CHOWING IN AUSTIN

Monkey Nest

2011-09-15T20:25:00.001-05:00

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Menchie's

2011-09-07T20:18:00.007-05:00

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Location

Chowing in San Francisco

2011-08-25T20:02:00.000-05:00

Ploy II:

Chowing in New York

2011-08-09T19:59:00.000-05:00

Vanessa's Dumplings:

Chowing in Nepal

2011-07-25T19:58:00.001-05:00

Chowing in India

2011-07-12T19:56:00.000-05:00

Chowing in Colorado

2011-06-17T21:58:00.000-05:00

Tangier Moroccan Cuisine:

Nepal Cuisine:
Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse:

Twisted Pine Brewing:

The Screaming Goat

2011-05-31T19:46:00.001-05:00

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the peached tortilla

2011-05-25T19:39:00.001-05:00

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Froyoyo

2011-05-12T19:25:00.002-05:00

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Olivia

2011-04-26T21:57:00.001-05:00

It's worth coming to this place just to admire the design.

Beautiful interior...

Oysters:
Salad, deviled eggs, onion rings and carmelized grapefruit:
Grilled cheese with tomato soup:

Side of fries.. this is huge so get one to share.

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Location

Soleil

2011-04-17T21:53:00.010-05:00

Soleil is the other new restaurant near the Oasis on Lake Travis. It has the same great views but in a smaller more romantic setting.

Market fish sandwich, $12:
Shrimp burger, $13. Both sandwiches came with delicious greens and fries.
Tiramisu, very thick, heavy and creamy, $9:

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Imperia happy hour

2011-03-10T21:55:00.001-06:00

We've blogged Imperia before, but haven't blogged their excellent happy hour. They have some dim sum & small plate selections for half price and delicious cocktails for $5.

Yin Yang chocolate martini:

Imperial pearl:
The empress jade salad, this was huge!
Balinese vegetable samosas with mango chutney:
Seabass Kushiyaki skewers:
Duck spring rolls:
Wasabi bloody mary:
Asian pear martini:

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Location

Texas French Bread

2011-02-25T21:51:00.001-06:00

We're glad we finally got to try this place- the restaurant is interesting and the food is pretty good. Their menu changes often so I don't know if they still have this stuff available..

House made papardelle with goat cheese and kale pesto:

Quail with broccoli:

Uncle Billy's

2011-02-17T21:49:00.000-06:00

Uncle Billy's is one of two new restaurants out next to The Oasis on Lake Travis.

Good beer, BBQ, other basic food options..
And the view is obviously amazing!

Webpage

Locations

Tea Lounge

2011-02-09T21:50:00.000-06:00

We were psyched to try the Tea Lounge after viewing their extensive online menu. So many different flavors to choose from, as well as tons of "sinkers." We've stuck with the old standby of tapioca on each visit but have tried a number of the flavors and never been disappointed. They offer a discount with a student ID, don't forget to show it if you have one..

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Thai Fresh

2011-01-21T21:45:00.000-06:00

Thai Fresh fills a glass case with all of their daily offerings, which means you get to take a look at the dishes before buying, and can purchase by the weight so that small servings of two dishes could make one meal. A pretty cool way to eat Thai food!

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The Good Knight

2011-01-16T21:01:00.000-06:00

Classic cocktails: Sidecar and classic Daiquiri

Fried tomatoes, huge and delicious with a flavorful crispy coating $7.50

Bangers & mash, $9

Chicken pot pie, with a light pastry puff on top $10.50

Pot de creme, $6

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Location

El Arbol

2011-01-10T18:40:00.002-06:00

El Arbol is one of the best restaurants we've eaten at in Austin. It's a new-ish place with a large outdoor deck built around a tree. The interior is nice as well.

The bread with two different spreads was delicious.

As it was still happy hour, we enjoyed some margaritas.

The spinach empanada ($3.50) was a nice start to the meal.

A salad we can't remember the name of:

The chicken was amazing. Who knew chicken could be so good? Ryan says this is quite possibly the best chicken he's ever had.

I think this is one of the best meals I've had. The fish was perfect and flavorful, and the side of herb manchego gnocchi was possibly even better than the fish. Often, the side dish will be an afterthought: a few pieces of asparagus, some potatoes, or something similarly easy and boring. This gnocchi had clearly had a lot of thought, effort and time put into it. I would come back just to order the gnocchi alone if I could.

Our dessert, which doesn't seem to be on the menu anymore. Delicious chocolate with cream sandwiched between. If other desserts are in the same class as this one they're all gonna be good!

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J Black's

2010-12-19T18:39:00.005-06:00

We had been meaning to come here for a while with our restaurant.com certificate, and so glad we finally made it.

I really liked the presentation of the chips and queso.

This drink was called an "Acai Sangria." ($7) How cute is it? It was delicious, fruity, and I could barely taste the alcohol, which is just the way I like it.

Crab cakes... oh so good. ($13) I used to shy away from crab for some reason- so glad I've come around.

Umm... don't know where the photo of Ryan's food is. Oh well. The most important part of the meal is below: the dessert. It's called "coffee and donuts" and consisted of coffee ice cream and house-made donuts. So delicious, and it even has two separate scoops of ice cream, so perfect for sharing. I was surprised that the price for this beauty was only $5.

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Cuatro's

2010-12-10T18:39:00.000-06:00

After driving past Cuatro's and seeing their cute building and expansive outdoor space, you can't help but want to eat there. If you like a nice outdoor patio but don't like crazy sports excitement, just make sure to come here NOT on a game day.

Tried a watermelon agua fresca cocktail which was both very strong & very sweet. These were the chipotle chicken tacos with rice and beans ($8).

And the portabella tacos ($7.50). We really enjoyed both taco dishes. The rice left a little something to be desired but I am usually picky about rice. Beans were great.

Now, we had ordered sides along with our entrees and it turned out to be way too much food. These sweet potato fries ($3) and tater tots ($2.50) were both tasty, but we ended up just picking at them and taking most of it home. The sweet potato fries actually made better leftovers than the tater tots.

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Shu Shu's

2010-12-02T18:38:00.000-06:00

Shu Shu's recently opened not far from us, so we had to give it a try. We didn't expect anything special, and were pleasantly surprised. The restaurant itself is very open and pleasant, and you can see into the kitchen if you like that sort of thing. You order at the counter and they bring your selections out to you. Entrees were very good quality for the price, especially considering the fact that we had leftovers to bring home.

Shrimp spring rolls, $3.25

Singapore noodles, $7.75

Sesame chicken with brown rice, $7.75

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Cannoli Joe's

2010-11-21T18:37:00.001-06:00

I'm generally not a huge fan of buffets with the exception of some Indian buffets. However, Canolli Joe's was pretty good and the number of choices was pretty impressive. During their weekend brunch they have all of their regular lunch items (italian standards: pizza, pasta, etc) available as well as a number of breakfasty options and a great selection of desserts.

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Cedar Door

2010-11-15T18:36:00.000-06:00

Cedar Door has a huge outdoor deck.. it's a great place to spend a weekend afternoon. The Mexican martinis are huge and strong, it must be the equivalent of about three drinks.

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Chowing in New Orleans

2010-11-08T18:25:00.001-06:00

I spent a week in New Orleans with a friend of mine, and of course the highlight of the trip was the food. We decided to go all out for one dinner, and went to Commander's Palace, one of the nicest and most famous restaurants in the city. Everything was absolutely amazing, although unfortunately it started raining about halfway through the meal and we were sitting outside.

Scallops:

Pecan crusted fish topped with jumbo lump crab:

Praline sundae:

Creme brulee (this was HUGE):

Of course, we had to hit up Cafe du Monde for beignets. Fried pastries covered with massive heaps of powdered sugar. The tour book told us to resist the urge to shake the sugar off.

The Crescent City Brewhouse offered an amazing deal: five 12-ounce beer samples for $8.50. It was a lot of beer for lunchtime, and I struggled to finish it all.

We sat at the bar at the Acme Oysterhouse and watched them prepare the oysters behind the counter. There was a hall of fame for the big oyster eaters- the record was 42.5 DOZEN oysters!

We stumbled upon Coquette online and ended up having an amazing meal. They offered a special three course lunch for $20. Three options for each course and everything sounded amazing. I loved my selections.
Sweet corn soup for appetizer:

Fish & chips entree:

Beignets with pot de creme for dessert:

Cupprimo

2010-10-29T18:35:00.008-05:00

Picked up a dozen cupcakes from Cupprimo up north. I think the red velvet & pumpkin were our favorites! They added some cute Halloween decorations to the cakes.

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La Condesa

2010-10-25T11:14:00.000-05:00

Chips with four delicious salsas, $4

The interior is beautiful. I love this mural.

Chile Relleno, $20

Market fish

Dark chocolate tart with dulce de leche and sea salt, $8

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Chowing in Galveston

2010-10-17T22:50:00.000-05:00

We had a nice weekend getaway in Galveston, and ate at Shrimp & Stuff. Lots of fried seafood and cheap drinks.

Fish balls with fries:

Shrimp Po'boy

Rio's Brazilian Cafe

2010-10-10T22:42:00.001-05:00

The interior feels like someone's dining room. Very cute and cozy.

The cheese bread, which you can also buy at local grocery stores, is soft and chewy on the inside.. definitely unique and tasty.

The Apple Buzios salad featured a red wine roasted apple stuffed with goat cheese. Yum..

The butternut squash soup was very thick and hearty.

The salgadinhos are like empanadas and have various interesting fillings.

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Roaring Fork- Restaurant Week

2010-10-04T22:51:00.009-05:00

Sometimes the Restaurant Week deals are not that great.. Roaring Fork's deal was definitely a winner. $15 for a three course lunch.

Soup for appetizer: black bean soup and tortilla soup

Cobb salad entree:

Grilled fish with almonds

On to dessert.. what a filling lunch. Pecan pie and creme brulee. Both delicious and great presentation.

Website

Locations

NoRTH

2010-09-30T22:49:00.003-05:00

NoRTH at the Domain has a great, cheap happy hour M-F from 5-6 PM. Wines by the glass start at $3.25.

The yummy spread that comes with the bread promises good things to come...

Zucca chips, $2.50 at happy hour. These were gone so fast. So light and crispy.

Trio of 3 spreads with bread: hummus, eggplant and goat cheese. $6 at happy hour.

Now for the pizzas, $6 at happy hour. Wow, too much food at this point. We each ate a couple of slices of our pizzas and got the rest to go. Below is fig & goat cheese. We didn't know it would be such massive chunks of fig. The flavor was great but the large pieces of fig a bit too much.

Classic margherita pizza. Very thin crust.

And pretty much the reason we came here: The Nutella cake! Very dense, chocolatey and delicious.

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Chowing in Dallas

2010-09-25T22:44:00.000-05:00

How can you not get excited when you see this sign? Lumi: Empanada & Dumpling Kitchen. A restaurant that specializes in food that comes in tiny pockets!

The interior and exterior were both interesting, with a kind of Japanese feel to the place.

Chips to start off with...

This is one of those places where you must get a bunch of plates and share them with the table. The ahi tuna nachos topped with jalapenos ($8) were spicy and inventive.

I wanted to eat about 10 of these. The empanadas come with a variety of fillings, and are served with amazing dipping sauces.

The crab wontons ($7.50) were so pretty I didn't want to eat them. That only held me back for about 0.3 seconds.

The curry dumplings were possibly my favorite.. we ordered more chips just so we could soak up every drop of that curry dipping sauce.

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Toy Joy

2010-09-20T22:40:00.000-05:00

Toy Joy serves vegan soft serve and bubble teas that can be made with soy milk, almond milk or dairy milk. Unfortunately we ate our bubble teas so fast we didn't have a chance to take a picture! The inside of the store is awesome though, it's a toy store that has hoarded tons of the weirdest toys and candy you've ever seen.

Zen

2010-09-17T22:39:00.001-05:00

Zen is the place for healthy, Japanese "fast food." Tons of options for stir fry bowls as well as some sushi. They're very vegetarian friendly, as you can pick your protein for any bowl.

Seaweed salad, $1.49

The stir fry bowls come in "regular" and "big" and range in price from $4.35 to $8.50, depending on your ingredient and protein choices. Just a warning: some of the sauces are quite spicy! Ask if you are sensitive to spice.

Website

Locations

Chilito

2010-09-12T22:38:00.000-05:00

Chilito is a quick, casual, outdoor dining only Mexican place in East Austin. Walk up to the window and place your order.

Vegetal tacos- $2.29 each.

Delicious mole salsa that they're famous for, $2.39. Mmmmmm!

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Koriente

2010-09-10T22:38:00.000-05:00

Koriente was started by a woman who didn't like to cook but wanted to feed her family healthy food. So, she created Koriete for others like her. The story is written on the wall outside of the restaurant. They've got lots of great, flavorful and inventive dishes that are indeed very healthy.

Japchei: clear sweet potato noodles mixed with veggies & topped with tofu. ($7 without protein added, $9 with)

Koriente Curry: vegetarian curry with rice medallions. ($6.50 without protein, $8.50 with)

Mixmix Bibimbap: rice with veggies. ($6.50, $8.50 with protein, $8 with avocado or egg)

Green tea ice cream.. so good we barely got a photo!

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Counter Culture

2010-09-06T22:37:00.000-05:00

Counter Culture is a vegan food trailer not far from where we live in North Central Austin.. we grabbed some food here and brought it home to eat. They had pretty interesting and tasty meat substitutes.

Kale salad with a side of Quinoa.

Garbanzo "tuna" with lettuce and tomato. ($6)

Jackfruit BBQ topped with onions and pickles. ($6)

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Snack Bar

2010-09-03T22:36:00.000-05:00

Snack Bar on South Congress has an awesome patio. They had live music there after dark on the Thursday we went. My sister, who is a vegan, was in town, so prepare to be bombarded with vegan-friendly food spots for the coming blog entries.

Below is an Asian salad with seitan added. ($12)

Veggie burger, bean patty stuffed with avocado. ($7.50)

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Zoe's Kitchen

2010-08-24T23:42:00.000-05:00

Zoe's Kitchen is up in the Arboretum. It's a chain with a bunch of locations, but only this one in Austin. The theme seems to be healthy, Mediterranean-ish dishes. The interior is bright and colorful...

Hummus & Pita ($4.45)

Spinach roll-ups with a side of pasta salad ($7.25)

Chicken roll-ups with a side of rice pilaf ($7.45)

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Zocalo Cafe

2010-08-18T23:41:00.001-05:00

Yum, frozen margaritas & sangrias only $2 all day Wednesday and $3 from 3-6 PM other days.

What a beautiful, light filled space! They also have a lovely outdoor patio.

The queso was massive. We had to take half of it home. The salsas were just right, and I am always a sucker for homemade tortilla chips. ($5.29)

They have three different types of empanadas: pork, chicken and veggie. They allowed me to mix two chicken with one veggie to make my empanada plate. It came with yummy sides of beans & rice, of course. ($7.99)

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Jeffrey's

2010-08-07T23:28:00.000-05:00

Yes, we had a restaurant.com certificate for this place.. you can guess this is the case anytime we're at an expensive restaurant!

The Thumbalina salad had about a million different ingredients to create a great little salad. ($12)

The arugula and goat cheese salad doesn't seem to be on the menu anymore- you dug through a pile of greens to find an awesome disc of cheese on a small crispy cracker.

Unfortunately, the fish dish I had been dying to try after seeing it on the online menu was no longer available. Possibly because we showed up at 9 PM on a Saturday night. Anyway, we both ended up ordering the crabcakes and shrimp, which was not disappointing.

The desserts are absolutely the reason to come here, in my opinion. We tried two and both were just perfect in every way.

The Valrhona Chocolate Intemperance is a chocolate lover's dream, as you can probably tell from this photo. ($11)

The dessert below, a caramel and sea salt tart with caramelized bananas, was even better if that's possible. I see that it isn't currently listed on their online menu and feel horrified. Hopefully it's just an error.

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el naranjo

2010-07-29T23:28:00.000-05:00

Food trailers are the best invention ever. Thank you Austin for constantly surrounding us with food trucks, trailers and carts. El naranjo is a fairly new food trailer in a neighborhood downtown.

The gazpacho had an extremely strong flavor, in a good way.

Cochinita pibil tacos- great mix of flavors. (two for $4.50)

Molotes Veracruzanos.. i can't hold back from ordering whatever is crispy on the menu. These were stuffed with black beans and cheese.

For a few wonderful seconds we thought we'd found $2 sangria. Unfortunately, this is non-alcoholic sangria. Sorry! Still interesting though.

Website

Location

Buenos Aires Cafe

2010-07-22T13:29:00.000-05:00

After reading several rave reviews about this place, we had to try it for ourselves. Warning: The south Austin location is really, really tiny, the wait is long, and they don't take reservations. However they will call you when your table is ready if you arrive and leave your name and number.

The empanadas are a must try.. the fillings are flavorful and the crust is so fresh and flaky. ($2.49 each)

The Canelones Caseros (handmade herb crepes) were covered in a delicious sauce. ($12.99)

The Gnocchi Quartet included gnocchis in pumpkin-cinnamon, sweet potato-chipotle, cilantro-jalapeno, and potato herb flavors. The decision to mix various veggies in with the gnocchi was great- usually gnocchi starts feeling very heavy very fast, and the veggies counterbalanced it well. ($12.99)

So sad that we had no room left for dessert.. the dessert menu looked amazing!

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Location

Mirabelle

2010-07-16T13:28:00.000-05:00

Mirabelle is a French restaurant in north Austin with a very nice but laid back atmosphere.

This gumbo had a really nice, dark roux -- definitely Ryan's favorite of the night. (cup- $4.95)

Ryan also had this linguini with clams dish, which doesn't seem to be on the menu anymore (a shame, because it was also quite good).

The Chilean sea bass was excellent, and the pearl couscous had a wonderful texture. ($24.95)

Is it actually possible to see a dessert menu with a dark chocolate torte and then inexplicably order something else? Unfortunately, this one didn't impress us much. The torte was ok, but something was odd about the berries & sauce. ($5.95)

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Paggi House

2010-07-07T13:25:00.001-05:00

The Paggi House happy hour is truly perfect for those with champagne taste on a beer budget. All of their amazing specialty drinks are half off, which means you can be paying $3.50-$4.50 for some fancy and delicious concoctions.

Selected appetizers are also half off, the seafood potstickers in chile-citrus soy sauce were $6 at happy hour.

Goat cheese bruchetta, probably my favorite. $4.50 at happy hour.

Warm olives with grilled bread were just $2.50 at happy hour. Overall everything was tasty and was well presented. What an affordable way to enjoy one of the most expensive restaurants in Austin!

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Location

Cafe Blue

2010-06-25T13:27:00.000-05:00

So, unfortunately I was too distracted by the beautiful view to take photos of the food. Cafe Blue has a great menu with a variety of standard fare, like sandwiches, burgers, seafood, etc. You eat in an outdoor dining room that's literally right over the water. On this Saturday evening we were able to get a table at the edge, and watched the gorgeous sunset!

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Location

Galaxy Cafe

2010-06-19T13:26:00.004-05:00

I've written about Galaxy Cafe before, and usually don't like to blog twice about the exact same restaurant, but just had to share a photo of their "french toast deluxe" ($7.99). Yummmmm!

Galaxy Cafe has several locations in Austin, and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can order from the breakfast menu until 4 PM on the weekends, which is great. Below is a mozzarella and tomato sandwich with a side of sweet potato fries ($7.29). If you haven't yet jumped on the sweet potato fry bandwagon, you must!

Website

Locations

Joe's Bakery

2010-06-12T13:29:00.031-05:00

While waiting for a table at Joe's, you're forced to gaze into their bakery display case. Of course, we all had to buy something. They have a bunch of breads, cookies, etc. for cheap.

Mmmm, queso ($4.09). Why does it always look so insurmountable when it arrives at the table, and yet is gone so quickly??

You can order from the breakfast or lunch menu. The migas were pretty standard, a yummy mess of grease and eggs. ($5.79)

The chicken quesadillas ($6.69) came with rice and sooo many beans. Everything came with a lot of beans.

Seriously, beans were eating our meal. Oh well, they were pretty good. This is the enchilada plate ($7.39). I love Tex-Mex, but when I look back at the photos I sometimes think "wait... why?"

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Location

Thai House

2010-06-05T18:57:00.000-05:00

Thai House took the place of the Thai Passion location on Research Blvd. Strange thing is that the food seems to be exactly the same, and at the time of our visit, the "Thai Passion" sign was still up. The only thing that seems to have changed so far is that the menus say "Thai House" on them. We're not complaining, we liked the food when it was Thai Passion and still like the food now. Red Curry is shown above, and below is fried rice.

The fried jasmine rice balls with curry are spicy and delicious. Is there anything that can't be made better by frying it?

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Location

Thistle Cafe

2010-05-25T13:24:00.000-05:00

We came here because we had a coupon, and ended up really liking it. There's a nice outdoor seating area that was practically empty. For starters, the tortilla soup... just the right amount of spicy.

And a cranberry-goat cheese-candied pecans salad. Yum.

The BBQ chicken wrap was good, a nice mix of ingredients. It came with a side of sweet potato fries.

The house salad was a little more exciting than a typical house salad because of the feta cheese.

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Location

360 Uno

2010-05-22T13:22:00.004-05:00

Look! It's an Italian cafe! Oh wait, no, we're still in Texas.

This little shop serves gelato, desserts, coffee, and wine. The guy at the counter warned me that the cake might be dry and if it was I could bring it back for something else, which I thought was weird. Why didn't he test it to see if it is dry and if it is, throw it out so that people aren't tempted by that delicious looking chocolate cake in the case? It was a little dry, but I wanted the chocolate!

Another shot of the interior:

Website

Location

Chowing in Houston

2010-05-10T13:31:00.000-05:00

We had an amazing weekend getaway last month to Houston- saw a free performance of CATS at Miller Outdoor Theater, went to a free electronic music festival at Discovery Green Park, and attended Japan Fest, which was a free Japanese festival at Hermann Park. Oh, and did I mention everything was free? :-)

Didn't go too crazy with the eating out- went to a few cute places around the areas we were sightseeing. CoCo's crepes was a must-visit for me because of my love for crepes. They had all kinds of both savory & sweet crepes... and delicious fruit smoothies.

Mmmm... spinach and ricotta crepe with a sun dried tomato sauce, and a strawberry mango smoothie.

Must leave room for a dessert crepe! I was so stuffed but managed to enjoy this anyway. Nutella & strawberries inside and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

How can you not stop at a place called TART cafe??

Chicken pesto tart with a side salad.

Mushroom tart with a side salad.. both great. Perfect meal after walking around all morning.

Only had room for mini dessert tarts. Coconut & margarita. The margarita one was better.

CoCo's Crepes

TART cafe

Hudson's on the Bend

2010-05-04T18:58:00.001-05:00

Yum. What an awesome meal. I'm so glad we snagged two livingsocial.com vouchers for $20 3-course meals at Hudson's on the Bend. There's no way we would have come here without them! I still can't believe we got these multi-course meals for just $20 each. The regular price is $39 for the 3 courses.

To start off, we were served delicious warm bread with some flavorful butters.

For the first course, we both selected the chipotle lobster bisque with puff pastry. The soup was flavorful and amazing and the puff pastry was crisp and perfect for soaking up the soup.

Yes, that is a flower on my meal. I got the pecan crusted snapper served with corn bread pudding.. it was wonderful. I wanted to eat a bucket of that corn bread pudding.

The other entree option was the pecan grilled venison served with ancho mashed potatoes, also delicious. The presentation of these dishes was just awesome.

For dessert, we each ordered one of the two options and split them. We recommend this strategy! The desserts on the 3-course menu were warm berry flambe...

and chambord chocolate mousse with legs of fudge. We were practically licking the glasses to get every last bit.

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Location

Sweetish Hill Bakery & Cafe

2010-04-24T18:55:00.000-05:00

I love little places where you can sit outside and snack on light lunch/breakfast items. Unfortunately it was windy when we went, but I insisted on eating outside. We just had to do a little maneuvering to keep stuff from flying away.

We had two soup/salad combos, both with the pesto chicken half-sandwich. The soups for the day were a corn chowder and a vegetable soup.. both good.

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Location

Annie's

2010-04-19T00:04:00.001-05:00

I have been looking at and drooling over Annie's happy hour menu for a while now, and just had to go and check it out. Above is a French 75- all cocktails are $3 off at happy hour, which made this drink $5.

Prawns, $5.

I enjoyed the margherita pizza ($5), but wanted a little more cheese.

The truffle fries ($3) were the best part, I have a weakness for skinny fries!

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Location

Sugar Mama's Bakeshop

2010-04-14T23:59:00.000-05:00

How can you not love a place that specializes in cupcakes? Sugar Mama's has delicious, cute cupcakes, and their variety of flavors include several vegan options. A box of these makes an easy gift. Below are the black & tan (top left), the southern belle (top right), Jack's lemon (bottom left) and carrot cake (bottom right). Would recommend all of them!

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Location

Bess Bistro

2010-04-02T00:02:00.003-05:00

Sandra Bullock's restaurant is warm, cozy, underground, and has an interesting menu that seems to be a compilation of one person's favorite dishes.

Everything from seafood to steak to chicken pot pie can be found on the menu.

The free bread is a mix of various breads with delicious butter.

The farmer's salad had arugula, beets, and huge generous blobs of goat cheese. ($12)

Fish and chips, a Friday special, was crisp and flavorful. ($12) See the menu on the Bess website for their daily specials.

The fish w/ lentils & creamy lemon sauce was not on the regular menu or the specials menu.. very good. The lentils added great texture to the meal. ($22)

Oh my goodness. The dessert was the highlight, in my opinion. (Isn't it always?) An apple crisp with cinnamon ice cream. I had never had cinnamon ice cream before, and it went perfectly with the crispy-chewy apple tart. ($6)

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Location

Union Park

2010-03-29T18:52:00.001-05:00

Perfect spring weather means spending as much time outside as possible. Tons of restaurants and bars in Austin have outdoor patios, put them to use! Union Park downtown has a great rooftop deck.. very relaxing, and as you can see not very crowded during the day.

My favorite Union Park drink, the frozen mojito ($3):

Tex-mex egg rolls ($9), really good and right up my alley, but also kind of heart attacky:

An order of their seasoned fries with a side of queso.. the fries were great, queso ok.

Ryan had the spinach and mushroom quesadillas ($9), tasty and served with a side of guacamole.

Website

Location

Jasper's

2010-03-26T23:57:00.027-05:00

We had to try Jasper's in the Domain after seeing their $5 drinks and edibles menu (available all day every day in their bar & patio area). These are quality drinks, and very tasty appetizers. It's a great way to try this place out without breaking the bank. Above is the Dirty Blue martini, below are the prime rib carne guisada flautas.

This pizza (thick crust tomato mozzarella with veggie sausage) was just great. I liked it that the crust remained light all the way to the edge, instead of becoming too chewy at the edges the way some crusts can get.

The tortilla soup wasn't on the $5 menu, but it was only $6 and I love tortilla soup. This one did not disappoint. Very flavorful and with a good kick to it.

House cut french fries, also from the regular menu, were just right. Hot, crispy, salted. And such a large portion!

Website

Location

Orange Cup

2010-03-22T00:42:00.000-05:00

As you've probably noticed, frozen yogurt places are popping up all over Austin. Our favorites are the self-serve spots, but we had to try Orange Cup since they're apparently super super healthy. Froyo taken to a whole new level of self-satisfaction! Orange Cup is located in The Domain, which really reminds me of L.A. because of the sheer number of upscale shops. Well, there is that awesome new Forever 21 store.. like an oasis in the desert. Anyway, back to the froyo. This yogurt tasted more yogurt-y than other froyo does, if that makes sense. It tasted healthier and not quite as sweet. You have a few flavors to pick from, and then all healthy fruit or nut topping choices (with the exception of chocolate, but it's dark chocolate, so still sort of healthy).

Below is acaiberry yogurt with strawberry, blueberry & pomegranate toppings.

Website

Location

More Dining Deals...

2010-03-19T10:35:00.002-05:00

In my previous post about dining deals for 2010 I completely left out some great websites.

Frugal Feaster has long lists of restaurants that have 1/2 price happy hour appetizers. You can also see which restaurants have deals every day of the week.

Localiter works like Groupon-- they offer one deal on Austin dining or services every day. You must purchase the deal on the day it's offered, but don't worry, you have a while to use it before it expires. I sometimes have problems accessing this website.. but maybe that's just me.

The Lunch Deal is another Austin website that offers dining deals only. Two deals per day.

The Belmont

2010-03-13T23:55:00.000-06:00

The Belmont is one of our favorite places in Austin. Great outdoor patio with free movies in the summer, live music, strong margaritas, and the interior makes you feel like you're in a gangster movie.

The food and drinks can be a bit pricey but luckily there are great happy hour specials: half priced appetizers and cocktails. These happy hour cocktails were $5 each.

Click on to see the food...

Fruit and cheese salads are hard for me to pass up. This one had arugula, pear & goat cheese. ($5.95) mmm, so good.

This shiner bock onion ring cone is normally $7.95, but $3.95 at happy hour. Ryan ordered it for his appetizer and later found out his main dish came with onion rings.

This butternut squash ravioli ($14.95) was one of the best versions of this dish I've had. Pine nuts and sage brown butter... I just wish there were more raviolis!

The surf and turf sliders, made with beef tenderloin & scallops, are normally $13.95, but $6.95 at happy hour. Wow, Ryan is a much cheaper date than I am.

Website

Location

Corazon at Castle Hill

2010-03-10T23:50:00.002-06:00

The interior of this restaurant is just beautiful. Cozy, warm colors.. artwork.. you forget that you're just off a busy street in downtown. We started off with butternut squash soup and posole, both $3.95. Sometimes butternut squash soup can be too boring; this one was not. Even the presentation was exciting.

Pictured below are roasted chicken enchiladas suizas. ($14.95) They are drenched in a sauce made from swiss cheese and sour cream, so needless to say they were very rich and delicious. I ended up taking half of this entree home so I could fit in dessert.

This next entree was an interesting experiment, we had never heard anything like it before: potato-corn sope with wild mushrooms in chile verde sauce. ($11.95) Confused? We were too. Confusing or not, this was excellent.

The desserts sounded so delicious and the prices were so reasonable that we broke from the habit of splitting one dessert and ordered two. The first was a Kahlua & cinnamon creme brulee. ($4.95) It was so rich and creamy and full of flavor. It had the creaminess & crunch of regular creme brulee with amazing flavors thrown in for added excitement.

Mmm... a chocolate truffle heart. ($3.25) Not as amazing as the creme brulee, but very enjoyable for a chocolate lover. We savored every last drop of that strawberry sauce.

Website

Location

Garrido's

2010-03-07T00:03:00.003-06:00

Another Restaurant Week! This time, not only can you get 3-course dinners for $25-35, you can also get 3-course lunches for $10-15. What a steal. Garrido's restaurant in the base of the 360 condos downtown is participating in Restaurant Week and offering a 3-course brunch for $14 and a 3-course lunch for $10.

Enjoying $2 Mimosas by the big windows. Garrido's has outdoor seating as well, but it was just a tad too cold for us.

Crab guacamole dip was one of the options for the first course. Served with wonderful chips and a spicy salsa. I really love the feel of this restaurant.. everything from the tables to the chairs to the high ceiling to the shapes of the dishes.

The tomato, spinach, mushroom & goat cheese omelette served with beans & fresh fruit was one of the main course options for restaurant week. The omelette was delicious, the beans had a bit of an odd taste to them.. faintly sweet.

Chilaquiles plate- very interesting, I'd never had this before. Fried tortillas drenched in ranchero sauce and an egg draped over the top. Definitely not healthy but so, so good. These were also served with beans & fruit as well as a side of bacon.

Last but not least, the chocolate tres leches cake for dessert. Even though only Ryan ordered the full 3-course restaurant week brunch, it was still so much food that we had to get this cake to go to share at home. Despite spending 6 hours in our fridge at home this cake was awesome. You know we are full when we don't devour dessert at the restaurant (sometimes so fast that we don't remember to take a photo).

Restaurant Week Website

Garrido's Website

Location

Blu Cafe

2010-02-20T23:53:00.025-06:00

Blu is kind of confusing.. is it a hip bar? A cute coffee shop? A lunch spot? A brunch spot? It seems to have a little bit of everything.

I had to take a photo of this light fixture. Dozens of coffee mugs suspended from wires. More entertaining to the eyes than some modern art.

Salmon & pesto panini with a side salad, $9. So good that we were inspired to recreate it at home.

Margherita pizza, $7 I believe. I liked it, except for the crust which was kind of hard. I am very picky about pizza crusts though.

And the main reason for coming here: A nutella & strawberry crepe. Very good of course (how could it not be), but the crepe itself could use some improvement. There are just such great new crepe places in town that it can be hard to compete I guess.

Website

Location

House Wine

2010-02-09T00:45:00.004-06:00

The Sunday afternoon we spent at House Wine was one of the best Sunday afternoons we've had in a while. Not only was it gorgeous out, but the wine & food were just amazing and the place itself is just such a great concept.

The outdoor patio has a lot of space to relax and just nurse some delicious wine. On Sundays, glasses of wine from bottles opened Saturday night are all 1/2 off. We enjoyed several great wines for only $3 to $6 per glass. House Wine also offers several $5 glasses and $18 bottles of wine at any time on any day.

I am starting to learn why people always have cheese with wine. This cheese plate ($12.95) had Tuscan olive three cheese spread, 2 cheeses of our choice, marcona almonds, and several different types of crackers. I liked the spread the best.. so flavorful.

Below is a port brownie sundae. That's right.. port wine with ice cream and brownies. Someone magical came up with this idea. ($7) If I could spend every Sunday on this patio, I would.

Website

Location

Lift Cafe

2010-01-25T14:43:00.003-06:00

Lift Cafe is tucked into an apartment building just south of downtown. You can't miss it due to the massive size of the sign on the front window. They've got free parking at the building, and the interior of the shop is really cute.
Just look at that stool. I told you it was cute. The menu is filled with coffee, coffee smoothies, fruit smoothies, and some basic food items.
The pumpkin smoothie was like a slice of pumpkin pie from a blender.

Website

Location

Zuzu's

2010-01-20T23:09:00.001-06:00

I dream about queso all day and all night. Have I admitted this before? I barely had it before moving to Austin. Now that I'm here, it's a constant inner battle to keep myself from eating it at every meal. Zuzu has basic but tasty queso and crisp chips. $3.95.
Holy chipotle burrito with chicken instead of steak, $6.95. Pretty much how you'd imagine it.. very tasty.

This was a fish dinner, and I think it must have been a special because I don't see it on the menu. Good fish, and yummy corn side.

I don't even like flan very much and I enjoyed this. The sauce is a great flavor. $3.95.

Website

Location

Kneaded Pleasures

2010-01-15T00:44:00.002-06:00

Kneaded Pleasures is a breakfast and lunch/bakery/gelato place. They've got a lot of basic soups, sandwiches and salads along with breakfast pastries and a variety of desserts.

Yes, I did stick all the olives into Ryan's sandwich. Roma tomato & mozzarella sandwich with chips, $5.95:

The breads were probably the best part. I didn't really like the chips, not salty enough!

Chicken salad sandwich with chips, $5.50. The chicken salad was interesting, it had grapes and sunflower seeds in it.

A cup of potato soup, $2.95:

And the best part.. dessert! The gelato was ok.. a small cup was $2.95. This one is health bar gelato.

Cupcakes were better- red velvet cupcake for $2.00.

Website

Location

Eatin' Cheap in 2010

2010-01-14T11:46:00.000-06:00

A couple of new discount sites have entered the scene in Austin since 2009.. which is really exciting for me as a discount queen.

The first is Groupon.com. This site offers a daily discount to a restaurant, store or services in the Austin area. For example, today for $10 you can buy a groupon that entitles you to $20 worth of food & drink at Chango's. That's 50% off! Check the details to see when your groupon expires and if anything is excluded.

Next is LivingSocial.com. This is a very new deal site and I haven't yet seen them post a deal for a restaurant (so far it's been deals for services and stores, like today's deal for a 90-minute massage for $39) but they do say that restaurants and bars will be among the deals they offer. LivingSocial is similar to Groupon in that you purchase the deal immediately and use it later.

An oldie but goodie and favorite of mine: Restaurant.com. I can't even tell you how many times I've used this site. You can get certificates here for $10 off a $20 meal, $25 off a $35 meal, $50 off a $100 meal, and so on. The certificates are listed as costing $4 and up, but don't pay that for them- get on their mailing list for emails with promo codes that entitle you to up to 80% off the price of the certificates. You can end up buying a $25 certificate for only $2!

Finally, something that you probably know about if you have kids but have forgotten about if you don't: Entertainment books. Remember selling these in school as a kid? If you don't know any kids you can easily buy the book through their website. They are chock full of coupons and discounts to various restaurants, stores, theaters, museums, and services around town. After using just 2 or 3 coupons the book will have paid for itself!

Chowing in San Antonio

2010-01-09T16:16:00.003-06:00

Any time we're in San Antonio, we always have to come and eat at the Riverwalk. It may be a little touristy, but it's gorgeous and nothing beats relaxing with some food and drink on the water. There are a number of different restaurants to choose from, everything from fine dining to the requisite Tex-Mex.

Website

La Boite Cafe

2010-01-03T23:11:00.002-06:00

Yes, this really is a coffee shop inside a shipping container! La Boite Cafe is the first ever shipping container cafe in Austin and we had to check it out. The coffee is great, and the pastries are downright delicious. So flaky and fresh and hot (popped in the oven briefly before being given to us). This place is promising and we hope it sticks around.

Website

Location

Dimassi's Mediterranean Buffet

2009-12-21T22:50:00.002-06:00

Dimassi's is a simple restaurant with a variety of Mediterranean favorites served buffet style. I believe the dinner buffet was $12. Honestly, I feel lukewarm about all buffet restaurants since the food is often lukewarm. I realize the appeal is being able to eat a variety of items at one meal and getting to go back for seconds and thirds, which are obviously awesome bonuses.

The salads were nice and fresh, felafel was tasty, and hummus was so-so. The desserts were quite tasty, made us wish we had more room for them!

Website

Location

El Sol Y La Luna

2009-12-14T13:44:00.001-06:00

More Tex-Mex.. yes! El Sol Y La Luna was filled with the not-so-pleasant sounds of karaoke on the Saturday night we went there. However, the food was good, the prices are reasonable, and the location on 6th is great. Below you see their free crispy chips and salsa, the Plato Cubano ($7), chicken quesadillas with guacamole, ($8), and a tamale w/ rice and beans. We also shared the chocolate cake with Mexican vanilla ice cream ($7), but as per usual we ate it before thinking of taking a photo.

Website

Location

Maki

2009-12-09T22:10:00.001-06:00

Fast, design your own sushi in a strip mall! Maki is like a Chipotle/Freebirds/Cabo Bob's for sushi. You walk along in front of the counter picking out your fish, veggies, and toppings. They prepare the sushi right there as you make your selections, and at the end there are a number of interesting drinks & sides to pick from.

Sake2me was $3.99 I believe, beer $2.99. During happy hour they have drink and roll specials. I can't remember the hours for happy hour each day, call them for specifics.

The interior is refreshing and just how you'd imagine a fast food sushi place should look.

We basically had a sushi feast. The rolls were mostly in the $6-8 range, depending on what you wanted on them.

Salmon, cream cheese and cucumber roll with teriyaki sauce on the side:

A fruit only sushi roll.. mandarin oranges, strawberries and cream cheese:

Tuna & avocado roll:

The miso soup ($1) was pretty good, along with a cucumber salad ($1.99).

Mochi! We get mochi from the Asian grocery store all the time and love it. The mochi at Maki were raspberry, which we'd never tried before. The ice cream inside was creamy and delicious by the time it had thawed a bit while we ate our food.

Location

Website

Crepes Mille

2009-12-06T22:07:00.001-06:00

Crepes Mille is a fairly new crepes trailer on South Congress. They have very inventive crepes that are different from what you find at most other crepe places- they're asian inspired. Below are the pork floss crepe and the chicken panang curry crepe. I was licking the curry sauce off the paper. It was so flavorful, and spicy without being too spicy. Most of the savory crepes were in the $6 range and the sweet crepes in the $4 range. We also tried the apple cinnamon crepe and the caramel cream liqueur crepe.. of course we ate those so fast that they never stood a chance of being photographed.

Location

Website

Fire Bowl Cafe

2009-12-03T20:25:00.000-06:00

I'll admit it again and again: I'm a sucker for (heavily) Americanized Asian food. Fried wontons filled with crab & cream cheese?! Let me meet the person who invented these and shake his or her hand.

Anyway, Fire Bowl Cafe has asian soups, appetizers, and various types of stir fry. They're a chain with several locations in Texas (and Colorado & Michigan as well). Very simple no-fuss place where you order at the counter and then wait for your food to be prepared. We tried the miso soup, crab/cheese wontons, and two types of stir fry. What a satisfying, filling meal. We had enough left over for lunch the next day.

Website

Locations

The Parlor

2009-11-30T20:22:00.008-06:00

The Parlor serves great pizza and beer in the Hyde Park area. It's right across from Hyde Park Theatre, so we combined dinner here with a show. The pizza crust is thick and there are some good beers on tap. They have many topping options, including vegan cheese.

Website

Location

Waffles

2009-11-26T23:46:00.002-06:00

Waffles is a tiny food trailer right near campus, at about 24th & San Antonio St. They sell several breakfast items- American waffles, Belgian waffles and crepes. The toppings will satisfy any sweet tooth. The business is owned and run by students so give them a try!

Click on the menu to see it larger:

Tiny but delicious Belgian waffle topped with chocolate:

Crepe filled with nutella and strawberries. You really can't go wrong with this combo, but there is so much crepe competition now, there are better ones to be had around town.

Website

Location

Taste No Evil Muffin Co.

2009-11-14T19:15:00.000-06:00

Taste No Evil Muffins are served out of a trailer on south Lamar. They now serve fruit smoothies in addition to coffee & tea. The muffins are made from all natural ingredients and come in a variety of flavors. You can call ahead with an order or just show up at the truck like we did. $13 for the half-dozen muffins pictured below.

Website

Location

Woodland

2009-11-09T19:13:00.001-06:00

The Woodland in Austin serves upscale comfort food in an atmosphere that feels like a fairy tale forest. They're in a prime location on South Congress and the prices are a little high for the type of food, but luckily we were armed with a Groupon which meant our meal was half price.

First off, a French '75. I'd never tried one before, and it was a treat. Gin, lemon, sugar & champagne. ($7)

The chicken pot pie had the flakiest crust I think I've ever had on a pot pie. ($9)

Potato leek soup. Good, but I could have done without it. ($6)

Southern corn fritters... it's hard to go wrong mixing corn with fried batter to create a delicious guilty pleasure like this one. I can't remember what the sauce was but it was good. ($6)

Shrimp and grits. This is supposedly Obama's favorite thing to eat. We hadn't tried the dish anywhere before, and it was good. ($15)

Overall, a hearty, tasty, fairly heavy meal. Still not sure if it's worth it at full price, but it may be if you love upscale comfort food.

Website

Location

FINO

2009-11-02T00:36:00.015-06:00

I am so glad we finally tried this place out. And on a perfect day, too- we sat outside and the weather was so nice.

Come on Saturday between 5 and 7 pm to enjoy their Saturday happy hour.. $6 classic cocktails and small plates for $2 or $3. (Click on the menu to see it larger)
The "Brandy Daisy" is apparently the inspiration for several modern drinks such as the Margarita. It had a nice citrusy flavor, not too sweet.
These are all pre-prohibition cocktails. People liked delicious drinks 100 years ago too.

Ok, so I'm trying this whole "after the jump" thing. Notice the "Click here" below for seeing the rest of the food and drink! Just click it. You won't be sorry.
The Jerry Thomas Manhattan was too strong for my taste, but Ryan loved it:

Below are the fried olives stuffed with anchovy ($2) and a crab-stuffed piquillo pepper ($2). Though it was really tasty, the pepper was probably our least favorite item of the evening. I think that says something about how great the food is here.

Took a break to admire the sunset (who am I kidding, I was still stuffing my face while stealing glances at the sunset)

The Spanish onion soup was great, and the crunchy bread finished it off perfecty ($8):

White gazpacho. My favorite for the night. And I don't even usually like cold soup! The cream, the almonds, the grape halves, such a nice combination of flavors. ($6)

They had several yummy sounding Mediterranean Spreads... we went with the red pepper, walnut & pomegranate spread. ($5) Who came up with these combos of flavors? So good.

The harissa beets & apples salad involved lime yogurt and spiced pepitas. I did not know what a pepita is, looks like it's a pumpkin seed. ($8)

Back to my usual tricks ordering a salad with cheese and fruit in it. This one is watercress with pears, cabrales & candied pecans. You really can't go wrong mixing sweet & salty in a salad. ($8)

Fried goat cheese. ($8) This ended up being kinda the dessert of the evening, since we were too full at this point to consider an actual dessert. Our whole meal ended up consisting of cocktails, small plates, salads & soups! Didn't even make it to the entrees. Anyway, the goat cheese was soft & warm and served with some breads to slather it on. I may have enjoyed it more on an empty stomach, by the end of the meal it was kind of overwhelming. Still good though!

Website

Location

Chupacabra Cantina

2009-10-25T00:35:00.041-05:00

Chupacabra is a new bar/restaurant next to The Jackalope on 6th street. They've got a variety of drinks (I was excited to see that the frozen margaritas are served in real glasses) as well as some standard Tex-Mex fare.

It was a nice little place, so we hope they stick around. Their frozen margaritas come in a variety of flavors and are $5.50 each. From their website it looks like during happy hour you can get imported beer for $2, and $2 off all tequilas.

Fried pickles with jalepeno-cilantro ranch. ($6.95)

Seasoned waffle fries with sides of spicy chipotle mayo and queso. ($6.95) The fries paired with these sides is just an awesome combination. After a margarita or two it really hits the spot.

The frozen firefly sweet tea vodka was interesting. I don't really like sweet tea, but if you do, this drink is for you. ($5.75)

Be sure to click on the links below to view the website and location of this place. Don't just google "Chupacabra." you've been warned!

Website

Location

Bananarchy

2009-10-15T16:16:00.004-05:00

After reading about this place on various websites, we had to give it a try. Bananarchy ("Revolutionary Desserts") sells frozen bananas dipped in various coatings from a small trailer in south Austin. I'm not sure what's so revolutionary about spending $7 on two bananas at a private business, but I'm not really going to start complaining about false marketing when there's a chocolate & toffee covered banana calling my name.

These are much more filling than I expected. The coatings are thick and the toppings are generous.. by the end I kind of wondered if I should have gone with a half banana instead of stuffing my face with a whole one. Half bananas are $2.50, whole are $3.50.

Website

Location

Hot Mama's Espresso Bar

2009-10-09T16:16:00.009-05:00

We came to Hot Mama's thinking we'd get coffee, but ended up getting food and lavender lemonade! They've got a whole menu of delicious sounding and reasonably priced mostly Mediterranean-influenced food, as well as a variety of things to drink. Sorry I can't comment on their coffee.

Unfortunately for them, there's a lot of construction going on on the apartments above the stores, so it's hard to even see Hot Mama's store. You basically have to park and then work your way through the scaffolding to their door. Hopefully that will all be done soon!
Lavender lemonade:
Curry chicken salad, $6.50:
Mid-East tostada, $5.95:

Website

Location

Pho Thaison

2009-10-07T16:17:00.000-05:00

This place has 4 locations in the Austin area. Who knew hot soup could do so well year round in Texas? Pho is just that good. They have tons of choices, as you can see on their website- pho, vermicelli bowls, lots of appetizers.

Chicken pho for $6:
Steak & brisket pho, $6.95:
Fried egg roll, $1 and spring roll, $1.50. And bubble tea (pearl tea) of course! It's hard to resist bubble tea when it's on the menu. The pineapple and Thai tea were just delicious.

Website

Locations

Delish! Shakes

2009-10-04T22:50:00.000-05:00

Delish! Shakes is a cute little milkshake trailer on the northeast corner of 2nd & Congress. These shakes are out of this world. Probably not so great for the love handles, but you can walk it off by taking a stroll around Ladybird Lake after your shake, right? Getting great food from trailers is an awesome part of life in Austin. Who needs to go into an actual restaurant when you could grab something great from the sidewalk?

We tried the large orange creamsicle and cookies & cream shakes.. preparation takes a little while but it is worth the wait.

Website

Location

Get Sum Dim Sum

2009-09-30T13:45:00.001-05:00

I can't say I really like the cheesy name of this place, but I do love the concept. Dim Sum all day long, served quickly, and is it good? Yes. You walk in, grab a menu, and mark all of the items you want with the quantity you want. The prices are reasonable (around $2 to $5 for most plates) and there are many options to pick from.
Now, instead of waiting for Sunday brunch time to get Dim Sum, you can have it for dinner on a Wednesday night. How could that ever be wrong?

Website

Location

Green Pastures- Restaurant Week

2009-09-24T13:45:00.004-05:00

Restaurant Week happens twice a year in Austin, and there are some amazing deals to be had. Do some menu checking though- sometimes the prices on the fixed price restaurant week menu aren't much different from what the regular prices are. We decided to try Green Pastures this Restaurant Week since the 3-course price of $25 is similar to what just an entree alone usually costs here.

Green Pastures is in a beautiful old house in South Austin. It's a popular spot for weddings, and we can see why. Peacocks roam the grounds, and the house itself is gorgeous.

For appetizers, one of the three choices was the tempura lobster tail, delicious and wonderfully prepared.
Another appetizer was the Brie plate. This plate alone made the meal in my opinion. A tiny cup of porcini & brie soup that made me want to lick the cup clean, a finger sandwich with brie, hazelnuts, caramelized onions and some balsamic-fig coulis, and to top it off a mini waffle topped with brie, bananas, pecans, cream & maple syrup. Heaven on a plate!

One of the three entrees offered was garbanzo bean dumplings with exotic mushrooms. This was an inventive dish with a bunch of stuff thrown in, and it was good, but probably the least exciting dish of what we tried.

Then there was the rainbow trout with shrimp and crawfish sausage. The sausage was... wow. I didn't know quite what to make of it. Certainly not something I'd ever tried before.
For dessert, the bread pudding was creamy and tasty, and the presentation of the desserts was nice.
Cheesecake. Just your standard cheesecake, but somehow it managed to be both slightly fluffy and thick and creamy at the same time. If Green Pastures has another 3 courses for $25 next restaurant week, you will probably find us there!

Website

Location

Rio Grande

2009-09-22T13:45:00.018-05:00

Yes... more Mexican food. My mom was in town, and she literally wants Mexican & Tex-Mex for every meal of the day while she's in Texas. Rio Grande is a great downtown spot, and it's actually inside the former location of the Real World Austin house. They've recently revamped the place, and it looks much nicer and less Real-Worldy now. The interior is cozy and the outdoor area is spacious.

Queso.. how can you go wrong with queso? It looked huge when they brought it out, but somehow it was gone in minutes. ($6.95)
For entrees we tried the enchiladas de espinaca (spinach enchiladas) for $11.50, the grilled veggie fajitas ($13.50), and the enchiladas verde (with chicken), $11.50. Everything is served with rice and beans of course. On the pricier side for this kind of food, but the quality and atmosphere make it worth it.

Website

Location

Chowing in New York

2009-09-15T00:20:00.003-05:00

I would have to say that the chowing highlight of my long weekend in New York was Max Brenner's. This place is basically a decadent mess of deliciously dreamy foods where you must forget the words "health" or "diet" ever existed.

The stars are the crepes-- fresh crepes filled with your choice of dark chocolate, hazelnut, peanut butter/chocolate... the list goes on. Many come with a small scoop of ice cream and a "shot" of caramel,chocolate or vanilla cream on the side. The prices are steep... expect to pay $13+ just for your crepe. They also have a large variety of desserts and drinks, and the description of each makes you drool.

We tried a few of their crepes, a frozen lemonade, a hot chocolate in a "hug mug," a chocolate chai latte, and then spent a while gazing at the various chocolates for sale in the shop area.

Website

McCormick & Schmick's

2009-09-13T22:39:00.021-05:00

Yes, McCormick's is a major national chain, but they do have some good seafood dishes. Plus, they're located right in my building downtown, so their awesomely cheap happy hour and delicious dinners are just right there.

We started off with the house salad ($6.95) and the apple salad ($6.95):

Honestly, I wasn't expecting the apple salad to have iceberg lettuce. The fresh apple slices and gorgonzola made up for it.
For entrees, the chef's special that day was bass topped with crawfish over mashed potatoes ($20.95). Fresh, flavorful and delicious.

Also had rainbow trout, which was toasted with almonds and topped with lemon-butter sauce ($20.95). I'm a sucker for fish topped with any sort of butter sauce. The way it melts in your mouth.. mmm.

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Maudie's

2009-09-09T20:25:00.000-05:00

You can't live in Austin and not eat a lot of Tex-mex. It's good, it's cheap, it's all over the place. Maudie's is one of the more popular spots with several locations around town. They've got delicious queso & margaritas, and a bunch of great dishes to choose from.

Maudie's diablo sol food (pictured first below) is queso mixed with beef, garlic, onions & peppers ($4.50). Chips and Salsa are free. We ordered the chicken tacos and the tilapia tacos, so much food we had to take some home. The tilapia is drenched in chipotle sauce so don't order if you dont like it! Taco entrees range in price from $5.95 to $7.50.

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Swirll

2009-09-06T20:25:00.001-05:00

Frozen yogurt shops are suddenly everywhere in Austin. Luckily they are all the self-serve concept, which allows you to get whatever random flavors and toppings you feel like getting. Swirll is on the drag, and costs a little bit more per ounce because of the prime location... I think 42 cents. They sometimes have discounts for anyone with a student ID, check their website.

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Potbelly

2009-09-05T20:25:00.005-05:00

Potbelly Sandwich Works is a pretty common national chain, and they churn out good sandwiches. Their interior isn't all florescent lights and plastic chairs like other fast food places- the locations I've been to have had homey interiors, nice lighting and even cozy wood booths.

Below is the chicken salad sandwich with provolone cheese. About $5.50 for a big sandwich.

Their shakes are really good. This one is cookies and cream, topped with cute mini cookies. $2.45.
Below is "a wreck" which comes with salami, roast beef, turkey and ham with swiss cheese.

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Trio

2009-09-02T20:24:00.004-05:00

We've been wanting to try Trio's happy hour for a while. Trio is a very expensive restaurant that has recently created a happy hour menu for us cheap charlies. The happy hour takes place Monday through Saturday from 5-8. There are a number of glasses of wine for 1/2 price, so we ended up paying $4 or $5 per glass for some great wines.

The appetizers are also half price- see here for a list of the happy hour appetizers. The sardines over bread salad, celery and prosciutto are pictured below. $7 at happy hour.
The truffle fries are a must- made with rosemary & garlic and served with aioli, these really hit the spot. At $3.50, I believe they are the cheapest happy hour item.
Next for the chipotle cheddar mac n' cheese... so boring, but I just couldn't resist. The flavor was great, it had a definite kick to it and the top was slightly crispy.

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Saba

2009-08-30T21:52:00.001-05:00

Saba Cafe is a Caribbean fusion restaurant/bar downtown. I got really excited just reading the menu- so many of their dishes look so unique and inventive. It's Caribbean food with a number of influences in some of the menu items. American, Asian... and maybe some that are just their own creation.

We started off with the mango & goat cheese salad with vanilla dressing ($7). Very interesting- the vanilla flavor is faint, and the balls of goat cheese delicious. Our only complaint was that the mango pieces could have been riper. Next for the goat cheese medallians (can you tell we like goat cheese?) for $7.50. These were crusted with macadamias and mixed with carmelized pear. Very, very good! For entree, I had the mahi mahi over rice surrounded by carmelized bananas ($18). I love entrees that include fruit, and don't see it too terribly often. I don't see the bananas mentioned with the mahi mahi on their online menu so hopefully they are still offering this dish.

Try their happy hour for discounted drinks- the drinks we tried were tasty and quite strong. Usually the prices are kind of crazy for the drinks, but at happy hour they can be had for $4 or $5. Unfortunately, we were stuffed by the end of this meal and couldn't fit dessert.. and their desserts look so awesome! Seriously thinking of going again ASAP just to try the banana pecan spring roll or key lime creme brulee...

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