A Great Big Bite of Granbury

On a regular and fattening basis, restaurants invite me to come taste things and tell them what I think. But every once in a while, an entire town does that. That’s what Granbury in North Texas did over the past few days, starting with the newest venture from my old “cowboy chef” buddy Grady Spears. If you think Granbury is way far away in Hood County west of Fort Worth, Grady’s Line Camp Steakhouse is even farther away than that.

Nor surprisingly, considering its rural location and its totally low-key vibe, the Line Camp reflects a newer, more mature version of the chef who spent years making Frito pie and chicken fried steak on Oprah and the Today show. In fact, both Grady’s attitude and his food seem perfectly suited to this moment in time, without a whole lot of fancy visions for future growth. Still, the food can be eye-poppingly good, whether it’s that platter of family-style carnivore goodies at the top or these unforgettable chicken fried steak sliders that came right before it.

As they no doubt did on many working Texas ranches in the state’s storied past, desserts at Line Camp seem almost an afterthought and the opposite of fancy. Buried under this mound of vanilla ice cream, for instance, is a blueberry cobbler that was as good as any cobbler I’ve ever tasted. The number of spoons indicates how many people at our table had to get a taste of this thing, most of them coming back for seconds.

A lots is going on with the Granbury restaurant scene these days, starting with the fact that there now actually is one. Right on the courthouse square, an unexpectedly upscale steakhouse has opened its doors, called Eighteen-Ninety after the year the stone building was erected. Eighteen-Ninety clearly (if quietly) intends to raise the bar in terms of cuisine and service. Yet even when you’re devouring these skewers of grilled chicken, beef and quail, you’ll marvel at how small-town comfortable everything feels.

And when it comes time for dessert, Eighteen-Ninety’s Houston-born owner Jason Emerson wants you to feel even more comfortable. That’s when old-fashioned Texas banana pudding with vanilla wafers shows up to work its peculiar magic. The recipe is Jason’s Texas grandmother’s, though it could be borrowed from just about anybody’s Texas grandmother. And the presentation is the perfect reminder of exactly who, what and where we are.

With lunches piled on top of dinners day after day, it isn’t exactly like I needed breakfast. But when you’re lucky enough to stay at the Inn on Lake Granbury, you won’t want to skip. Neither of the owners is a trained chef, but they both traveled and tasted extensively in other business careers before opting to be innkeepers. Today, they follow their taste buds in some exciting directions - such as this indulgent pina colada French toast made with croissants and sided with a buttery rum sauce.

While we’re on the subject of breakfast, another great place for it is the Nutshell Eatery and Bakery right on the square. In fact, it’s hard to say which part of the name I like better, since the thick, cinnamony toast the owners dish up is definitely a matter of baking the bread first. And there’s a little conspiracy-theory history connecting the building to Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Brooth to explain all those faded newspaper clippings covering the wall upstairs.

Lunchtime in Granbury brings many choices, all within a block or two of the square and its impressive array of boutiques and antique shops. One sure thing is Pearl Street Station. Yes, it’s an old gas station, as some of my favorite casual restaurants have been. And believe it or not, the place is known for its rather bizarre menu of Texas barbecue and Cajun seafood. Here for instance, is Pearl Street’s excellent blackened catfish with crawfish etouffee on top.

On any list of things to do before I die, I wouldn’t expect to find “eating tamales made by a nice Jewish lady from Los Angeles.” In fact, Susan Miller lets on, a few customers have walked out of Agave Tamale Co. when they realized she’s not Hispanic. Their loss. The tamales (made without traditional lard, but you’d never know it) are nothing less than amazing, especially the Durango chicken and the spicy pork. Agave also serves some vegetarian tamales with mushroom or black bean fillings that are satisfying as well.

With the hot summer perfect for tourism around Lake Granbury, a lot of people are on and off of pleasure boats all day long. And the fresh seafood they’ll surely want is what’s featured at a new restaurant called The Dock, part of a related business that explains the name. One of the best sellers here is the Louisiana-spiced shrimp boil, available with all the fixins’ like potato, smoked sausage and corn on the cob.

I sampled the boil, the fish tacos and several other dishes during my lunch at The Dock. But I have to admit, my favorite was probably the cornmeal fried catfish that dragged me all the way back to a place on the banks of the Mississippi River in Natchez called Cock of the Walk, something close to a million years ago. The catfish was moist and mild, so it’s really all about the delicious, crunchy, perfectly seasoned batter.

One the neatest places to eat, drink and listen to live Texas music in Granbury is a music hall called Rio Brazos. It’s a bit of a work in progress, with a huge outdoor stage and plenty of room to hold other activities. But for right now, in the beloved A/C, settle in for some of exec chef John Wayne Shaw’s Texas-flavored adventures on the plate. There’s plenty of barbecue served, of course, like the ribs above or the brisket tacos below - but like the bands he played in earlier in his life, this talented chef actually likes to take requests.