What I Ate: April 20, 2009 (Italian Garden)

Tina and I headed down to San Marcos to get our Texas driver's licenses. It turns out we need to register my car in Texas first and to do that we have to get a vehicle inspection. From the Hays County Tax Assessor's Office (where they handle vehicle registration), we were sent to Lube Pit Stop to get ours done. When we arrived, the mechanic was busy and told us to come back in about thirty minutes. Since it was near lunch time, I asked him for a lunch recommendation and he suggested Italian Garden (415 N L B J Dr, San Marcos, TX‎ - (512) 392-8730‎) for their large Philly Cheesesteaks.

Situated on the south border of Texas State University San Marcos, Italian Garden is easy to find but not much to look at. A look through their menu showed that they served standard American Italian fare with both regular menu items and lunch specials attractively priced (lasagna for $5.95 caught my eye). But, we had come with the intention of ordering the Philly Cheesesteak (also $5.95). After asking the friendly waitress how big the sandwich was, we decided to start by just ordering one and splitting it. The sandwich arrived and was about a foot long and stuffed with grilled steak and the perfect amount of bell peppers (providing a tad of bell pepper sweetness and bitterness) as well as just enough cheese (for flavor and lubrication, but not so much to be heavy). They also had thick slices of grilled mushrooms mixed in which I like a lot more than the thinly sliced variety. Unfortunately, I left my cameras at home and had to take the picture with my mobile phone.

We also ordered grilled vegetables that came soft and buttery, but still flavorful even though they were cooked a little longer than I like.

For dinner, Tina's mom brought over some shrimp, tomato and eggs, and white rice.