Cartwright's Smokehouse (Bastrop)

Hey y’all! I truly am sorry for such a late posting, kids and jobs and life are definitely keeping this family busy!! But…I wanted to take some time to tell you about the visit we had at Cartwright’s Smokehouse last weekend, because we had an amazing time! To tell you the truth, I’m not too sure of the relation between this Cartwright’s and the one that used to be in the new Verizon building next to Walmart…so if any of you know please…??? But we were happy to see that someone has taken back over a really neat establishment off HWY 71, right across the highway from Hunan Tiger.



Well…we pulled into the parking lot and were very pleasantly surprised with the cleaning up and landscaping that they are doing outside of their building. They really are trying to make this a fun place to stop, and my daughter and I had some fun taking some photo ops next to their fountains and such. I was very eager to see what they had done on the inside too! If any of you have visited this site before, you know that it was a BBQ joint before as well, and while the inside was clean…as is true with many Bastrop restaurants it definitely needed an update. Well, update it they did and they did a really nice job with it too! It’s painted mostly this vibrant yellow with a cool mural of a chicken on the wall, they incorporated the very nostalgic and stereotypical antique pieces you may find at any BBQ restaurant, with a very nice crisp and clean color palette. We really were very excited to spend some time there.



True to form, we had both kids in toe and our whole family loves BBQ (what Texan doesn’t…right??) so we ordered just about one of everything to give it all to try.

And here it goes…this is what we ordered:
BBQ Chicken
Sausage
Pulled Pork Baked Potato
Chopped Beef Sandwich
Brisket
With of course all your normal sides:
Coleslaw
Potato Salad
AND…
Beans



It was all incredibly delicious! BBQ sauces were amazing, their coleslaw (which I believe they make in house) was really tasty, and wasn’t overly sweet. The whole family was happy, and I couldn’t have asked for a better lunch! We were real bummed to see Cartwright’s go, so if this is their resurrection we’re really very happy to have them back! It’s now the only BBQ place in town to be able to seat more than 50 people indoors. Make sure you swing by there sometime this week and give’em a holler! I’m sure they’ll be delighted to see you!

Kay's Cafe (Bastrop)

Well we took y’alls advice and had dinner at Kay’s Café last week, and we were pleasantly surprised with a home cooked meal and incredibly friendly service. We’ll be back visiting Kay sometime in the near future! We’d driven past Kay’s many times, so we knew exactly where to go and find them. From the outside we had expected a large cafeteria style restaurant, so imagine our surprise when we first walked in! They share the building with Twister Cheer Company, and the actual dining room has a total of maybe 10 tables…but we’ve experienced many “holes in the wall” and I wouldn’t exactly put Kay’s in that category.  We ordered Pot Roast, and a stuffed Burger. Both had amazing flavor and tasted like something Mom had just made for dinner. I felt as though my roast was a little dry, but they served it with gravy and that had an amazing flavor and solved the moisture problem right away. The hamburger was actually quite incredible. It was juicy, and cooked well. It was stuffed with Cheddar Cheese and had the perfect balance of crunch with their fresh and ripe veggies piled mountain high on top. We also ordered dessert, actually 3 of them to take and try at home. We ordered the Peach Pecan Cobbler, the Banana Bread, and the Berry Cheesecake. I will say that I had wished the desserts had been freshly made. Ours had been made a day or two previously and then refrigerated and you could definitely tell. The Peach Pecan cobbler tasted really great and had a great texture, but unfortunately the cheesecake had separated and was inedible. Aside from desert however, we really enjoyed our time. We sat next to a table of about 8 adults who obviously frequent the spot, and Kay’s has a real crowd of fans in Bastrop. We could definitely see why when we were served…the staff is incredibly friendly and there is real love in their dining room, reminds me of visiting an old Aunt’s house, or with a friend’s mom. I can’t wait to go back and try their meatloaf!

Cindy's Downtown

After hearing all the hub bub about Cindy’s Downtown this week, we decided to try it out for lunch this last Thursday afternoon. We had a pleasant enough time, and were greeted by enthusiastic owners and employees, all very excited about their new menu. I love spending time downtown, and Cindy’s is on a beautiful corner on Main Street. It’s actually a fun little spot to hang out and watch the passerby’s on a beautiful afternoon. This time my husband and I brought my brother in law, Brett along. He’s just moved here from California, so we thought we’d wrangle him in so we could try one more dish! ;]] Cindy’s is a Bar/Grill, with things like burgers and sandwiches on their menu. So we tried to go for some bar type menu items. We ordered onion rings to start out with, which are popular amongst most of our readers. They raved about their burger so Brett ordered a Baja Burger, Brandon (the hubby) ordered Macho Nachos, and I wanted to see what their lighter items were like so I tried the Raspberry Chipotle Chicken Wrap. The food was fresh, tasty, and they had GREAT prices!

First, the onion rings. Talk about sinfully delicious! They were crisp, and fried well. Not too greasy and the onion was perfectly tender on the inside. And you know sometimes when you bite into an onion ring, and the whole thing comes out?? Not these, you took a bite and that’s what you got…a BITE! We LOVED them, actually I had to snap a photo of the last three FAST because they were gone in minutes. They really were amazing, so thank you to our readers who raved about those rings. I ADORE a good onion ring.

Now let’s talk about our lunch...After hearing so much about their burger my Brother in Law decided to tackle the Baja Burger. Right away we noticed the bright, crisp vegetables and it was plated beautifully. The burger tasted good, and the fresh produce gave the burger a nice crunch. We did notice that the burger was a little more on the well done side, and we tend to order ours medium, but I don’t think we were asked what temperature we preferred either. As for the Macho Nachos, the chicken was cooked very well and again we appreciated the fresh tomatoes, and guacamole. They came out spilling out over a white plate, just the way nachos should be. We did notice the guacamole to be a bit salty, and I’m a big believer in freshly fried tortilla chips, but we were amazed at the portion sizes of both the burger AND nachos, especially for the prices. The burger was only $9.50 and came with fries, the nachos were only $9.00 so two thirds of our bill was already under $20.00

I had the Raspberry Chipotle Chicken Wrap, in hopes for a fresh and lighter lunch. I enjoyed the texture and temperature of my food. All of our plates arrived fresh and hot. The chicken was cooked very well, not underdone and still moist. Again, we REALLY enjoyed and appreciated the fresh and crisp produce. If I had any suggestions for the wrap I would say that the raspberry chipotle sauce was tasty, however I didn’t really taste the “chipotle” part. I was looking forward to a bit of a kick, and didn’t really get it. Another suggestion would be to work a bit on the presentation for this one. Below you’ll see a picture (on the left) of how it arrived to the table, and on the right a picture after I made one small adjustment. The picture on the right really is blurry, but in the second photo you can see all the beautiful color that the fresh veggies provide, and I think it makes a big difference. A lighter toast on the wrap (like with a Panini press) may also help, not only with the visual but also the texture of the tortilla. We were still amazed at the prices though, as my wrap cost $8.00 which brought our bill for 3 to under $35.00. (Not including tip).

To “wrap” up, (lol ;]]) we were pleased with the cleanliness of the restaurant, the friendly staff and owners, and the atmosphere they have pulled together at Cindy’s Downtown. It’s a beautiful building and a great place to stop for a drink while shopping down Main Street. We’re completely thrilled that they’ve updated their menu, and that they offer a fresh items at a fair price. However, if they stretch a little further and go that extra little mile on the “little things” I believe they could turn into a great downtown hotspot!