Union Park

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. 

Jasper's

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

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...

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

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...

Corazon at Castle Hill

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

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.

Blu Cafe

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

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.

Lift Cafe

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.

Zuzu's

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.

Kneaded Pleasures

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!

Eatin' Cheap in 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Crepes Mille

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