Robert Reid, a featured digital reporter for National Geographic Travel, recently paid a visit to Downtown New Braunfels stopping by some of our favorite stomps like, the Train Museum, the Sophienburg Museum and Archives, and The Phoenix Saloon for a true bowl of Texas chili.
Texas has had a long love affair with chili; they even have their own variety. I’ve never had it.
Inside the Phoenix, a family sits by the bar (where 31 beers are on tap) eating burgers as a Motorhead song plays. The menu announces that they serve chili. I notice beans cost extra. “Yeah, beans,” the bartender explains kindly, “are sort of a northern thing.”
I go bean-free, and the stuff is so spicy I have to alternate between the chili and bites from an oversize slice of cornbread. Upon seeing my reaction, the bartender offers to bring me a side of sour cream. “That usually cuts the spice,” she says.
Indeed, it does. Maybe Robert should’ve gone with the “single shot” version. Heck, maybe he did. 😉
Read Robert’s full report on his romp around New Braunfels, here.
