Looking for a delicious meal and a unique day trip around San Antonio? The Smokin’ Goose is a new gourmet food business in Boerne, Texas just up the road from San Antonio. For decades, tourists and locals have been making the drive into Boerne to shop for antiques, eclectic gifts, fabulous clothing and jewelry. Main Street is lined with trendy boutiques, a bakery, a nature store and a serious amount of shopping. On any given weekend, you’ll want visit Olde Town shopping plaza where you’ll immediately see the huge black gourmet food trailer with the Smokin’ Goose logo.
Smokin' Goose — Photo courtesy of Victor and Shelly Garza
Owner and chef, Victor Garza is a local legend when it comes to cooking up a mean breakfast, flavorful lunches and mouthwatering seafood specialties. Like Victor’s cooking, the Smokin' Goose is rapidly becoming a local favorite. With a variety of sophisticated street cuisine available, customers can walk up and order gourmet food and enjoy a fresh meal made from scratch. Victor and his wife, Shelly launched the Smokin' Goose early in 2012 when they noticed a need for quality seafood at a great price. More ideas grew from customer suggestions and great feedback. The restaurant now serves a variety of breakfast and lunch options. Everything is prepared fresh and by hand. Although the Smokin’ Goose is part of a quickly growing trend of mobile gourmet eateries, the quality of food is more like an upscale restaurant.
Shelly says that quality seafood options are difficult to find in the Hill Country and the Smokin' Goose provides unique entrees like Cajun Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos. They are blackened and seasoned to perfection with Victor's secret Cajun ingredients. Kid friendly options include sausage wraps and custom requested milder options. Tex-Mex breakfast bowls are a Smokin' Goose specialty. Flavorful bowls steaming with eggs, potatoes, different meats and spicy salsas will have your taste buds standing at attention but you’ll be bowing to Victor as you thank him for yet another culinary sensation.
We asked Shelly to tell us what inspired the launch of the Smokin’ Goose. She says, with a smile and a twinkle in her eyes that it most likely began the moment Victor sampled her cooking for the first time! The couple met nearly a decade ago while working in the restaurant business. Shelly has an acute sense of business and Victor has an extraordinary talent for cooking amazing food. Victor and Shelly laugh about it but evidently Shelly’s strengths are in business and not cooking. That’s just fine with them, too! They’ve launched a successful restaurant where they can combine their strengths and team up.
The couple has one daughter and plan to welcome the arrival of a new baby about a week after this article is published. The Garza’s are excited to make it a family business and hope you’ll drop by to sample the Smokin’ Goose’s delights.
Smokin' Goose Po Boy — Photo courtesy of Victor and Shelly Garza