Restruant Review: Schobel's, New Braunfels Texas

It is a rare occasion that my husband and I get to dine out alone, without the kids. While they are in school it's even rarer that our schedules jive. Today the planets aligned and we got to go out to lunch today. (yay!) After the weeks I have had lately I was excited to get to have a nice quiet lunch with the man that I love.
So we decided to go to Schobel's here in New Braunfels which opened a couple weeks ago. First I kicked myself because I forgot to grab my camera before I walked out the door. I guess I was too excited about the prospect of an un-interrupted hot meal.

We were greeted by the hostess when we walked in. She was wearing jeans and a dingy white t-shirt. I forgot what it said on it. Wasn't Shobel's, or anything to do with the restaurant, or restaurants in general for that matter. eh. not impressive. The restaurant itself was very nice. it was decorated very nicely. Homey, feeling. Neutral colors, exposed beams etc. Since it was a beautiful cool day today we opted to sit out on the deck overlooking the river. Lovely.

Our waitress arrived a few minutes later to take our drink orders. We opted to do their lunch buffet which our waitress told us included salad, various veggie selections, soups, and the main entree selections were king ranch chicken and some beef thing (looked like mystery meat to me).
and fried chicken strips.

My kids happen to LOVE going to buffets so we have eaten at our fair share. Here is the thing about buffets, you have to keep the food filled. You gotta have some one there, all the time, wiping up spills, re-filling food, assisting people etc.
That said. We arrived at the restaurant at 11:50, 10 minutes before the lunch rush. and a lot of the food was very low or empty, including lettuce, and the king ranch chicken. I got salad, it was ok, the greens had clearly sat there for a while so they were kinda wilted and bruised. What I enjoyed: the smashed red potatoes. skin still on, they were fluffy and yummy. The King Ranch Chicken I am sure was good, however all I was able to get was queso and tortilla, maybe 1 or 2 bites of chicken. fried okra had clearly been sitting for a while and was hard as a rock.

Dessert was a close second to the smashed potatoes (only because I am not super big on sweets). They had a selection of cakes, pies etc. Derek got chocolate cake and I got buttermilk pie. The chocolate cake was VERY rich. The frosting was good but the cake was VERY dry. I am not a cake or sweet person but every so often I LOVE a piece of soft moist chocolate cake, chocolate frosting and a big glass of milk. Their cake really disappointed me. One bite was it for me. The buttermilk pie was actually quite tasty. Not too sweet. very yummy.

Our waitress was very attentive. She kept Derek's glass filled with tea. However she looked like she just rolled out of bed, put on her boyfriend's t-shirt and came to work.

All in all, I was not impressed. I didn't feel it was worth the $27 we spent. I've had better food for cheaper elsewhere. I think whoever owns Schobel's needs to get a uniform for their employees, or at the very least a dress code. That really bugged me. I have worked in many different restaurants for the better part of my life and EVERY restaurant I have worked at had some sort of uniform or dress code.
Schobel's is a nice looking restaurant. The menu prices reflect that it is a nicer restaurant (above I'd say Applebee's & Chili's type restaurants) But the staff did not look nearly as professional as those from Chili's or Applebee's (& I used to work at an Applebee's)

I don't think we will be going back any time soon.