Blogging may be a bit spotty this summer as we spend some time here and there away from Austin. In Northern California, it's all about eating seafood and eating on the water. We spent a weekend in Monterey, Carmel and Santa Cruz and had the chance to sample some good seafood, Mexican, frozen yogurt and a delicious wedding reception meal at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Yogurt r Rock is actually up in Round Rock, not Austin, but we just can't get enough of these new selve-serve froyo places popping up all over the place and simply must try them all. If you haven't been to one yet, you get an empty cup and fill it with as much or as little of a variety of froyo flavors as you want. Then you pick your own toppings and pay for the whole thing by the weight. Such a great concept. Some of the spots around Austin include Yogurt Planet, Yogurt Spot & Swirll.
We stopped by Lone Star Kolaches to bring home some delicious breakfast.. why aren't all states as obsessed with kolaches as Texas is? It's a mystery to me. The soft, slightly sweet bread and delicious fillings of fruit, cheese or meat.. and so cheap. Lone Star Kolaches often has bags of fruit kolaches for half price near closing time. Twelve kolaches for $6!
Max's Wine Dive is one of the newest additions to the Austin restaurant scene. They've already got a location in Houston, and have just expanded with this downtown Austin location. The quote you'll see on waiter's shirts is "Fried Chicken & Champagne? Why the hell not?" And that basically sums this place up. Lots of nice wines paired with basic American food classics dressed up. We went for brunch, and to start off, I was a little disappointed that the cheapest wine on the menu was $7 for a glass. Most places around town will have at least a wine or two for $4-$5 for us cheapskates. Anyway, I ordered a glass of sangria ($7) and Ryan stuck with coffee. For our brunch entrees, I sampled the nutella & banana stuffed Texas toast ($10). It was good- but I should disclose that I personally feel you can never go wrong if you smother something with some nutella. It bugged me a little that I asked for it without the bacon that comes with it since I don't eat bacon and didn't want it to go to waste, but our waitress brought it with the bacon anyway. In the future I'm better off sticking with a $5 nutella crepe at the new crepe places around town. Ryan had the Eggs MAX: eggs, prosciutto and greens over Texas toast ($9). He enjoyed his as well, and the presentation was nice, but I think we're both a little *meh* about Texas toast in general. I mean.. is it just a thick piece of white bread? Oh no... Do we sound snobby in this post??
El Arroyo will satisfy your Tex-Mex cravings. They have a variety of menu items, and the restaurant has lots of indoor and outdoor seating with funky decor all around, including a big blue bus.
We tried the BBQ chicken enchiladas, which were tasty and came with rice and beans, and the stuffed avocado. For appetizer we had the spinach con queso, which turned out to be queso with fresh spinach leaves sprinkled on top. Not quite what we expected, but still good!
Yes, Austin is experiencing a crepe explosion! Crepe Crazy is a small stand located at 5th & Congress. I don't know how the guy working here is able to sit there all day in the hot summer while whipping up amazingly delicious crepes, but he does. We've been twice so far and can't wait to go back again. There are a variety of both sweet and savory crepes, sweet crepes range in price from $3 to $5.50 and savory are in the $5 to $6 range. They are open during lunchtime so pop by on your lunch break from work. They also have evening hours for the late night crowd. Below you see the cinnamon & sugar crepe ($3) and the nutella crepe which is filled with strawberries and bananas ($5.50)... and a large pic of the inside. Excuse me while I drool for a minute. 
Smitty's Market (along with Kreuz Market) is technically in Lockhart, not Austin, but it's pretty awesome so we decided close enough. Note that this isn't the sort of place you go for the atmosphere, unless you like standing in line next to a fire pit in the middle of summer. You order your meat by the pound and they give it to you on some butcher paper with some Wonder bread or crackers; if you like, you can get "side dishes" (e.g., a hunk of cheese or some onion). But you're not there for the side dishes -- you're there for the meat. Saying this is a good barbeque is kind of like saying Mozart had some catchy tunes. The brisket is amazing.
I don't eat crawfish. I mean, I don't even really like looking at them. I'm kind of cringing at the photo below. Ryan spent some of his childhood in New Orleans, so eating crawfish is old news to him. Shoal Creek Saloon just finished out crawfish season with their daily crawfish boils about a week ago, so check back when the season starts again next year. In the meantime, head over there for a variety of Louisiana cuisine and some beer.
Crawfish were $6.99/pound, and we also ordered french fries for $2.49, hush puppies for $3.29, and I tried a bowl of garlic soup for $5.29. Very thick & garlicky!
