TC Noodle House

We've passed TC Noodle House several times before while shopping at Chinatown Center, and have also read some good reviews here and there, but this is the first time we've tried the place out. We were not disappointed. The noodle bowls are delicious and the prices are cheap. The menu is very extensive. Any kind of noodle dish you can imagine is on their menu.
We both went for noodles in broth. Rice noodles with fish and chicken, $5.60. Egg noodles with chicken, $5.60. Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, $4.50.

Website

Location

Taco Cabana

I know, I know. Why am I blogging about fast food? I have a couple of answers: A) This weekend's postings are going to be fairly lame because it's the weekend of Austin City Limits, which means that we will be too exhausted from the festival to go out somewhere nice, B) Taco Cabana is the best Mexican/Tex-Mex fast food there is, and if you are new to Texas you need to be aware of this. Even if you don't like fast food and don't like Tex-Mex or Mexican food, you must do yourself a favor and order a half-dozen fresh tortillas and queso from Taco Cabana. The tortillas here are far better than what you'd find at a fancy Mexican place in some other part of the country. And the queso is just delicious. I would also like to point out that Taco Cabana has Margaritas. Are you sold yet?

Fiesta taco combo, Chimi combo, 2 apple chimis, fresh tortillas and queso: about $13 for everything. (Drinks not pictured.)

Website

Locations

doc green's

Doc green's is a salad, sandwich and soup place. It's nothing extraordinary, but for what it is, it's quite tasty. The soups rotate, and there's a variety of unique salads to pick from. You can also build your own salad, and watch them make it. The sandwiches & wraps are also varied.

The "Dr. Fruity" salad: $6.19. With Chicken: $8.19.
Cup of tortilla soup, $2.29. Buffalo chicken panini with side of mashed potatoes, $7.19. Don't worry- you can go into a restaurant called "doc green's" and end up with nothing green on your plate.

Website

Location

Cornucopia

Cornucopia is a new shop near campus that only sells popcorn. That's right, just 48 different flavors of popcorn. There's an "Hours of Poperation" sign on the door.
I don't know if this business will last, since it is very specific and the popcorn is expensive. It's a really cute place though, there are little cafe tables and free wifi-- and the popcorn flavors are tasty and inventive. We came today because they were giving away free samples of any popcorn you want to try. We tried Vanilla, Pizza, Dill Pickle, Salt & Vinegar & Dark Chocolate. A full list of their flavors can be found on their website.

Website

Location

Asti Trattoria

Asti is a small, romantic Italian restaurant in the Hyde Park area of Austin.
Inside the dining room:
Romaine leaf salad with Italian White Anchovy, $8.50
Cup of Italian wedding soup, $3.50
Semolina Crusted Salmon with Caponata, $16. Ryan loved it. The salmon was prepared very well.
Butternut Squash Risotto, $15. Yummy, but a little on the bland side.
Espresso, $2.25. I was fascinated with that cup of brown sugar cubes. I guess I don't get out much.
Tiramisu, $8. It was just delicious. The crushed almonds sprinkled on top were great added texture.

Website

Location

Thundercloud Subs

Thundercloud Subs is a popular alternative to Subway in Austin. These tasty subs are available at several locations around town. The south Austin location is a cute little sub stand with an ordering window, rather than an actual restaurant.
Outdoor eating area:
A turkey and cheese sandwich with the fixins, $4.79
Egg salad sandwich and a political message, $3.79.

Whole Foods

Whole Foods originated in Austin, so it's only natural that the mother of all Whole Foods stores would be here in downtown Austin. I mean, this place is massive. And I believe those are the Whole Foods corporate offices above the store.
Wow... is it really that time of year already?
The best part of Whole Foods is the produce section.
No wait-- the best part is the wine section.
There's a bunch of prepared food to eat, and you can sit and eat it right in the store, or outside on the patio. Everything from soup, salad, pizza, desserts, to various international dishes.

Website

Location

Boomerang's

Boomerang's is an Australian pie shop not far from the UT campus. It's a great place to have lunch, or pick up a quick dinner on the way home.
The pies are soooo good. The crust is delicious, warm and flakey. We were lucky enough to arrive just as they were about to pull a fresh batch out of the oven. There are basically 3 categories of pies: Pies with beef, pies with chicken, and pies with veggies.

Southwest chicken pie with chipotle sauce, $5.50:

Spinach and mushroom pie, $5.00:

Website

Location

Amy's Ice Cream

Amy's is a local favorite in Austin. The best thing about Amy's is that it's open until 1 AM on the weekends, and until midnight during the week. So it's there for all your late night ice cream cravings.
The guys behind the counter mash any toppings you want into the ice cream(s) you pick. There are a lot of unique flavors.
Enjoying Bourbon Chocolate and Belgium Chocolate (It was a chocolate kind of a day) on the trunk of the car. Medium cup, $3.57.

Website

Locations

T&S Seafood Restaurant

T&S is a Chinese seafood restaurant a couple miles north of us (north-central Austin) on Lamar. We'd heard good things about their dim sum, so we thought we'd check it out. The place was packed for Sunday dim sum, but we only waited about 5 minutes for a table. We didn't really sample much seafood, but just thought I'd point out their seafood dishes are supposed to be excellent.
The best part about dim sum is getting to pick and choose what you want from the carts as they roll by. Sometimes we just pick stuff cause we like the way it looks.

Location

Roaring Fork

We decided to go to Roaring Fork for dinner, because it was right across the street from The Arthouse which we'd just visited. Austin was supposed to get "hit" by hurricane Ike today (and by hit, they mean a little wind and rain) but since the hurricane went north instead of west, we had clear weather. Which was a little disappointing cause we kinda need some rain.

Anyway... Roaring Fork is an upscale restaurant downtown, with American food and a lot of seafood.
We were there kinda early, so we started out at the bar with Roaring Fork margaritas with huckleberry swirl. $6 each.
Inside the dining room:
Ryan had Barracuda (yes, Barracuda) with Jonah Crab & Jalapenos on top and Rice Pilaf underneath. It was delicious, and definitely unique. $27.
I had the Mahi Mahi. Yes, I know the layout doesn't look very classy. That's my fault- it was supposed to come with Guacamole, since I'm allergic I had it replaced with fries. The fries were nothing to write home about but the fish was delicious, as was the rice. $23.
Creme Brulee, $7. Wow, it was delicious. I haven't had a dessert this rich in I don't know how long. It's a good thing it didn't have nutrition information on it, cause it might not have tasted as good if it had.

Website

Location

Tino's Greek Cafe

We stopped by Tino's for dinner partly cause I had to return shoes to DSW, and partly cause we'd read a good review about the place. Tino's is a cute little cafe. The dining style is like a not-serve-yourself-buffet. All of the food is laid out in front of you behind glass, but you don't serve yourself and it's not all you can eat. You basically go down the line and point to what you want, and the servers add it to your plate. For between $8.99 and $10.99, you can pile your plate with a bunch of stuff.
I had tabouli, hummus, spinakopita, and spinakopita with only cheese inside (don't know the name). $8.99
Ryan got the gyro plate with salad, hummus, spinakopita, moussaka, and a lentil soup. $9.99
For dessert we had baklava ($2.50) and some sort of chocolate roll ($2.50). The dinner was delicious, but the dessert was definitely the best part.

Website

Location

polkadots

polkadots is a "cupcake factory." You can order cupcakes from them for special occasions, and you can also stop by their cafe and have a cupcake. Each day of the week they have different flavors.
Inside the cafe:
Irish Cream cupcake, $2.75. Lemon Blueberry cupcake, $2.75. Both were delicious, the icing was very light and tasty.

Website

Location

Threadgill's

Threadgill's is a homestyle cooking restaurant in north central-ish Austin. We went there for brunch this past Sunday. Their brunch is a pretty standard, somewhat southern/tex-mex buffet, but the place itself has a lot of character. And how often do you have a bluegrass band playing for you while you're finishing your breakfast?

Yes, I'm a dork.

Lots of funky decor. Apparently 10am is way too early for most Austinites to have breakfast, as the restaurant didn't fill up until about when we were leaving.

Sunday brunch: $10.95 (not including beverage). The migas were good, but the tortillas seemed kind of store-bought.

Later, this was a bluegrass band. So just imagine a woman singing accompanied by a banjo, a guitar, and a bass as you're finishing your coffee. Or as you're starting your coffee if, unlike us, you aren't silly enough to eat brunch early Sunday.

Tip for future self: just go straight for the sweet-potato pancakes. In fact, never eat the regular kind ever again, because the sweet-potato pancakes are awesome. Why does anyone eat anything else? Really yummy with some nice nutmeg.

Yes, I did try to make this look pretty. Not sure why. But it's always a pleasure to have strawberries when you're expecting to settle for mixed melons.

Website

Locations