Texas Foodie Road Trip: The Best Tasty Stops & Tours
- Whitney Alswede
- 4 days ago
- 9 min read
Behind every brand is a story, and we at Texas Grocery Finds think Texas grocery stores have the best brands, the best products—the best stories.
That’s why, this year, when you’re road-tripping across Texas, instead of stretching your legs at rest stops along I-45 or I-35, visit the farms where your food comes from, meet the people passionate about creating quality products for your family to enjoy at the dinner table, and experience what real food tastes like. This summer, hit the backroads, and experience Texas brands.
Must-Visit Texas Foodie Stops for Your Next Road Trip 🚗
West Texas & The Panhandle
Slaton
Slaton Bakery may be best known for its delicious Vanilla Wafers, Gingersnaps and Wedding Cookies sold at HEB since 2015, but the small-town bakery has been serving up fresh donuts, pies, pastries and breads for more than a century. Walking inside its doors in downtown Slaton is like taking a step back in time, with its vintage cookie jars and focus on flavor over frills. The next time you’re in West Texas, stop by for a sandwich and dessert and find out why locals and tourists alike have fallen in love with Slaton Bakery.
If you go: Try the Vanilla Wafers, made using a recipe that dates nearly as far back as the bakery.
Photos courtesy of Slaton Bakery
North Texas
Mineral Wells
Located 45 miles west of Fort Worth, the city of Mineral Wells has embraced its Crazy Water heritage. Take an hourlong, three-block tour of downtown; visit the “water bar” and sample the Crazy Water varieties, each boasting different levels of minerals and taste; relax with a mineral bath or massage at the Crazy Water Bath House & Spa; and then lay your head down for the night at the newly refurbished Crazy Water Hotel.
If you go: Sixty-minute walking tours are $5 per person and weather-dependent—they won’t be given on days higher than 100 degrees or below 45 or when it’s raining.
Fort Worth
Home to arguably Texas’ most beautiful patio, Joe T. Garcia’s is a Fort Worth icon. The home-turned-restaurant has been around for almost a century and is beloved by residents and celebrities alike for its margaritas, enchiladas and beef fajitas. Although you can purchase the restaurant’s salsa in stores, there’s nothing quite like a bowl fresh from the kitchen.
If you go: Joe T.’s is cash-only, and although the patio is expansive, the line to be seated can get long. Go early and at off-peak times for the best chance of being seated quickly.
Dallas & Katy
It’s hard not to smile when you see Howdy Homemade’s ice cream in the grocery store, each pint featuring a “hero” with developmental disabilities. If you’re visiting Dallas or Katy, stop by a Howdy Homemade “scoop shop” and meet the heroes who make this brand so special. You’ll also have the opportunity to try unlimited samples and check out their fun twists on old favorites, including Dr Pepper Chocolate Chip.
If you go: Challenge yourself to try a new flavor—you can get chocolate and vanilla anywhere.
Dublin
Veldhuizen Cheese may be best known for its Redneck Cheddar at Central Market, but there’s nothing remotely redneck about the brand’s working farm and cheese shop. Visitors will come face to face with the cows whose milk is used in the cheese; go inside the “cheese cave,” where the cheddar is aged; go behind the scenes; enjoy samples; and of course have the opportunity to purchase some of the freshest, most delicious cheese in Texas.
If you go: Reservations are required and can be booked on Veldhuizen Cheese’s website.
Fort Worth
If you’re traveling along I-30 through downtown Fort Worth, add a few minutes to your trip and stop at the Best Maid Pickle Emporium. There, you’ll find more than just the pickles available in your grocery store; you can pick up everything from gummy pickles and fried pickle flavored popcorn to bandages, socks, T-shirts, Frisbees and more. The shop isn’t huge by any means, but it is a memorable roadside store and an easy place to get out, stretch your legs and share a laugh.
If you go: Watch the Best Maid Pickle Emporium’s social media pages for information about when they’ll have sidewalk events, where you can try pickle-flavored snow cones.
Waco
Long before Waco was home to Chip and Joanna’s Silos, Waco was home to Dr Pepper, the nation’s oldest major soda brand. Since 1991, the Dr Pepper Museum has been celebrating the soda’s 140-year-old history and welcoming visitors young and old alike to see the famed bottling room, participate in the “Liquid Lab” demonstrations, make their own drink, stop by the soda fountain to try a Dr Pepper float, and purchase exclusive Dr Pepper gear.
If you go: Check the Dr Pepper Museum’s website for the Liquid Lab schedule, and every paid admission includes a Dr Pepper at the soda fountain.
Photos courtesy of the Dr Pepper Museum
Fort Worth
Whiskey fans, this one is for you: Boasting the largest whiskey distillery west of the Mississippi, TX Whiskey’s 112-acre Whiskey Ranch gives you an up-close look at the large fermentation tanks, 50-foot-tall custom-made copper doubles and beautiful copper still used to create TX Bourbon. After the 50-minute tour, visit the TX Tavern to sample a whiskey flight and then sit on the patio and take in the sweeping views of downtown Fort Worth.
If you go: Guests can bring in their own leather or boots and custom create a cap for their bottle of whiskey to take home. Visit TX Whiskey’s website for more information.
Photos courtesy of TX Whiskey Ranch
Hill Country
Blanco
Escape to the Hill Country, pack a picnic and enjoy lunch amid the beauty of Arnosky Family Farms’ 20 acres of flowers. Possibly more so than its work with HEB, this unique flower farm is known for its self-serve blue barn, where you can shop for bundles of freshly cut stems, potted plants and vegetable plants, and then put your money in the red box on the door on the honor system.
If you go: The market accepts cash, checks and Venmo and is open daily year-round 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Photos courtesy of Emily Hill
Gustine
On select Fridays and Saturdays, the Volleman family welcomes visitors of all ages to their dairy farm and production facility, giving you the chance to see where some of the best milk in Texas comes from. During the 3.5-hour tour, you’ll meet the family’s beloved cows, see where the cows’ food grows, watch bottles prepare for shipping, and get a glimpse into one family’s passion for dairy farming.
If you go: Make reservations online, wear sneakers that you can get dirty and pack a cooler so you can take home farm-fresh milk.
Round Rock
For more than 20 years, Konrad and Elizabeth Bouffard have harvested some of Texas’ best honey in Austin’s backyard. Today, the couple prides themselves for focusing on quality over quantity, even though heavyweights such as Walmart, HEB and Trader Joe’s carry their famed sweet wildflower honey. Get a glimpse into what makes Round Rock Honey so special on a one-hour “Honey House” tour of the company’s harvesting and packaging processes or sign up for classes offered on-site at Round Rock Honey.
If you go: Reserve your spot for a tour and class online before you visit.
Photos courtesy of Round Rock Honey
Dripping Springs
Grab the girls, and head over to Texas Hill Country Olive Co., John and Cara Gambini’s piece of Italy. You’ll experience what real extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar should taste like during a guided tasting; learn about the olive oil making process on an orchard tour; enjoy lunch at the Tuscan-style bistro; and end your day with shopping. Texas Hill Country Olive Co. is home to the state’s only certified organic orchard and is truly a gem in the heart of the Texas Hill Country.
If you go: Guided tastings are offered daily, but Texas Hill Country Olive Co. recommends booking a date and time before you arrive.
Austin
El Arroyo sells jarred salsa at HEB and Central Market, so we get to include it in this list—right? After you snap a photo of the sign Google calls a “cultural landmark,” sip a margarita on one of the restaurant and cantina’s two patios, eat your weight in chips and salsa, and enjoy a traditional Tex-Mex meal in the heart of our state’s capital city.
If you go: Mix up your Tex-Mex, and check out El Arroyo’s brunch, served Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
San Antonio
The Guenther House, the mansion that the Pioneer Flour Mills family once called home, is a gem situated along the San Antonio River, away from the hustle and bustle of the River Walk. Since 1988, friends and families have gathered at the King William neighborhood house for breakfast and lunch (made with Pioneer Flour Mills products, of course) and to witness what wealth looked like in the early 20th century. The restaurant can get busy, so tour the free museum and shop for souvenirs at the River Mill Store while you wait to be seated.
If you go: If your hostess asks you, request a table on the patio and enjoy the gorgeous scenery while you enjoy freshly squeezed lemonade and feast on sweet cream waffles.
Fredericksburg
As Case Fischer and Mark Wieser’s Fischer & Wieser specialty brands have gained recognition in Texas, so have the opportunities for foodies to escape to Fredericksburg and immerse themselves in the farm-to-table experience. Sleep among the 60 acres of fruit orchards in an Airstream, a tiny home, a train car or at the farmstead and learn about alcohol distilling at Dietz Distillery; take a cooking class at F&W Fredericksburg Cooking School; and sample the best wines in the area at the Culinary Adventure Tasting Room. If you’re short on time, stop at the roadside stand that started it all, Das Peach Haus, and sample all that Fischer & Wieser has to offer.
If you go: Fredericksburg is one of the top destinations in Texas, so it’s a favorite of road trippers year-round, but you’ll see the peak crowds in the fall and spring, during wildflower season.
San Antonio
You’re probably wondering why HEB is on this list. Here us out on this one: San Antonio is home to the largest HEB in the company at a whopping 182,000 square feet (compared to the typical HEB store size of 70,000 square feet). Grocery Obsessed Owner Emily Hill visited the store at 1604 and Bandera and explored the spacious aisles that include expanded home decor, grilling and KODI sections as well as Mia’s Mirror, an in-store boutique selling trendy accessories and clothing; Auntie Anne’s pretzels; Flaming Bird rotisserie chicken to take home; Cafe Ole self-service coffee; and so much more. It’s the perfect store to take a break in, wander through and pick up a snack or two before hitting the road again.
If you go: Time your stop for lunch so you can grab a pizza from South Flo Pizza and relax at the store’s indoor seating for a few minutes before your shopping adventure.
Elgin
When Whole Foods creates a category just for your eggs, you know you’re doing something right. Jeremiah Cunningham’s “World’s Best Eggs” are straight from the founder’s Coyote Creek farm, where chickens dig for worms and grubs, take dust baths, run through green pastures and breathe fresh Texas air. Coyote Creek has continued Jeremiah’s vision of producing organic nutrient-rich foods and invites you to stop by and shop for farm-fresh eggs, beef, ice cream, pork and soups at their Honor Store. As you pass through the gates, you’ll leave with more than groceries—you’ll leave with a way of life.
If you go: You’ll need a gate code to get to the store. Contact the farm to get the latest code and their hours before your visit.
Photos courtesy of Coyote Creek Organic Farm & Feed Mill
Gulf Coast
Houston
If you’re visiting the Houston area, stop by the Houston Farmers Market and check out R-C Ranch’s air-conditioned 3,000-square-foot butcher shop. Owners Blake Robertson and Ryan Cade sell not only the Wagyu beef jerky and sticks grocery store fans love, but also ready-made meals, sauces, rubs, gifts, cookware, charcuterie boards and more. Meat lovers may leave convinced they’ve found their own personal heaven on the Texas coast.
If you go: If you have more time, you can visit the 2,800 acres in Bailey’s Prairie (near Lake Jackson), where R-C Ranch’s cattle live. Visit R-C Ranch’s FAQs for information.
Houston
Grab a seat on the patio, listen to live music, sample some brews and have a good time with friends—that’s the Karbach Brewing way. The brewery’s Biergarten has something for everyone, from blonde to IPA and even hard seltzer ranch water, and the pub slings delicious pizzas and creates meals that take traditional bar food up a notch. Bring the kids and pups along for a family-friendly night out.
If you go: Follow Karbach Brewing Co. on social media to stay up-to-date on the live music schedule.
Brenham
Visiting Blue Bell is a rite of passage for Texans, new and old. Located just off 290 between Austin and Houston, the original Blue Bell creamery in Brenham offers visitors the opportunity to watch the factory’s production lines fill cartons and pack up the day’s flavors from an observation deck, purchase tees and souvenirs in the gift shop, and sample dozens of flavors, including hard-to-find ones, in the ice cream parlor.
If you go: The observation deck, visitor center and ice cream parlor are only open on weekdays.
Photos courtesy of Emily Hill
Tell us: Where are you stopping this year? Do you have recommendations for our list?
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