Bruce B.
Yelp
This past weekend, the wife and I came out early and ate at the restaurant, watched a show in the dancehall, and then stayed the night in the inn. Therefore, it is only right that I revise my old review on Yelp and give you readers a full three-pronged revision for nearly everything this place is... restaurant, dancehall, and inn.
RESTAURANT: Strait up, I am a bit of a Texas BBQ snob, and I ate nothing else but their BBQ. So with that said, I ate every meat they had to offer and here are my ratings for each (out of 5 stars): Ribs - 3.5 stars, Brisket - 3 stars, Sausage - 3 stars, Pork (pulled) - 4.5 stars. I thought the sausage was below average, the ribs were merely okay (a little too charred), but worse of all, the brisket was not tender. Wife loved her sweet potato stuffed with the pulled-pork, which is not too surprising as the pork was the best of their meats. Take notice that I gave no 2 or 1 stars on the meat here - it was all passable by my high standards. Nevertheless, this place sits right between Snow and Mueller, so there is definitely more opportunity to be had here should the pit master decide to step up their BBQ game. But I digress, because for some reason there was a raisin in my coleslaw. Yes - a damn raisin. I am going to assume it just fell in there and was not put there on purpose by the slaw maker. The potato salad was really good, as were the beans. Moreover, last Friday night's table service was simply awesome! From what I observed, all of the restaurant's wait staff were so very unbelievably attentive and genuinely personable that I feel they should be greatly commended. Keep up the great work you're doing in this department.
DANCEHALL: The first time I came out here a year ago (when I lost my quarter in the jukebox), we saw Dale Watson. Then last January, Shinyribs. This past Friday it was Bob Schneider. All great shows! Overall, this place is a true Texas experience and a solid five-star honkytonk - it is as real as it gets! But that damn jukebox. Stole my quarter. (see my first review below)
INN: Have you ever stayed in a 108+ year old brothel-styled inn before? Me either, until here, last Friday night. In fact, I had not encountered any authentic brothel-styled inns that one could stay the night in before anywhere I've ever been. What is brothel-style, you ask? Well here, you walk upstairs into a large, plush, well-furnished parlor. Along the walls of this parlor are seven separate bedrooms. Way back in the day, this parlor would be chock-full of whores, and you could come up and pick one out to go screw in one of these seven rooms. Nowadays, they rent these bedrooms out every Friday and Saturday night, and you have to book them in advance by buying a room ticket through their website. From what I can tell, it is a first-come-first-serve situation when it comes to who stays in which room, meaning if you are first to arrive, you get full pick which of the seven rooms you will slumber in. There was only one other couple there when we stayed, but booking a room here means sharing the parlor common space - including showers, toilets, and kitchen - with up to 12 other people you may or may not know. Also, the parlor serves as a "green room" (or at least that is what Bob Schneider's bandmates told us when we discovered them up there hanging out before the show). You should know the floors are squeaky and walls thin - you can clearly hear what is being said in the parlor from each bedroom as well as what is being said (or done) in adjacent rooms. So keep in mind that any enthusiastic lovemaking will likely be heard by all inn occupants. When we woke up Saturday morning, we were expecting breakfast... but there was none. Though this inn is technically being run like a bed & breakfast, there is no actual breakfast being served. The entire place seemed deserted - not a soul around, both dancehall and restaurant locked up. As such, we quietly moseyed our way out so not to wake the other couple staying there and drove away.
All in all, I hope no one bothers to read this updated review. There's a part of me that feels this place is too cool to share with others. So far it has proven to be the best place to catch live popular Texas acts because it has never been too overly crowded. However if word gets out, the coolness of this place will likely change, the place will get too crowded, and perhaps I may run into trouble booking a room in the future. These possibilities is what I fear most... Therefore, PLEASE! Pay no attention to this update and STAY AWAY from this place!