BEST BBQ in Austin Texas?! FLUFFY TACOS & ULTIMATE FOOD TOUR of San Antonio Texas

Good morning. If you've never eaten dumplings outside, surrounded by nature with the birds chirping and the fresh air, and the airplane flying by overhead, I think it makes it better. Also, I found a dumpling shop about 10 minutes from my house. Don't have to go all the way to the city for amazing dumplings anymore. Anyway, a little backstory about this video. I think this was filmed about a month ago in Texas, and I just, I don't know if you can see, I have a new like little bitty scar. I have a scar here that took about 13 stitches. I got when I was a kid when I was running. This is why kids should never run with things in your hands, especially anything sharp. So I was running with a sharp metal shard. I think it was about seven or eight years old. I tried to jump over a fence pretending to be a great kung fu warrior with my, you know, pretend knife. So I jumped over a fence and I fell onto the metal shard. That's why I got like 13 stitches here, which is also why you probably think I look tired all the time. It's not eye bags. It's just a scar. Well, there is eye bags, but it's mainly the scar here. And I got a new one in this video. You can see a new one from an unfortunate dumpling accident. And this is my fault. I'm too impatient. I just cooked boiling hot dumplings. As soon as it came out, I took a bite. Some of the juice squirted, hit my face, and I didn't really take good care of it. It blistered. And that's why you see that thing under my eye in the video. Still left a little scar. And that is why I am eating more dumplings today. I call this lunch slash revenge. Anyway, I really like this video. First time going to San Antonio, I went with Christine. We stopped by Austin for what I feel like probably the best barbecue ribs I've had so far in Texas. Definitely at that barbecue. And speaking of Christine, I'm actually leaving tomorrow. I'm going back to Chicago. And because of stuff that she has to do, me and her are going to be in St. Louis for a while. So kind of going back to where it sort of all started. The Midwest. Misery. I don't know how I feel about that. It's like a mix between nostalgia, excitement, and a tiny dash of dread. Anyway, things I never knew life would have in store for me. And of course, I'll still be in Texas as much as I can, especially when the heat dies down a bit. Basically, I have no idea what's going to happen this year. I don't know what's going to happen next year. A lot of surprises, but they're really nice surprises. So looking forward to this brand new chapter of my life. And before we get to that, a huge thank you and shout out to Surfshark VPN for sponsoring this video and continuing to support my channel. You guys know I've been using and talking about Surfshark VPN for I think almost two years now. Nowadays, when people are going out more, stay in hotels, going to airports, you're going to be connected to a lot of random hotspots and a ton of these are not very secure. You know, when you're Googling a brand where pretty much anything they ask for whatever you're searching for or something related to whatever you're searching for, start popping up everywhere. That's people having access to your personal information. And what Surfshark VPN does is that it encrypts and secures your personal data before it goes over the internet so that people you don't want having access to your private information, they won't have access to it. Also, Surfshark VPN has something called Surfshark Alerts. So when someone's trying to get access to something like your email, you're going to get notified right away. And I always talk about the entertainment aspect of it. So if you ever wonder what Netflix is like and maybe Japan or South Korea, you can actually use Surfshark VPN to trick Netflix into thinking that you're actually over there so you can access to a whole new catalog of videos and movies. Only thing bad about that, if you ever try to watch anime on Japanese Netflix, no subtitles. Or if you're overseas and you want to have access to U.S. streaming services like Hulu or Crunchyroll, you can use Surfshark VPN for that as well. So if you guys want to give it a try, go to my link down below. Use my promo called Mikey Chen. You're going to get 83% off your order plus three months for free. Plus you can try it out for 30 days. If you don't like it for whatever reason, get your money back. All right, I'm going to go back to doing my revenge thing here and enjoy the video. Hi, it's Mike Chen. Sky just somehow looks bigger in Texas, doesn't it? Heading on a road trip today from Dallas to San Antonio. Never been to San Antonio before. Passing Austin on the way. So just spending like a day and a half in San Antonio, trying out some of the food there. I hear good things about the Puffy Tacos. But since I am going past Austin, there's a barbecue place I've always wanted to try. LA BBQ or LA BBQ or Louisiana BBQ. I think it's LA BBQ. Never had it. Heard such great things. Also, haven't had Texas BBQ in about two months. Been waiting for this. This looks incredible. Oh, this is a good feast. Might have went a little overboard because I'm about to go eat in San Antonio too. But how do you resist when you walk into a barbecue place? It just kind of overwhelms you, right? You smell it, you see it. When they're cutting it, you just want them to cut more as I'm talking. Like saliva is just foaming in my mouth. Fatty brisket, of course. Look at this smoke ring. Look how amazingly juicy and fatty this is. And they give you a couple of test pieces here to make sure your brisket is to your liking. And this got a beautiful crust right here too. Nice layer of fat right above the smoke ring. Haven't been in Texas for a long time. I forgot the sensation you feel when you bite into a good Texas brisket. I don't even know if I'm sitting now. We're just kind of floating above this bench right now. This looks so good. These are some of the sauciest ribs I've encountered. Look how tender they are. By the way, the smoky flavor from the brisket just hit me. And it hit hard. Look at this. How amazingly, amazingly beautiful this is. Hitting a rack instead of just four in a pound. 100% one of the best decisions I've ever made in my food-loving life. What's so unique about this rib is that it's just amazingly peppery and tender. Oh my gosh. One of the most tender pork ribs I've ever had. And probably one of the best pork ribs I've ever had in Texas. It's like sucking on the most wondrous, porky, peppery lollipop. I'm gonna try some of these sauces. Really sour vinegar-based sauce. Love this. This is some kind of like fruity habanero sauce. I don't know whether because I've been away from Texas for so long. This is one of the best barbecues I've had in Texas. What a good place. Also, potato salad, amazing. Honestly, with this place here. And I've been to Franklin's and I've always said this. Like, if you're into trying all the top barbecue places, please do. Don't let what I say stop you or what anybody says stop you. But this is what I'm talking about. Like, I waited for about five hours at Franklin's. I don't think Franklin's is five hours wait better than what you're gonna find here. This is a 100% must-try barbecue place. Only thing I don't like right now is there's these flies. They're not even afraid of humans. Blatantly attacking your food right in front of you. I think like, I mean, I get it. Would I risk my life for a bite of this barbecue? I think I might. Ooh, look at this jalapeno cheese sausage. Sausage is good. I like the jalapeno cheddar one way better than the chipotle. Wow, the heat from the jalapeno cheddar though. Reminds me of my mom when I was a kid. It hurts you a little, but you still love it. But best thing here, 100% the ribs. This is really good. That just shows you how good the ribs are. I think it's just fantastic. Out of this world good. Oh, that's good. That's satisfying. Almost done. A little more to go. Luckily, our next drive is only about 30-40 minutes. If we try to drive long distance after something like this, I don't know, it'll go well. Would you drive here from Dallas just to eat this? Yeah. Two hours for a donut? Where'd you go for a donut? I don't remember, but we used to watch it on TV and then we'd like go. Now I see why I'm dating her. It's that dedication to food. First meal in San Antonio. I was told, come to San Antonio, you get a Puffy Taco. And apparently, this is where you go. Henry's Puffy Tacos. Let's check it out. It's actually this really nice eating area outside. First impression, people are so nice here. And I just realized I gave a very food network-y, travel channel kind of introduction. When you're in San Antonio, you must try Puffy Tacos. And the place to go is Henry's. Let's go check it out. That's my food network impression. Does this sound like one of those TV guys? Yeah. I don't know why. I think I've watched those shows too much. Here we go. Puffy Tacos. I like tacos. I like fluffy, you know, the comedian. Puffy Tacos. Whoa. This is the enchirito. This is like an enchilada burrito the size of Texas. Oh my goodness. Covered in cheese and sauce. Christine, you gotta lift this. This is about, I think, almost two pounds, I'd say. Right? This is heavy. Like a baby. Well, eventually, it will become a food baby. Puffy Taco number one. Okay, so I got basically one of each on the menu, except for the vegetarian options. So shredded chicken. It looks like beef asada. And Puffy Tacos are basically deep fried taco shells that are going to be fluffy and soft. And I'm thinking this is going to be absolutely delicious. This is pretty awesome. Sitting outside, country music's blasting. Fluffy Tacos are waiting. First take. It's super crispy and airy. Mine just completely crashed on me. It tastes like really nice sweet corn. Super airy pockets. I almost like the outer shell more than the filling itself. This is way better. I like it. I feel like the taco shell is way more interesting than like a typical tortilla. Crunch is fantastic. I still taste a lot of the sweet corn. I think like if you want a sweeter corn flavor, definitely the traditional tortilla is better. This is definitely more of an interesting texture. That's just sad. You have to eat them fast. Yeah, they definitely get soggy really quick. I mean, I feel like these kind of are kind of like soup dumplings. Like they'll definitely break on you. Oh, these are really good. The ground beef one. I think it's really, really good. I think that's my favorite one. The stuffing is super flavorful. And you get that nice burst of the sweet tomato. And the sauce soaks into these Puffy Tacos a lot better than traditional taco shells. I feel like if you like tacos, you'll like this. You know, when I was in Mexico, I tried a lot of tacos. Around my like two weeks over there, never had Puffy Tacos. It's almost like eating taco where the ingredients is wrapped with like an airy fried tortilla chip. I wish mine didn't just like collapse. I wish it didn't just fall apart like this. But the soggier ingredient you get, you definitely have the risk of it falling apart on the end. You know what though? Ever since we opened this enchilada, I kind of can't stop thinking about it. Oh, look at this. Are you intimidated by this? Because I'm, I feel a little intimidated by this. I feel like this either is gonna make me extremely happy, or my future self is gonna hate me for eating this. Like this looks like it's gonna be sitting inside me for a long, long time. So inside I got asada. And there's beans as well. And it's just a lot of dough. This is delicious. The filling is really, really tender. Let's open this thing up so you guys can see. Oh, look at this. Giant pieces of pork stuffed inside. Get this with the pork. Piping hot, tender, juicy pieces of meat. This is really good. I mean, this is really good. It's really fulfilling and satisfying. Dunk it into the salsa. As delicious as this is, and this is really delicious, this is gonna sit in your stomach for a bit. By a bit, I mean like a week or so. And also this is just kind of the food I like. It's messy. It's super aggressively flavored. It's just immensely satisfying. Like this will, once you eat this, you're not hungry anymore. You're good. You are satisfied. You're ready for bed. We need dessert here. Oh yeah, of course we're gonna get dessert. We're now civilized. I don't know why. Sunsets just look way better in Texas. All right, so the building I said was kind of spooky looking and haunted. Don't mind me. I think all buildings are spooky looking and haunted. This is actually the Museum of Art, and a lot of people recommended this dessert inside this restaurant, inside this museum, as one of the must-try desserts in San Antonio. That's why we're here. Restaurant's a little crowded, but as soon as you step outside, look at this. This is nice. So number one dessert offering in Sona San Antonio apparently is this. Wait, what is this? Nutella torte. And a chocolate ganache. Wow, all right. This is so pretty looking, right? It's not on a plate. It's still so pretty. So this is the chocolate ganache, right? Yeah, on top of the torte, and then that's the mousse. This is the mousse. So do I put this on top? It's not coming out. It's oh, oh, oh, oh. I kind of messed up the pretty smooth top though. Oh, it's hard. So basically, everyone's been raving about this. That's freaking amazing. Wow, that's good. I mean, talk about smooth. So chocolatey and so incredibly smooth. But it's like not too sweet, surprisingly, right? And it's dark chocolate. Yeah, it's not too sweet. It's not. You definitely need a drink with this though. Like I think hot tea would have been perfect with it. It's like a contrast because it's super thick on the bottom, but super light on top. Once you take a bite, it's like you're invaded by a chocolatey army in a good way. Oh, wow. You know, this thing melts in a couple of different ways. But as soon as it goes in your mouth, the top layer, the mousse, like the silk blanket coating evaporates. Then you get like a chocolatey comforter, if you will. Like a heavier blanket, you know what I mean? That covers your tongue again. So it's like a couple of different disappearing acts by chocolate in your mouth. And it's dark chocolate, like you said, so it's not so overly sweet. It's just perfect. I mean, this is really, really good. All right, I think we should have started with the tiramisu. I know, I think the bar is set too high. Yeah. Oh, already it's like not looking good for the tiramisu. But the way they made it seemed like really good. They dipped the ladyfingers in some kind of syrupy concoction. Is it a bit too alcoholic for you? This is a very, if you enjoy adult beverages, this will be a very good tiramisu for you. I mean, the flavor is good, but this is number one. Yeah, kudos to everybody who recommended it. And also, it's a really nice experience sitting here at a place that looks like, you know, it reminds me of Night at the Museum. Wow. Happy first day in San Antonio. Good fluffy tacos. Fantastic dessert. Bigger food day coming up tomorrow. I really do feel like I'm on a food network or something. But I do really do feel like I'm like hosting a TV show right now or something. Like, stay tuned after these messages. And we'll resume our eating tomorrow after these brief words from Toyota or something. I don't know. Good morning. Day two in San Antonio and starting a day off with empanadas. Fat empanadas. Fat tummy empanadas. Oh my gosh, I'm so excited about this. I think I'm just putting it out there. I think this might be the best thing we eat in San Antonio. Got a lot. Basically all their Mediterranean options. So this is so good looking. Each one stuffed to the brim. Piping hot fresh out of the oven. Oh, oh, the spicy beef. I'm seeing this. I'm smelling this. I'm already loving this flaky outside shell. Again, just the colors, the spices, the peppers, the chilies, the amount of juicy meat that's in this thing. This is one of the best empanadas I've ever had in my mouth. This is unbelievable. Here, try this. Wow. Right? First of all, the crust is so thin. This thing is like the entire Michelin man. Not doughy at all. And the beef is seasoned more than perfect. Spicy burns you in a good way. Flavorful. It's so juicy and meaty. I knew it. I knew this place is gonna be amazing. Sometimes you have a sixth sense about food. This is such a local spot. I've only tried one. I'm already gonna tell you guys. If you are ever in San Antonio, this is the place to be. Oh, oh my goodness. This is the pepperoni and cheese, I think. It's like an empanada pizza. Whatever they want to shove in these, it's gonna be delicious. Life doesn't get better than the moment you find such an iconically delicious spot in a city you've never been to before. These are the moments I look for. Oh my goodness. Another. Look at that. This is for sure the beef and potatoes. Spices. Big chunks of potatoes. Again, stuffed fully of meat. I mean, this can't be stuffed any more than it already is. It's gonna pop. Oh my gosh. My love for this has no bounds. Especially with a little bit of the salsa. This is a gem of a place. I don't want to leave. Can we just not go anywhere else? Do they just stay here until we are completely satisfied? Fill our stomachs with empanadas? I mean, I'm gonna miss this place. This is already a place I'm gonna miss when I leave. I think this is the olive. Oh, the original beef and olive. I know you don't like olives. This is, you gotta try this. Olives have never been put into better use. Than they have in this empanada. Guys, honestly, this is unbelievable. Beef and cheese empanada. Everything is mind-blowing. Everything. This is the dulce de leche. So good. Oh, this is guava and cheese. This is really strong. It's so good. Favorite savory one. Definitely the spicy beef. And the dulce is my favorite dessert one. What do you like? I like the beef and potatoes. Beef and potatoes? I don't think they should call these things empanadas anymore. They should call them empa-ita-latas. Empa-latas? Not nada, but lata. Stupid, I know. Look at this tiny little place. Cory Boy's Barbecue. Wow, this is cute. Didn't really know what to expect from a place called Cory Boy's Barbecue. Look at this. Fatty brisket, soaked in green curry, it looks like. Potatoes, cilantro, over rice. And this is a side of chili noodles with chili and garlic on top. Slightly salty, but good. I'm really interested in this. I've never seen something like this before. This is like a mix of Texas and Thailand. Wow, this is really good. I'll be honest, when I first opened it, I kind of looked at the... This is good. Wow. And put some of their chili oil on top of this. It needs it because it's so milky and creamy. So it's basically creamy coconutty curry and the brisket is melt in your mouth tender. This is the ultimate Texas and Thailand combo. Oh, yeah. Oh, this is incredible. I can't believe how good this is. You gotta try this. Right? This is delicious. Who knew this flavor, these two... I mean, now you try, you're like, yeah, this combo definitely works. Yeah, I was going to question your choice, but good choice. Never question my food choice. No, like it looks like a barbie house. Good food comes out of barbie houses. I mean, I've tried a lot of fusion dishes before. I never thought a curry dish with a brisket would ever be this good. And it is just spectacular. We're having a good food day so far today. Try that potato too. But this, I'm going to put this on the must try list when you come to San Antonio. This city is full of surprises. Of course, the trip to San Antonio would not be complete without visiting the Alamo. I've never been here before. Oh, there it is. You can go in, but they don't allow pictures or videos, so couldn't really film anything or take any photos. So I think maybe a couple more places to eat in San Antonio, then time to go home. Wow, this looks smoky and delicious. Last meal here in San Antonio. There's a ton of grilled chicken places. Pollo Asado. Wow, this smells good. I want to put water here or go to the restaurant. Oh, he's cooking everything. Oh wow, this looks supremely delicious. Okay, this is like beans soup with chicharron inside. Oh, there's a lot. Chicharron, there's sausage in here too. I'm not into beans, I'm really not. This is flipping delicious. Wow, the chicharron especially. What a beautiful touch. This thing just soaks up all that great broth. That is so flavorful. And this is the toad chicken. Let's squeeze a lime. Oh, it's a whole roasted onion in here. Well, don't hide. Here, come on out. This looks incredible. This actually looks so tender and smoky, and I love the char on this. Oh, it's so juicy. Just the most incredibly juicy, smoky, succulent piece of meat. And you're supposed to eat some of this sauce. Even better. And the sauce, it's a little citrusy, creamy. Try a piece of this, this roasted onion. That's so sweet and nice, right? It's almost like candy. I love the char. Every so often you bite into a piece, a little crispy, got a little bitterness to it. Amazing. Look at that marinade just steeping through the skin. This is an awesome last bite of food before leaving San Antonio. I was trying to really speed eat over there because as soon as we came in, like the place started filling up as it should because it's amazing. I think that's the last meal in the San Antonio series. Day and a half spent here. A lot of great places. What was your favorite place? The empanadas. This was like a close second. Really? Empanadas are amazing. That would be the ultimate meal. Or they could team up and put this chicken inside the empanada. Maybe think about that. I really like the curry brisket. Oh yeah, I forgot about that. That was so good. That was just, maybe that was so unexpectedly good. That's why it kind of cut us off. But those three things, I think the best thing we had in San Antonio. Oh, that dessert. Yeah. It's really good. So basically everything we had was pretty good here. Unfortunately, gotta head back. More unfortunately, I think I'm gonna have to be driving in this crazy thunderstormy. Texas thunderstorms are no joke. Like hail would just come raining down. All right, let's get to driving. Ah, Bucky's. Freshly made brisket. I never thought I'd be back here so soon. This is my favorite thing at Bucky's. The large pastrami sandwich on pretzel roll. Stacked high with cheese and pastrami and jalapenos. Take the first bite. How good is that? I don't feel like I enjoy this as much as I do. I still have like half a chicken in my stomach. It's so good. Crown jewel of the Bucky's sandwich collection. For sure. Also, I got a Bucky's cinnamon roll. Microwaved so it's nice and melty. Gooey soft cinnamon roll. That is so good. Bucky's my favorite cinnamon roll. Inexpensive, delicious cinnamon roll. I put the cinnamon roll above against anybody's cinnamon roll. And finally, a sausage and cheese jalapeno kolache. It's okay. Not nearly as good as the pastrami sandwich, which Christine is devouring at this moment. How good is that? It's really good. Is that one of the best pastrami sandwiches you've had? From a gas station? I know. Kolache? It actually tastes better eating it out here. Right? I don't think I've ever gotten gas in my life where I'm like, huh, should I feed my car and myself at the same place? That's never come up. Now, it comes up all the time. You can take a break from your pastrami sandwich and try the cinnamon roll. I want to get your audio reaction. Christine still doesn't want to be on camera yet. Wow. How good is that? So good. Right? And before this, you were complaining about cinnamon rolls. Well, yeah, because usually they're so sweet and kind of tough to bite. Not this. Is this the best one you've had in your life? Like, I love that cinnamon roll. I stand by that cinnamon roll. All right, guys. Thank you all so much for watching. Until we eat again, see you later.