Lots to love in Lubbock
West Texas town with a cowboy past has plenty of great places to chow down
LUBBOCK, Texas — Lubbock is a long way from anywhere, and even in this West Texas town with a population of just over a quarter-million, because of its remoteness it still somehow feels uncrowded, maybe a little lonesome.
Its closest neighbors of any size are a two- to three-hour drive away, give or take. Amarillo is to the north, Midland and Odessa to the south, Abilene’s to the southeast, and Roswell, over the state line in New Mexico, lies to the west. There’s not much between those cities except the dusty prairies and grasslands of the Great Plains. Solitude is the soul of the Great Plains of West Texas, a way of life, and no one in Lubbock seems to mind that the town stands alone.
Long, flat roads lead to longer stretches of open, flat plains that eroded from the Rocky Mountains eternities ago. Lubbock, with its elevation reaching to some 3,400 feet, sits high atop caprock tableland that tapers slowly to the southeast toward Fort Worth and Dallas. This is a land of caprock, cowpokes and unending fields of cotton, a crop that loves the merciless sun of its semiarid climate.
It’s that combination of sun, wind and probably not quite enough rain that makes the region ideal for not only cotton, but also growing grapes, as in Texas wine grapes, as in Texas wine, as in mighty fine Texas wine.
With three full days in Lubbock to spend time with extended family and see the sites, my husband and I visited several wineries and ate at some killer restaurants, diners and coffee shops. And while Lubbock may well be off the beaten path, it doesn’t scrimp on things to do.
Wonderful wine
Often the region is compared to both Sonoma and Napa Valley, primarily because of the climate, and grapes are grown here en masse. In fact, most of Texas wine grapes — estimates are up to 90% of them — are grown within a 100-mile radius of Lubbock.
The Lone Star State, as it turns out, is the fourth largest wineproducing state in the U.S. Several wineries dot the swath of fertile terrain of the Lubbock region, and the ones we visited had tasting rooms and vineyards just as classy as any found in California.
Among those where we sampled the vino were Burklee Hill Vineyards-Trilogy Cellars in nearby Levelland, the highly awarded McPherson Cellars that is housed in Lubbock’s historic Coca-Cola Bottling Plant, Llano Estacado Winery that is one of the pioneers of the West Texas wine industry — it’s the second oldest winery in Texas — and has won hundreds of awards since it opened in 1976, the picturesque Caprock Winery that resembles an American Southwest-style mission, and finally the Frenchstyle Pheasant Ridge Winery that features the oldest pinot noir vines in Texas.
Breakfast
Get your day started at the Cast Iron Grill, a favorite home-style restaurant. Just inside the door are subtly lighted display cases filled with pie slices, lots of them, ranging from the signature Texas Delight, a layered concoction with cream cheese, chocolate pudding and pecans, to flavors of cheesecake, strawberry, pumpkin and beyond. Have a slice to complement a big ol’ country breakfast of chicken fried steak or biscuits and gravy.
If you’re craving coffee but not the ginormous breakfast, it’s always brewing in one of Lubbock’s cozy, trendy coffee shops. Take your pick of places such as iconic J&B Coffee that’s been around since 1979, Yellow House Coffee with its freshly baked pastries, and Sugar Brown’s, where you get to make your own breakfast s’mores.
Lunch
When the clock strikes noon, amble on over to the Crafthouse Gastropub offering craft beer from the likes of Odell Friek, Dogfish Head and Deschutes Brewery.
My husband and I split a made-from-scratch margherita pizza topped with the freshest of mozzarella and chased down with a raspberry-infused Odell Friek, a lunch that set the stage wineries, for an afternoon tour and beer tasting at the Brewery LBK, downtown Lubbock’s only brewery.
Probably the don’t-miss lunch experience is Evie Mae’s Pit Barbeque. Owner Arnis Robbins has managed to somehow marvelously pull off a brisket magic trick by slow-cooking it over oak for about 16 hours, sprinkling it only with salt and pepper for seasoning. I kid you not, it cuts as easily as hot butter. Robbins also serves up flavor-packed prime rib, pulled pork and sausage with green chiles. The restaurant is open only Wednesday through Saturday.