Tiff's Treats

Tiff's is an awesome cookie delivery place. Most of their business seems to come from people ordering a dozen cookies for their office or a special occasion. The cookies always arrive warm and are delicious. If you stop by a Tiff's treats location, you can buy cookies a la carte or indulge in a Tiffwich, which is an ice cream sandwich made with Tiff's cookies of your choice. The normal price for a Tiffwich is $1.99 each, but we managed to catch the end of their January special: buy one Tiffwich, get the second free. Hmm, free ice cream sandwiches in January? Count us in!! Even though the special is over, it's definitely worth the price to get a Tiffwich.

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Baby Greens

Baby Greens is a drive-thru salad & wrap place in Austin. That's right, it's fast food that's actually good for you. The salads are made with really fresh ingredients, and you can get any of the salads as a wrap as well.

We tried the mandarin salad, which had romaine lettuce, mandarin oranges, peanuts, carrots, tomatoes & crispy noodles. $5.89.We also tried Sharon's salad, which had romaine lettuce, baby spinach, avocado, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers and red onions, $5.29. Added chicken for $1.39.

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Thanh Nhi

Thanh Nhi is an excellent Vietnamese place on North Lamar. The restaurant is small, but don't let that fool you. They've got a variety of Pho and Banh Mi as well as other dishes and appetizers. We tried the vegetable spring rolls with peanut sauce ($2.40), a large bowl of Pho ($5.95), noodles stir fried with veggies and chicken ($7.95), and a small Banh Mi ($1.70). Everything was great, and we had enough leftovers for another meal at home!

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Kolache Factory

Kolache Factory is a great place to grab breakfast or lunch. They have kolaches with meat, cheese and eggs as well as tons of sweet kolaches with chocolate or fruit fillings. The prices are really cheap, most kolaches are between $1 and $2. Be warned, they close most days at 2 PM, so don't show up for an afternoon snack or dinner.

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Flying Saucer

The Flying Saucer is a bar in the Triangle for beer people. It's got a great selection of beers, and specials almost every night. Their patio area is huge and relaxing, they have heat lamps out for cold evenings, so pretty much every night of the year you can enjoy some beer and food outside. We came for their Friday happy hour: get a 23 oz. beer for the pint price. Below you see a London Porter & a Guinness, both recommended, about $5.50 each for 23 oz. This special runs from 4-8 PM on Fridays. They also have Monday night pint specials: most of their pints are $2.75 on Mondays. We also tried their chips, queso & salsa (hey, this is Texas) which were really tasty.

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The Soup Peddler

There's nothing better on these chilly evenings than a nice hearty bowl of soup. Want soup that tastes homemade, but don't want to actually spend hours in the kitchen? Check out the Soup Peddler. They've got soups, quiches, pies, desserts... all deliciously homemade. You have to order a week ahead of time, and you can either have your order delivered to you (you leave a cooler on your front porch), or pick it up during their shop hours. Check out their menu every week to see if there's anything you want to order for enjoyment the following week.

We had their poblano soup ($9, serves 2-4 people) and their migas quiche ($10, serves 6 people). The two of us ate for 2.5 dinners from this order. Yum!

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Cuba Libre

Cuba Libre is a bar/restaurant/lounge downtown that serves delicious drinks as well as a full menu of Cuban food. Check out their happy hour all day Monday or Tues-Fri from 4-7 PM since their drinks are pretty pricey otherwise.

We each had a mojito ($7) and shoestring fries ($3.95) to start. Next we tried the Poblano Pepper Soup... really rich and creamy ($4.95). For entrees, we had the Vegetarian Empanadas ($8.95) and the Rosemary Chicken ($12.95), both great.

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McCormick & Schmick's

Ok, so McCormick & Schmick's is a country wide chain, but I thought I should draw attention to their awesome happy hour. All day Monday and select hours other days (call restaurant for specific hours) you can order really cheap stuff from the bar menu as well as discounted drinks. Beers start at $3.50, martinis for $5.95 and Sangria for $5.50. We also tried the fish tacos, spinach & artichoke dip, chicken satay and crab rangoons. All of the food was priced between $1.95 and $4.95.

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Thai Passion

Thai Passion a great Thai place with 3 locations in Austin- north, south and downtown. The downtown location (pictured here) is open until 3 AM every day, so it's a great place to pig out after a night on the town. Be warned, the downtown location's address says Congress Ave, but the restaurant is off to the side on 7th street.


Rice balls- Fried jasmine rice mixed with red curry, lime leaf and coconut. $6.
Thai Passion curry- yellow curry with potatoes, carrots, bell peppers and onions. $10.
Pud Thai- Fresh rice noodles stir fried with green onions, bean sprouts and egg. Served with bean sprouts and topped with ground peanuts. $9.

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Genuine Joe

Genuine Joe is a cute, comfortable coffee shop with a variety of coffee drinks as well as juices and snacks. We popped by because it's near our home, and were pleasantly surprised. Pictured below are a vanilla rockhouse cooler and a large coffee. You can order a bottomless coffee for $2.73 if you want to hang out a while and read or study.

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Curry in Hurry

Yum!!! So delicious, and so cheap. Curry in Hurry is a take-out place next to Gandhi Bazar. Their menu changes daily, and for just $5.99 you can get basmati rice, two dish choices, and roti or naan bread. The curries are just the right level of spiciness and everything tastes freshly made. We also got an order of Samosas, which are definitely recommended; they are some of the best we've had in Austin. All of the dishes are vegetarian- there is no meat on the menu. This place is a great way to indulge your craving for Indian food quickly & cheaply.

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Gandhi Bazar

Gandhi Bazar is an Indian grocery store in north Austin. Anything you might need to cook Indian food can be found here. We have never tried to make Indian food on our own before, and are eager to use the stuff we got here to hopefully cook something edible!

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Kerbey Lane

Kerbey Lane is one of the few 24-hour restaurants in Austin. They serve breakfast food, standard American dishes as well as Tex-Mex. Their quesos are known to be rich and tasty. For a 24-hour restaurant, Kerbey Lane has delicious food and good service. There are several locations in Austin for all of your 3 AM pancake or sweet potato fries cravings.

We had the large sized queso, salsa & chips ($6.95), the green green enchiladas ($7.95), and the chipotle grilled cheese sandwich with sweet potato fries ($6.70)

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La Feria

La Feria is a standard Tex-Mex restaurant with several locations in Austin. They've got a good selection of margarita flavors, with happy hour prices every day from 3-7 PM. We had the chicken mole ($8.99) and the chimichanga ($6.99). Both come with rice and beans of course, and both are definitely recommended for Tex-Mex fans.

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Peche

We came to Peche for their sweet Sunday deals! This is an upscale restaurant with a beautiful interior, it's new to downtown. They serve French style food and many inventive drinks, including absinthe, which only recently became legal again in the U.S. On Sundays as well as during the week from 4-8 PM, you can get a sandwich paired with either a salad or frites for $5, you can also get house made Lemoncello for $3 (a very sweet, lemon flavored alcoholic drink), and best of all, you can get a delicious dessert drink ("adult milkshake") composed of ice cream and various flavors + alcoholic beverages for only $5. You can literally have yourself a feast for only $13 if you partake in each of the specials! Everything was delicious.

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