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We've compiled the best of the best in Gruene - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
If Gruene Hall is king of the town, the Gruene General Store is its queen. The building dates back to 1878, and the soda fountain is a 1950s throwback serving old-fashioned ice cream floats and homemade fudge. You can find all sorts of unusual Texas gifts here along with candy, pickles, honey butters, and jams. The store is open seven days a week.
Originally owned by Dee and Terry Buck, creators of the Texas Clay Festival (still an annual event), Buck’s Pottery was sold to their niece, Angie White, and her husband Kyle, in 2015. Angie, also a potter, continues the tradition alongside Terry. In their original barn studio, they create unique ceramic art, including mugs, pots, bowls, tortilla warmers, and more from some of the best ceramic artists in Texas.
Grab a special souvenir T-shirt, bumper sticker, cap, or mug at the downtown mercantile known as Cotton-Eyed Joe's. The Gruene gear comes in a variety of styles and colors, and the shop is open until 9 or 11 pm, even on Sunday.
For the largest selection of Texas wines in the state and an extensive menu of local beer (and flights), grab a seat at a wooden table on the oak-shaded lawn or sidle up to the bar inside to sample the offerings. There's a happy hour between 4 and 7 pm every weekday, and you can pick up bottles of your new favorites to take back home.
Antique lovers will want to stop in at the Gruene Antique Company, a cavernous space showcasing more than 21 vendors of antiques and collectibles, with specialties including vintage quilts, glassware, jewelry, dishware, textiles, antique tools, and tins. It's open until 9 pm Sunday through Thursday and 10 pm Friday and Saturday.
This small shop features leather goods, cowhide koozies, and other accessories, but the focus is on a great selection of Western hats from classic Stetsons to Resistols. They can not only burn your initials into your topper, they will decorate it any way you like, with all sorts of beautiful feathers and trim, according to your very own design. It’s a lively, rollicking place, because, let’s face it, Western hats are fun. Plus, H.D. Gruene’s original bank vault is on the premises.
