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Shipping nationwide at rudys.com.

Karbach Brewing Company from Houston, Texas, makers of Karbach Lager, a beer that is proudly partnered with Don't Mess with Texas, please dispose responsibly.

Visit Georgetown, where big ideas meet small town charm.

Georgetown, the most beautiful town square in Texas.

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Don Hewlett Chevrolet Buick in Georgetown.

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(upbeat music) - What do you get when you cross a bit of urban bustle with fresh country air and a giant hippo?

Well, I'll give you a hint.

It's chicken-fried steak and pie, lots of pie.

It's huggable farm animals and high-octane RC racing.

It's craft beer with a view and scratch-made Asian fusion.

Still stumped?

Well, I'll give you the answer in three, two, one.

Set, hut.

(crowd cheering) Oh!

Hutto!

(whistle blares) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music) - Today, we're tripping 30 miles northeast of Downtown Austin to the suburb of Hutto.

These days, Hutto may seem like an endless hodgepodge of new neighborhoods and developments, but if you venture to its heart, well, you'll find Hutto's historic Main Street and the history of its unique name.

So Hutto is a town built for the railroad, on land that they purchased from a man named James Emory Hutto.

I know, it's not a very common last name, but even less common is the Texas-sized tale of how the Hutto residents became the Hutto Hippos.

(upbeat music) The story goes back to 1915, when a circus train was passing through town carrying all sorts of animals.

The circus trainer was making his rounds, and boom, (explosion blasts) the hippo made a break for it and was soon firmly planted in the nearby creek.

The circus workers struggled to persuade the giant animal out of the water, but Hippo going to do what Hippo want to do.

The train depot agent (telegram beeping) rushed to send a telegram to all the nearby towns.

Stop trains, hippo loose in Hutto.

Well, the Hippo eventually made it back on the train and left town, but it left behind a Texas-sized story.

So is it the truth or just another tall tale?

Or rather, short tail, actually.

I mean, a reasonable sized tail for a hippo, right?

You know, I probably shouldn't be standing back here.

Henrietta the Hippo is now the resident mascot of downtown and even gets decorated for the seasons.

Although it's next to impossible to even walk a block in Hutto without tripping over someone else's sign of deep hippo pride.

But let me warn you, hippos aren't the only animals roaming downtown, and it's time to move up the street for lunch.

This is the Texan Cafe and Pie Shop that's been serving hungry hungry hippos since 1966.

And like the legendary hippo, this cafe planted itself on Main Street, and it ain't moving.

Here are the owners, Jenny and Warren Smith.

Alright, I want to dig into this.

What do we have here?

- Fried green tomatoes.

- Oh!

- Country living.

Pretty good, isn't it?

- That's good.

And that's hot out of the grease.

(laughs) So how did y'all come to own the Texan Cafe, the institution of downtown Hutto?

- We were Texan Cafe customers for 10 plus years.

We were both working in the corporate world.

We decided that if we were going to work that hard, we wanted to do it for ourselves.

- That's awesome.

- Yeah.

- But here we go.

- Man.

That's the good Lord paving the way to like opened this up.

- Exactly.

- Were y'all at- home cooks at least or?

- I'm kind of a chef, you know, growing up with my grandparents, my grandmother taught me how to cook both sides, you know?

They were both country grandmas.

- I love to eat, so that works out well.

- As the cow head above the door suggests, the Texan Cafe serves lots of beef, but with plenty of other scratch-made dishes and plenty of deep fried goodness.

- We didn't change anything, you know, we didn't change anything at all.

And then slowly but surely, there were a few things that maybe we wanted to change, and our customers, they were fantastic to us, and Hutto's been fantastic to us.

- Don't mess with success, right?

- Exactly.

What's been the best part?

- You know, I think it's the joy that we get from our customers.

- Our oldest daughter is director of operations, and our grandchildren are here all the time.

I mean, it's family and we love that.

- I think that's like the heart of these small town cafes, what it has always been.

I'm glad to see that it's still that way.

- Right.

- So here's the million dollar question.

What should I get for lunch?

- I always believe in starting with pie first.

(Chet laughs) - Of course.

Okay.

- So I think you should have some pie- - I can't argue with that.

- To start off with.

- I can't disagree.

Now, the pie shop side of things makes over 50 different kinds of pie.

So if you're going to spoil your lunch, this is the way to do it.

So what are we having?

- So we have key lime, lemon drop and peppermint patty.

- Oh my gosh, that's so good.

This place seems to have a bit of an identity crisis.

Is it more cafe or pie shop?

- It's both.

- Okay.

- It's the best of both worlds.

- Why not?

Yeah.

Can I take a bite?

Can I try this one?

- Absolutely.

- Time to quit stuffing my face and go visit Robin, doing the real work around here.

Like a kid in a candy store, but better yet, I'm a kid in a pie shop.

Walk me through, what kind of pies do we have right here?

- All right, so this is going to be our deep dish apple pie.

Blueberry, rhubarb.

That's our s'more pie.

- My gosh, you think it has enough whipped cream on it?

- No.

- Is there even a pie underneath there?

(Robin laughs) - Never enough whip ever.

Coconut cream's top seller, for sure.

- The number one.

- Number one.

- How much does it outsell the others?

- Oh, big time.

Big time.

- Like two to one?

- Probably more than that.

Probably more three to one.

- Really?

- Yeah.

That's a big, big favorite, for sure.

- You just eat it by the scoop, I guess?

- No, no.

You got to dump it in here.

- I mean, these are ready to stuff.

- Yeah.

- Let's go.

I interrupted your work day.

(Robin laughs) Get going.

This is the part I always mess up.

(Robin laughs) Oh, I'm feeling pretty good.

This is a born skill.

- It takes a skill.

- Look!

Come on, twist, twist.

For the record, easy as pie relates only to eating these things, at least for me.

- We toast these coconut and we're going to sprinkle it on the top.

- Y'all toast up the coconut yourself?

- Yes.

- Y'all aren't taking any shortcuts, huh?

- No.

- A little bit more right there.

(Robin laughs) - Perfect.

- That's perfect.

- I mean this honestly, this is one of the top pie shops in all of Texas in my opinion.

Very few people are taking the time to do it the old fashioned way like y'all are.

- And people can tell, they can tell.

(upbeat music) - Before I indulge in yet another piece, I better get some actual lunch.

And by that, I mean chicken fried steak.

You know, I've been here quite a few times.

I don't think I've ever ordered anything different.

You walk underneath the big cow and you just think, "I owe it to that cow to get a chicken fried steak."

(upbeat country music) Gosh, you got that tender steak, the crispy crust, the gravy, the salt, the black pepper.

This right here is a Texas pastime.

Order up a chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes, sit in a mom and pop cafe, just stare out the window.

- What are you looking at?

- Shh.

I'm pondering.

- Oh, the pastime of pondering.

And after I polish off this steak, well, I'm ready to ponder another piece of pie.

Ooh!

- Here, we have a hot brandy apple.

When you leave here today, sir, you're going to be an addict and I'm going to be your dealer.

- Thank you.

- You're very welcome.

- I think I might already be addicted.

It's warm pie, cold ice cream.

All the things good in life.

Oh.

Yeah, probably best y'all just try it for yourself.

And now let's hippo hop down the road, shall we?

I think it does have to be said though, the hippo got to be one of the greatest high school mascots in Texas.

- It's kind of deceiving.

People think hippo, big, fat, you know, animal.

- Yeah, they're slow.

- But they are like the most dangerous animal in the- - That's right.

- Animal planet.

- And they run fast.

- Run fast.

- They do everything faster than you think.

- They're like the NFL lineman, they're huge and you're like, "Oh, that guy's got to be slow," and then (imitates crash) - Take off.

- 4, 5:40.

How fast is the hippo?

- The answer I found is 19 miles per hour.

- 19 miles an hour.

- I mean, that's like as fast as a human running.

- Yeah, like a fast human.

- A fast human.

- You know what they say, when you're getting chased by hippo, you don't have to be the fastest in your group, just not the slowest.

- That is what they say.

- You just got to be faster- than your friends.

- I'd say just stay away from the hippo.

(Chet laughs) Just don't even go near the hippo.

- Luckily, we won't be mixing it up with any actual hippos today.

Just some of Mr.

Hippo's distant, distant cousins.

At Best Clucking Place Farm.

And if you've ever wanted to love on a lamb, pet a pony, and cuddle a Kunekune, well then, this is the best clucking place.

This is owner, Michelle.

I feel like I've stepped into a kid's book.

So you're used to just pigs always being at your feet like this?

- Yes, yes.

- Are pigs pretty like gentle animals?

Like to have pigs as pets is foreign to me.

- Kunekunes, they're actually bred for that.

Their quiet tempers and demeanor.

- You may be wondering, what's a Kunekune?

Well, it's a breed of pig, and folks come from all over the country to buy them.

- Kunekune means fat and round.

- I've been that many times after good meals.

- They were imported over from New Zealand, the breed.

As a preservation, they're actually registered, DNA tested to prove that they're full Kunekunes.

- Piggy pedigree, folks.

And over in this ring of the farm, coming in at 300 pounds, we have the pigs champion, the Brahma boar, it's The Rock.

Seriously, this big guy's name is The Rock.

But there's more to this pork than meets the eye.

- Sit.

Sit.

(Chet laughs) Good boy.

Good boy.

- Now how did you train him to do that?

When they're babies, we start.

He's a big guy and so we need him to have manners.

- Have you trained him to do the people's eyebrow yet?

Am I doing it?

Not really.

(both laughing) The Rock is a specimen of porky perfection and a very busy guy as evidenced by the many cuddly Kunetitos running around here.

A heart is going to explode with the cuteness.

- Come on, come on, guys.

- What's up buddy?

Back in.

No, no, no.

Don't break free.

The crew will adopt you and I don't know if you'll make it.

No!

Get back!

Get back in here.

- Did you get them?

(laughs) No, guys.

- Stop.

- Come on.

- Pig break.

Pig break.

- Oh no, no, no, no.

- This has gone off the rail.

(pigs snorting) (gentle music) Oh, look at her.

I think she loves it.

I think she just loves being held by me.

You can tell, it's in the screams.

(pig squeaking) (Chet laughs) Maybe I'll put this one down.

Oh.

Oh, we like the belly scratches.

Come on.

So how often do y'all have baby piglets?

- So they can have babies every four months.

We really only try to breed about once a year though.

- So call ahead if you want baby piggy cuddle time.

But crazy that this all spun out of a desire to have a few backyard chickens, and then turned into rescuing farm animals who needed more room to roam.

How fast did it get out of control?

- Pretty fast.

- Yeah.

(both laughing) - Well, we actually get visitors from all over the world.

- Really?

- Yes.

People want something different than the city life.

People will come and stay on the farm and it's just so amazing to see people sitting outside on the porch drinking their coffee, watching all the animals go by, or just kids playing outside because it's a safe environment.

- I must say there is something therapeutic about cuddling animals.

(goat bleating) You want to go on the road with us, don't you?

We have an internship program.

(gentle music) Would you guys ever own a pet pig?

- No, that's not what pigs are for.

- If you could get a pig to give you bacon in the way that a chicken gives you eggs, it would be- - Yes.

- Amazing.

- That's a perfect pet.

- Everyone would own a pig.

- Well, I mean is there regenerative bacon or something like that?

- You could just take off the pieces that you need.

- Not yet.

- And then it grows back.

- Not yet.

- AI.

- AI.

Samsung and Tesla should be working on that soon.

Come on, big tech.

Don't let us down.

Now I need a new hobby like a hippo needs a race car.

But you know, it can't hurt to simply stop in and see how the real hobby trippers are doing it down at the Thornhill Racing Circuit.

(upbeat music) This dirt track is home to the dream of every kid, young and old, to be a real deal race car driver.

Let's talk to race day NC Tommy about how it's done.

Tommy, so I drove radio control cars as a kid.

This looks like an entirely different universe.

- Absolutely.

What we're watching right now are a 1/8 scale electric buggies.

- What's the top speed for these guys?

- They can easily get up to 40 miles per hour.

- Like that?

- Yeah, exactly.

Exactly.

- This is the largest dirt track of its kind in the country, and so it attracts folks from all over who come out to practice or to race every Saturday.

Not so much a hobby for some of these dudes.

This is their lifestyle.

They live it, eat it, breathe it.

- This hobby allows you to go as far as you want.

There is professionals that actually do this.

- You can make a living of RC cars.

- You can.

Very small percentage, but you can.

- But the dream is out there.

- The dream is out there.

There's actually a national event that we're going to hold here.

- Okay.

- In June.

That qualifies you for actually a world event.

- Is it harder than it looks?

- I'm going to let you be the judge of that when we get you on the track.

- Oh, okay.

Now we're talking.

(toy engine revving) A car like this will set you back about $1,000 if you want to get started.

And they have a full pro shop on site as these quickly turn into adult Lego projects.

But this is Santos, who evidently doesn't care about us wrecking his cars.

Alright, so this is the arsenal, huh?

- Yes, sir.

- The garage, the personal garage.

- This is it.

- Are these all, I mean, that one's clearly bigger.

- Yeah, so this is the Nitro buggy, 1/8th scale buggy.

This is what they call the Trucky, the 1/8th scale truck.

- Was this a pretty addictive hobby to get into right away?

- I would agree.

I would agree with that.

- Yeah?

Okay.

- Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

True statement right there.

- A pretty big learning curve on this or?

- Just takes time.

- Got it.

That's about 30 minutes.

Only one way to find out.

Let's go baby.

Woo!

- So as you go with the jumps, you don't have to hold onto the throttle.

- Oh, oh, oh!

- You see how you went nose high?

Because you were on the throttle.

- Okay.

That looked pretty athletic, huh?

- Yeah, not bad.

(upbeat music) - Yeah, baby.

Look at that!

- Fancy there.

- Oh gosh.

Come on now.

God!

- Stop crashing, Chet.

- Hey, you think it's so easy?

You come race it, all right, Daniel?

- Maybe I will.

- Come on.

Put your money where your mouth is, boy.

The contest is two laps and may the best tripper win.

- Three, two, one.

Go.

(upbeat music) (both laughing) - Oh.

- I should have worn my glasses today.

- Oh, don't blame it on that, buddy.

One lap down, one to go, and I am smoking it.

- Wait, hold on, hold on.

You got to stop, you got to stop.

- What was that?

Oh, oh, oh!

- Here we go, here we go.

- You're in the like, oh, no, no, Marshall.

He's sandbagging me.

He's sandbagging me.

- Oh!

Oh.

Uh-oh, Daniel may actually catch up.

Danny.

No!

Or not.

Oh.

Oh, which way do I go to win?

- Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.

Oh my gosh.

- Oh!

Oh, oh, oh.

I pulled a hammy.

I pulled!

(Chet shouts) Good effort, but the winner of the Daytripper inaugural Grand Prix, Chet.

Congratulations, buddy.

Congratulations.

- Thank you.

Thank you, Tommy.

Hey!

Oh, and it's my size!

Yeah!

(laughs) Better luck next time, Daniel.

Whoa!

Amazing that something this cool could be right under our noses and I didn't know about it.

It just goes to show you how much fun you can have in your own backyard.

(upbeat music) Now my victory might have been minimal, but I still think this calls for a victory lap of celebration, around the brew handles at Rockabilly Brewing, which sits atop Hutto's highest bluff.

Hey, what's up?

- How you doing, Chet?

- I'm doing great.

- Hi.

- Man, this place is awesome.

- Thank you.

- I think so.

- Definitely the best view in Hutto.

- Absolutely.

This brewing operation was started by husband and wife team Jimmy and Brando Calhoun in their home in 2014.

They served their home brew at their wedding and then it was no longer a secret they could keep.

They've got big dreams for Rockabilly, guided by their flagship brew, Tangerine King.

- I don't like hefeweizens, so this one is my answer to that.

- That's great, man.

It's like a dialed back hefeweizen.

- So that one's kind of clean, crisp.

- Oh, that's fantastic.

- It's a porch pounder.

- Yeah, no kidding.

- It's only like- - Well, y'all got the porch to do it.

- Yep.

- For sure.

(upbeat music) So what was the grand vision for this?

- We came from South Austin.

- Everything is moving this way.

We wanted to kind of carry a little bit of Austin with us into Hutto because it is a little bit different of a suburb than in Austin.

- Oh yeah, for sure.

- So we kind of wanted to bring that vibe and welcoming to everybody, but still a little more Rockabilly.

- A little more Rockabilly.

You know, I feel very undertatted with this, I see your tattoos going through.

The scene is all Rockabilly, with frequent live music and even a local tattoo artist serving up free ink.

People come in, I thought I wanted a beer, but what I really want is a tattoo.

- Yeah.

Pretty much, yeah.

- I should mention the onsite trailer, BBQ Fiends, is slinging some of the most amazing cue in Texas.

It's all a vibe as fresh to Hutto as the beer.

- Here you go.

Eight second Amber.

- Eight second Amber.

That's dark.

Ooh.

It's real chocolatey and malty, man, too.

That's good.

- Good.

I'm glad you like it.

- Good.

Yeah, yeah, I like.

You're doing your own thing.

Both of these beers don't really have a lane.

- We really want to be a spot for everybody.

And so far it seems that everybody has really taken to that in a positive way.

- That's cool.

There's cool kids in Hutto.

- Yes, there are.

- Well, these are both fantastic.

- Thank you.

- I know y'all got a lot of taps over there.

I think the crew is very thirsty.

Thirsty?

Thirsty?

- Always.

- Thirsty?

All right, we're going to grab some beers.

- Awesome.

- Thank you guys so much.

- Pleasure.

- Thank you so much.

- Rockabilly offers a great place for all to kick back and relax over a pint of Texas beer, regardless of your tattoo count.

All right, guys, one last stop.

And while all Hutto folks are hippos, they're also a very diverse herd with residents from all over the globe.

And so for dinner, we're going to head to a flavorfully diverse restaurant that takes the food traditions of almost all of Asia and cooks them together in one delicious pot.

Or in this case, wok.

This is Chopsticks.

Started as a local food truck that was so popular, before long, they had the following and funding to move into a brick and mortar.

Cooking is the lifetime passion for owner and chef Vincent Nguyen, who's going to show us how he does his magic.

All right, Vincent.

What are we cooking today?

- You need to try the beef mango and pull-it-off bao.

- That sounds awesome to me.

You don't really fit into a nice little box when it comes to like Asian food.

Like, what are you doing here?

- I'm Vietnamese.

I started cooking like a professional way in a Vietnamese restaurant.

And then I moved on to a Korean restaurant, Thai restaurant, Indian restaurant.

I collect all the best stuff and put in our menu.

- These are not really like traditional cuisine at all.

These are your little creations.

- Right, it is.

- Vietnamese, Korean, Taiwanese, Indian, and whatever these floating noodles are.

This is all Asian fusion street food.

Vincent's beef and mango combine spicy Szechuan flavors with young crispy mangoes.

You're getting sort of the savory from the meat, like a little sweet from the mango.

- Tangy from the mango, sweet from carrot.

- So I think it's the Szechuan.

Yeah, it's good though.

- It is spicy.

- It's good.

- You can tell, right?

- I know, I can tell.

Next dish is the pull off pork rib bao.

So when you opened your food truck, did people just love it right away?

- At the beginning, it's easy to like win the heart of Vietnamese people since I'm Vietnamese.

And then they keep telling their friends, Indian, Korean, Thai.

But they say, "Oh hey, they also have our this."

- Ah-ha!

- So yeah.

- Okay.

- They try it, they love it.

I'm so grateful that I'm doing the right thing.

- So the Taiwanese taco with the Chinese meat on it.

- That's ready to go.

- So good.

That is ready to go.

Vincent.

Hey, thank you, man.

- Absolutely.

- Now, to take my taste buds on a tour.

(upbeat music) And most importantly, chopsticks.

Dude, I cannot wait.

Oh my gosh, that's good.

- Uh-oh, uh-oh.

- I need a little bit of this right here.

He goes, "Szechuan food is spicy.

But don't worry, I made mine mild."

If this is his definition of mild, we live in a whole different universe.

This is awesome.

(cameraman laughs) All right, let's try this.

Pull it off bao.

Here's the bone.

(laughs) That's appropriately named right there.

That is insanely good.

The rib itself is super tender, but the Asian sweet, like hoisin sauce that it's rolled up in.

Give me a platter of these, I'm a happy man.

I don't care what country it's from.

This might as well be from the land of deliciousness.

Now we could call it a day, but since Daniel grew up in these parts, he's got a different idea.

- Hey, y'all want to see something really scary?

- Like how scary?

- Yeah, how scary?

- Okay, so legend goes, there's this bridge, right?

This farmer lost it all in the Great Depression, whatever, killed his whole family.

- Oh.

- Oh my.

- He pushed them in a car off of a bridge, okay?

And if you go to this bridge, put your car in neutral, their ghosts, they push you back on.

But the thing is, you're getting pushed uphill.

- Nah.

- No.

- I'm telling you- - I think I've heard this story before.

- It's this weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life.

- You've done it?

- I've done it.

You get pushed uphill.

- But like- - Go down this road.

Keep going, I'll show you where it is.

- Next time you're looking for a trip to the crossroads of urban and rural, where delicious pie intersects with Asian street food, and where RC cars fly, pigs cuddle, and hippos swim, well then, it's time to follow the herd to Hutto.

- I think it's uphill.

- Uphill, yeah.

- Okay, ready?

Foot off the break.

- Oh my God.

- What?

- Which way are we going?

- We're moving, I know that.

- We are going uphill, y'all - No way.

- That's pretty cool.

I didn't think it would work.

- I told y'all.

- We need to get out of here.

This is too scary.

All right, so I'll see all y'all out on the road.

Vaya con dios, amigos.

How's this even working?

- Chet does not pay me enough to do this.

- I'll help ya.

- Oh, thanks.

(screams) - Why does everybody always run away?

(grunting) - The "Daytripper" is made possible by Rudy's, real Texas barbecue.

Shipping nationwide at rudys.com.

Karbach Brewing Company from Houston, Texas, makers of Karbach Lager, a beer that is proudly partnered with Don't Mess with Texas, please dispose responsibly.

Visit Georgetown, where big ideas meet small town charm.

Georgetown, the most beautiful town square in Texas.

Texas Farm Bureau Insurance, protection and peace of mind for Texans since 1952.

Don Hewlett Chevrolet Buick in Georgetown.

Making Texas road trips possible for over 50 years.

Don Hewlett Chevrolet Buick, Texas True.

Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages, Texas' local bottler providing the Lone Star state with a variety of Coca-Cola products.