The Palomino

First time visit. Very nice inside. Clean and open seating with a long bar too. Lots of beers on tap. Pretzels are a excellent. Brats are good. Good Fresno chili peppers and hot relish. Good bar food. Interested in going back and trying more.

Although only open 3 months they're doing a wonderful job. The burgers were off the charts, the pretzel appetizer was wonderful as well as the cheese curds. The only thing we didn't love was the kids chicken tenders. The staff was helpful the restaurant was clean. I highly recommend it

Whether it’s the first day of a new country or the first day of a new restaurant, it’s a special thing to be able to say you were there from the beginning. And it was Fourth of July the first time I went here, so we’re gonna keep this review more lighthearted and festive than the last one I wrote. :)

I originally pitched a variation of this review and story to Texas Monthly, but they shot my pitch down again, so my streak of 1111 upaid contributions to Google Maps continues. If I look at it as more of a public service, I find I feel less salty about not getting paid for it.

Speaking of public service, saltiness, and reviews, let’s take a look at one of Georgetown’s new restaurants, The Palomino, owned by U.S. Army veteran and horse rescuer Amber Kurkowski, where I had some of the most delicious pretzels I’ve ever eaten.

My fiance and I first spotted The Palomino after we finished a morning hike at The San Gabriel Park. I checked their FB page again the night before to see if it was still happening and they said it was, so we sauntered across Morrow St. right at 11am and went up to the front door.

A woman with a horse tattoo on her left bicep poked out from behind the door and greeted us, “We’re still getting ready. We’ll open at 12, please feel free to come back then.” Luckily, there was a big Fourth of July celebration at the park, so we went back there until noon. Didn’t realize until later that she was the owner.

“We’re one of the only places to have all of Austin Beerworks on tap,” said Alex, who ended up taking our order once we figured out whether we should sit at the bar or sit at one of the picnic tables inside. I had the Pearl Snap, a “Crisp, clean, refreshing Pilsner Lager featuring a plethora of German Noble hops” and my fiance had a Hi Sign Brewing’s Violet Blueberry Lager.

We then decided to split an order of Bavarian Pretzels, probably because we’d recently re-watched The Simpsons (Season 8, Episode 11) where Marge decides to buy a pretzel franchise. The pretzels at The Palomino were served with Beer-cheese and a Spicy Mustard, both made in house. The three pretzels were dark brown and bigger than bread sticks and the only difficulty we had eating all of them was deciding whether the Beer-cheese or the Spicy Mustard tasted better (it was a tie between both).

Speaking of pretzels, I couldn’t stop eating the complimentary cups of snack size hard pretzel sticks that Nathan made and gave to us. “I call them Steady Sticks,” which is a creative play on his last name. And they kept a steady stream of little cups coming filled with the only pretzels I’ve found so far that are as addictively delicious as Dot’s—maybe more deliciously addictive.

Along the walls inside are horse themed murals that give the place both a contemporary and vintage feel as well as providing a pictorial testament to the importance of the restaurant’s namesake.

Amber’s love for horses reportedly goes back to her childhood growing up in Nevada participating in 4-H and her time in the Equestrian Club while a cadet at West Point.

There’s so much more to her story based on the newspaper clipping I found at the restaurant, but for the sake of brevity and mystique, I’ll stop there and say it felt good knowing I was spending the Fourth of July at her new restaurant while having a beer with the woman I wrote love letters to from Great Lakes, IL, the summer of 2007 when I entered and exited the U.S. Navy.

Similar to the titular character in the first Captain America film who gets repeatedly rejected for military service during WWII, we can’t always serve the way we want when we want no matter how much we want to do so.

Sometimes that ends up working out better for everyone both in fiction and non-fiction. Sometimes we spend the rest of our lives finding ways to fulfill an oath we took both when we enlisted in the military and worked at Dept. of Veterans Affairs as a technical writer. Sometimes service takes the form of not only military combat, but rescuing horses, starting or working in a restaurant/pub, and writing this review.

The Palomino is my new FAVORITE place! For anyone looking for a laid back and friendly atmosphere with GOOD food and drink, this is your new hang out spot!! Staff is happy and friendly, always smiling. Lots of live music, which is great for Georgetown. The best part might be posting your photo at the Palomino mural #thepalomino

The Palomino is a family friendly tap house and grill conveniently located right by the San Gabriel Park. We had the pleasure of attending their soft opening and the team handled the busier than expected traffic with a smile. The owners are community focused and have locally sourced products, including the out of the world Bavarian Pretzel Sticks (not pictured). Our son loved his corn dog bites and we enjoyed our Pepperjack Brats. One of the samples during the soft opening were these salty and spicy mini pretzel rods (pictured). They paired amazingly with a cold beer and I look forward to them becoming a staple. We can’t wait to see what comes in the future as the kitchen expands the menu.