Tony's Restaurant of Sealy, TX

Look at that biscuit!  This is just one of the largest southern-style biscuit that I have found in my travels.  Go Tony's!

Tony's is located on I-10 west of Houston on the way to and from San Antonio.  Take Exit 720 where TX-36 intersects I-10.  They have just updated their menu so I will be updating my post as I travel in that direction.



Tony's $5.99 Three-Egg Plate:





Tony's daily breakfast special (breakfast all day) is the three egg breakfast with choice of meats, sides, and bread.  I almost always get the biscuit.




















Pork Chops & Eggs:

Deep fried pork chops with great eggs.  Choose from hashbrowns or grits.  Sorry for the photo quality.  The faded ones are on my old phone and I have been casually working on this post for several years now.  Now that I have an i-Phone, the photos are better.



Ham-n-Egg Plate:

Look at that slab of ham!  That's a meal in itself.  Usually, I get scrambled eggs and hashbrowns when I order ham steak.  Don't know why, just like it that way.



Ham Omelet:

The food is better than this photo.  Sorry, Tony, my bad.  My girlfriend Jewell ordered this omelet the same day I got the pork chops.  She doesn't always get cheese on her omelets.  So sad.



Biscuits & Gravy:

This is the best way to eat Tony's huge biscuits.  Too bad they don't do sausage gravy.



Bucket List Item:

The Texan!  The Texan is a three-egg plate topped with home-made chili.  Go for the scrambled eggs with this dish and pay extra for the cheese.  Sorry, no photo of the Texan.

Frank's Restaurant of Baton Rouge

Right is Frank's Mexican Hash Browns, loaded with cheese and jalapenos.  This is one of their large side dishes.  On my bucket list is to order their Mexican Hash Browns Supreme which comes with ground beef, onions, jalapenos, chili, and cheese.  It doesn't get any better than that.


Below is one of Frank's perfectly baked biscuits.  You can get an order of six as an appetizer to munch on while you wait for your order.

Frank's Restaurant Grill & Bar

Frank's has two locations on Airline Highway in Baton Rouge.  The original one is located on North Airline toward the Huey P Long Bridge over the Mississippi.  This one is located on South Airline Highway past where I-12 crosses Airline.

I discovered Frank's for lunch in the northern location about 25 years ago when I lived in Baton Rouge.  My niece Candace recently hooked me up with the new location where I discovered breakfast.  Below is only a sampling of the great dishes they serve for breakfast.

Shrimp-n-Biscuits:

Wow!  All I can say is wow.  The shrimp is seasoned and grilled.  Then it is served on top of Frank's great biscuits with a New Orleans hollandaise sauce.  

Corn Beef Hash & Eggs:

My daughter Michelle ordered this basic egg plate.  Tasting corned-beef hash was an OMG moment.  This stuff was heavenly.  The hash comes with grits and choice of eggs.  I would have ordered scrambled eggs to eat with the hash, but then I wouldn't of had anything to mix with the grits.


Basic Egg Plate ... but with Boudin Sausage:

There are several basic egg dishes like bacon and eggs or sausage and eggs (boring), but why when you're at Frank's.  Here my son Adam ordered boudin sausage and eggs.  For the more daring, there is alligator sausage.



Cajun Eggs Benedict:

What makes these benies different than ordinary Eggs Benedict is the hollandaise sauce ... it's spiced up with Cajun flavorings.  Eggs are prepared to your choice and are served on a slab of smoked ham and on of Frank's famous biscuits.  This dish comes with a side of creamy grits.  Save some of the sauce to put on your grits.  My son-in-law Derick ordered this dish.


Seafood Grand Omelet!

The Seafood Grand is stuffed with shrimp, crawfish, bell pepper, onions, and Swiss cheese.  This omelet is topped with their Cajun hollandaise sauce.  You can also get the omelet with just shrimp or just crawfish.  My daughter ordered this one on the second day we came.

New Orleans Style French Toast:

Frank's has regular French toast and stuffed French toast.  But when I'm in Louisiana, I want my French toast on French bread ... that's New Orleans style.  For a side, I ordered a link of their good green onion sausage.

There was something special about this dish, but I couldn't put my finger on it.  Thanks to my brother and daughter for teasing out the secret ingredient in the French toast ... a hint of nutmeg.



Shrimp-n-Grits:

I can't describe how good this dish was.  I ordered this on my third trip.  This is a filling appetizer with grilled shrimp and a New Orleans sauce layered of a biscuit half.  I saved the leftover sauce to go on scrambled eggs the next morning.


Jambalaya Omelet:

This omelet has all of the stuff in a jambalaya except the rice: chicken and sausage.  My brother Joe ordered this one.  He also ordered the six biscuit appetizer.  We didn't want him to overeat, so we shared his appetizer.



Biscuits & Sausage Gravy:

Looks like there's more sausage than biscuit, and that's a good thing.  This is one of their many biscuit dishes.  Frank's also serves grilled cheese biscuits and fruit stuffed biscuits.



Cajun Grilled Chicken:

This dish comes with eggs, but my niece doesn't eat eggs.  So she gave them to me to eat the following day with the sauce from the shrimp-n-grits.  The grilled chicken breast is topped with tri-color bell peppers, onions, and provolence cheese.  She ate that dish with the Mexican hash browns.




Frank & the Breakfast Bro:

Frank's is a family run business and here is one of the Franks.  They have been in the business for over 45 years in Baton Rouge.  So my guess is that this Frank was just a kid when it was started.





















Sherry, our favorite waitress:

Sherry claimed the title of being our favorite waitress.  If this place wasn't so busy, I would have asked for her the next time we came.  But it was a Sunday.  Thanks Sherry for getting Frank to take a picture with me. 

Dining in DC

The Vienna Hotdog:

This is the best hotdog in the US.  It's meant to be a street dog, but the Shake Shack used to be a street vender.  Vienna hotdogs are only sold to street venders.  My guess is that the Shake Shack was grandfathered in when it left the streets for its dine-in restaurant.  Hotdogs, in my opinion, don't get any better than this.

The Shake Shack:

This place is off Dupont Circle.  Just google the Shake Shack to find directions.  I would give them to you, but I get lost in DC.

Here's the main fare there: hotdogs and hamburgers with fries.  My daughter Michelle took me here for lunch.  She had the burger and I had the dog.  Love Vienna hotdogs.  If you ever come across a street vender, ask what kind of hotdogs (s)he's selling.  If it's Vienna, buy one.



Scion's Restaurant:

This place is a few blocks off of Dupont Circle and has some great dishes.
















Bacon-n-Mac-n-Cheese:

Where's the macaroni?  Look at all that cheese.  And the bacon flavor!  I ordered this for an evening meal.  Big mistake, but it was one of the most tasty mistakes of my life.  Forget about the pounds I gained over night and the trouble going to sleep with acid reflux.  This dish was awesome!

My daughter ordered this Swiss-cheeseburger.  It had fried pickles on top.  Another not-good-to-eat-late dinner.


DC Harvest:

The DC Harvest tends to serve more healthy foods, though tasty.  And I can't even begin to tell you where this one's located.  To keep me from getting you lost in DC, I'll let you google this one as well. Note: Brunch is served only on Friday thru Sunday.








House Scramble:

This omelet is the Harvest's house scramble.  It's stuffed with sautéed mushrooms and goat cheese.  Michelle's friend, Ann, ordered it.  They also make a scramble with spicy lamb sausage, peppers, and caramelized onions.  Thanks, Ann for taking us here.

Shrimp & Grits:

Typically, this is a New Orleans dish.   To my surprise, shrimp & grits was on the menu at the DC Harvest.  I had to order it, and it was so good.



Pancakes:

My daughter ordered the pancakes.  She topped them with their awesome homemade strawberry preserves.  Need I say anything more?

Oregon Coastal Road Trip Food

Mattie's Pancake House:

Eric, an old college friend, invited me on an Oregon coastal road trip.  Here are some of the places we ate along the way.  Above is a blueberry waffle from Mattie's Pancake House.

Mattie's is located on the southern outskirts of Brookings on Oregon Coast Highway.  Just look to the east on a hill and there it is.  We just stopped there for one meal.

This dish is the hamburger steak and eggs.  And was it good.  It is served with hashbrowns cooked up nicely.  I love the taste of beef with eggs.  Don't know about Eric, but I would come back here to eat.

Tillamook Cheese Factory:

Look at this perfectly grilled cheese sandwich.  Of all the food that Tillamook offered at their greeting hall, I had to have a grilled cheese.  You can get other sandwiches or ice cream as well.  Plus, they sell broken pieces from the big rounds at mark down prices.



Yes, Tillamook is located on the Oregon Coast Highway.  It's south of Idaville and north of Tillamook.  Just look to the east.

The Wet Dog Cafe:

The Wet Dog Cafe is located in Astoria, Oregon, at the wharf.  This is a great place to go for hearty food, the kind of food I'd want to eat while watching a football game.

Bratwurst with mac and cheese, not a very healthy dish, but it sure tastes good.  Surprisingly, I did not gain weight on this road trip.

Steaming clam chowder.  It was wet and cold along the Oregon coastline which made this dish very inviting.  This chowder is rib-sticking thick.

For dessert, marionberry bread pudding!  The marionberry is a diversion of the wild blackberry, only thicker, juicier, and tastier than it's counterpart.  The marionberry was developed at Oregon State University and has been a mainstay of the state's diet ever since. Eric, his brother Bart, and I shared this dessert.

The Honeysuckle Cafe:

The Honeysuckle Cafe is located on the outskirts of Jacksonville in southern Oregon away from the coast.  Not an easy place to find, but the food is worth the trip.  Breakfast is only on weekends.

Look at that hollandaise sauce!  This is eggs Benedict at its best.  The eggs were runny, but the sauce was thick.  And look at those country potatoes in the back of the picture.  Ummm good!

Would you believe it?  This is a cinnamon roll.  Their cinnamon bun is why people drive here.  Save the middle for me.

Pig'n Pancake:

This is an Astoria location, but the Pig'n Pancake is an Oregon chain, mostly on the east coast.  Great place for breakfast.  It is small enough of a chain, that the quality is still mom-n-pop.

You won't believe what's in this omelet.  Dungeness crab!  Where else but the Oregon coast can you get a dungeness crab omelet.  This dish is listed as one of their favorites and is served with Tillamook cheddar.  I had to have it.

Dixie Grille of Seguin, Texas

The Dixie Grille knows how to deep fry foods.  Above are their huge fried mushrooms.  This is really good stuff.  Just drop a little hot sauce in that cream gravy and go to town.

The grille is located off I-10 in Seguin Texas of Exit 607 on the south side of the highway.  Seguin is just east of San Antonio.  This place is opened for lunch and dinner, and is a good stopping place on the way to Houston or San Antonio or Austin.  Normally, I do not do no-breakfast places unless they are really good, and Dixie Grille is really good.



Bacon Cheeseburger:

That cheeseburger is shouting, "EAT ME!"  Melted cheddar on a half pound of hand made burger with all of the "veggies" (tomato, lettuce, and onions).  Mayo and mustard are on the side and catsup is in the bottle.  The fries are as good as the burger.




Chicken-Fried Meats

Chicken-fried pork chops, steak, and chicken are fantastic here at Dixie Grille.  Note that the mashed potatoes are standard with these meals.  The potatoes are homemade and still have the skins, and that's the way I like them.  All plates come with homemade corn bread.  I could just eat that!

Pork Chops:

Steak:

Chicken Breasts:

Chicken Strips:

Other Specialities

Homemade foods doesn't stop with fried foods.  They stew and bake other great foods as well.  Here are two of their favorites.


Meatloaf:

The sauce on the meatloaf has this rich tomatoey taste.  And look at those green beans; beans that green don't come from a can.



Pot Roast:

You'll see the wait staff in tee-shirts that say: "Legalize Pot ... Roast".  Luckily this stuff is legal and wonderful.  The pot roast is the specialty of the house.  If you only come her once, get the pot roast.



Drink Glasses:

When you order your drink, the wait staff brings you a pitcher and they purposely don't explain.  If you are a new customer, don't call them over for glasses.  The pitcher is your glass!  The waiters and waitresses have a lot of fun with the new customers on their pitcher glasses.

This is not all that is on their menu.  They have deep fried shrimp, beer-battered cod, and homemade desserts including cobbler.  I never have enough room left for dessert.