#27. The Hill Top Café near Fredericksburg

It might not look like it from the outside, but the Hill Top cafe north of Fredericksburg is a first-class restaurant that features Louisiana, Greek and Hill Country cooking and some of the most authentic blues music you’ll ever hear. Johnny Nicholas and Brenda Schlaudt (husband/wife team) opened the Hill Top back in the 80’s. The Greek specialties reflect Johnny’s heritage, the Louisiana dishes reflect Brenda’s roots in Port Arthur. The live “blues” music comes from Johnny’s days as a well-known blues performer.


The café is actually an old gas station that has been transformed to be a diamond in the Texas Hill Country. The Hill Top is a true “destination” experience. Many folks actually plan trips to Fburg for the primary purpose of dining at the Hill Top and then to enjoy everything else that Fburg has to offer.

You’ll find the Hill Top on Highway 87, ten miles north of Fburg. It’s a popular place, so for weekend evening meals you’ll need to make reservations several days in advance. An evening at the Hill Top is an experience in itself. I like to say “If you haven’t taken her to the Hill Top, you don’t deserve her!”.

The evening fare includes fresh salads, fried shrimp, Greek tenderloin, flounder, pork chops, crab cakes, and chicken fried steak (plus music!!). And it’s a sin not to taste the Hill Top’s gumbo, fried oysters and homemade pies. Lunch at the Hill Top offers juicy burgers, poor boys, sandwiches, boudin, gumbo, and of course, gyros.

The Hill Top is open Tuesday through Sunday for lunch (11 AM to 2 PM) and dinner (5 PM to 9 PM except to 10 PM on Friday and Saturday).

For reservations call: 830-997-8922.

Check out their website at http://www.hilltopcafe.com

-Don Gray