After a long jaunt last month, April finds The Great Texas Burger sojourners keeping close to home. We stopped at the Live Oak Grill, a roadhouse-style place, surrounded, appropriately enough, with a stand of lovely live oak trees (and a palm or two). There's a tin roof, painted with an enormous Texas flag, and picnic benches outside, and picnic benches inside, and a "Texas Wall of Fame" featuring photos of every Texas-born celebrity, athlete, and celebrity athlete conceivable, from Ernie Banks to Farrah Fawcett.
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| Texan. Hero. |
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| Texan. Hero. |
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| Texan. Not on the wall. |
It looked great. There was even a gigantic map of Texas, made out of old license plates:
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| No state in the Union is as insanely proud of its shape as Texas. |
There is considerable debate on that assessment, as you will see. I found the burger dry and oddly grey in color, the bun dry, and the toppings, while authentically Texan (lettuce, pickles, onions, tomato and mustard -- only a maniac puts ketchup on a hamburger), were limp and lifeless. To paraphrase Homer Stokes in O! Brother! Where Art Thou? Live Oak Grill's burgers is not juicy, they is not tasty; heck, they ain't even old-timey!
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| He's not on the Wall of Fame, either. |
In fairness, Homer Stokes ends that movie being run out of town on a rail, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
The fries were pretty good, I will say that.
Aunt Erin is a Live Oak Grill supporter:
Our meal at Live Oak Grill was yummers! I ate the Bleu Cheese burger with some onion rings and it was very tasty. I love the tangy flavor of bleu cheese combined with bacon. It was on a wheat bun, and it was juicy and enjoyable to eat! The onion rings were crispy and so delightful!
The restaurant is rustic and western, very Texan, with a comfy atmosphere. Great food, great company, fun conversation!
Complaints: A new parking lot would be nice. They need more driving room.
Overall, I'd rate this place a 7 out of 10.
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| Great company... |
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| Great conversation... |
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| Great food... |
Grandma is another Live Oak Grill fan:
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| Will Rogers |
First of all, I feel like Will
Rogers....I've never met a burger that I didn't like.
So,here
goes my critique. The surroundings were good old country style, but it
needed a good cleaning....especially the pictures on the wall. Windex
anyone?
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| This is an actual children's book |
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| This is an actual t-shirt. |
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| This is NOT the result of eating too many pickles. |
I
loved the burger. The only drawback was too many pickles. I love
pickles, but not that many at once. The onion rings were divine, a little
thick but still divine. Great root beer with free refills was right up my
alley.
They
need to work on more parking places. It was tight getting in and out.
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| It was a full house! |
The
best thing for me was that all my kids were there. Dad would have been
happy with that.
Grandma
Lynda finds that in burgers, as in Life, the Shining Ideal seldom lives up to the Somewhat Grimy Reality:
Lynda finds that in burgers, as in Life, the Shining Ideal seldom lives up to the Somewhat Grimy Reality:
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| Bad on burgers. Good on burger grease. |
I love the idea of Live Oak Grill. It is nearby and in a quaint setting. I love the idea of a casual and no fuss
atmosphere, but I like a tidy and clean environment, and this place needs some
work. The menu is expansive, but the
burger was not. I would have liked it
more with a fresher bun and patty. But,
points for the onion rings. Oh the
possibilities this place has!
