Growing up in North Texas, I often felt like we missed out on the cute little day trips of the Hill Country — but little did I know, just about an hour outside of Fort Worth is a little German town with ALL the meat-feels — a carnivorous kingdom, if you will. So of course, I had to check out just what I’d been missing!
To truly understand my excitement about this meaty discovery, you’ve got to understand that my family’s idea of a good time is grillin’ up meats on a summer night or waiting two hours in freezing weather to try out a new BBQ joint. So to celebrate my dad’s birthday, we hopped in the car for a little meat-trippin’.
As we drove out past Denton to our meaty destination of Muenster, TX, we passed what’s probably considered the best town in Texas by most people — Lindsay, TX (ok, I might be a little biased…)
They spelled it wrong — pretty sure it’s spelled LINSEY– but I’ll let it slide because who hasn’t dreamed of seeing their name on a water tower? 😉
The farther we got from I-35, the more it seemed like we were leaving Texas altogether for the quaint German countryside. It was an eclectic mix of wide open hay fields and cute little Bavarian-style shops and bakeries.
When we happened upon the crown jewel of Muenster, Fischer’s Meat Market, I was pretty convinced we were actually in Rothenburg. It looked like a castle straight out of a fairy tale, complete with a working Glockenspiel that played music with a scene of dancing milk maids and kings every hour.
However, instead of princesses and knights, this castle was home to a Texas-sized meat market. And instead of stained glass and sparkling jewels, the walls of this palace were adorned with tiers of hand-stuffed sausages. My kind of kingdom!
Along with over a dozen varieties of sausage, there were also freezers stuffed with fresh cut meats, including treasures like peppered bacon, pork chops and sirloin. Yet the beauty of this carnivorous palace didn’t stop there — we also found fridges overflowing with cheeses — both smoked and un-smoked. (If you were hoping to find some muenster cheese in Muenster, you’re in luck!)
Of course, we bought just about everything. Our plentiful bounty of meats was enough to start our own BBQ joint.
Afterwards, we decided to do as the Bavarians do in this little German-burg. We headed down the street to Rohmer’s Restaurant, a hometown diner that’s been serving up authentic German cuisine since 1953. My plate was piled high with wiener schnitzel, bratwurst, German potato salad and sauerkraut. Truly delicious!
Though we were leaving Muenster, our German adventure wasn’t quite over. On the way back to Fort Worth, we stopped at Rumpy’s in Gainesville, a gas station bakery with surprisingly delicious authentic German pastries that are handmade right in the shop! We filled up a cart with streudels, danishes and kolaches.
With no room left in our car for anymore sweets, treats or meats, we knew it was time to say, “guten Tag” to this little German burg — but we knew we’d be back for more very soon!