HEB Pecan Pie. This Texas based store’s name brand Pecan Pie was excellent. One of the best pecan pies I have had in a long time. Tasty roasted pecan covered the great sweet filling .The filling had a slight vanilla and a creamy brown sugar taste. It was sweet but not too overpowering. It didn’t have a preservative after taste. It had a nice crust and is sure to be a family favorite. If you find yourself in a HEB give this pecan pie a try. Rated 4.9 outta 5-D

HEB Pecan Pie. We decided to take a little shortcut this holiday and try an HEB Pecan Pie that they had on display while shopping for a ham. Why not? HEB always has great stuff. Their Pecan Pie tasted awesome and it really had a homemade taste. It was actually one of the best Pecan Pies I have ever had homemade and store bought. Super creamy/sweet filling and the roasted pecans on top were nice and sugary. Definitely going to be a go to pie! Give it a try, its great! Rated 4.8 outta 5 -A

Leo’s Original Italian Salad Dressing out of Beaumont, TX. This GO Texan product is 100% certified organic and the Italian dressing was some of the best dressing that has ever graced my taste buds! I literally could drink this stuff out of the bottle it’s so good (Okay, I admit, I DID drink a few sips straight out of the bottle). All the spices meshed very well together and the Romano and Parmesan cheese were detectable in every mouthful. This dressing went fast in our household making salads and I can’t wait to try it with pasta salad or a marinade for chicken. Leo’s Original Italian Dressing is hands down the best Italian dressing I have ever had. Rich in texture and taste, bold with a pinch of tartness. I can’t wait to get my hands on their other dressings! Rated 5 out of 5 folks! –A
They started making salad dressings for over 20 years out of their restaurant the Quality Café( est. 1930). This review is on the Italian dressing. First off this is the best Italian dressing I Have ever had. You can taste each individual spice and they all come together for a great taste. I really like the Romano cheese and Parmesan taste. The salad uses all organic ingredients. This dressing was great on a salad but I would use it with pasta and on sandwiches. It is also good enough to be used by Jason’s deli. Can’t wait to try their other salad dressings. Rated 5 out of 5.-D

HEB Chili. This Texas based store has its own named brand chili. It tasted great, lots of meat and it had a medium spice and heat to it, This style of chili did have beans in it which isn’t traditional Texas chili ,but it had a good amount of beans which tasted good. It had a nice thick sauce. This chili reminds me of what Wolf brand chili used to taste like before it was watered down and all the recipe changes. Rated 4.85 out of 5-D.

Atkinson’s candy company out of Lufkin Texas. They have been a family run company since 1932 and is known worldwide for their candies. The Crunchy Peanut Butter Bars are great tasting. Great peanut flavor. They slowly roast they’re own Texas Grade A Jumbo peanuts until they're a toasty golden brown, to get a deep peanut flavor. The candy was crunchy, but not too hard. The candy had a strong peanut flavor and a candied coating. Similar to their Chick-o-sticks candy only with a stronger peanut flavor. The candy coating kind of has a slight vanilla flavor. The cost is really inexpensive which is nice. Another great Texas candy. Rated 4.9 outta 5-D

Atkinson’s Crunchy Peanut Butter Bars. When we opened the bag containing these delicious little candies, it instantly had a strong peanut butter aroma. Smelled great! The taste was even better. Any peanut butter enthusiast will love this candy. It’s got a bit of flakiness to it, but not as much as Chic-o-stick. Creamy roasted peanut taste in the middle. Sugary sweet moderately hard coating All in all it’s a perfect little candy to satisfy any peanut butter craving, and it’s Texas made! Rated 4.8 outta 5 -A

Blue Bell ice cream out of Brenham, Texas. Happy Tracks flavor. This is another great ice cream. It is full of great tasting chocolate fudge and peanut butter cups. They make all their candies and cookies on site. The fudge was very good tasting in the vanilla ice cream. It had lots of great tasting peanut butter cups mixed in. The only fault I could find was the peanut butter cups were a little hard due to the cold ice cream. I like this one a lot. Rated 4.85 outta 5-D

Blue Bell Happy Tracks Ice Cream. Generous swirls of chocolate fudge in creamy vanilla ice cream with little chocolate covered peanut butter pieces. Delicious! Creamy and rich, and full of flavor. Each bite had a generous helping of fudge and peanut butter candy. My only complaint that the chocolate covered peanut butter candies can get pretty hard due to being frozen, but they melt in your mouth quite nicely. Give it a try, though I’m sure most of you already have ;) Rated 4.7 outta 5-A

Rudys bbq. Arlington Texas. Smoked turkey. I liked the smoked turkey a lot. It had a nice peppery spice to it and the smoke flavor was just right. The turkey meat was nice and moist. It wasn’t too salty and went well with rudys ”sause”. Rated 4.8 outta 5-D

Big Tex from Mission, Texas. The orange pineapple juice was good. While I usually only drink orange juice, I found this to be good tasting and refreshing. It had a nice taste of pineapple juice that didn’t over power the orange juice. I enjoyed this enough to buy another. Rated 4 out of 5.-D

Big Tex Orange Pineapple Juice. This juice is so tasty. It’s my new favorite. Each flavor is strongly pronounced and surprisingly do not overpower the other. Its 100% juice and 120% of your daily value of vitamin C! This has been the best tasting pineapple orange juice I have ever had!-5 outta 5-A

DL Jardines located in Buda Texas, The heart of Texas Hill Country. The Killer barbecue sauce was good. It had a good amount of heat to it but not too much to overpower. It has more peppers and spice than their other bbq sauces do. It had a nice hickory smoke flavor. This sauce is a medium thickness. DL Jardines Killer bbq sauce goes great with anything you want a little more Texas heat on. Another fine product by DL Jardines. Rated 4 out of 5-D

Blue Bell ice cream out of Brenam, Texas. Blue Bell Butter Crunch tasted amazing. The vanilla ice cream matched perfectly with the chocolate and peanut butter candy pieces mixed in, Imagine a chocolate covered chick-o- stick candy crushed in with vanilla ice cream. It was smooth and had a lots of pieces of chocolate and peanut butter candy. This rates as one of my favorites so far. Blue bell continues to be the best ice cream in Texas… Rated 4.95 out of 5,-D

Blue Bell Butter Crunch Ice Cream. I LOVE this flavor! My new favorite among Blue Bell (even though each new flavor ends up being my favorite!) at the moment, this one takes the cake! Chunky remnants of delicious chick o stick type candy with chocolate and an always creamy vanilla ice cream. It was really hard to put this one down folks, so good! As usual, Blue Bell never ceases to amaze me on how delicious they make their ice cream! If you have not tried this flavor, please give it a try and let us know what you think! Rate 5 outta 5 - A

Meyers Smokehouse out of Elgin, Texas. Reviewed the Smoked Sausage with Garlic. This sausage was average; If I wasn’t told it had garlic in it I would have never known. I couldn’t taste any garlic. The sausage was ok tasting but nothing special. It did have a nice casing and the meat was ok. Couldn’t taste any smoke flavor either. Was hoping to like this sausage but was kind of let down. Hopefully their other products are better. Rated 2.5 outta 5-D
Meyers Smoked Sausage with garlic. Unfortunately, not a fan. Maybe it was the batch we had gotten, but I couldn’t taste any garlic in it. For the most part I agree with D on this one. Really wished this sausage had a better taste. We will give it a try once more to see if it was just the sausage we had bought that day. Rated 2.5 outta 5

Southern Star Brewery out of Conroe, Texas. Pine Belt Pale Ale. This Pale ale was very refreshing. It had a nice copper color and tasted great. The British crystal malts and hops have a great hop flavor and aroma. The Ale had a creamy taste to it. The Piney hops give the pale ale a slight sweet taste. It also had a slight note of citrus. Made from deep ground water from the Evangeline Aquifer. This Non-filtered, non pasteurized ale is packaged into cans to ensure a great fresh quality. Rated 4.8 outta 5-D

Best Maid out of Fort Worth Texas. This Texas based company started in a small town called Mansfield Texas. Mildred Dalton and Jessie Otis Dalton started this company in their own home and expanded to his grocery store in Fort worth Texas in 1926. This company has many products. The Best Maid Dill Pickles were great tasting. They have a good crunch to the pickled cucumber and this inside was soft. The flavor of dill and salt was very prominent. The taste was refreshing and had a slight garlic flavor. Best Maid is the official pickle of the Dallas Cowboys. I really liked this product and look forward to trying more of Best Maid products. Rated 4.25 out of 5-D

Garland Jack’s Secret Six Hickory Spice Barbeque Sauce. Haven’t been disappointed yet with Garlands. Great price and great taste. Good amount of hickory flavor and it meshed well with the spices. A hint of sweetness in it as well. It’s not my personal favorite sauce out there, but it’s a great go to sauce for any meat. Haven’t found anything that it doesn’t go well with, even put it on a hot dog in place of ketchup! Rated 4.5 outta 5-A

This is the second sauce we reviewed from this Garland Texas based company.Garlands Jacks Hickory spice bbq sauce was good. It was a little more thick of a sauce than I usually like. It had a good hickory flavor and a slight spiciness at the end. It has bold flavors and a good inexpensive price. Not a “gourmet” sauce but still would go well with any grilled or smoke meat(if needed) Rated 3.95 outta 5-D

Blue Bell Cookies and Cream Ice Cream. Ah, Blue Bell, can’t knock it and there’s never any reason to. Have yet to be disappointed with this Texas Company. Basic flavor, almost every ice cream company makes cookies and cream. But what sets Blue Bell aside is the quality, homemade ice cream made the old-fashioned way. The richness of the cookies and cream flavor were phenomenal ( as usual). There wa s a cookie piece in every bite (the way a cookies and cream ice cream should be). Beautiful, strong taste of vanilla that complimented the cookies perfectly. It is said that Blue Bell was the first to come up with the cookies and cream ice cream, though many others have tried taking the credit (I believe Blue Bell). Rated 4.9 outta 5. -A

DL Jardines is located in Buda, Texas. The Salsa Bobos is a salsa that has black beans and corn. This salsa was very good. I liked the taste. I usually don’t like black beans, but this salsa was the exception. It had a nice slight heat to it. The corn and the black beans tasted good together with the rest of the traditional all natural salsa ingredients. This salsa would be good as a dip or over meat or fish. This is another good product from the DL Jardines special edition line of salsas. Rated 4 out of 5. -D

Kiolbassa Jalapeno cheddar beef smoked sausage based out of San Antonio, TX! This was some of the best sausage I’ve had. Tender, succulent, and perfect casing. Unlike some other brands this sausage had a lot of jalapeno chunks to where you could taste it in every bite! Perfect. Beautiful smoked flavor that didn’t overpower the rest of the flavors. Tasted great on its own, and with BBQ sauce. Definitely give it a try if you haven’t already, it won’t disappoint! Rated 4.8 outta 5. -A

Kiolbassa Sausage Company out of San Antonio Texas. The jalapeno cheddar smoked beef sausage tasted great. It had a good smoked flavor and lots of finely diced jalapenos in it. It had a nice jalapeno and cheddar taste, It wasn’t over powering. The casing was nice and wasn’t too tough. I think this may be on the top of my list for Jalapeno cheddar sausages. Rated 4.85 outta 5.-D

D.L. Jardine’s Habanero Salsa labed as XXXHOT. Well I can definitely tell you it was hot! I did feel it in my chest for quite some time after consuming the salsa, which isn’t too much of a bad thing! The thing that really stood out for me was that even though it packed a lot of heat, the heat didn’t overpower the rest of the flavors in the salsa. I could still taste all the tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, carrots, etc... Had a great flavor profile, they all meshed well together. Even though it’s hot, don’t be afraid to give it a try sometime if the heat isn’t your thing. You’d be surprised how good it is and the heat doesn’t take away from the actual salsa. 4.8-5 -A

DL Jardines out of Buda Texas. The Habanero salsa was great. One of my favorite salsa’s I have ever tried. It has a great heat to it. The salsa has nice big chunks of all natural tomatoes, onions, bells peppers, and Habanero peppers. It is spiced nicely. It may be a little intimidating to some people to see the pieces of habanero that may make you think it going to be too much heat. It does have a great amount of heat but the heat from the habaneros do not overwhelm the rest of the flavors. Rated 5 outta 5.-D

Wolf brand chili owned by Conagrafoods out of Dallas Texas.

It was originally out of Corsicana Texas. We tried the chili and the homestyle chili with beans. The Mild no bean chili is a traditional Texan chili. It was great tasting and had a nice amount and heat and spice. It wasn’t to runny and the meat was nice and tender. The next chili we tested was the homestyle with beans. In my opinion Texas chili doesn’t have beans in it. Aside from that the homestyle chili had a good spicy and heat to it. The green peppers and onions were nice sized and had a good tastes, they went well with the beef. The beans were also good. Again I don’t think chili should have beans in it but if it does it should tastes like this one does. Wolf brand mild no bean chili rated 4.8 outta 5. Wolf brand chili homestyle with beans rated 4.7 outta of 5.-from both D & A.

Deep Fried Bacon Cinnamon Roll from the Texas State Fair also 2012 winner of the most creative. A friend asked me if it was good, I replied, “ I could feel my arteries clog immediately after consumption, in other words, it was awesome!”. This was surprisingly good. So rich in taste I could only have a few bites. Sweet cinnamon dough, with bits of tasty bacon on top, and coated with icing and powdered sugar. The bacon went so well with the cinnamon roll, that whole sweet and salty combination was splendid. No wonder it was given the Big Tex Choice award for most creative, and it looked like a favorite among fairgoers when we went. If you happen to get a chance to head out there, or already have and you’ve tired, give it a try and let us know what you thought! Rated 4.7 outta 5. –A

The Deep Fried Bacon Cinnamon roll we got at the Texas State fair in Dallas was great. It won the most creative item award from the Big Tex Committee. The dough was nice and airy. It had just the right amount of cinnamon mixed in the soft dough. It had bits of bacon mixed in the frosting and it tasted like it was deep fried in bacon fat. It was topped with icing, bacon bits and powdered sugar. The only problem I found with it was that I wanted more. Deep frying cinnamon rolls is such a great idea. Rated 4.75 outta 5-D

Mrs. Renfros gourmet salsa out of Fort Worth Texas. We tried the medium salsa. It tasted good and had a good spiciness to it. The salsa is made with all natural ingredients. Nice size chunks of tomatoes,onions, green chile peppers,sweet green peppers,garlic, jalapenos and cilantro. In 1940, George Renfro took a big risk for a man with a family. He quit his job selling restaurant supplies and condiments. George and his wife, Arthurine, co-founded George Renfro Food Company in the garage of their north Fort Worth home. In their new venture, they distributed packaged spices and pepper sauces throughout Fort Worth and the surrounding areas. George Renfro Food Company grew steadily. By 1948, the Renfros expanded the company's product line, buying a local syrup manufacturer. Through the tireless efforts of George, his family and a small sales staff sold goods from the back of a truck, the company's Dixieland Syrups soon had wide distribution throughout Texas grocery stores. Virtually every Dallas-Fort Worth restaurant purchased the syrup from George Renfro Food Company, approximately 85% of the restaurants in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Four years later George and Arthurine acquired the formulas of Gold Star Foods. They reworked the ingredients, making them taste more like family recipes. George Renfro Food Company had entered the jelly, preserve, vinegar and chow chow business. Rated 4.25 out of 5-D.

Mrs. Renfros Medium Gourmet Salsa. This salsa has a slight kick after the sweetness of the first bite. Very chunky, which is great. Large chunks of tomatoes, peppers, and onions. The cilantro wasn’t overpowering to the salsa, which sometimes is hard to separate the strong flavor of cilantro. Each ingredient stood out and worked well with eachother. I could see this medium salsa being a go to salsa for any occasion. I definitely look forward to trying all the other flavors! Looks delicious! Rated 4.5 outta 5 -A

Stubbs bbq out of Austin Texas. Stubbs original barbecue sauce. It had a slight spicy heat to the sauce and a sweet flavor at the end. The spice and sweet wasn’t overpowering. It had a strong tomato taste to it, A little too much for my tas te. The barbecue sauce had a good constancy, not too thick or runny. Over all a good taste but it lacked the flavor I remember when I tried it awhile ago. Stubbs has many other flavors of Barbecue sauce, rubs and marinades. Rated 3.9 out of 5

Stubb’s Original Bar-B-Q Sauce. To me this sauce had a strong ketchup based taste. Great aroma when cap is open. Has a few chunks of black pepper throughout which I love. I’m a little hesitant to put it on beef, but chicken went well with it. Really basic sauce but has a good taste. 3.4 outta 5. -A

Burton's Smoked Jalapeno Sausage. This Sausage comes from Burton Texas. I Liked the sausage but It lacked a lot of jalapeno taste. Some bites I could tasted the jalapenos, some I couldn’t taste them at all. The sausage was smoked with pecans. It had a good smoke flavor and the meat tasted good. The casing was nice not to soft or hard. I did like the over-all taste but wish there was more jalapenos in the sausage. Rated 3.5 out of 5-D

Burton's Smoked Jalapeno Sausage. The actual meat of the sausage was great tasting, but it really lacked the jalapeno flavor. I was expecting the sausage to be a little hotter. Only time I tasted jalapeno was when I happened to bit into a piece and that was only once. It could have been the batch that we had gotten, but if it’s the way all of them are, definitely need more jalapeno! The casing had a decent snap when cut, and it was juicy with a good smoke flavor. If you ever tried the jalapeno sausage from Burton and you found more jalapeno in it, let us know! Rated 3.2 outta 5. -A

Texas Champagne by DL Jardines of Buda Texas. This Hot sauce is one of my top hot sauce picks. It had a great taste and lots of cayenne flavor. It is hotter than alot of other hot sauces, but has a refreshing taste. I love it on anything. Rated 4.9 out of 5 -D

Queso Loco Cheese. The cheese and salsa dip comes from DL Jardines out of Buda Texas. It tasted good. nice cheees flavors and a good consistency. Nice size pieces of tomatoes and chiles. It had a medium spiciness and is good heated or cold with tortilla chips. I ate it all in one sitting. rated 4.8 outta 5. -D

Red Barn BBQ’s Catering Food Truck. D and I went to the Fort Worth Music Festival this weekend and we saw the Red Barn BBQ truck that caught our eye. It was a decent price at just $5 for a chopped beef sandwich basket with chips. The chopped beef was very moist and tender, had a great smoke flavor. You could tell they used a rub on the beef which had great flavor. Their BBQ sauce complimented it well too. Definitely hoping to try the restaurant here in North Richland Hills soon. If any of y’all have been to that location please let us know how it was! 4.1 outta 5. –A

The Red Barn Food Truck caters for their restaurant in North Richland Hills Texas. The chopped beef sandwich was good. They gave a decent amount of beef on the sandwich. The meat was very tender and had a great taste. It had a good smoke flavor and good rub tastes that didn’t overpower the beef flavor. The bbq sauce also tasted good. Can’t wait to try the actual restaurant to see if the rest of the menu tastes as good. 4.25 out of 5-D

Rahr & Sons Stormcloud. This IPA was not bad at all. Haven't had a bad beer yet with Rahr. Just the right amount of bitterness and a hint of sweetness in the hops. Easy drinking. Had a great fragrance too. 4.2 outta 5. -A

Rahr and Sons out of Fort Worth Texas. Gravel Road is a German-Style Sticke Altbier beer. It has a robust hop and malt taste. It was very refreshing and was very strong. It's Alcohol By Volume is 7.25%. alot higher than your average beer. I like the Model A car on the label. Another good beer from Rahr and Sons brewing company- Rated 4 out of 5-D

Rudy’s country store and bbq. They are based just north outside of San Antonio. Their bbq “sause” (yes that’s how they spell it) is made in New Braunfels Texas. This bbq sauce is great. The flavor is great tasting. Nice size pieces of pepper and a great smoke flavor. The sauce isn’t too thick or runny. It has a slight kick at the end. It tastes great on anything that I have tried it on(beef, pork and chicken). This is the white label bbq sauce. The other one is a yellow labeled bbq sauce called sissy sauce. The sissy sauce is way too sweet and I don’t like it. So I’d recommend you stick with the original bbq sause. I’d recommend this sauce. Ratede 4.9 out of 5-

Rudy’s Country Store and BBQ “Sause”. Rudy’s has one my all-time favorite BBQ sauce. It’s got a great flavor, with chunks of black pepper for a nice little kick. The smokey flavor is always a hit with any kind of meat. Perfect consistency. It compliments Rudy’s moist brisket. (YUMMMMM!) But stay away from the sissy sauce, there’s just something about that just doesn’t taste right, too sweet. I recommend everyone give the white label Rudy’s sauce a try if you haven’t already! 4.8-5 -A

Rudy’s Country Store and BBQ. We ate at the Arlington Texas location. As soon as we drove into the parking lot we could smell the smoke from the bbq. The brisket sandwich was good, A good amount of brisket on a bun. The brisket was tender a nd tasted great. It had a good smoke flavor and a nice peppery bark. I added some Rudys bbq “sause”. Yes that’s how they spell it. The sauce was great and added a deeper depth of flavor. You can also add onion, pickles and or jalapenos to your sandwich, I ate mine on the side. Also ordered was the potato salad. I really liked it. It tasted good and had some nice size chunks of potatoes in it. I really like Rudys BBQ. I have eaten there a number of times In Fort Worth and Austin areas and never been disappointed with the bbq. Rated 4.7 outta 5.-D

Rudy’s is one of my favorite BBQ joints. I have never been disappointed with them! Started in Leon Springs, TX and now has expanded throughout the Southwest. I also got the sliced brisket sandwich, which was great. Plain bun though, but great tasting brisket, and Rudy’s sauce is always great tasting! Very generous amount of brisket for a $4.99 sandwich. Always has a good spice rub, with a great smokey flavor. And Rudy’s potato salad is always a perfect side item with Rudy’s brisket. Some of the best potato salad from a restaurant I’ve ever had! 4.5 outta 5. -A

Blue Bell Southern Peach Cobbler. This Brenam Texas Company makes the best ice cream in the Texas. This flavor is great. I loved the Texas peaches that are generously spread through the rich creamy ice cream. It’s much like the Blackberry cobbler has nice size chunk of pastry. This is a great tasting ice cream and goes to the top of my lists of favorite flavors. So far I haven’t tasted a Blue Bell flavor I haven’t liked and suspect I won’t. Rated 4.95 out of 5-D

Blue Bell Southern Peach Cobbler. YUM! Generous chunks of delicious peaches, and an equally delicious pastry. Loved the subtle hints of cinnamon amongst the peach swirls. One of my favorites along with the Blue Bell Blackberry Cobbler. Blue Bell always does such a great job capturing the real homemade flavors into frozen goodness. I guarantee any peach and Blue Bell fan will love this ice cream! Give it a try! So good! 5 outta 5. -A

Ranch Style Beans. Owned by ConAgra foods. Based out of Dallas Texas. These ranch style beans are a good base to many types of food and are good on their own. They have a rich flavor and an average spice taste. I personally add more spices to them and drain some of the liquid. It seems recently they have added more liquid to the cans and less beans. The ranch style beans are better than average and usually sold at a cheap price. Not the best beans I have had but not the worst either. Rated 3.25 outta 5.-D

Southern Blackberry Cobbler by Blue Bell Ice Cream. This Brenham Texas Company makes the best ice cream I have ever tasted. It was established in 1907. The Southern Blackberry cobbler ice cream tasted great. The smooth and rich ice cream was full of blackberry flavor and nice size chunks of cobbler pastry. It seemed that every bite got better. This ice cream was excellent. It’s no wonder why it is so well liked in Texas and elsewhere. Rated 4.9 outta 5.-D.

Southern Blackberry Cobbler Ice Cream by Blue Bell is by far my new favorite flavor! It literally tasted like a homemade cobbler the moment it hit my mouth. So creamy and such a rich blackberry flavor! The cobbler pastry chunks were a perfect addition and really bought it all together. The blackberry swirl made it even tastier if that was even possible! This really brought me back to when family would bake a homemade blackberry cobbler after picking the blackberries ourselves. And of course we would put a dollop of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla on top. Just perfect! Please give it a try, you won’t be disappointed! 5 outta 5! - A

Risky’s BBQ(Fort Worth Stockyards). The brisket tacos I ordered were the best I have ever had, and ranks high in the best taco ever also. The brisket was really tender. It melted in my mouth. These tacos come with lots of brisket on a soft flour tortilla accompanied by cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and fresh cilantro. My side was the beans. The beans weren’t bad, but kind of bland, usually a hi t or miss(I’ve had great beans there before also). But the brisket sure made up for that. The smoky flavor complimented the cheese well. I wish I could eat these everyday. These brisket tacos were so good I’m giving it the first 5 out of 5 rating I have ever given! -D

Risky’s BBQ in Fort Worth Stockyards. After strolling around the shops at the Stockyards we saw Risky’s and instantly remembered they had brisket tacos! So we sat down on the patio and enjoyed the cattle drive while we anxiously awaited our order of brisket tacos. I had order French fries while D order their beans. These brisket tacos were the best tacos that had ever graced my taste buds hands down! So many flavors and the brisket was so moist that it just melted in your mouth like butter! The brisket had such a rich, Smokey flavor and complimented the cheese, and other fixins on the taco. The cilantro was not overpowering and all the tastes just meshed really well together. These tacos were so packed full with meat I had a hard time trying to fold it to eat(n o complaints here!) I highly recommend trying the Brisket tacos at Risky’s if y’all are ever in the area. They won’t disappoint! 5 outta 5 -A

Garland Jacks Secret Six Original Recipe Sauce. This Sauce company is based out of Garland Texas. While I wouldn’t consider this a specialty Barbecue sauce, it was great tasting. I liked the basic bbq flavors. As the label says they like to keep it simple”. Every recipe starts with a base of six ingredients- The secret is in knowing how to use them to make you lick your fingers.” It did just that. The sauce was a good consistency and tasted good. A good slight smoke taste and slight spicy kick at the end. What surprised me most was how inexpensive the price was at the store we bought it at. Around 2 bucks!! Garland bbq sauce has six other flavors. I look forward to trying more of them soon. Rated 4 outta 5.-D

Garland Jacks Secret Six Original Recipe Sauce. This sauce is great tasting. Great with beef and chicken and had a little bit of a sweet taste to it. Even though it’s inexpensive and is not what I would consider a “gourmet” sauce, I can say that this may be one of my favorite tasting sauces. It has a good texture and just the right amount of thickness. Can’t wait to try other flavors! Rated 4.5 outta 5. -A

Sweet Leaf Tea located in Austin Texas. Sweet Leaf Peach ice tea made with organic peaches from Fredericksburg Texas. The tea is made with all organic ingredients. This tea had a great peach flavor. The peaches that made Fredericksburg famous. As soon as you open the bottle you can smell the peaches. This drink was very refreshing and tasted great. The peach flavor was strong but not too strong to hide the great tasting black tea. This tea is great tasting. No wonder Sweet Leaf Tea company is one of the fastest growing companies in the ice tea market. Rated 4.9 out of 5.-D

Sweet Leaf Tea Peach Tea from Austin, Texas! This tea has a wonderful crisp peach tea taste. Great aroma right from the start and wasn’t overly sweet. Did have a clear taste of the tea but neither did the peach or the black tea overwhelm my senses. Great to drink on a hot day I recommend you give it a try if you haven’t yet! Rated 4.7 outta 5. -D

Garlic Smoked Burton Sausage from Burton, Texas. Started in 1974.This sausage was delicious! Savory garlic flavor, and juicy. The garlic flavor was not overpowering but was a great compliment to the meat. Great smoke flavor. Did not need sauce at all with the sausage. Burtons sausage was a great compliment to the homemade scalloped potatoes we made and grilled corn. Perfect for Labor Day weekend. I would definitely recommend this product to any grill enthusiast. They do offer product shipping on their website if it’s hard to find in your area. Give it a try y’all! 4.5 outta 5. –A

Burton Texas Garlic Smoked Sausage. This pork and beef sausage was excellent. The garlic and other spices perfectly complimented the meat. This is the first garlic sausage I have had. It certainly wont be the last. Cant wait to try more of the different flavor of sausage the Burton makes, But will always buy the garlic one over and over again. The casing was perfect and the sausage had a great smoke flavor. Give them a try. Rated 4.85 outta 5.-D

Southern Star Brewing Company. Located in Conroe, Texas. I had the Buried Hatchet Imperial Stout. It was very dark and had a strong coffee taste to it. I liked the strong stout taste and the creaminess of it. This beer had a medium body ale taste. It went down smooth and had a good strong after taste of hops. This beer is a must try for those that enjoy a dark stout beer. Rated 4.75 outta 5 -D

Firemans # 4 Blonde Ale from Real Ale Brewing in Blanco, Tx. This beer is extremely crisp and refreshing. One of my favorite blonde ales ( I usually prefer darker beers) Incredibly smooth and can taste a hint of citrus flavor. This beer is so good on a hot day. Give it a try! You wont regret it! 4.5 outta 5 - A

The All good café in Dallas(Deep Ellum) Texas. This restaurant has been profiled on various tv shows, So we thought we would try it. We went at night. The place had a lot of customers and we were seated and served in a timely manner. The pl ace had various music posters and a south congress(Austin) atmosphere. I ordered the Tenderloin. It was a sliced tenderloin beef sandwich with grilled onions, peppercorn bacon, tomato, lettuce and blue cheese on sourdough bread. It tasted great. The meat was so tender I was able to cut the sandwich easily in half with a simple butter knife. And the vegs were grilled nicely. I didn’t care for the coleslaw or salsa and chips. The coleslaw was very small portion and tasted like vinegar. The salsa was oily and almost tasteless all it could taste was cilantro. I think it was supposed to be a tomatillo salsa. I would go back there during the day being it was too dark to see much at night. I also thought it was a little overpriced. A soda was $1.95 for a can of soda. The tenderloin sandwich gets a 4.25 outta 5. The place gets a 3.8 outta 5.-D

All Good Café in Deep Ellum Dallas, Tx. We were in the area for the Invasion Classic Car Show in Deep Ellum and we were walking around looking for good eats. We had originally wanted to go to Uncle Uber’s Sammich Shop but they were closed early due to the holiday hours.(Bad move on their part I think. There was A LOT of foot traffic from the car show.) After carefully deciding on which item I would get on the menu after straining to see the menu from the lack of lighting…. I decided to go with the Chipotle Turkey Club. Mistake on my part. I mean it was okay, but nothing more. I could have easily made a better sandwich at home with less expense. The sesame Kaiser Roll was quite dry and seemed as if it was going to crumble apart. There was a modest amount of peppercorn bacon, but the bacon tasted good from what I could tell. I could hardly tell that there was chipotle mayo on my sandwich and from what I did taste it was very mild. The turkey did taste great and moist. I did have a few bites of D’s sandwich and it was delicious! The beef on his sandwich was so tender and juicy! The sandwich came with Auntie Grace’s Cole Slaw which to me reminded me of vinegar soaked rice. The slaw was almost pureed and lacked other veggies you see in other slaws. And they only give you about a tablespoon sized portion. The sandwiches also came with tortilla chips and their house salsa. I agree with D when he says it tasted too much of cilantro. Way too overpowering and extremely runny. Overall the food really wasn’t anything to write home about. The atmosphere other than the lightning was good. The origami hanging from the ceiling was beautiful but could be misinterpreted as being artsy fartsy. It did have a Austin-esque ambience to it. There was a sign that made me chuckle, “It’s like going to Austin without going through Waco”. The service was decent and all the girls were very nice. But I did have a complaint on the soda too. $1.95 for a can of soda. But hey, all restaurants overcharge soda. I give the food a rating of 2.9 outta 5. And the service, and atmosphere of the place 3.8 outta 5. -A

Texas Tea from Austin Texas. Nacogdoches blueberry green tea. This tea was very tasty you could smell the blueberries right when you open the cap. This tea tasted great. A strong blueberry taste but not too strong to mask the green tea. The blueberries that made Nacogdoches famous are a great addition to green tea. The bottle had some interesting facts about Nacogdoches’ history. An example was that the town had flown nine different flags over the years. This tea is a great tribute to the oldest town in Texas. Rated 4.85 outta 5.-D

Texas Tea, Nacogdoches Blueberry Green Tea. I usually don’t like tea( I know, I know who doesn’t like tea?) but I LOVE this one, I think this tea and Sweet leaf are making me come to my senses. The blueberry taste was wonderful and crisp. Has a slight pucker to it. Great smell like D said, could really smell the blueberries as soon as you open the cap! 4.5 outta 5. -A

H-E-B Specialty Series Barbeque Sauce Texas. Grocery store based out of San Antonio, Texas with locations throughout Texas. This sauce seems to only go well with beef products( like stated on the bottle) It had a very strong A-1 steak sauce taste. A little on the thick side but had good texture. Did like the chunks of pepper for the added spice. . This sauce does compliment beef, but not so much on pork products. I was a little let down and I expected a little more taste and versatility with this sauce. Stop by your local H-E-B store and give it a try for yourself! 3 outta 5. –A

H-E-B Texas barbecue sauce. This sauce was too thick in my opinion. It didn’t pour unless you hit the back of the bottle. It has a strong A-1 steak sauce after taste which I didn’t care for either. I has raised if you needed A-1 on a steak it wasnt a good steak. While I do like a lot of H-E-B products this one was a slight let down. It didn’t have a good taste at first till the steak sauce flavor hit. Give it a try if you like a bbq/steak sauce. Rated 2.8 outta 5.-D

Zummo party time sausages from Beaumont Texas. These sausages are made of pork and beef. They have a slight hickory smoke taste to them. They have a good casing and are very juicy. You can taste all the spices used. A nice slight garlic taste to them. One of the better sausages I have had. They are one of the best selling sausage in East Texas. Can’t wait to eat more. I would recommend this pr oduct to all that like to grill sausages. Rated 4.8 outta 5-D

Zummo Party Time Sausages. These pork and beef sausages were literally bursting with flavor! Great casing, held together well. Great texture and all the spices messed well together. I can’t stress enough how juicy these sausages were. Perfect amount of spice and slight smoke taste. These are great on their own and even throwing them on a bun with all the fixin’s! I agree with D on that these are one of the best sausages I’ve ever had. Gotta love Texas made food! Rated 4.9 outta 5 -A

Joe T. Garcia's Salsa Picante (Medium) Made in Fort Worth, Texas. Also a restaurant in Fort worth( if anyone has eaten there please let me know how it is!) Great taste at a great price. I just recently tried this salsa a few days ago and I was really impressed. Great texture and thickness. I can really taste all the ingredients with each bite. The jalapeno and tomatoes were fresh tasting and the s altiness really brought everything together in this salsa. Nice heat from the jalapeno. Can't wait to try the Hot version. If you see it and if you're a fan of good quality salsa, pick some up! 4.7 outta 5. - A

Sweet Leaf green tea with citrus. This is an Austin Texas made product. The tea was great tasting and you could smell the citrus right before you drink it. It is an all organic tea. The citrus flavor consisted of orange, lemons and tangerines. A very refreshing drink. If you like green teas’s give this one a try. It’s great. Also comes in green tea with mint and honey flavor. This can was only a dollar. Rated 4.8 outta 5.-D

Chick-o-stick by Atkinson's of Lufkin, Texas. Being that Halloween is just around the corner we decided to do a candy review. What better candy to do a review on than one of Texas' oldest candy. Chick-o-stick have been made since the great depression. These candies are great. The come in various sizes. They consist of a peanut butter center dipped in corn syrup and then toasted coconut. They have a great taste that reminds me of my childhood eating these candies around Halloween time. They have a slightly hard exterior and a brittle peanut butter center. One of my favorite candies rated 4.9 outta 5-D

Chick-O-Stick! Great candy, eating one right now actually! Not usually a fan of harder candies and coconut, but I love Chick-O-Sticks! Great peanut butter flavor, can't even taste the coconut. If you've never had one, its kinda like a Butterfinger without the chocolate. Great with Seaport Coffee too! ;) 4.7 outta 5 -A

Southside Market beef sausage. This product is from Elgin Tx. This sausage was very juicy and had an ok beef flavor. A bigger size sausage than others. It had a nice casing that snapped when cut and bit into. My only complaint was it lacked a strong smoked beef flavor. Rated 3.75 out of 5.-D

Southside Market Smoked Beef Sausage from Elgin, Tx. A meat market and BBQ restaurant that was started in 1882. T his sausage was very moist, and tender. Good casing other than the ends where the casing became very tough. Not as much smoke flavor and spices as I would have liked, but after browsing their site, I found that there is a few different flavors to choose from that would offer such qualities. Also paired well with the Salt Lick BBQ sauce and was good enough to eat by itself. Overall good texture, succulent, and good taste. 4.0 out of 5. -A

Sweet Leaf tea is made in Austin Texas. It is all organic. As the label says" Granny taught us never to use ingredients we cant pronounce". This sweet tea is one of my favorite sweet teas.The is very refreshing and tastes great. It is made with cane sugar. The ingredients are simple, filtered water, cane sugar, black tea, and citric acid. The black tea has a strong taste but isnt overpowering. Sweet Leaf also makes other flavors as well. Which will be reviewed at a later date. Sweet Leaf sweet tea is a must try for all sweet tea lovers. Rated 4.95 outta 5-D

On the Border Monterey Jack Queso. Made with monterey jack,(of course) asedero, and queso blanco cheeses. This is not bad at all. Not too much spiciness to it though. Strong cheese flavors and rich. I would prefer to add some more tomatoes and jalapenos to it. Definitely a good buy at a cheap price, accessibility, and good for a snack that you don't have to prepare too much. Just throw it in a bowl and microwave a few seconds and serve with chips. 3.5 outta 5 -A

I dont usually eat much queso other than the the ones i make myself. On the borders monterey jack queso wasnt too bad. I was kinda weary of a white cheese queso. To my surprise it was good. It could have been more spicy for my tastes. All in all not bad not great. rated 3.25 outta 5.-D

Cooper's Old Time Pit BBQ located in the Fort Worth Stockyards. After reading good and bad reviews D and I thought we would give it a try at least once. We will definitely go back. As seen in the picture we had gotten beef ribs, moist brisket, corn, potato salad, and beans. The Beef ribs were some of the best ribs that had ever graced my taste buds. Moist and tender. Came off the bone real easy. The rub they used went really well with the taste of the beef. Wouldn't recommend eating the beef ribs with their sauce, didn't mesh well together. The moist brisket just melted in your mouth. Tender, very moist, flavorful. Great rub. Nice smoke ring. Not the best brisket I've ever had, but it was pretty good, would get it again. The corn was good, basic half an ear of corn, can't complain. Just a little expensive though. $1 for half and ear. The potato salad was nothing to write home about, I've made better potato salad at home. What I did like about the potato salad is that the mustard taste wasn't overpowering the salad itself but you could taste hints of it. The pinto beans were average, tasted better when we added their BBQ sauce in it. I would recommend if any of ya'll happen to check out Cooper's, when you order your meat, I would recommend that you not have it dipped in their sauce. Instead get it on the side. Their sauce was very runny and very vinegary. It's not a bad sauce, but I just don't see it going well with all their different types of meat. Use sparingly I would say. But hey, ya'll might love it! Including food, service and atmosphere I rate Cooper's 4.5 out of 5. (5 out of 5 for the beef ribs alone!) -A

What I liked about Coopers was the great smell from the pit as soon as you walk in the door. The brisket was nice and had a good smoke ring. Its moist, very tender and tasted good. Not too smokey. The beef ribs were excellent. Great rub taste. Lots of meat and very tender. The meat tasted good enough not to need bbq sauce, which I didnt really care for. I prefer a thicker sauce. this was runny and vinegar based. So I didnt really try too much of the sauce. The beans were free and tasted ok. The potato salad was above average. All in all a good bbq joint. Id rate the beef ribs 4.8 out of 5, and the beef brisket a 4.25 out of 5. The total rating 4.5 outta 5. We recommend y'all give it a try.-D