Posted: 3/8/2008 5:56:36 PM EDT
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Headed into Longview, TX tomorrow on business. Two of us coming into Dallas around 3:00 and driving to Longview for the night. Any recommendations for places to eat or things to do on a Sunday evening? Unfortunately, as this will be my first visit to Texas, we have to fly back Monday afternoon. |
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Well I don't know that I would say buther block is "hole in the wall". I consider hole in the wall a place a tiny little place that I would hesitate to even enter with company. Butcher shop is not a franchise, but certainly not a hole in the wall. Let's see... My suggestions would be Big Dave's BBQ on 259 N about 1 1/2 miles NOrth of Loop 281. It's on the right in a little strip center. Be SURE and get the BIG DAVE! DON"T get the small big dave because it's not the same thing. GET THE BIG DAVE! Last time I was there, the BIG DAVE was not even on the menu anymore but they still make it. It's NOT a sandwich and it's nothing you have had before. Dudley's Cajun food on Highway 80 or on North Loop 281 is very good. I hear the original location on Highway 80 is better than the new location on 281. Jucy's hamburger's at Highway 80 and McCann is very good for a burger joint. Great big homemade burgers and free beans just like butcher shop. If you looking for upscale dining, try Barron's. It's in the back of a book store on North Loop 281 and McCann. It's VERY good fine dining. Very small and quaint. Limited menu but chef prepared and NOT a franchise. There is Johnny Cace's on Highway 80. I've always felt it was over rated but it's seafood, steaks and supposedly creole. It's been there for years and years and is family owned. It's good, don't get me wrong, but not as good as Barron's for fine dining. Now, my new found absolute favorite is Joe's Italian. This place is just a couple of blocks North of Highway80 on McCann (spur63). It's a family owned joint that doesn't really stand out at all but is unreal. It's owned by a new york dude that makes sure you are happy. It's not fancy but has fancy Italian entrées. Muscles to spaghetti, you name it. It's my new favorite place. I've only been once and it was a couple of weeks ago but I will be back. |
Wow, Johnny Case is still open?  Things to do, the Texas oil Museum is cool to see once. You could head 30min east on I20 and do some riverboat gambling in Shreveport. Historic downtown Jefferson is just a little up the road a ways. Funny, I lived near Longview most of my life and really only went there for dining and the mall. Well that and this one chick I knew......... |
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The Butcher shop it awesome! They have a good selection of beers, and a full service bakery and meat market as well as the restaurant. They will probably be pretty busy on a Sunday afternoon. firebug is right about Joe's Pizza (which is right next door to the Butcher shop) I recently moved from Longview and the one thing I miss is good BBQ, the stuff here in E DFW SUCKS! There really aren't a whole lot of extraordinary places to visit in Longview, as someone mentioned the East Texas Oil Museum is just down the road in Kilgore. There is an OK mall, but nothing really exciting. |
Check out Bodacious barbecue. they have several locations in longview. Not sure where youre staying at, but theres one on loop 281 there in town. No such place as "butcher block" that I know of. Although the Butcher Shop is located on McCann Rd, and theyre pretty good. Also, check out David Beards Catfish King if you like catfish. |
yep, there is a bodacious as on every corner in E Texas. Same old stuff....
The locals call it butcher block, those who aren't locals don't understand. Yes, it's the same place 
Sure, if you like fried belly flap, that's the happening place! BBQ - Big Daves on Hwy 259 N about a mile North of the Loop. Catfish....hmm... maybe Dudleys for cajun.... not sure for mom and pop. Personally I look for mom and pop places, not belly flap franchises like David Beards. I can tell you if you go as far South as Henderson, stop at the "Fish House". Very good seafood and as fresh as they can get. Husband and Wife run store. Now, if you want some good stuff to take home and cook, bring your biggest cooler. There is a fairly new place on the NW side of the loop called Hebert's custom meats. They have so many custom stuffed whatever you could possibly want that is the best food you have ever eaten, you will want to take a cooler full home. BE SURE TO GET A COUPLE OF PACKAGES OF CHICKEN SAUSAGE. It's a sausage casing stuffed with hunks (not ground) white meat, spices, peppers, and who knows what else. I've never found anything like it. It's their specialty. |
Im as local as one could ever possibly be, and Ive never heard it called that. go figure. Regardless, he'd have a pretty difficult time looking up something by the wrong name. |
Yeah I lived in Longview for 22 years and never heard it called the 'Butcher Block' Maybe its a Henderson thing 
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It's what the cool kids call it  I don't guess I knew you moved to DFW  Hey SJRTX, come shoot with us sometime. We always have lots of Class III toys to play with. I keep a distribution email list and shoot out an email whenever we go. PM me your email address if you want. |
Id love to. Whens the next shoot? Im posting from Longview now, but ill be heading back to houston today (moved there 4 years ago). But Id love to try and make it up for a class 3 shoot sometime. |
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Next big shoot is 4/26. Subgun match, silencer testing (with 1928a1 as well as Al Paulson), and open shoot. Link to 4/26 shoot There is a video of the last big shoot in the first post. We usually get together a time or two a month for just a few hours also. |
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Well, back home in Indiana from the trip. We got in late (6:00+) to Longview on Sunday night. I managed to locate Big Dave's BBQ, but they were closed.  Ended up eating steak at Outback. Only real good thing with that was that they had Shiner Bock on tap. Met with the customer at 8:00 am and had to shoot back to DFW to catch a 3:45 pm flight back home. No time to sightsee or even make a second attempt at Big Dave's. Damn it. But, Texas looked interesting. Are all those grey trees along 20 mesquite or something else? What's it like once you get out away from the interstates? The wife and I are thinking about moving southward in the next few years as North Indiana winters are getting harder and harder to live with as we age. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions event though I didn't really have time to follow through with them. |
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