I drive the Vegas - Austin commute at least once a year, and I've always dreaded the distance…read morebetween Albuquerque and Austin... a long boring stretch with no interesting stops in between to give my weary body a break. I usually avoid going through Abilene but when I saw Grain Theory pop up on an online search, I was sufficiently hungry and needing a rest so I decided to take a different route and headed to downtown Abilene. I was pleasantly surprised at the cute downtown, even more excited to find a fashionable brewery with good food and chill vibes after a long day of driving. I had dinner in the outdoor area as the sun set, and this was a lovely way wrap my day.

I will forever be amazed by cool places, especially when they appear in unexpected cities like…read moreAbilene. Located on the second story of a beautiful building in downtown Abilene sits Grain Theory, a brewpub and coffee shop towering over the city. It is a mixed indoor-outdoor space with plenty of shaded outdoor and cooled indoor seating. Looking at their tap list, my girlfriend and I were impressed by their unique beers to try. I started with the Strawberry Peach Tonic (Fruited Hard Seltzer) and she had a Bella Rose (Rosé IPA). Both were served in cool glasses, with mine being tall and skinny and hers being almost like a wine glass. Shocking to nobody, mine was quite fruity while her Rosé IPA was hoppy with an underlying rosé flavor. Next, I ordered their Oktoberfest (German Märzen) and she had their Season's End (Belgian Dubbel). She described her drink as tasting like a Biscoff cookie. My Oktoberfest was quite malty, and I was a big fan. To close, we both ordered their Luscent (Belgian Table Beer) because small beers are back in fashion and I wanted to try it. It was obviously very light but still had a good flavor that was very bready. Nice and easy to close out our drinks with. They also have food and coffee that we didn't try, but the food looked sensational from what we saw others eating. They also have plenty of board games and card games to play while you're at the brewery and many beers available to take to-go. My only minor complaint is the lack of TVs in the brewery. Maybe it's a purposeful decision, but Texas Tech was playing football, and it would be a great place to watch the game. The bartenders are very friendly and willing to let you try and sample as many beers as you need to make your decision. Grain Theory feels like the kind of place every small Texas city wishes it had. I am very excited to come back here and try more beers, especially with how excellent the space is. RIYL: Cool-shaped beer glasses or a rooftop bar

Wow, this place really impressed us. Trendy design and great food -- I spent 10 years in Abilene…read moreback in the 80s, and a spot like the Cork & Pig was not what I expected to find here. My wife had the asian salad, and she says it was the best she'd ever had. I had the fish tacos with mac and cheese, and both were unusually flavorful and had a great texture (I rarely eat much mac and cheese, but I finished all of this). Service was good, friendly and helpful. I appreciated the decor and general vibe of the place, inside and out, including the music. My only quibble might be that parking was a bit tighter than expected, but not a problem. Great place overall, and we were discussing how we might find an excuse to return, plus wishing a branch would open closer to Houston.

Slow wait staff. Limited brunch menu and no substitutions. Example flour tortillas instead of…read morecorn. Same goes for the sandwich bread. Our food was cold. Eggs must have been sitting for awhile and were cold as could be. Bacon was not cooked and looked like it barely saw the grill.. There are better options for brunch. Won't be back!

Amazing customer service every time. They'll help you and explain everything. Excellent quality,…read moreand very clean and organized. We plan all our trips to Abilene to include this stop.

Daughters and I went for lunch the other weekend. Food was fine. Have had better. Have had worse. I…read morehad the chicken salad sandwich. She had the salad version. The big turn off was the pushy sales pitch and push to "open a tab" to purchase olive oil. Was there for lunch not to shop.

I can't think of anything bad to say about Texas Flaming Grill. They definitely have one of the…read morebest hamburgers in town, and I absolutely love their Philly cheesesteaks. My neighbor, Susan, absolutely loves hamburgers, so I took her to Flaming Grill for the first time last night. She loved it. And, I noticed something new. Their french fries are absolutely fantastic! I'm really picky about my french fries, and these might be the best in town. They have some specialty burgers that will knock your socks off! You really need to give them a try!

Great burger. Great chili cheese tots. Amazing. Love the patties cooked to order. Just a good…read moreclassic bacon cheeseburger.

The nachos were better than I expected. The wings were good and the fries and ranch are awesome!…read moreIt's a lively crowd having a good time watching sports on the abundant TV's they have. They also have music on a digital jukebox. I sat at the bar and the Bartender, Nita C, is a rockstar!! She was slammed all night and somehow was able to keep up and turn out fantastic drinks.

So many people have told me about the great food here. Mike and I tried lunch. As usual, judge them…read moreby the chicken fried steak. Don't forget the extra gravy! It only took one bite to tell this was a frozen patty. I was disappointed, but only a little. It was still a pretty good chicken fry. I will definitely try something else next time, cause too many people have raved about this place. Staff was super nice, and the mayor was at the next table, so we talked a minute. See you next time!

For starters the menu is great, there's a lot to choose from and the pictures online make it hard…read moreto choose because everything looks amazing! Since I was undecided, I asked our waitress what she'd recommend and she didn't disappoint. I got the stuffed avocado with chicken salad and wow, the flavors between the chicken salad and hot sauce on top were perfectly balanced 8/10. I also enjoyed the prickly pear lemonade, it was so fresh for the hot summer days. Definitely a nice spot for lunch or even for dinner, plus the service was so good. Everything came out quick and our server was very attentive, even while bartending. Highly recommend and I'm definitely going back to try the dinner menu.

Everything tasted wonderful!! Love the cheese fondue. Super creamy and yummy with the shrimp and…read morelump crab. Came here for a work dinner and truly enjoyed the food as well as the hospitality. The staff were super friendly!! We will definitely come back.

Great place, love the frozen yogurt but wish they had to go lids for their mixer cups. It would be…read moreso helpful for the drive home.

Sooo good!! Love the milkshake & the brownie sundae but the burger! Yummy! The staff was so sweet…read moreand helpful! The dining room kinda just normal with enough seating with both booths & tables. Only complaint was it was the tables were dirty. And the fountain area need cleaning as well. Def recommend tho!

We went to Abilene for a night and stopped at The Taylor County Taphouse since this place was…read morerecommended by locals on various social media. Ambiance: Bar/pub vibes - heavy wood decor. Casual. We sat at the bar and our bartender was amazing! He was funny and attentive despite being very busy! Service: The restaurant was so busy with diners even at 8:30 PM on a Saturday evening. I did not expect it to be this busy in my head. My husband and I sat at the bar since that was open seating and there were no sit down tables available inside or on the patio. The restaurant will add you to the waitlist if you'd like! Food: My husband and I shared the deviled eggs appetizer, and "the burger" with grilled jalapeños and pepper jack cheese. The deviled wggs (satan's huevos) were good, and spicy because we chose the "hellfire" option. The burger was huge! I'm glad my husband I split it because there was no way I'd finish that burger on my own! We both left content and not stuffed.

My wife and I came here on a Saturday early afternoon. We were sat and handed brunch menus which…read moredidn't have the Philly cheese steak on it. We looked at the menu online prior to coming and knew that we both wanted to try the cheese steak, so this was a bit of a bummer. They waitress who was very attentive told us that we can't order from the full menu for another 30 minutes so we decided to wait rather than leave. Listen, I get it the idea of having a different menu for brunch, but why not post it on your website and state the specific times for each menu? Also, what difference does 30 minutes make? They couldn't fire up the grill 30 minutes early? It wasn't very busy. Anyways, now for the good part: When we were finally allowed to order our sandwiches they were absolutely amazing. The steak was high quality and the gooey cheese had a ton of flavor. What wasn't amazing however was the bill. $20 for a sandwich and a small portion of fries in Abilene is absolute insanity. What's even crazier is we were charged extra for a side of ranch! I understand you get what you pay for, and there's no arguing the quality of the sandwich was top notch, but at the end of the day it's still just a sandwich. If you're good with dropping nearly $60 (including tip) on lunch, then this is your spot. For me, I'll take my business elsewhere.

I recently stopped by The Biscuit Bar for brunch, and it did not disappoint. First off, the…read morelocation is beautiful--set in a charming part of town with outdoor seating overlooking a lake, complete with fountains and a walking trail. I tried both the Monte Cristo and the Philly biscuit sandwiches, and they were fantastic. Especially the Monte Cristo with the sweet and savory balance. Great food, great atmosphere. I'll definitely be back to try more of the menu

Oh my goodness what can I even say. The atmosphere was so relaxing and the natural sunlight was…read moregorgeous, there amount of space is incredible on top of the back patio with even more room. The service was amazing, we were greeted as soon as we walked in and immediately taken care of with no wait, as well as bid a fond farewell on the way out. The food was semi quick and absolutely delicious, the biscuits were so fresh and re-freshing. As a first time try I cannot wait to go back!

We arrived at around 6:30 on a Saturday and were seated just a little after 7:00, which I thought…read morewas pretty good. I did later notice 9 empty tables and people still waiting, so something didn't add up unless they were hurting for employees. Wasn't my business and we were there to enjoy a meal with our youngest granddaughter. Our server was at the table in a reasonable amount of time and we placed drink orders. Their drink came very quickly and they brought a water since my margarita wasn't ready yet. We ordered some queso to enjoy with the chips and salsa. It came out after a bit and we were having a good visit. The server came back by and refilled our granddaughter's drink. After a bit we had eaten most of the chips and still no margarita. I mentioned it and she refilled the chips and said she would check on the drink. It finally came maybe 5 minutes later, shortly before our food started coming out. Margaritas aren't like red wine. The glass out to be filled to just below the salt and not an inch below the rim. But, it was at least finally there. My wife's fajitas were there, our granddaughter's burrito was there, my rice and beans were there - but my quesadilla wasn't, so i mentioned it to the person that had brought our food. She acknowledged that and left. Everyone else was finished with their food and I had finished most of my rice and beans before I could flag down our server and mention that they had not brought my meal and I had mentioned it when they brought everyone else's food. She acted a bit surprised almost like she didnt remember me even ordering, but clearly my rice and beans were there, just not the entree. She left and didn't come back to update us at all until she showed up with a plate of something - not a quesadilla. It was poorly made tacos with chicken and a few sprinkles of unmelted cheese. When i mentioned it she claimed that was the way they made their quesadillas. I've had the chicken fajita quesadillas at Chuy's before and that's not the way they were made. If they had bern, then I certainly would not have ordered them again. This Chuy's is relatively new, but they have been open more than long enough to have their act together. This is very disappointing service and even more disappointing food. My assessment of this Chuy's and of Chuy's in general are that they are pretty much hit and miss. You might have a great visit, then a couple bad visits. That's not a way to build a successful business. Chuy's was recently bought by Darden Restaurants. They need to figure it out pretty quickly or Darden will close their doors. I hope they get it together; but i will likely be without my business.

Finally a good clean place for texmex New Mexico style food. The creamy jalepeno and salsa Fresca…read moreis a great start....and the queso is amazing. Employees go above and beyond. Get the boom boom sauce made with hatch green Chiles....if you can handle the over the top flavor. Absolutely love Chuys....best of the best