Rohmer's German Restaurant ~ Muenster, Texas

Latest visit: May 2009

First visit: Aug 2007

If there's a food type that the RJG thinks should be more popular it's German food. Wandering throughout Central Europe in the late 80's and early 90's, the RJG was constantly gorging on the multitude of sausages from the various street vendors, as well as devouring variations on the wienerschnitzel theme at the restaurants. With beer and fries of course. All within the backpackers budget. Yet here in America, German food seems verboten - perhaps a long lasting ban from the WW II nightmare. Personally I think German food is an untapped market. Same with low cost / Brasserie style French food. Any multi-millionaire restaurant veterans out there that want to help me prove my theory?

Here in the DFW area, German food options are slim. We love Kuby's near SMU, a place we are certain to write about eventually. There are others of course, including the cornball institution Edelweiss in Ft. Worth - the very embodiment of why German probably isn't more popular.

Which leads us to hit the trail in search of German food. Of course the natural thing to do is head south, and visit the beautiful Hill Country and its long established German tradition, especially in places like Fredericksburg. But that would be too easy. How about somewhere north towards Oklahoma? (incidentally Mr. Music recently informed us that there are lots of German settlements in southern Oklahoma). Muenster is the last reminder of a large Catholic German migration in Northern Texas. And the town, despite being just a wide place in the road, has maintained its German character. Especially during festival time in late April. Life revolves around the beautiful Catholic church in the center of town.

It's only a little over an hour drive from NE Tarrant, so the wife and I are making a point to visit more often (we've only been twice). To date, we've only tried Rohmer's, which impressed us enough on our debut visit to try it again. THIS is the way wienerschnitzel is to be made. Crispy and lightly seasoned. If a restaurant is dumping a heavy sweet gravy on top, they are ruining a perfectly good dish. I also like that you can get chicken (hochen) schnitzel as an alternative to pork. Pan fried potatoes - yum. And of course, the sausages are wonderful - guessing they come from the local German grocer. Oh, and a good German Paulaner to wash it down with.

The outside has a German look, but the inside feels more like an American Coffee shop. And if you look around, the place clearly doubles as both a German restaurant and a local gathering spot to get coffee, eggs and bacon. They also have Mexican food. Oh, and we love the ancient 1960s era sign outside.

Muenster is about 10 minutes west of Gainesville on Hwy 82.

On the way back, consider driving the pretty backroads, and making a stop at the Weinhof Winery in Forestburg (FM 455). Go west on Hwy 82 from Muenster to Saint Jo (an interesting little place itself with a winery north of town as well) and take FM 677 south.

8/04/07; 5/25/09 (new entry); 1/29/23 verified

Burger Box ~ Richland Hills, Texas

Latest visit: May 2009 (Richland Hills)

First visit: Jan 2005 (Richland Hills)

Looks like there's 8 locations, down one from the last check. Richland Hills is still open. There's still no website or chain presence.

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The Burger Box is one of those local/regional chains that have no web presence, no continuity and seemingly no Raison d'être. They could be a front for illegal arms dealings to Iran for all I know. I suppose I could inquire about a franchise, but would guys in trench coats start following me?

But exist they do - and from what I can gather, they have a multitude of locations on this side of the Great Divide (DFW airport). A non substantiated survey displays four NE Tarrant locations: North Richland Hills, Richland Hills, Bedford and Euless. I've been only to the Richland Hills location, conveniently located near Northeast Mall (on Glenview/Pipeline, other side of the 121/820 bridge). I'm no regular visitor, probably only been a handful of times since we moved here in 2003. My handy database shows my last visit, prior to yesterdays, as January of 2005. But I should go here more often. Because it's a good hamburger. A DARN good hamburger actually.

These are fry cook burgers, nicely seasoned, with fresh lettuce, toasty bun and lots of gooey cheese. It's a fast food hamburger, no doubt. I'm most reminded of Griff's actually, another floating chain without an anchor. I didn't get the fries this go round, the Mrs. is out of town and I prefer to eat only a few of them, and don't remember what they're like. I'm guessing very good. They also serve Blue Bell Ice Cream, and make hand scooped shakes. I also noticed they have crunchy tacos. That's a throwback to another era. I need to try those next time!

Most Burger Box's look like renovated old Dairy Queens, an example of urban renewal done the right way. They're painted in a garish red and white checkered pattern, that I find highly appealing in a retro sort of way. They even have black and white photos of old movie stars lining the walls. None are signed of course, ala the old style Italian restaurants, but someone did their research here.

I just added this location to Urbanspoon, but many of their others were listed already.

1/02/05; 5/24/09 (new entry); 1/29/23 verified

Nipa's Kitchen ~ Haltom City, Texas ***CLOSED***

Last visit: Apr 2009

First visit: Feb 2006

Now this is a hole in the wall. The real deal. A Regular Joe's Guide special if there ever was one. In a dilapidated old strip center, sits the not so quaint Nipa's. Not a romantic date restaurant that's for sure. But certainly one of the best Thai restaurants in the area, second to only Bangkok Cuisine for Haltom City.

That's right, exactly the type of place to grab a quick lunch. With prices to match the ambiance. The savings definitely go into the cooking. Even for folks on hard times, Nipa's Kitchen is about as cheap as making your own food from the grocery store. I doubt I need to mention it's BYOB. And portions are just right, not the massive amounts we've come to expect.

We've tried both the stir fried basil chicken and the spicy fried rice, both utterly delicious. And very spicy, just as we asked for. No going through the "you really want it that spicy?" ritual that grows so tiresome. Fine - you want it hot, go for it they say. Besides, not too many yuppies who don't know any better would find this place on any account.

They also run the Magic Springroll Thai restaurant in Watauga, which matches the ambiance, if not the food quality.

For those that are still with me, presumably most of my regular readers, you'll find Nipa's Kitchen on Broadway, west of Haltom and east of Beach.

Cash only (duh).

2/25/06; 5/3/09 (new entry)