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    Matera Grill and Catering

    4.2 (17 reviews)

    Services - Matera Grill and Catering

    Bartending services

    Catering services

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    MATERA GRILL AND CATERING ATMOSPHERE

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    Brisket Burnt End Mac & Cheese
    Shawn M.

    Atmosphere: Located in a new(er) building on Oak and S 1st which had been housing a brewery until recently. Big open space with lots of room between tables so you won't feel crowded. 1 Star Service: Our waiter was great. Very attentive and with a big smile. We never ran out of drinks and our food came out in a timely manner. It was hot as well. All of the staff was friendly. 2 Stars Food: It was really good. We had a smorgasbord of items including the following: Giant Pretzel, Chips and Salsa, Fried Pickles, Sirloin, Brisket Burnt Ends Mac & Cheese, Cajun Combo, and Blackened Pasta. We shared around the table. Let's start with appetizers. The so-so first; The Chips and Salsa were a bit of a let down. Nothing unique at all. Salsa was more like a mild chopped tomato chutney. The chips were just your typical store bought style corn tortilla chips. It was fine, but nothing to write home about. Now for the other two. The pretzel is huge. It's doughy on the inside and crisp on the outside with lots of salt. It comes with a beer cheese dip. We devoured it. Very tasty. The fried pickles were the absolute BOMB! It's a good sized portion and the flavor was outstanding. Not only do you get the great dill taste in the pickle, but the breading seemed to possibly have some dill in it as well. It was perfectly fried. Possibly the best thing we had all night. Sirloin was wood fired (mesquite, I believe) and cooked perfectly medium rare. Great flavor and the accompanying mashed potatoes were perfect. The brisket burnt ends were quite good too. I somewhat consider myself a brisket aficionado so I'll give you my honest opinion. They tasted great and were paired nicely with a good quality mac & cheese. My only critique is that with burnt ends that should be crispy (thus the moniker "burnt") and like a piece of bbq candy. They are typically twice smoked to allow for this. This dish was more like a Brisket Mac & Cheese (minus the burnt end part.) like I said, still great, just not what I was expecting. Would I order it again? Absolutely! Just keep in mind it is more like mac & cheese topped with brisket. The Cajun combo was quite the eye catcher. Big luscious charbroiled oysters, and good sized shrimp. The catfish fillets were more like a couple of small nuggets though (see picture) rather than actual filets. Which to me was surprising considering it's typically a cheap fish. I digress, they were still very good. The fries were nice and crispy shoestring style, and the hush puppies are jalapeño cornbread style (my fave!) The oysters were briny and plump as expected. Finally on to the Blackened Pasta. It had nice big chunks of grilled chicken along with fettuccine noodles in a cream sauce (think Alfredo) and was topped with a blackening seasoning, which had a nice quick. I could definitely have used a significantly increased amount of garlic in the sauce but that may just be a personal preference. It was quite delectable and I did finish off almost the entire plate. 1.5 Stars Overall: Will definitely add this place to my list of "must return and try something new" restaurants. We all actually had a hard time choosing dishes because everything sounded so good. I may have been a little nit picky ("burnt ends" and garlic), but overall it was a great supper. Nothing was bad (although the salsa was disappointingly bland) and almost everything was "very good." Highly recommend. 4.5 Stars.

    Huge pretzel with beer cheese sauce
    Christi S.

    We have been curious about this place for a while and are glad we finally stopped in! Since we weren't super hungry we got several appetizers to share for lunch and everything by we had was great. The atmosphere is clean and bright, and our waiter was on top of things! We also lined shopping at the little market under the building after we ate.

    Cajun Pasta

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    3 years ago

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    3 years ago

    I liked the hand battered onion rings. Service is friendly but very slow and I think this place is closing.

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    3 years ago

    This place is absolutely amazing! The owner and staff were absolutely wonderful! The food is phenomenal! Can't wait to come back!

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    3 years ago

    Best food ever!! great place and amazing drinks!!! We cont come through there without going in!!!

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    3 years ago

    It's a great spot! Love the atmosphere. Miss the old Sockdollager, but Matera has good food and friendly staff.

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    Ask the Community - Matera Grill and Catering

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    Grain Theory

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    So, I have already had one review here. After being in Abilene for about 6 months, and coming to…read moreGrain Theory (almost daily) during that time, I finally tried the Brewhouse Burger. OMG, as an "Old Fay Guy" who has had more than his fair share of burgers, this is by far one of, if not the best, burger I have ever had. Shout out to Chef Rob and the kitchen staff. This burger will stand up (surpass) a burger from anyplace around.

    I will forever be amazed by cool places, especially when they appear in unexpected cities like…read moreAbilene. Located on the second story of a beautiful building in downtown Abilene sits Grain Theory, a brewpub and coffee shop towering over the city. It is a mixed indoor-outdoor space with plenty of shaded outdoor and cooled indoor seating. Looking at their tap list, my girlfriend and I were impressed by their unique beers to try. I started with the Strawberry Peach Tonic (Fruited Hard Seltzer) and she had a Bella Rose (Rosé IPA). Both were served in cool glasses, with mine being tall and skinny and hers being almost like a wine glass. Shocking to nobody, mine was quite fruity while her Rosé IPA was hoppy with an underlying rosé flavor. Next, I ordered their Oktoberfest (German Märzen) and she had their Season's End (Belgian Dubbel). She described her drink as tasting like a Biscoff cookie. My Oktoberfest was quite malty, and I was a big fan. To close, we both ordered their Luscent (Belgian Table Beer) because small beers are back in fashion and I wanted to try it. It was obviously very light but still had a good flavor that was very bready. Nice and easy to close out our drinks with. They also have food and coffee that we didn't try, but the food looked sensational from what we saw others eating. They also have plenty of board games and card games to play while you're at the brewery and many beers available to take to-go. My only minor complaint is the lack of TVs in the brewery. Maybe it's a purposeful decision, but Texas Tech was playing football, and it would be a great place to watch the game. The bartenders are very friendly and willing to let you try and sample as many beers as you need to make your decision. Grain Theory feels like the kind of place every small Texas city wishes it had. I am very excited to come back here and try more beers, especially with how excellent the space is. RIYL: Cool-shaped beer glasses or a rooftop bar

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    Vagabond Pizza

    Vagabond Pizza

    4.5(300 reviews)
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    Service was great. The waitress was helpful and took care of us. The margarita pizza is delicious…read more My husband had a specialty pizza and ate it all. We have been to Vagabond's numerous times. We are never disappointed. Highly recommend. By the way, their bread and butter is to die for. Hot, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

    The last stop during my Abilene day trip was the wood-fire pizzeria Vagabond. We arrived at…read moreVagabond exactly at 6:00 pm, impressed by their cork decor outside the shop. We were immediately greeted by the server and seated just as quickly. The place was pretty busy, as one would expect on a Saturday at 6 pm, so it was great to be seated right away. The table was already set with two water cups, two plates, two sets of silverware, and two napkins, so we didn't have to set the area ourselves. Our server came shortly after with a large glass bottle of water and took our drink orders. My girlfriend got a bottled Dr. Pepper while I stuck to water. I also noticed they serve plenty of wines as well as a good selection of craft beers. They have ten different specialty pizzas, and we settled on their most expensive: the Carnivore. I say most expensive, but it was $20 for a pizza that fed two. It took about 10-15 minutes before the pizza came out, which is impressively fast. All pizzas are about 12 inches and are sliced into sixes. If you're hungry, consider an appetizer or a dessert, but to us, it was a perfect size with plenty of meat. The crust is thin and crispy, as one would expect from a wood-fire pizza. It was really excellent. For dessert, my girlfriend and I ordered their Saturday Morning Cartoons, which is a panna cotta with Fruity Pebbles that I enjoyed but she adored (I let her eat most of it). All in all, the meal was around $30 plus the tip I added. We were in and out in under 40 minutes, which was quite impressive for a sit-down pizza restaurant. I highly recommend this to anyone living in or visiting Abilene. P.S. My girlfriend wanted my Yelp review to note that their women's bathroom has hair ties, bobby pins, a Tide pen, and other items that you never know you'll need until you do, which gives Vagabond extra brownie points for going above and beyond. RIYL: An affordable meal for two.

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    Street Entrance

    Matera Grill and Catering - seafood - Updated August 2026

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