The Best of Texas Food and Wine Festival

The safari tour was so great! Rene and George were so friendly and knowledgeable about all the animals. My friends and I had a wonderful time and got so many great photos with all the animal interactions! I highly recommend it for a trip away. The live music was wonderful!

Grapetown Winery & Safari – A Must-Visit in Fredericksburg Our visit to Grapetown Winery was so much more than just a wine tasting, it was an experience we’ll never forget. Nestled in the beautiful Hill Country just outside Fredericksburg, this place is part winery, part safari, and completely worth your time. The safari tour was the real standout. Getting the chance to see exotic animals up close in such a relaxed, open environment was incredible. It felt like we were on a private adventure, surrounded by rolling hills and peaceful pastures instead of cramped zoo enclosures. The animals were well cared for and genuinely seemed at ease in their surroundings. Our guide, George, made the entire experience even better. He was knowledgeable, funny, and patient with all of our questions. You could tell he really loved what he does and cared about the animals and the land. His stories and insights brought everything to life. By the end of the tour, it felt like we were riding around with an old friend. The winery itself was charming, with a laid-back vibe that fit perfectly with the Texas Hill Country. The wine was excellent, the views were stunning, and the staff made us feel right at home. If you’re in Fredericksburg, make time for Grapetown Winery. The combination of great wine, beautiful scenery, a unique safari experience, and outstanding hospitality from people like George make it one of the most memorable stops in the area. We can’t wait to go back.

Great time for a first time.. I will definitely be returning. George was our tour host and he was amazing. Very informative, and courteous,

Grapetown Vineyards is a hidden gem! The wine is exceptional, the views are stunning, and the staff is incredibly welcoming. A perfect spot for a relaxing afternoon, can’t wait to come back! My kids loved all the animals!!

Such an amazing venue off the hidden path! Totally unexpected and amazingly beautiful!! The hospitality was off the chart with Dusty as our bartender!! Hands down, awesome! Side note: great photo ops!! We will definitely be back!

Been here a few times and always have a great time. Great wine and friendly staff. Nice area for kids to play too

Stopped in for the crab festival and sat inside this little cozy place. The bartenders was great Their menu is outstanding.

Renee was great! She kept us safe and informed. Dusty was so friendly and helpful!

I came here for the "Fredericksburg Lobster Festival" This bar is kind of out in the middle of nowhere. The goats were cute, the live music was good, and the beer was good. The food was just disappointing. I was expecting a couple of lobster options since it was a lobster festival, but they only had lobster tails. The snow crab and corn was mushy. I also wish the crab and lobster had been seasoned better. We tried the pulled pork nachos since it was their #1 seller. The pulled pork was underwhelming. The nachos didn't have much flavor. They offered free lobster tails in exchange for a 5 star Yelp review so it does seem like the good reviews are unreliable.

The lobsterfest at Bankersmith is exactly what true Texas feels like. Country rural area with nice townfolk and local live music. It was enjoyable sitting in large Adirondack chairs just enjoying the beautiful day and tunes. Would come back again for other events!

There was supposed to be a Testicle Food Bash from 12-4p.m but 1:45 came around & still no event in sight. Just regular Saturday business & Birthday party being set up in the back hall‍ Staff was nice & the Goats were cute.

Stumbled upon this event on facebook and so glad I decided to come. It was held at an amazing location! They played amazing music and had a live band! Crab legs were delicious! Will definitely be coming back!

Bankersmith is awesome. First time here but we will definitely be back. The band playing makes you want to dance. The service is great, definitely giving me those country vibes! Did i mention they have goats!! You gotta come check this place out!

Bankersmith is a great place to relax and always have great food and bands...Always great events happening every weekend!

It's my first time visiting but I'll be back! Great experience and family friendly location!!! Good music, food and company!

don't even know what to say. It was very unorganized, the VIP parking was for everybody so if you paid parking, it didn't matter. The cheese platter looks like it's on my picture, a paper plate with crumbled up cheese that they had leftover and the chocolate was melted. The wine tasting was just one little cup of wine, which you can see in the picture and it was not even a tasting I felt bad for folks that were arriving as they ran out of food. The had a sign to give them a 5 star Google review for a free glass of wine. Which means they are paying for their reviews. So disappointed in this event.

A hidden gem in the heart of the hill country! The staff is so friendly! The scenery is gorgeous and the wine is delicious!!! We will be coming back!

We attended Best of Texas's Christmas Market this past Saturday, December 14th, and it was a total scam. If this is the "Best of Texas," I'd hate to see the worst. My boyfriend and I drove 1.5 hours from Austin and spent nearly $70 on two general admission tickets and parking. (By the way, $20 for parking? Really?) We'd have been better off flushing $70 down the toilet and staying home--it would've saved us gas money and the disappointment. The event's website promised "festive stalls brimming with handcrafted gifts, seasonal treats, and unique treasures for all ages." In reality, there were maybe eight stalls, most selling generic farmers market goods. The few that weren't had zero connection to Christmas. I'm convinced the organizers have never actually been to a Christmas market. The event was so laughably underwhelming that we couldn't even bear to stay a full 10 minutes. Best of Texas, do you even feel the slightest bit guilty? You owe every attendee a refund.

The bluebonnets are beautiful. The team ride was excellent. Remember before buying food to feed the check which ride you are taking because you can not feed from the tram. The bar service is excellent. Emilee was so cheerful, energetic and very courteous and helpful to everyone. Great day today.

Friendly people, great atmosphere, good food. we always enjoy a visit when in Fredericksburg.

Awesome atmosphere great drinks and food especially the spicy pineapple Margaritas. If you're looking for a great place to chill this is it.

Quaint little establishment with a variety of drink choices. Came for Lobster fest! Live music and goats.

Cool venue. Great food. Cold drinks. Definitely want to come back. Some day soon. Lobster is buttery

So much fun with my husband on this trip. It's a beautiful place with animals all around.

Great wine and atmosphere. The staff were very friendly and helpful with anything we needed.

Awesome ambiance! Great wine love the venue and good food! Would definitely recommend

Great family event with plenty of entertainment, food, drinks and fellowship. The staff is friendly, kind and efficient.

Nice atmosphere....there was extremely welcoming, tons of fun and exciting activities, it was a great day

Love the atmosphere and the setup is very welcoming. Wendy was very informative. Well organized event!

Lobster fest was amazing!! Good food and music. Good place to day trip and just hang out

If I could give this even 0 stars I would. $50 per person for GA after taxes and fees and there were like 5 vendors with literally nothing peach. You receive a single peach at check in but there was nothing else peach about this festival. There were a few peach drinks inside the winery but they were all alcoholic, I asked if there were non alcoholic peach drinks and was told no. Even the lemonade vendor didn't have anything peach. The bakery vendors had nothing peach. Not a single peach Cobbler or pie or anything. This festival is worthy of a $10 ticket but anything more than that is highway robbery. And def not worth a drive from Austin to attend.

So fun!! The live music was amazing and we loved seeing the pigs and emus!!! Also- Mel was the best! The atmosphere was all around amazing! We'll be back!

The Best of Texas name implies they give advice for travelers around Texas when in fact, it is part of a business model consisting of several Fredericksburg businesses such as Grapetown Winery, Jacks Chophouse, Martini's Seafood House, The Stable, Fredericksburg Game Farm, Bankersmith, Fredericksburg Polo Club, and Victory Cup. All can be found under www.blackstonetexas.com and all the same owners. We fell for their "marketing scam" on social media promising VIP access to a Balloon Festival with ride, Wine & Cheese event with Polo Lessons, a Safari Tour, Grape Smashing and a VIP dinner. As part of the $600 a couple experiences you would get VIP early access, wine tastings, cheese tastings, and Polo Lessons. Getting into the property was a joke. There were barricades blocking one side of the narrow road and cars leaving were trapped by the long line of VIP's trying to get in. I think almost everyone had VIP from traffic jam getting in. The best play on words within a description I've seen in a long time! The Safari Tour was a walking tour, (boasted as a working Safari farm), when in fact the animals were nothing more than a child's petting zoo. Pot belly pigs, goats, donkeys, a few kangaroos with deer, buffalo and camels in the distance. That isn't a Safari! The Polo lessons consisted of a man, English his second language, trying to tell you about Polo, all in a Monotone speech. The wine tasting consisted of two wines and were located under an awning behind a building that was overcrowded. The cheese tasting consisted of one cheese vendor selling cheese. The grape smashing was embarrassing as it consisted of black buckets with grapes people were stepping through. The hot air balloons didn't show up all day to even look at, more less ride in. They arrived as most people were leaving at 5:00PM. The event was not a cohesive event as it was poorly organized, didn't make sense and spread out to appear it was a large event when in fact there wasn't much there to do. The polo match field had tents along the sidelines which blocked the view from everywhere else. This was the most poorly organized event I've ever attended. They sold VIP tickets to something that had no VIP relevance. After seeing other reviews I certainly believe this was a marketing scam that borderlines fraud and intentional false marketing of an event. Blackstone Marketing and Event Management should be investigated by the Texas Attorney General Generals Office as they contact customers who leave poor, but honest reviews, offering refunds only if they agree to remove all negative reviews social media, BBB and other reviews. In addition, non VIP guests were being offered free glasses of wine in exchange of a positive review in their presence. Don't give your money to this group of poor businessmen as they are scamming tourist to Fredericksburg.

Mel was amazing!! Very friendly and helpful!!! We came for the safari wine tour and had a blast!!

Rose was amazing. Knowledgeable and fun. Recommended a great balbec before the safari tour arrived.

I feel so STUPID for having gone here and taking my daughter and her friend. Not as advertised. No balloon rides, disgusting food, 50 deep lines and no refunds. Couldn't even get a cup of water for my dog. SCAM

Scam. "Best of Texas" Organizer on Eventbrite is false advertisement. Pictures shown are not a true representation of items at their actual events. I drive one and a half hours to an event I thought was in Fredericksburg and at a wedding venue only to find a large dirt field (in the middle of nowhere) with two tents behind the the Polo club field. Their margaritas were Koolaid. The band stopped playing after one hour packed up and left. There were ZERO kids activities (they advertised many kids activities). I could write about how horrible this was but I'm posting this review to warn others to not fall for these scam artist events.

Myself and a number of others took advantage of an offer on Vet Tic. We got our tickets basically for a $7.50 processing fee. The tickets themselves were free. That is more than this event might be worth! They have you go to a rundown bar across the street the previous night to get a wristband. The following day you go to and out of the way farm/event type center. They charge for all watered down drinks some food if you care to invest in that. The grounds are very unevil uneven and not good for either handicapped or elderly people. Helicopter and balloon rides are pricey and extremely short if in fact they carry them off at all. Communication is very poor and I think disorganized. Long lines with No direction. I would not recommend this for anybody regardless of the price and I pity those people that paid upwards of $120 or so for tickets.

This event is where dreams come to die. This is a total scam and I feel terrible I asked my friends to join me for this event. We drove two hours just to be let down. First off, the pictures are not accurate whatsoever. There were literally no food vendors, no live music, no craft beers, no kid activities. Don't be deceived by the cute goats at the front, that's all pretty much it. Second, they asked that you purchase parking bc if you waited it would be $20. Upon arrival they have a super super small parking area and they didn't even ask about parking so we pretty much wasted our money on that. Third, the wine they offered is not even local to Fredericksburg wineries. They literally bought cheap wine from Walmart. Fourth, the cheese platter was a joke and gross. They had two cracker options and cheese that was sitting in the hot sun that had flies all over them. Gross! I attempted to eat some and ended up immediately with a stomach ache. The drink tickets you ask, can only be used for the wine and cheese so good luck spending them. I ended up giving mine away. I still TRIED to see the bright side and saw they had strawberry shortcake. It took 30mins so I thought, wow this is going to be good... NOPE. I guess it was strawberry but it was hard to tell bc it was gray looking. Basically after that, we left. I promise you will have a much better experience if you just go to the local wineries instead. Don't waste your money on this event . I wished I took photos to show how terrible it was but I was so disappointed I didn't even snap one photo. People were literally walking in and then walking straight out

This is terrible, not even an event by any means. We bought VIP tickets and got tickets for drinks and food, neither of those vendors honored the tickets. $30 for a tequila drink. This is a scam.

Interesting that someone else mentioned deleting comments on their facebook page. They are doing promotion on the page where you "win 4 VIP tickets" and then just disabling comments when the day of the selected winner comes around. Dishonest and not someone I will give $90 to for a "VIP" experience.

If you like oudoorsy, kid friendly, live local artists and great drinks this is the most comfortable place to hang out for the day . We went for chili and lobster fest , tickets consisted of one whole lobster w potatoes, corn and sausage and drink and the chili was samples and very delicious , we had so much fun ! It was a little chilly so they had Heaters and a fire was going outside or you could hang out inside the bar area w their very friendly bartenders . The decor inside of all the old collectibles was so interesting to see , we plan to be back for steak festival in May and can't wait

Totally waste of money and time. We were so excited to go and then was sooo disappointed $39 for one little glass of wine and a little box of cheese & fruit no way!!! Expected so much more

Just a repeat of what everyone is saying above, but hope this keeps others from making the same mistake that we did. Do not waste your money- your cover charge gets you nothing. Spend your money on tastings of great wine and atmosphere at the local wineries instead!

If I could give this "company" a negative I would. As stated in other posts this is a scam. Or maybe, they think people will be content just by having some music and a measly piece of meat to eat. It is completely false advertising, the person/s that organize these "Hot air balloon festivals" play with the emotions of people that enjoy these kind of events and cannot attend real ones like the one in New Mexico due to the distance. I purchased two "VIP" tickets, fist of all the location for this "event" is not what is posted in the website. The location on your gps will take you to some run-down restaurant in the middle of nowhere. If you are smart you will not stop there. We were able to locate the actual location by pure luck. There were no signs at all. When you arrive, the location is so small that you begin to wonder if you are in the correct location, due to the fact that hot air balloons need a big area. You are directed to find a spot, "if you can find one" even though your vip tickets include parking, it is up to you to find a spot. Once you walk among dirt and make it to the entrance they advise you that if the weather doesn't permit it, the hot air balloon ride will not be possible, and instead they offer a helicopter ride that literally lasts two minutes. The only covered area is where the food is being served, and lets face it. This past weekend it was over 100 degrees, everyone wanted some shade. There was not enough seating for all their VIP ticket holders, and some had to eat their food standing up. The food was undercooked and the portions were a lot smaller for the VIP ticket holders than for those that purchased their meal at the location. Drinks were watered down, and if you didn't want to drink an alcoholic drink or water, you might be able to purchase something else. The food that they were selling outside the dining area definitely looked more appetizing than what they were serving the VIP ticket holders. They did have a polo match going on, but as stated before it was over 100 degrees and they didn't think to have some umbrellas or canopies to better serve their clients. The person that organized this event either doesn't have an idea what they are doing, or they do and don't care that they are charging for something they cannot offer. It was the most disappointing event I have ever attended. Do not waste your time, gas and money going!!!

Such a waste of time. don't bother. This is not a festival. No food or booths or much of anything

Purchased tickets for the wine and cheese event in Fredericksburg before the Corona Virus was an issue. Even though Gov. Abbot has recommended that gatherings are to limited to no more than 50 people, the idiots at thebestoftexas.org refuse to cancel the event or refund any money. They are deleting comments on their Facebook page from irate people who simply want a refund because obviously this event has to be cancelled according to the governor and the CDC. I had to give 1 star because 0 is not an option.

The advertised Hot Air Balloon Festival July 3, 2021 was a huge disappointment. Not only were there a few balloons (four) but we saw hardly any vendors or activities. The staff at the Bankersmith location had no idea where activities were or the status. No advance communication went out about a bike rally that was apparently canceled as part of the activities as well. We were directed away from the balloon landing area by one worker only to learn later that the road up beyond was where the main activities were. Poor communication, signage and overhype for what the festival offered. We were told we would get a refund but have yet to receive that from this group. Extremely poor customer service skills. The marketing for this event was hugely overhyped. Would not recommend a Best in Texas event to anyone.

They deleted my comment off their Facebook account, so I posted another one lets see if they delete that one too. One positive thing is that the location is really nice, but that is it. We bought tickets for Friday and Saturday. Friday was a gun fight and plate of bbq for $25, the bbq was very tasty and on Saturday our overpriced $21 ticket included one choice of only 5 sub par screw open wines and pulled pork that was served cold with no sides, if you wanted sides you had to pay extra. Another thing i noticed on both nights was that most of the whole 20 other people that were there were able to come in and able to just walk in that had no wristbands and were able to enjoy the gunfight for free. So hint if you want to save money don't buy the event ticket just come in and enjoy the rest of the event for free or chose to buy the food and drink. Not one person was checking for wristbands or tickets. I walked around for a while and no one stopped me I finally went to the bar the show my ticket to get my meal that was included in the ticket. When I looked at the menu my Friday meal was listed at $12 when I paid $25 for my ticket, i was irritated because so many people able to come in without a ticket and enjoy the entertainment I paid for.

Literally took the name of the ACTUAL Fredericksburg Food and Wine Festival that takes place in October. Doesn't give refunds under any circumstances. Deletes comments on their Facebook pages and refuses to cancel their events until the Governor finally mandated they had to. HORRIBLE company with no regard whatsoever other than to put money in their own pocket.

This organization has a terrible refund policy. They will reschedule the event and refuse to return your money. Do your research, stay away from this organization.

Very falsely advertised. $125 got you 5 tiny tastes of food and no alcohol, even though it said on the tickets that you got to taste food and cocktails. You had to pay $3 worth of tickets to get a sample of a cocktail.... huge ripoff! The silent auction items were mostly cheap and looked like they came out of a vending machine. No one working was nice or helpful. Super disappointing!

What a waste of $60 for a "VIP" ticket! The only positive thing I have to say is the event is held in a beautiful setting. Negative things: 1) you're told to arrive early to get your wristband. We tried to arrive at 11:30 as the event started at 12 yet were turned away because they weren't set up yet. A slew of cars had to park off in some random field because they weren't ready even at 12pm. 2) VIP ticket literally only included 8 wine tickets (which I'm sure everyone received) and unlimited cheese boxes. The cheese boxes were laughable and consisted of 8 cubed pieces of cheese like what you'd find in a lunchable, and 4 Keebler crackers. The wine tickets offered you a small shot of wine, one of those wines being St Genevieve wine which I can purchase a whole bottle at the gas station for $7.99. VIP allowed you separate seating close to the Polo Match, if you got there early enough to get seating. The price you pay for VIP was far too expensive for the "perks" you received in return. Will not return unless some changes are made.

Scam! This was the biggest disappointment! 85 acres? Where? Across the road in the pasture with the cows? This "event" was a pitiful roadside bbq with a bar, no vendors present, just a bartender serving a plastic glass of wine out of the cooler. No takeout boxes if you did want to take your steak to go. Goats and turkeys, chickens and guineas. What the heck! A petting zoo! If I wanted to go to the local bar, I would have stayed home and saved our $200 we spent on tickets. At least the local wineries made our trip worth it! If I could rate this less than a one, I certainly would and that is being gracious!

Went to the food and wine "festival" yesterday, and it was a complete waste of time and money. The website is limited on information about what you get for your money, so here's the deal. For your $20 (or $25 at the gate) entrance fee, you get 6 tasting tickets. A taste (and I do mean "taste") of wine, beer or spirits is 3 of those tickets. So basically, for $20, I got two sips of spirits. Extra tickets are a buck each, so a full glass of wine will cost you $9. Even so, there were very few wineries represented, and even fewer distilleries or breweries (we counted exactly ONE). Food choices were even fewer. I remember TWO. They had several booths where people were selling goods, and a silent auction; however, the beginning prices on the items were so high, when I walked around two hours into the event, only one item had a bid (and it was one of the lower priced items). While they list a couple of charities on their website that the event benefits, their website also says that this is a FOR PROFIT event.