A Brief Review of Steve and Linda Bauer’s Recipes From Historic Texas: a Restaurant Guide and Cookbook
by Patricia Mitchell
Texas Cooking Online

There is something about eating at an old restaurant, steeped in character.

Linda and Steve Bauer, the authors of Recipes from Historic Texas: A Restaurant Guide and Cookbook must have logged many miles while gathering their material. They have created a book with at least three facets: History, Food and Texas travel. And wouldn’t we all have liked doing the research!

Their book profiles many Texas establishments that found new life as eateries after their previous enterprises came to an end.

The owners of each business have shared their stories and recipes for their award-winning cuisine, and that’s all the evidence needed to show how history plus food equals a dining adventure of immense proportions in the Lone Star State.

The Bauers, no doubt, happily ate their way from the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast, from Big Bend to the Piney Woods of East Texas.

The featured restaurants range from the chic and cosmopolitan to the down-home and folksy (see complete listing below) with a corresponding range of gastronomic delights.

History buffs will appreciate the background information and anecdotes associated with each establishment. Travelers looking for a destination will likewise chalk up a myriad of possibilities. And, of course, those of us interested in food will make both mental and physical notes of the recipes provided.

I found plenty of recipes that really captured my attention, like the Brazilian Chicken from the Rogers Hotel in Waxahachie, the Blackberry Cobbler from The Salt Lick in Driftwood, and the Original Menger Chicken Salad from the Menger Hotel in San Antonio.

The following recipe for Chili Pie from the Neon Spur in Wichita Falls is a good example of a dish I will make in my own kitchen, as well as order the next time I find myself in Wichita Falls during the winter months, the only time it is on the menu.

Neon Spur Chili Pie
(Wichita Falls)

—4 pounds chili meat, chopped
—3-1/2 ounces chili powder
—1 ounce paprika
—1 ounce cumin
—1/2 ounce black pepper
—1 ounce chicken bouillon
—4 cloves garlic, crushed
—1 large onion, chopped
—16 ounces tomato sauce
—16 ounces water
—8 servings corn chips
—Grated cheese and onion, for garnish

Brown course-chopped chili meat, and then add all dry seasonings. Sauté for about ten minutes. Then stir in remaining liquid ingredients. Heat to slow simmer stirring often for about one hour or until meat is tender. Serve over a large bowl of corn chips. Add grated cheese and onion, if desired.

The following is a complete listing of the restaurants covered in the book:

Gulf Coast

Hotel Galvez, Galveston
The Lancaster Hotel, Houston
Mark’s American Cuisine, Houston
The Pig Stand, Beaumont
Treebeards, Houston
Treebeards Cathedral, Houston
The Tremont House, Galveston
The Warwick, Houston

Prairies and Lakes

A Scoop Time, Grapevine
Back Door Café, Smithville
The Brazos Belle, Burton
The Burton Café, Burton
Café Eccell, College Station
Hotel Adolphus, Dallas
Inn On the River, Glen Rose
Landhouse Ramsay, Round Top
Liendo Restaurant, Hempstead
Main Street Bistro & Wine Bar, La Grange
The Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dallas
The Melrose Hotel, Dallas
The Merry Heart Tearoom, Granbury
Messina Hof Winery & Resort, Bryan
Newport’s Seafood, Dallas
The Northwood Inn, Waco
The Nutshell Eatery & Bakery, Granbury
The Nutt House Restaurant, Granbury
Radisson Plaza Hotel, Fort Worth
Ranchman’s Café, Ponder
Rogers Hotel, Waxahachie
Two Grannies, Glen Rose

Piney Woods

Bell-Jim Hotel, Jasper
The Carson House Inn & Grille and
Mrs. B’s Cottage, Pittsburg
Especially For You, Kaufman
The Homestead, Huntsville
Mansion on the Hill, Tyler
O’Dells, Winona
Woodbine Hotel, Madisonville
Wunsche Brothers Café & Saloon, Spring

South Texas Plains

La Mansion del Rio Hotel, San Antonio
La Posada Hotel/Suites, Laredo
Little Rhein Steak House, San Antonio
The Menger Hotel, San Antonio
The Yacht Club Hotel and Restaurant, Port Isabel

Hill Country

Antlers Hotel, Kingsland
Carmelo’s, Austin
The Driskill Hotel, Austin
Green Pastures Restaurant, Austin
Gristmill River Restaurant, New Braunfels
Guero’s, Austin
Gumbo’s, Austin
Hill Top Café, Fredericksburg
Huisache Grill, New Braunfels
The Inter-Continental Stephen F. Austin Hotel, Austin
Joe’s Jefferson Street Café, Kerrville
The Old Pecan Street Café, Austin
The Salt Lick, Driftwood
Scholz Garten, Austin
Stagecoach Inn, Salado
Walburg Restaurant, Walburg
Wildfire Restaurant, Georgetown

Panhandle Plains

Miss Hattie’s Café & Saloon, San Angelo
Neon Spur, Wichita Falls

Big Bend Country

The Barn Door Steakhouse, Odessa
The Gage Hotel, Marathon
The Holland Hotel, Alpine
Hotel Limpia, Fort Davis

As comprehensive as Recipes from Historic Texas is, the Bauers are working on a second edition, and they accept suggestions for entries. They have done a fine job with this first volume, and I am certain their second will be equally enjoyable. Linda and Steve Bauer reside in The Woodlands, Texas, near Houston, and their email address is bauerandbauer@hotmail.com.

Hardback: 290 pages
Publisher: Taylor Publishing; (December, 2003)

–From the September 2004 Austin Review