What you see is what you get at the Spicewood barbecue joint. The giant pit that greets you when you enter is full of succulent, fatty, and delightfully seasoned brisket. Or perhaps it’s the enormous pork chops, jalapeno-cheese sausages, or tender pork ribs that are more appealing. Whatever you order, pick up a few sides to go with it: a heaping serving of spicy corn, tater tot casserole, and the off-menu Coca-Cola cake. Takeout orders can be placed in person; there are indoor dine-in areas.

Even though the Spicewood restaurant’s sibling spot, fine-dining destination Apis, is closed permanently, the pizzeria is still open on the six-acre property backed by the Pedernales River. The focus is wood-fired Neapolitan pizza with toppings such as brisket-bacon meatballs, loads of vegetables, melty cheeses, and more. Accompanying the pies are nice plates like smoked okra, soups, pastas, and sandwiches. Takeout orders can be placed online; there are indoor and outdoor dine-in services.

On top of cuisine heavily influenced by Austin’s neighbors to the south, the Texas Hill Country has an overlay of German heritage thanks to the Old World immigrants who settled in this region in the mid-1800s. Get a taste of that Central Texas-German cuisine at this Fredericksburg restaurant, which boasts Ingrid Hohmann, a European-trained chef known for cooking up traditional German recipes like schnitzels, bratwursts, and made-from-scratch strudels and Black Forest cake. There are indoor dine-in services.

Austin chef Jesse Griffiths of Dai Due and San Antonio chef Joshua Flohr-Crumpton are behind this Texas game meats food truck parked at Driftwood distillery Desert Doo. The menu is rooted in Southern and Central Texas, which means hamburguesas made with antelope-bacon patties, fried quail sandwiches, and sweet potato waffle fries. Takeout orders can be placed online or in person; there are indoor and outdoor dine-in areas.

The social hub on the main square of the historic town of Blanco (a city featured in the Coen Brothers’s True Grit remake), the cafe satisfies its patrons with everything from burgers on jalapeno sourdough buns to wraps filled with roasted red pepper hummus and kalamata olives. Take time to browse through the adjacent gift shop, which sells pottery and products from the Redbud owners Jon and Jan Brieger’s family lavender farm. Takeout orders can be placed online or over the phone; there are indoor and outdoor dine-in services.

In the historic district of New Braunfels, the best thing to do after two-stepping at the state's oldest dance hall Gruene Hall is to do nothing at all while sitting on the porch overlooking the banks of the Guadalupe River. Stop in at the restaurant and pull up a bench on the open-air patio for great wings, quesadillas, chicken-fried steak, and a cold beer. There are indoor and outdoor dine-in services.

The revitalized longtime German beer hall and restaurant in New Braunfels serves up plentiful draft beers, schnitzels, and sandwiches in its lively mostly alfresco space. There are indoor and outdoor dine-in areas.

There must be a wormhole in Utopia because this no-frills cafe recalls a rustic time. Housed in a historic building (built sometime before 1904), the place has been serving comfort food since 1986. An expansive menu has everything from patty melts on Texas toast to cheese enchiladas to big slices of fudge pecan pie. Takeout orders can be placed in person; there are indoor and outdoor dine-in areas.