Bud Royer was my friend on Facebook but now he’s my friend IRL. Bud graciously invited me and Adam to stop into his restaurant, Royers Round Top, for dinner last weekend on our way to Houston.

Bud and the rest of his family treated us so well. It was quite overwhelming. The restaurant is run by Bud’s daughter and her husband and one of his sons was working that night. Bud lives in Austin but heads east to Round Top on the weekends to hold court at the front table and greet his beloved customers.

As Bud says, “food brings folks together for relationships. That’s what breaking bread is all about. As my dearest friend Danny Roy Young (Texicali Grill) used to say, ‘the food turns to you-know-what in 24 hours,” to which he adds: “but relationships last a lifetime.”

We started with the complimentary hot buttered buns with sides of applesauce and herb butter. Mmm.

Bud made sure we had a chance to try all of the best dishes on the menu. It’s easy to tell which items are favorites. Just look for the OMG. According to the menu (and Bud), OMG — “Oh My God!” is what your taste buds say when you take a bite into one of the dishes.

I actually said “Oh My God” out loud when I tasted the Really Big Stuff Jalapenos ($6.95 for 2). According to the menu they are “OMG x 2″ so this should not have been a surprise. These are fried jalapenos stuffed with Swiss, cheddar, cream cheese, crab meat, and shrimp. They are served with cilantro-ranch dressing.

Next came the Cafe’s Jalapeno-Sourdough Bread Grilled Shrimp BLT ($12.95). It was truly delicious and comes with a 1/4 pound of shrimp, thick bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mesquite mustard.

From there it was on to the entrees and Bud had the Grilled Rack of Lamb ($32.95). I had the Micah’s Snapper ($23.95) and Adam the 10 oz. Great Steak ($37.95). I loved the snapper which was topped with shrimp and sauteed in white wine, olive oil, basil, garlic and tomatoes.

We then moved on to the main event. The PIE! Bud had us sample apple pie topped with brown sugar and pecans. We also had strawberry rhubarb with granola topping that the menu says is “to die for” and I pretty much agree. Royers is now serving all pies with Amy’s Ice Cream instead of Blue Bell which is what they offered the first time I visited in early 2008.

According to the menu, they serve all pies with Amy’s for $6.50 and will charge “$.50 extra if ya don’t have the ice cream.” Bud and his family love Amy and Steve and their walk-in refrigerator out back was salvaged from the original Amy’s Ice Cream location.

We also tried the Sin-amon Roll and Bud sent us home with two whole pies — pecan for a potluck dinner we were going to at the end of the weekend and sugar-free peach for Adam’s family. Whole pies are $16.95 and be sure to call ahead of you are driving out to Royers and want to make sure they have your favorite flavor ready.

Hours: Thursday through Saturday 11-9 and Sunday 11-3. Cash or check only.