was just this thing. So my dad, my uncle, my great uncles and stuff. All the family reunions, church functions, they would all barbecue. So it was one thing we kind of knew how to do already. It was just, ‘Hey, how do you put your stamp on what you do?’,” said Greg.

So Greg crafted his BBQ to combine flavors from all over the region and was one of the first craft BBQ companies in the state. “The more things change, the more they stay the same, so the principles and the basics are always the same, but you know, you’re always looking to put your spin on or trying to see kind of what’s different out there. Is there a different taste? Is there a different way for us to do this,” said Greg.

Here you’ll find eight smoked meats and over a dozen sides to choose from. “There’s 14 different sides,” stated Greg. “I’m from Louisiana, so when I can see collard greens, barbecue, and Dirty Rice all on the same menu, it’s got to be a good place,” stated customer Mike Benjamin. “It’s a unique taste, I really can’t explain it, but it’s just a very unique taste, man, and it’s something that I love from the beginning,” said Anthony.

Surprisingly Greg wanted to feature a sandwich, actually two of them. So who am I to turn him down?  We start with breakfast. “The Brisket Biscuit is a staple, which is going to be your Cathead biscuit right there. You got your smoked brisket, grilled onions and jalapenos, and on top that with some cheese, it’ll be…It’s good stuff,” said Greg.

Executive Chef Michelle Wallace got the big ol’ biscuit toasted on the flattop while pickled jalapenos and onions also got grilled. Throw in an egg and some brisket and we’re cooking. Greg stirs up things up with a condiment that compliments the sandwich completely, bacon jam. Throw on cheese and slap it together and you’ve got The Brisket Biscuit.

We’re not done yet, Greg also got things started on a smoked pastrami sandwich. “We brine and smoke our own pastrami. It’s about a nine-day process depending on the size of the brisket. Yeah, all the spices we toast off, get them in the brine, set them in the walk-in for about a good nine days,” explained Greg.

The thinly sliced beef gets warmed up with marble rye bread and a creole mustard made in house mixed in with sauerkraut is spread on. Swiss cheese is melted on top while a slice of BBQ turkey is added for good measure.

It’s time to sit down with some sizable sandwiches, and you got to start with breakfast. Time to gracefully go in for a bite.  It’s safe to say breakfast sandwiches are not supposed to be this good. Every single thing that’s in this sandwich, it smacks you in the face. You don’t even taste jalapenos, that brisket is so good, it just goes with everything.

As for the pastrami, it too is a certified hit. The brisket and turkey has amazing flavor, but that Creole mustard with the sauerkraut in it, wow! “There’s a number of barbecue places throughout the city, but in my opinion, this is THE barbecue spot,” said Anthony.

To say the brisket is tender would be an understatement. “The only downside is having to go back to work afterwards,” joked customer Matt Duca.

Next time we’re heading to Houston, I’ll definitely be singing one day closer to you because coming to Gatlin’s for the Brisket Biscuit and the pastrami sandwich, now that’s well worth the stop on The Texas Bucket List.