Armadillo Willy's works hard on the theme. The décor is wood and corrugated iron, the tablecloths plain checks. On the walls is an array of 1950s metal advertising signs. There are useful notices as well, explaining things like how to be a Texan and how to make a barbecue pit out of an old oil drum and some pieces of a dead Chevy. The good news is that readers are encouraged to clean out the oil drum first. Whatever else they might do with oil, Texans apparently do not eat it. The muzak too was carefully themed, so we tucked into our meal to the mellow Southern Rock sound of the Charlie Daniels Band explaining to us once more how The South's Gonna Do It Again.

Meat. Meat, meat and more meat, and lots of it. Well what did you expect? We dined amply on hot links, best brisket and, of course, baby back ribs. Ribs are the ultimate carnivore food. There's no way you can eat them with a knife and fork; you just have to gnaw. Each dish came complete with a serving of beans and a cornbread muffin. Oh, and some funny salad stuff which of course we ignored. (Beans don't count as a vegetable; they are not green.)

A strange thing occurred to me while eating my meal. When you go into a restaurant claiming to serve traditional British food you can be pretty certain that it will all be badly cooked. (I'm British, I'm allowed to say that.) But if you go into a restaurant that claims to serve traditional American food the meat will be wonderful. It is just everything else that is badly cooked. That seems to be true in most places I have eaten. It is however unfair to Armadillo Willy's because their cornbread is excellent. The fries were not bad either. Add some delicious meat and some spicy sauce and you end up well stuffed, if not exactly overwhelmed with culinary excellence. No wonder so many Americans are overweight.