The wife and I are headed up there this afternoon for the weekend. There is already a thread on the travel board for this specific topic, but I figured you guys might have some different suggestions.

I am mainly looking for the best places to eat, and your favorite wineries, for wine or atmosphere.

Also, if there is anything in Fredericksburg besides the 2 museums, the main drag, and Enchanted Rock, I'd love to hear about it.

We plan to head over to Wildseed Farms one day. They are having their wildflower festival right now. Past that, we really don't have any other plans.

Thanks guys!

Good German food there, Auslander, Friedhelms, Rathskellers. Fredricksburg Brewing Co is also pretty good. Last time I was in fburg I had the Zwiebelschnitzel(fried pork cutlet with sauteed onions and gravy) at Friedhelms and was excellent.

http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=1815915&forum_id=54

The green chile cheeseburger from Alamo Springs Cafe.

No offense to the previous poster, but the last couple times I went to Auslander, the food was very mediocre.

My favorite restaurants in town were the less touristy places and not German.

If you are going for lunch, I recommend the Rather Sweet Bakery. They make awesome sammiches on home made breads.

For dinner (even though the trip advisor ratings are varied) Silver Creek was pretty nice. We ate outside while they had a live band. I would highly recommend their braised pork shank.

Wineries:

Grape Creek had an interesting location with a very Tuscan look. The wine was decent.

Pedernales Cellars had the best wine my wife and I tasted, but the people seemed uppity.

Becker has by far the largest tasting room, but they were very friendly. Some of their small batch wines really surprised me with quality. I always assumed they were all about high quantity, low price.

If you want to taste some wine while in the city of Fredricksburg, try D'Vine wine. While I dont think they have a vineyard, they do source most (if not all) of their grapes from Texas and make their wines in town.

Have fun.

If you have never been, you should check out Enchanted Rock.

In laws live there and we go 3-4 times a year. In my opinion the best German food is Der Lindenbaum, it is a small place on the north side of the road. Jaegersnitzel is good.

Not a great wildflower year due to drought but if you want a nice country drive go up Hwy 16 and take the Willow City Loop. Great scenery with none of the developments that are starting to move in closer to town.

Hondos in the evening is excellent to hang out and have a beer. The music is not so loud that you can't talk. The best burger in town is at the putt-putt place, Charlie's Grill and Golf, iirc. My wife and I LOVE Mamacitas, but if you have decent mexican food, in your home town, there is no real reason to make that a special stop. You must go to Dan Rather's daughter's place Rather Sweet.

Other unsolicited advice: You can drink on the street in Fred. Get a beer to-go or a glass of wine and walk. Don't over-plan your trip. The point of Fred is to hang out.

Thanks for the recs guys! That burger looks interesting.

Catfish Haven is the tits. Huge portions.

Drive out 87 to the Doss turnoff (body armor recommended) and have dinner at Hill Top Cafe. Best food within 100 miles of F'Burg. You will need a reservation on the weekend.

Hill Top

Becker +1

I walked away from there with a case

Mr. Sass and I went there last year for our anniversary. Highly recommend Grape Creek Vineyards! We sampled most of what they had, joined the wine club for free to get a discount and to try some of their premium wines, then enjoyed a bottle and some cheese on the patio in the beautiful weather.

Have a great trip! I am really looking forward to going again after Baby Sass arrives so I can enjoy wine once more.

TruAg +1

Get a beer from the wall of fridges and sit ont he patio while waiting for a table. Great place and great food.

Another +1 for Hill Top Cafe.

Pioneer Cemetery is pretty cool.

On the way in if you are coming from 290 stop in Hye. William Chris Vineyards (my favorite in the area) is Aggie Owned and operated and has great wine. I can't reccomend this enough.

There is also a whiskey distillery in Hye, named Garrison Brothers. I highly reccomend both of these. Big Fun

Also on the way in, maybe:

Real Ale Brewery in Blanco. 10 minutes south of JC and only about 5 min south of the 281/290 intersection. Beer tastings and tours on Friday afternoon beginning at 1 or 2. They have some really good beer.

From Austin (290 West) take 165 in Henly (past Drippin) to Blanco. Its a nice little drive and you can stop by Real Ale.

The brewery is about 2 miles north of blanco on the east side of 290. Turn right just past blanco Heating and cooling on San Saba ct. It is 200 yards on the left.

Stop by Luckenbach for a beer and some tunes.

Got to go early to Enchanted Rock. Will close if too crowded.

Go do the 'Willow City Loop' for flowers. Look it up. Its been so dry maybe sparse. Still a cool drive.

You will get frustrated with Fredricksburg. Getting too crowded.

Hill Top Cafe is overrated and way overpriced in my opinion. Went last Friday night, horrible service, another waiter had to take over. $28 for a so-so 3 piece stuffed shrimp plate is overpriced. Cramped tables back to back chairs. Dont see what the fuss is all about. Should have gone to Alamo Springs instead.

Food at brewery was ok, beer the same. Grape creek was favorite winery. Becker was ok. Catfish haven was good. Sad to say I ate mexican food in Fburg, but Bejas Grill on main was decent. Rather Sweet was great for breakfast.

Enchanted rock was awesome, best part of trip. Went to Luckenbach for a dance and was lots of fun.

Wildflowers were few and far between. Very dry, the Wildseed farm didnt have any flowers like usual. Not a good year for that.

[This message has been edited by texagpilot (edited 4/8/2011 1:09p).]

Becker is the best Texas wine hands down. You won't regret going there.

If you have not decided where to stay, my wife and I like the Hanger Hotel. They converted an old hanger at the airport into a hotel. It has a WWII theme.

Really nice.

texagpilot +1

This is the exact itinerary I would recommend. We own some land thereabouts, and the Alamo Springs Cafe will give you the best burger around. In line with poster #2 above, order the Texas Monthly burger. You will not be disappointed. Also, order some home-made potato chips.

Look up Fredericksburg Trade Days, it's a real nice flea market just outside of town to the east. We got a pretty good load of fresh Texas raised bison a few years ago. Also some cool odd n ends for the rib & kids.

Also, you will take a large step towards being a true Texan if you visit Luckenbach and have a beer. Very small, but very cool place.

Dietz Bakery should treat you right for breakfast, though it sounds like the one mentioned above will be next on my to-try list.

Make sure to take photos and report back!

I've looked at the hanger hotel before. It looks really cool. We are staying in a stand alone cottage behind a b&b. I think we're going to try to get over to the bar at the hotel one night. Looks like a great atmosphere.

Just south of Stonewall is http://www.alberttexas.com/index.html, a restored 1922 dancehall. We'll be headin' there in June (hope there's a breeze!)

Hilltop Cafe

Bejas grill is Aggie owned and operated.

+1 for Bejas. Solid menu.

Cotton gin on the Kerville Highway

Dietz bakery closed last year, FYI

We are sitting at Alamo Springs Cafe for lunch now. How this place stayed open before they made the cover of Twxas Monthly is beyond me. I love little dives like this but it was a trek even for me.

Review to come after lunch!

I thought the same thing when I first went. The website makes it seem like the trip is just a little side trip, but it takes awhile to get there.

Hope you enjoy your lunch - very jealous of you right now.

The Auslander
Aggie Owned and Operated


jjstewart

Please go to the Hilltop Cafe after filling my feeders off 16. Hill buy your dinner and all you can drink if you supply the corn and labor......