Most people do not expect a city owned and operated eatery to produce a meal worthy of the Nifty Food Find Blog. But, that is NOT the case with the Red Bird Grill at the Ladybird Johnson Municipal Park golf course clubhouse. [take US 87 south out of Fredericksburg Texas, turn right at the next intersection past the Fredericksburg Airport entrance to the golf course).

Today it was cold and rainy and the normally full golf course had very few golfers. Likewise the Red Bird, being the 19th hole at the clubhouse, was near empty also. I sat in the corner so I could look through the windows and enjoy the view of the golf course while I ate. There was also a cozy fire in the fireplace. Something warm and comforting like quesadillas sounded perfect to me.

The Red Bird Grill is a very simple eatery. You go to the counter and order and pay. You walk a few steps and self serve your drink. Then, you choose a place to sit. when your food is ready they bring it to your table. Like I said the place is very simple. The ambiance is friendly and relaxed…… v-e-r-y r-e-l-a-x-e-d.

Vegetarian quesadillas. Ok, I really ordered the regular chicken quesadillas but sans the meat. I’m one of those people that happen to think chicken can be a little boring on flavor if you have it too often. Frankly, I have had the chicken quesadillas at the Red Bird Grill before and they were great. That is why I came back to the Red Bird Grill in the first place.

Nevertheless, today I just did not feel like tasting chicken and ordered the Chicken Quesadillas but without chicken. Vegetarian quesadillas are not really on the menu at the Red Bird but it just goes to show what a quality eatery will do when they have pride in their product and they are as customer focused(another reason I am a regular customer at the Red Bird Grill).

When I ordered I think the manager felt like I was getting short changed a bit, not having meat of some sort. She quickly offered a more grilled peppers… including extra jalapenos and assured me the quesadillas would be very nice even if they were not on the menu.

The food quickly arrived and it looked great too. The first thing I noticed was there was about 25% more food on the plate than I had anticipated. These bad boys were at least 5/8″ thick, enough that some would almost call them sandwiches! And, thats ok…. my excitment is solely from satisfied anticpation. I firmly beleive food must look good as well as taste good.

The food had to be was fresh from the grill by only seconds because the two heafty portions of cheese(yellow cheddar and white Jack cheese) were perfectly melted together all the way through and still quite gooey. Need I say more?

Ok. How about, besides the cheese, the filling was loaded with fresh tomatoes(now slightly cooked), grilled green bell peppers, pickled jalapenos, and grilled onions. Getting hungry now, right? Or the piest de resistance, the tortillas were covered nicely with grill marks which quesadilla connoisseurs all know grill marks are a very important flavor point of great tasting quesadillas.

The flavour of food is determined by a number of different factors including taste, smell, colour, temperature and overall appearance, as well as by physiological or psychological conditions. Some of the most important factors are the basic tastes of sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami.

It was Japanese scientist Dr. Kikunae Ikeda who first discovered that glutamic acid, an amino acid, was responsible for the umami taste of Konbu.
Although there is no English word for it, umami is a savoury taste imparted by glutamate and ribonucleotides, including inosinate and guanylate, which occur naturally in many foods including meat, fish, vegetables and dairy products.

The taste of umami itself is subtle. It blends well with other tastes to expand and round out flavours. Umami plays an important role making food taste delicious.

My lunch came with a small serving of hot sauce on the side but I opted for a few dashes of Tobasco Smokey Chipolte Sauce splashed across the top(more umami). Sweet. These vegetarian quesadellas from the Red Bird Grill were such a great treat that that I don’t expect to have chicken quesadellas anywhere for some time.

I am not sure how much my food really cost but it had to cheap. I say this because there were three of us eating together and the total bill for all three was under $15 if that gives you a hint. The Red Bird Grill is open during golf course hours.