Hobbits in Houston

No, I did not eat hobbits for dinner. I ate a cheeseburger and fries made by hobbits, with a beer from the local St. Arnold's brewery.

The Hobbit Cafe has been around since the mid-70s, in an old house tucked behind some trees just off of one of the city's main thoroughfares. Their menu is part hippie relic, with smoothies and brown rice, and part tasty burger joint. I had a buffalo burger with cheese and onions, and seasoned fries. It was slightly better than mediocre. My 'buffalo' tasted quite a lot like beef, was overcooked, and placed in a multigrain bun- par for the course here, but does anybody really want a grainy bun with their cheeseburger? The seasoned fries were nice, particularly dipped in Tabasco.

St. Arnold's is, as far as my uneducated and unresearched self knows, the only local brewery in Houston. They give tours of their facility on Saturdays with generous free samples, I'm told, but I have not yet visited because I've also heard there is no A/C. They make a mean Christmas Ale, and a nice summer ale, Lawnmower Ale. All of their beers are rarely available outside the state. I'd never had their Amber Ale before, so I went for that one. It was decent, if a little hoppy for my tastes.