CLOSED Big Country Wraps--Middle Eastern food on a budget and vegans rejoice!

Big Country Wraps is the newest entry for Middle Eastern food in Abilene. The seating area is fairly small so you may want to get your's as take-out. I like that it is close to my house. When you live in the northwest part of town, dining choices in the area are primarily fast food chains. It is refreshing to have another choice.

Menu board

Falafel pita with desi fries.

I had heard about Big Country wraps from a friend so I talked the hubby into trying it for dinner. He ordered the beef shawarma pita and I had the falafel wrap. We both added fries and drink for $3.00 extra. The fries are seasoned with a "desi" spice that my husband loved. I wish the fries had been hot when they came out but we did get two extra falafels for free on the side because they forgot my husband's fries and put them on the plate instead. The fries were brought out after we pointed out the mistake. He enjoyed his wrap a lot and said the flavor was good. My falafel wrap was tasty but could have used one more falafel on the pita. It came with two of them, lettuce, onion and pickle.

There are several vegetarian/vegan options which can be difficult to find in restaurants in Abilene. The falafel, pakora, and somosas (I believe) are made without animal products. There is also hummus served with pita bread and the fries as well.

Service was attentive and friendly. They were very patient answering any questions we had about the food. The place was nice and clean. There were only two people working (the owners--brothers I believe) and several folks in the restaurant so it took a while for the food to come out but we were not in a hurry. Our neighbors had the chicken bowl dish and it looked very tempting. Prices were reasonable.

Pistacho baklava--yum!

Now my favorite part--pistachio baklava! I'm not a fan of walnuts but have made exception in the past for regular baklava but now that I can get it with pistachios, I won't go back to walnuts.

We will return to try some other items and we heard they deliver too!

3514 N 1st St, Abilene, TX 79603

(325) 701-9997

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/BIG-Country-Wraps/1472919679615591

Casa Herrera--An Abilene Institution

I have long lamented the lack of really top shelf Mexican or Tex-Mex food in Abilene. We have many adequate places and some have a few dishes that stand out but there isn't a place that I would tell the world was the best. Lots of people pick Casa Herrera as there favorite spot in Abilene to quell a quesadilla craving. It has been in its current location by the Mall of Abilene for many years and before that it was located in Burro Alley (we are talking about 25 years ago) on S. 1st so it truly is one of the longest lasting places in town. Casa Herrera is locally owned so I give them points for that because the other most popular Mexican food in town is a chain called Abuelo's.

Last Friday night was date night for me and the mister. We were craving some Mexican food so we decided to go to Casa Herrera as we hadn't had dinner there as a couple before. I ordered the deluxe nachos and he had a carne guisada (beef chunks in a flavorful gravy) plate that came with beans, rice and flour tortillas. The meal started with complimentary chips and hot sauce. The hot sauce is quite spicy and has the consistency of taco sauce rather than a chunky salsa, as if you mixed tomato sauce and Tabasco sauce together. The chips came unsalted and were reasonably fresh though they had an aftertaste that was a bit odd. My husband really enjoyed his carne guisada and I liked the nachos with the lettuce and tomato though the meat was under-spiced. The meals ran about $7-8 each...not overpriced for what you get though the portions were not huge. The food is much like your average taqueria but the surroundings are classier and the service is better. As you read other online reviews of the restaurant you will find that people tend to either love it or hate it.

Deluxe Nachos

Casa Herrera also serves a weekday and Sunday lunch buffet that people really seem to enjoy.  The lines are long to get in during those times and on Friday and Saturday nights. I have found the buffet to be rather hit or miss. Buffets just tend to be unimpressive in my book, everything gets soggy under the heat lamps.

Our server was very attentive and professional. We could tell that he had been working in the business for years and he was great at anticipating our needs. He asked if I needed jalapenos for my nachos before I had a chance to request them, kept our glasses topped off and promptly took away the dirty dishes. This fact alone helps to elevate Casa Herrera above a lot of the other Mexican restaurants in town.

4109 Ridgemont Dr, Abilene, TX 79606
(325) 692-7065
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Casa-Herrera-Mexican-Restaurant/164570176924603

CLOSED Sweet Meat Bar-B-Q

Sweet Meat Bar-B-Q (what a name) is one of two new entries in Abilene serving your barbecued meat favorites. The other is Stillwater Barbeque which is only open for lunch and on the opposite side of town from where I work so I haven't had time to try it.  Sweet Meat is located in the old Noodle House/Crystal's Pizza location on S. 1st.  Recently, I went there to celebrate a birthday with some friends.

For an appetizer we got the chicken-fried bacon with gravy. Lot of pepper in the breading and gravy and it was more like Canadian bacon than regular bacon. If it was regular bacon it would have been under-cooked. Flavor was good, if over peppered, but a bit expensive at $6.99.

I ordered my favorite thing to get at a BBQ place--a chopped brisket sandwich--served with homemade fries. I went with their regular sauce instead of the spicy one. At $8.99, I was expecting a generous-sized sandwich and what came out wasn't too terribly big. Average at best. The flavor the brisket was pretty good, sweet and smokey, but the meat was kind of dry and the sandwich wasn't hot, neither were the fries.

Picture from Sweet Meat's Facebook page--but this is how mine looked too.

Others at the table ordered the sliced brisket & sausage plate, the brisket/sausage sandwich, a hamburger, and a sliced brisket plate. Food being lukewarm was a problem on everything but the fried bacon. It was right out of the fryer.  Wait time on the food was too long and though the service was friendly, it needed some polish. Our split check had to be calculated and then recalculated twice.

With the long-standing barbecue places in town, I just don't know that this place will be able to stand up to the competition. I plan to give them another shot soon as they have some good lunch specials but if they can't get it to me nice and hot, I'll be headed back to my usual standbys for brisket.

2201 S. 1st St.
Abilene, TX 79605
325-232-6766
http://sweetmeatbar-b-q.com/
FB https://www.facebook.com/SweetMeatBarbecue/timeline