This is a page to share information with fellow birders about places that help make a birding trip more interesting and enjoyable. Tips can be about any place in Texas. If you have a tip to share, please send it to Winnie Burkett. Positive comments only, please!

Current regions: Upper Texas Coast, Coastal Bend, South Texas, Panhandle

Upper Texas Coast

Bolivar Peninsula

• Bolivar Loop: When I manage to make the Bolivar loop I always stop at DJ's Country store at I-10 and Hwy 61 and get a barbeque sandwich. That one is hard to beat especially in that area; better be hungry though. - Fred Collins 2/2005
• Crystal Beach: Stingaree Restaurant on the Intracoastal Waterway in Crystal Beach specializes in seafood. Bring your binoculars - it is fun to watch the birds following the barges. - Winnie Burkett 1/2007
• Crystal Beach: Mama Theresa's Italian Restaurant on Hwy 87 in Crystal Beach is a great place for a pizza. - Winnie Burkett 1/2007
• High Island: St Mathew's Methodist Church on Weeks Street sells barbecue lunches every Saturday in April. Lunch is served from 11 AM until the food is gone. - Winnie Burkett 1/2007
• Port Bolivar: La Playita restaurant in Port Bolivar (meeting place for the Bolivar Bird Count). It is located on the corner of 7th St (Loop 108) and Madison Ave. They have great Mexican food and cheeseburgers also. They have quite a few choices to choose from. - Johnnie Greene 7/2006
• Port Bolivar: The bathrooms in Galveston County's Ft Travis Park in Port Bolivar are often a good place to stop. - Winnie Burkett 2/2005
• Rollover Pass: North End Bait and Tackle and Fisherman’s Grill on the south side of Rollover Pass on the bay is a good place to pick up a hamburger and fries to eat by the pass. - Winnie Burkett 1/2007
• Sabine Pass: Olde Tyme Diner in Sabine Pass makes an excellent break during a birding trip to The Willows at Sea Rim Park, Sabine Woods and McFaddin NWR. The diner is on TX 87 heading towards Sabine Woods, near the junction of TX 82 and TX 87. It is a small, very friendly place (capacity about 68 people) serving such dishes as salads, hamburgers, chicken fried steak, meatloaf, shrimp and fish. The diner has an interesting history. The building dates back to 1938 and is reputed to be haunted by a resident ghost named Joe. He supposedly is dressed in a French military uniform and likes to play tricks on the employees and star-gaze. - Johnnie Greene 9/2006
• Smith Point: B & B Restaurant in half of the little store at the main intersection of downtown Smith Point. People going to Smith Point and the hawk watch have sometimes felt that they were at the end of the world in that there really was no place to eat or relax within 30 miles or more. Civilization has arrived with the opening of the B&B It actually has good food and outstanding hamburgers, fried shrimp and oyster sandwiches etc. You can call from the hawk watch tower, wait a couple of minutes and your lunch is waiting for you to pick up and dine with the hawks. No hawks have snatched food yet but there is always a first time. Vultures still want to use the tower so you could hold the last of a sandwich up like you do for gulls on the ferry. Other good food also if you want to sit down in AC to recover from sunstroke at the tower. It's open 11-2 and 6-9. Call ahead at 409-355-2556. BE sure and get several napkins and put your binoculars aside as the sandwiches do drip. - Joseph Kennedy 9/2007

Katy Prairie

• Texas Country Kitchen: Carolyn's Country Kitchen has reopened on the Katy Prairie under new management and with a new name. North of Brookshire at 37470 FM 529 (between 362 and 359). Telephone: 979-921-0198. Great location out in the country near various birdy areas. Good home cookin (chicken-fried steak, etc.) - John Berner 11/2007
• Waller County Line Bar-B-Que: Found at the intersection of Hwy. 290 and FM 362, this is a great place for fresh pit barbeque. On my first visit, I had the chicken plate; the lady serving behind the counter said it was really good that day, and she was right -- I’d definitely get that again. I’ve had sliced beef barbeque 2 or 3 times, and it was very lean -- some of the best I’ve had. Sauces: I prefer what they call their "spicy sauce," but it’s not very spicy at all -- more tangy than spicy. Their "sweet sauce" lives up to its name -- it’s way too sweet for me, and I have a sweet tooth. I hear they serve country breakfasts as well, but I haven’t sampled that fare. - Bob Honig 11/2006

Coastal Bend

• Padre Island: I recommend Blackbeard's on Padre Island. - Scarlet Colley 2/2005

South Texas

• San Ygnacio:  There is a restaurant at the corner of Washington and HWY 83; it closes early. There is also a Nana's Burger Stand next to the Post Office on 83. There, I recommend the Piggy and they are opened from 11:00 on. - Joel Ruiz, 2/2005
• Port Isabel: For on the water dining, Pirate's Landing in Port Isabel is good. - Scarlet Colley 2/2005
• McAllen:  We had a great dinner in McAllen at The Blue Onion II, located on Dove Boulevard in the north central part of town. Excellent food, beer and wine served. Go right up Tenth Street to Dove Blvd, turn right and go into the Shopping Mall. The restaurant is on the right. Not sure of the hours but closes about 9 PM. - Deb Howard, West Newton, MA, 2/2005
• Falfurrias: For anyone as far west as Falfurrias on the way to the Valley by the 281 route, Strickland's Restaurant has excellent Bar B Q. - Georgina Schwartz 2/2005

Panhandle

• Canadian is worth posting on the board as this is one of the best days of birding in the state and money well spent. Contact info: Canadian Chamber of Commerce/Texas Prairie Rivers Assoc. - Jeff Mundy 2/2005