Christina F.
Yelp
I had such high expectations for this place, but it did not live up to even "medium expectations". :(
My husband and I met some friends down here, as they live in Dripping Springs. Now, let me state, this was a VERY HOT day..around 100. Now, I have been too a few of these outdoor type food and drink places, and shocked they have succeeded. In Texas, unlike other states where average temp is in the mid 70's..here it seems to always be above 80 at very least, and then it can rain at any minute (and gone the next), and lovely bugs everywhere! UGH
But, this place is set up very strangely, in that you have a few "buildings" that are spread out, like you are on a camp ground. Once you get into the gate...you go waaaayyyy back to park. Once you get in, you look for signs to see what is what. We got there right when our tour was starting, in one of the side buildings (had to call our friends, as could not find where tour started). Now the building we were in, was like a big barn and though covered, had big openings on 3 of the 4 sides of the building. The tour guide even had one of those towels you can wear around the neck with water to keep you cool. As he was talking, the two other couples and ourselves were getting very hot. He had us try some Gin (which did not know until we were here they had, we thought they just had whiskey), and some whiskey. Actually liked the Gin better then their whiskey! At the end of the tour, you could go into the Mercantile building to get a free drink. They had a board to show what drinks they provided (and ONLY got to get one of those, not any other drinks). When we asked for our drinks, they said only 2 of the 4 were available. :( . Then, in this nice A/C building they only had two seating areas, and both were occupied. The bar area , was roped off, and it looks like they had a tasting going on. I needed to sit down, but could not in there. My friends said there was building next to us, where you could get any drinks, and sit, or can go to restaurant. We looked across at the open building, and said, "no, want A/C". So we walked down this dirt hill, passing by the picnic tables, which I guess you could eat outside (NOPE, not today). We got inside, and you seat yourself. You have to use your phone to order off the QR code on the middle of the table (* I really hate these...get REAL menus)! When, we got our food, all of us were disappointed in what each of us got. The cucumber salad was like over vinegary, the mac and cheese tasted like out of a box, the chicken fried steak was wayyyy over cooked, and the 2 meat platter, was one rib and like small piece of brisket. We sat in there for awhile just to cool down and use restroom (which everybody got confused, as you walk in, thought it was one room style, so had people outside, then realized it had stalls..LOL).
So, our friends wanted to go home, but we wanted to try out some other drinks. We walked back up the hill, and the open building on the left was closed. We asked people in the Mercantile, and they said they had a couple employees get heat exhaustion! I felt bad for them, working in this heat..and no A/C! So, we decided to leave too! We did buy a couple bottles of Gin to take home, as they seemed the best they had.
We sat at picnic tables for minute, and had to use restroom and did not want to walk all the way back down to restaurant, and saw signs for restroom off the right. They were not outhouse, but close to it. Again, no A/C and you walk in like a campsite bathroom with doors that barely opened, and fan was just blowing hot air around. Could not wait to get out of there!
We won't be coming back. I say to the owners...invest in CLOSED buildings with A/C! Texas is only getting to get hotter, and going to lose customers (and maybe some of your employees)!