Johnny Fin's

Johnny Fin's is way out on Lake Travis. It's different from The Oasis because you're actually floating right on the water, and you can look over the side and see many fish and ducks waiting hopefully for you to drop some crumbs in the water (or some fish food sold from a machine outside). The food is decent, but you don't come for the food. It's all about relaxing outside and watching the fish go crazy for crumbs.

We had the hush puppy basket ($6.99), the bourbon street fillet ($14.99) and the catfish n' chips ($10.99). We finished things off with a slice of margarita pie ($4.99). Is it weird to eat fish while they're watching you from below? Well, a little.

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Cipollina

Come to Cipollina any day between 3:30 and 5:30 for their happy hour half-price pizza special. You can get one of their delicious thin crust pizzas for between $5 and $8. It was so much food we even took some home... definitely a great deal! We had a 14" margherita pizza for $6.50 (usually $13) and the 14" prosciutto and goat cheese for $7.50 (usually $15).

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Satay

Satay holds a special place in my heart because A) it's one of the first restaurants we tried in Austin (and the first Thai place we tried) and B) They serve fried bananas with ice cream. Their restaurant is unassuming- it's just kind of floating in a parking lot in front of a strip mall off Anderson Lane. Don't be fooled though.. they serve up some pretty tasty dishes. We started off with the corn pancakes for $5.95. For entrees we had the Emerald Forest, $10.95, and the Lard Na, $9.95. Of course, for dessert, we finished off with the banana fritters with vanilla ice cream, $6.95.

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Cabo Bob's

Sadly enough, we didn't take any photos at Cabo Bob's. Sometimes that happens when we're too busy stuffing our face with food. Cabo Bob's is down in south Austin but it sure was worth the drive for us. This place is another one of those Chipotle substitutes- they have massive delicious burritos and you get to pick the ingredients. They also have tacos and bowls. The cool thing about the burritos is that they make the tortilla right there in front of you. They take a little ball of fresh dough and flatten it/heat it after you order your tortilla flavor. This really makes a difference. You'll be pleased with their fresh ingredients to pick out and fill that tortilla with. Prices range from $5.49 to $6.39, depending on your main ingredient of veggies or several meat options: beef, chicken, pork or fish.

Then there's the queso. This is something you will not find at all at Chipotle. At Cabo Bob's, not only do they have queso, but it's awesome queso and homemade tortilla chips that taste like they've just been made 5 seconds ago. Mmmm. Cabo Bob's, why do you have to be all the way down at the bottom of south Austin?

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Opal Devine's

Opal Devine's is a classic Austin spot with three locations around town. They serve up all the basics in American bar food as well as southern and southwestern favorites. Come for happy hour which is 4-7 PM Monday through Friday for $3 margaritas and selected appetizers for half price. We each got a margarita shaker for $6 (a good deal since it works out to 2.5 drinks), and shared the southwestern eggrolls ($7.95), the fried pickles ($2.95- happy hour price), and the cracked pepper fries and dip ($4.25).

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Hey Cupcake!

So.. the number of cupcake spots in Austin is kind of insane. There's polkadots, which we already blogged about, as well as Sugar Mama's Bakeshop, Cupprimo and Delish. Oh yeah- and Hey Cupcake!

Hey Cupcake! has a silver airstream trailer on south Congress which you may have seen. Now they've got an actual shop opened up in central Austin- not far from our place so of course we had to stop by. Cupcakes are $2.50 each, and, well, they're cupcakes. Sweet, yummy, and they bring back memories of being six years old. We got the double chocolate cupcake & carrot cake cupcake. Sign up for their email updates and you get a coupon for a free cupcake!

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Spicy Pickle

I had always thought this was just a sandwich shop, so was very pleasantly surprised to find out that they have delicious salads as well. We both got the half sandwich + salad deal for $6.45.
The spinach salad had apples, walnuts and crumbled blue cheese. I also had the gobbler panini, which had turkey, artichoke hearts, feta and sundried tomato. Who knew a healthy lunch could be this good?
Below is the forest salad, with spinach, portabello mushrooms, hazelnuts, grilled onions and sundried tomatoes. The sub is a wise guy: capocolla, mortadella, hard salami, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, roasted red peppers, pepperoncini peppers, provolone and basil mayo. Whew! On top of all of their menu sandwiches, you can also create your own with ingredients of your choice.

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Star of India

Indian food.. we cannot get enough. We're slowly working our way through every Indian restaurant in Austin. Star of India isn't far from us and we read a good review, so it was an obvious choice to try for dinner. We started off with the samosas appetizer ($4.95). I love the fact that every restaurant makes samosas differently.

As is typical, we were given crispy unleavened bread with sauces (not sure what it's called) while waiting for our food. We also got an order of naan bread ($1.50). For entrees we tried the Malai Kofta Kashmiri, which was vegetable & cheese dumplings cooked in an almond & cream sauce ($9.99) and Chicken Tikka Masala, which is tandoori chicken cooked in tomatoes and butter gravy ($11.99). Both very good.

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Le Café Crêpe

Le Cafe Crepe is a brand new crepe place downtown. We are so happy that it's here, because for the past two years that we've been in Austin, the only place to get crepes was Flip Happy- and although they are wonderful, the line is just too long! This place did not disappoint. Of course, my ultimate favorite is the nutella crepe ($6.75). This one has a scoop of vanilla ice cream inside and nutella drizzled over the top.
We also sampled their savory crepes- the "Norwegian" ($8.75) which was a salmon crepe with boursin & herbs and the "American" with chicken, cheese & tomato ($7.85). Most delicious lunch in a long time.

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Casey's New Orleans Snowballs

It's starting to get hot here in Austin, so it's time to seek out the coldest treats we can find. Casey's is a sno-cone place that takes these icy snacks seriously. They have tons of flavors, and they poke holes in the ice to make sure the syrup goes all the way to the bottom. Get ready for an extreme sugar high if you come here.

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P. Terry's

The new P. Terry's location is open now on North Lamar. Finally a fast food place with a nice, clean dining room & patio. The interior has a 50s feel to it and it doesn't have hospital lighting the way most other burger places do. The prices are reasonable and the food is good! Hamburgers for $2, chicken or veggie burgers for $3.80, french fries for $1.45 and milkshakes for $1.85. Spend only about 5 or 6 dollars and leave feeling completely stuffed. They also have their original south Austin burger stand, and will soon be opening a 3rd location in 78749.

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