What you see is what you get at the Spicewood barbecue joint. The giant pit that greets you when you enter is full of succulent, fatty, and delightfully seasoned brisket. Or perhaps it’s the enormous pork chops, jalapeno-cheese sausages, or the tender ribs that are more appealing. Whatever you order, pick up a few sides to go with it: a heaping serving of spicy corn, tater tot casserole, and the off-menu Coca-Cola cake. The restaurant is open for takeout and indoor dine-in services.

The stellar Fredericksburg winery recently opened up an on-site restaurant, which focuses on serving dishes that pair well with, well, wine in a stunning space with an equally as great view. The restaurant is open for evening dine-in service, with indoor and outdoor seating; reservations are recommended.

On top of cuisine heavily influenced by Austin’s neighbors to the south, the Texas Hill Country has an overlay of German heritage thanks to the Old World immigrants who settled in this region in the mid-1800s. Get a taste of that Central Texas-German cuisine at the Fredericksburg restaurant, which boasts Ingrid Hohmann, a European-trained chef known for cooking up traditional German recipes like schnitzel, bratwurst, and made-from-scratch strudels and Black Forest cake. The restaurant is open for indoor dine-in service.

This romantic eatery is a popular lunchtime spot, tucked on a quiet corner of downtown Wimberley along Cypress Creek. Fill up on sandwiches like the BBLT — applewood-smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, and double-cream French brie on toasted sourdough — and wood-fired pizzas, or heartier dishes like duck confit and grilled hangar steak. The restaurant is open for indoor and outdoor dine-in and takeout services.

Owner and Czech native Denise Mazal favors wild game at her European restaurant and biergarten in Boerne — antelope, venison, boar, and rabbit have all found their place on the menu. Honoring her heritage, traditional kolaches and klobasniky are made in-house and filled with everything from wurst to povidla (plum jelly). The restaurant is open for indoor and outdoor dine-in and call-ahead takeout services.

The revitalized longtime German beer hall and restaurant in New Braunfels serves up plentiful draft beers, schnitzels, and sandwiches in its lively mostly alfresco space. The restaurant is open for indoor and outdoor dine-in services.

There must be a wormhole in Utopia because this no-frills cafe recalls a simpler decade. Housed in a historic building (built sometime before 1904), the place has been serving comfort food since 1986. An expansive menu has everything from grilled cheese on Texas toast and cheese enchiladas, to big slices of fudge pecan pie.

Upscale food from a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef puts the utopia in small-town Utopia. The restaurant is set in a charming stone building amid 400+-year-old oak trees. Utilizing a European-style “guest table” service, chef Laurel Waterss’ restaurant is BYOB and only open on Saturdays for lunch and dinner — but dishes like chicken with mushrooms and artichoke hearts in puff pastry, served with fresh vegetables like pesto scalloped potatoes, round out the rotating menu. The restaurant is open for reservations-only lunch and dinner dine-in services.