Everyone will be happy to know that the restaurant critic is taking a break. I won't bore everyone with any more restaurant reviews - at least for a while. The restaurant blog was actually fun to write. I didn't think it would be, but it was.
I'm starting to realize that there are going to be some uniquely Texas places, vegetation and events that I'm going to miss. After all, except for a 7 year hiatus in New Orleans, we have lived in Texas since we drove across the Red River in August of 1972. We drove into Houston at rush hour in the August heat that summer at the ripe old age of 21. I particularly remember the 610West/I-59 South interchange. I'd never seen or experienced anything like THAT. I always say that once you've driven in the summer in Houston during rush hour (where your AC overheats every time), you can drive anywhere.
While Houston freeway traffic may be memorable, I'm really starting to visit some iconic Texas places. One day this past week, we drove to Shiner, Texas. I'm sure everyone realizes that the ONLY reason a sane person would make a special trip to Shiner is to tour the Spoetzel Brewery. Now, Shiner beer has become a great beer. I can remember when, if offered Lone Star, Dixie or Shiner - take anything except a Shiner which was actually green if you held it just right up to the light. It also tasted awful. It languished as a 'family owned' brewery until the late '80's when it was bought by Mexican beer makers. They revamped the beer, smartened up the brand, and really became a full fledged micro brewery before that term became common knowledge.
One of the most intriguing things about the Brewery was that it is still a very, very local operation. The current brewmaster has been there for more than 30 years. The beer has dramatically improved, but most of the people are the same. Their signature beer is Shiner Bock, and it's no longer green. Shiner also makes an anniversary beer every year. They make it for a limited amount of time, and it's different every year. Only the 1996 anniversary beer continues to be made today: Now, it's called Shiner Black, and it's the smoothest dark beer you've ever, ever drank. This is the 101st anniversary of the brewery, and you should run right out and buy a six pack of Shiner 101. It's a very tasty pilsner (you know, the yellow beer). Unless there's a big public outcry for them to keep making it, this 101 beer will only be made this year.
Yes, they do have a tasting room. They give you 4 wooden tokens - you give them a token, and they give you a beer. I think there were several 'locals' taking the tour the day we were there. I got the feeling that as long as you didn't really abuse the free beer in the tasting room too much, you could drop by a couple of times a month and get 4 cups of beer. The new beer this summer is really interesting: It's Shiner Smoky Mesquite - and yep, it has a smoky mesquite flavor that is just going to go like gangbusters with BBQ and burgers. Surprisingly, the tour was actually quite interesting, snappy, and not too long. After all, EVERYBODY came to drink free beer - DUH.
Naturally, Shiner (the cleanest little town in Texas) - their slogan, not mine, revolves around the brewery. I mean, after all, this is a town of 2000. It is a Czech town, and I asked the tour guide (Shiner native) where were the best kolaches in town. For the uninitiated: kolaches are what I consider to be a Czech delicacy. It is yeasty bread, shaped like a parker house dinner roll, with a dimple of filling in the center - usually some type of fruit (apricot is my favorite). The other kolache variation is like a pig in the blanket - which is so inadequate of a description. Think handmade sausage with/without cheese (and sometimes with jalapenos and/or sauerkraut along with the sausage ) with that yummy yeasty bread wrapped around it. The very, very best kolaches are in another Czech community known as West, Texas (Exit 353, I-35) at Gerik's Bakery which is just north of the freeway. BUT - if you are in Shiner, Texas, the best kolaches are at the Short Stop Convenience Store. Ok, Ok - I know I promised no more food reviews, but hey, I can make a case for kolaches. Actually, I could eat a case of kolaches.
Back to my original premise: Shiner is quintessentially Texas. It's especially central Texas with its Czech roots that stretch back to the 1840's. That's the reason there's a brewery there. When Germans, Czechs, Poles, etc. left Europe and immigrated to Texas, they organized themselves just like in the old country - the farmers, the cabinet makers, the sausage makers and the beer brewer all just continued their jobs when they arrived in Texas. Several Texas towns in the Hill Country have used their roots to create a tourist atmosphere - think Fredricksburg or New Braunfels. (Incidentally, one of my next visits is going to be to this superb furniture museum in New Braunfels.)
A bonus on the drive to Shiner was Chapter 2 of the Spring wildflowers. Now that the bluebonnets have faded to seed and the indian paintbrush are quickly following them, it's time for the indian blankets and the black eyed susans. They were breathtaking seas of yellow along great stretches of the drive to Shiner. It is really a banner crop of wildflowers this year. Just driving between Bastrop and Austin is a visual treat.
In the interest of not making this blog a zillion pages long, I'm going to close this chapter, but you can look forward to blogs about The Texas State History Museum, the Fayetteville Chamber Music Festival, and the Texas Girls Roller Derby Matches. I know you all can hardly wait! I certainly can't.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Food, Anyone?
A few weeks ago, I got a comment on my blog which basically said, "Hey, since you're eating out so much, why don't you write a 'where to eat' blog. The idea intrigued me since eating good food is something I really enjoy. In my humble opinion (no surprise here) the best food is ANYTHING someone else besides ME cooks. Actually, I'm slightly more picky than that, but, shall we say I pretty much enjoy everything from a $5.00 entree to a $30.00 entree as long as the food in fresh.
I was curious as to how many different places we have eaten over the past six weeks or so. The list was surprisingly long. Think of this blog as a guide to the best places to eat in and around downtown Austin as well as ranging out and around the Hill Country of Texas. Since we've pretty much stayed off the beaten Hill Country path, this list will not particularly include iconic restaurants. We have been quite surprised by the quality and variety of restaurants we have encountered. I think that is the Austin mentality about food creeping outside the city. Austinites pride themselves on 'Keeping Austin Weird'. This means in a nutshell that it's important to patronize local businesses. Restaurants lead the list of businesses that are enthusiastically patronized. I've never been in a town of the size of Austin in which the chain restaurants we all know (and alternately love and hate) are almost non-existent. When you see them inside the city limits, they are sparingly patronized.
This is not particularly scientific, logical or chronilogical. I've never attempted restaurant criticism before. Here's the list of places we've eaten with entertaining comments - at least I hope the comments will be entertaining. I've included the name of the places and the town they are located in. If they are in Austin, I've given you the quadrant of the city. In no particular order:
Cindy's - downtown Bastrop - She's made an appearance in an earlier blog, so I'll just get her out of the way. Killer, killer chicken tenders. House recipe, beer battered, fried when you order them, perfectly seasoned, chicken moist and perfectly cooksed. The tenders are served hilariously in a metal cone that looks like it belongs in a bathroom accessory set. The chairs, tables and decor are totally forgetable, and for a Sports Bar, the TVs are pretty small. I find it funny that they don't play the sports channels during the day - instead it's the Soaps and Law and Order re-runs. These tenders are soooooo good that it's one of the few places that we've eaten twice
Gumbo's - downtown Austin - The claim to fame: The best Cajun food we've eaten since we lived in New Orleans. The only thing that was slightly clunker was the bread. The Gumbo bread was OK, but in NOLA, the bread is a crucial element of the meal. It's always crusty on the outside, fresh, fresh, fresh on the inside, and never, never, never served on any day except the one it was baked. That is the only slight flaw to this Austin restaurant. Otherwise the food was Cajun hot - which means for you uninitiated - that it starts out slightly spicy and just builds throughout the eating of the dish until at the last bite, your lips are tingling. Terrific decor. Fancy. Expensive - but worth it.
Kay's Place - On Hwy 71 between Bastrop and Smithville in a totally forgetable metal building which includes the restaurant and Tri-Cheer. That means your odds of running into prepubescent and pubescent girls is fair to good - especially on try out day which was our introduction to Kay's. There were bevies, herds, flocks, and packs of teen and tween girls all running around and giggling. It was people watching at its best. If that wasn't enough, the food came, and that was the true surprise.
First, "Kay" is a real person, a slightly dumpy, slightly gray, happy young woman who 'absolutely loves to cook'. This is the place for homecooking. She personally makes a couple of meat dishes (like the delish meatloaf Drake had) a couple of chicken dishes (like the King Ranch Casserole I had) and usually something involving tilapia every day. Her vegetables and salads are excellent. (I had a marvelous black-eyed pea, avocado and tomato cold salad dressed with something unique and homemade.) The food here was really, really good in that grandma made it sort of way.
Baxter's on Main - downtown Bastrop. This is Bastrop's attempt at fine dining. The restaurant is in a really old building - tin ceilings, brick walls, etc. The dinner menu is way, way overpriced, but the lunch menu was a good value - at least until we ordered dessert. The food was good - not great - but good. It kind of miffed me that the two desserts we ordered at the end of lunch cost the same price as the entire lunch - for both of us.
Jalisco's - On Hwy 71 in the 'new part' of Bastrop. This is the local Tex-Mex. It was tired. The food was forgettable. The salsa was slightly below mediocre. The restaurant was ugly. The food was eatable, but why eat here when there are so many, many better choices.
Shiner Restaurant - In downtown Shiner, Tx. This restaurant was fun. The food was very good, and they serve every beer Shiner makes. I went with the German sausage, homemade saurkraut, fried potato lunch. That good, good Hill Country ethic food. This restaurant has an old time wild west saloon feel to it. It has interesting stuff in glass cases all around the room, and a swallow nest over the front door.
Before we leave Shiner, let me recommend the Spotzel Brewery Tour - yes, with free BEER, and as this is a Czech town, I ask the tour guide where the best kolaches were. Here's her answer: Short Stop Convenience Store - and she was right. The second best kolaches I have ever eaten - only the ones you get in West, Texas are better.
Blue Dahlia - east downtown Austin. This is a stereotypical Austin restaurant. The food is slightly strange, but of excellent quality and always better than you think it will be. There are salads, open faced sandwiches with bizarre ingredients, and great desserts. Best part of this restaurant: The patio dining - away from the street - quiet, very Zen like. It also has a resident cat who wanders around the dining room and looks very, very well fed.
Mangia's - On Guadalupe near UT - but not too close, and one in North Austin. Pizza. Best ever. Fabulous ingredients. Forgettable decor. Perfect crust - two types: regular and pan. Excellently seasoned red sauce, and again, those fresh, fresh ingredients. (This would be Drake's favorite.)
Maxines on Main - downtown Bastrop - This is one of the 40 best cafes in Texas according to Texas Monthly. I believe it. Best food: Reuben, breakfast, (best pancake I've ever eaten), and burger. DON"T order the french fries - they fry in advance and they have been cold everytime we've had them. Maxine's has traditional Texas waitresses, and if you don't know who those might be, well, they are a combination of the tiredess woman you've ever seen, your favorite aunt and a perpetual motion machine. Decor is great in this restaurant.
East Side Cafe - East side of I-35, kind of across from the UT area. This is a kitchen garden restaurant. They like to grow their own food, and they know what to do with it. This is where we had Sarah's graduation dinner, and they fed 14 people superbly. This menu is always different - but in a good way. They make you love acorn squash (if you already don't). I've never seen a poorly prepared meal here. As a bonus, it's in an old house, and you get to eat in the small rooms which are still intact instead of one big dining area.
Ronnie's Real Food - far west Austin, oh, just Google map this one. I deliberately paired this with the East Side (above). This is a wanna be East Side Cafe. It's a guy (Ronnie - big surprise, huh?) who cooks for 10 people a night from Wednesday thru Sunday. You need reservations, and it's BYOB with no corkage fee. In fact, it's $25 a person - flat and that includes the tip. We celebrated our anniversary here, and I described it in an earlier blog. This place edges out the East Side above because of its intimacy. The food is about the same - gourmet, fresh, and exciting. Surprisingly, dessert was the weakest part of this meal.
The Roadhouse - Bastrop, intersection of Hwy 21 and Hwy 95. Best burger hands down. Not only the regular burgers, but also some interesting ones such as the fresh jalapeno slices with cream cheese burger. Blue Bell milkshakes, and fresh cut fries served piping hot. It is picturesquely ramshackle place with the modern version of the stereotypical Texas waitress.
Rico's - Taylor, Texas. Now this was a surprise, surprise, surprise. Taylor is a pretty much nothing much sort of small Texas town that is a very blue collar, railroad type of place. We were coming home on the back roads after attending a Roundrock minor league baseball game when we stopped here. Rico is a Californian whose family is into restaurants in California. (Don't ask me why they picked Taylor, Texas to start this place.) He calls his restaurant - Latin food - not Mexican. The salsa is smoky and spicy. He serves a pico to accompany the salsa which is made with shredded cabbage, chunks of jalapeno and tomatoes. Very fresh, very tasty. I had pollo con arroz which usually means a chicken breast plunked down over Mexican rice with some queso dribbled over it. In Rico's it means chunks of chicken that have been simmered all day long with onions, peppers, mushrooms and rice. The sauce was hot and spicy, and guacamole cool and refreshing. Drake's burrito was equally awesome. This place is worth the detour to get to it. It's about 20 miles southeast of Roundrock. Rico's is so, so much better than anything you'll find in Roundrock to eat. As a bonus, the decor is slick contemporary paired with nostalgia - very appealing and clever.
I'm certain you're tired of reading about food. I could list another 15 restaurants, but I'll give everyone a break and stop now before you eat the contents of your refridgerator because I've made you so hungry.
I'll finish with a list of the OTHER places we've eaten: Moonshine Cafe & Patio Bar (Austin), Anitas (Bastrop), Wildflower Cafe (Bastrop), Gracie's (Bastrop), Tommy's (Bastrop - excellent HOMEMADE ice cream), Casa Garcia (Austin), Bess Bistro (Austin - Sandra Bullock's restaurant), Cedars (Bastrop), Snack Bar (Austin), Hut's (Austin), Louis 106 (Austin), Flip Happy Crepes (Austin), Annies (Austin), South Congress Cafe (Austin).
I was curious as to how many different places we have eaten over the past six weeks or so. The list was surprisingly long. Think of this blog as a guide to the best places to eat in and around downtown Austin as well as ranging out and around the Hill Country of Texas. Since we've pretty much stayed off the beaten Hill Country path, this list will not particularly include iconic restaurants. We have been quite surprised by the quality and variety of restaurants we have encountered. I think that is the Austin mentality about food creeping outside the city. Austinites pride themselves on 'Keeping Austin Weird'. This means in a nutshell that it's important to patronize local businesses. Restaurants lead the list of businesses that are enthusiastically patronized. I've never been in a town of the size of Austin in which the chain restaurants we all know (and alternately love and hate) are almost non-existent. When you see them inside the city limits, they are sparingly patronized.
This is not particularly scientific, logical or chronilogical. I've never attempted restaurant criticism before. Here's the list of places we've eaten with entertaining comments - at least I hope the comments will be entertaining. I've included the name of the places and the town they are located in. If they are in Austin, I've given you the quadrant of the city. In no particular order:
Cindy's - downtown Bastrop - She's made an appearance in an earlier blog, so I'll just get her out of the way. Killer, killer chicken tenders. House recipe, beer battered, fried when you order them, perfectly seasoned, chicken moist and perfectly cooksed. The tenders are served hilariously in a metal cone that looks like it belongs in a bathroom accessory set. The chairs, tables and decor are totally forgetable, and for a Sports Bar, the TVs are pretty small. I find it funny that they don't play the sports channels during the day - instead it's the Soaps and Law and Order re-runs. These tenders are soooooo good that it's one of the few places that we've eaten twice
Gumbo's - downtown Austin - The claim to fame: The best Cajun food we've eaten since we lived in New Orleans. The only thing that was slightly clunker was the bread. The Gumbo bread was OK, but in NOLA, the bread is a crucial element of the meal. It's always crusty on the outside, fresh, fresh, fresh on the inside, and never, never, never served on any day except the one it was baked. That is the only slight flaw to this Austin restaurant. Otherwise the food was Cajun hot - which means for you uninitiated - that it starts out slightly spicy and just builds throughout the eating of the dish until at the last bite, your lips are tingling. Terrific decor. Fancy. Expensive - but worth it.
Kay's Place - On Hwy 71 between Bastrop and Smithville in a totally forgetable metal building which includes the restaurant and Tri-Cheer. That means your odds of running into prepubescent and pubescent girls is fair to good - especially on try out day which was our introduction to Kay's. There were bevies, herds, flocks, and packs of teen and tween girls all running around and giggling. It was people watching at its best. If that wasn't enough, the food came, and that was the true surprise.
First, "Kay" is a real person, a slightly dumpy, slightly gray, happy young woman who 'absolutely loves to cook'. This is the place for homecooking. She personally makes a couple of meat dishes (like the delish meatloaf Drake had) a couple of chicken dishes (like the King Ranch Casserole I had) and usually something involving tilapia every day. Her vegetables and salads are excellent. (I had a marvelous black-eyed pea, avocado and tomato cold salad dressed with something unique and homemade.) The food here was really, really good in that grandma made it sort of way.
Baxter's on Main - downtown Bastrop. This is Bastrop's attempt at fine dining. The restaurant is in a really old building - tin ceilings, brick walls, etc. The dinner menu is way, way overpriced, but the lunch menu was a good value - at least until we ordered dessert. The food was good - not great - but good. It kind of miffed me that the two desserts we ordered at the end of lunch cost the same price as the entire lunch - for both of us.
Jalisco's - On Hwy 71 in the 'new part' of Bastrop. This is the local Tex-Mex. It was tired. The food was forgettable. The salsa was slightly below mediocre. The restaurant was ugly. The food was eatable, but why eat here when there are so many, many better choices.
Shiner Restaurant - In downtown Shiner, Tx. This restaurant was fun. The food was very good, and they serve every beer Shiner makes. I went with the German sausage, homemade saurkraut, fried potato lunch. That good, good Hill Country ethic food. This restaurant has an old time wild west saloon feel to it. It has interesting stuff in glass cases all around the room, and a swallow nest over the front door.
Before we leave Shiner, let me recommend the Spotzel Brewery Tour - yes, with free BEER, and as this is a Czech town, I ask the tour guide where the best kolaches were. Here's her answer: Short Stop Convenience Store - and she was right. The second best kolaches I have ever eaten - only the ones you get in West, Texas are better.
Blue Dahlia - east downtown Austin. This is a stereotypical Austin restaurant. The food is slightly strange, but of excellent quality and always better than you think it will be. There are salads, open faced sandwiches with bizarre ingredients, and great desserts. Best part of this restaurant: The patio dining - away from the street - quiet, very Zen like. It also has a resident cat who wanders around the dining room and looks very, very well fed.
Mangia's - On Guadalupe near UT - but not too close, and one in North Austin. Pizza. Best ever. Fabulous ingredients. Forgettable decor. Perfect crust - two types: regular and pan. Excellently seasoned red sauce, and again, those fresh, fresh ingredients. (This would be Drake's favorite.)
Maxines on Main - downtown Bastrop - This is one of the 40 best cafes in Texas according to Texas Monthly. I believe it. Best food: Reuben, breakfast, (best pancake I've ever eaten), and burger. DON"T order the french fries - they fry in advance and they have been cold everytime we've had them. Maxine's has traditional Texas waitresses, and if you don't know who those might be, well, they are a combination of the tiredess woman you've ever seen, your favorite aunt and a perpetual motion machine. Decor is great in this restaurant.
East Side Cafe - East side of I-35, kind of across from the UT area. This is a kitchen garden restaurant. They like to grow their own food, and they know what to do with it. This is where we had Sarah's graduation dinner, and they fed 14 people superbly. This menu is always different - but in a good way. They make you love acorn squash (if you already don't). I've never seen a poorly prepared meal here. As a bonus, it's in an old house, and you get to eat in the small rooms which are still intact instead of one big dining area.
Ronnie's Real Food - far west Austin, oh, just Google map this one. I deliberately paired this with the East Side (above). This is a wanna be East Side Cafe. It's a guy (Ronnie - big surprise, huh?) who cooks for 10 people a night from Wednesday thru Sunday. You need reservations, and it's BYOB with no corkage fee. In fact, it's $25 a person - flat and that includes the tip. We celebrated our anniversary here, and I described it in an earlier blog. This place edges out the East Side above because of its intimacy. The food is about the same - gourmet, fresh, and exciting. Surprisingly, dessert was the weakest part of this meal.
The Roadhouse - Bastrop, intersection of Hwy 21 and Hwy 95. Best burger hands down. Not only the regular burgers, but also some interesting ones such as the fresh jalapeno slices with cream cheese burger. Blue Bell milkshakes, and fresh cut fries served piping hot. It is picturesquely ramshackle place with the modern version of the stereotypical Texas waitress.
Rico's - Taylor, Texas. Now this was a surprise, surprise, surprise. Taylor is a pretty much nothing much sort of small Texas town that is a very blue collar, railroad type of place. We were coming home on the back roads after attending a Roundrock minor league baseball game when we stopped here. Rico is a Californian whose family is into restaurants in California. (Don't ask me why they picked Taylor, Texas to start this place.) He calls his restaurant - Latin food - not Mexican. The salsa is smoky and spicy. He serves a pico to accompany the salsa which is made with shredded cabbage, chunks of jalapeno and tomatoes. Very fresh, very tasty. I had pollo con arroz which usually means a chicken breast plunked down over Mexican rice with some queso dribbled over it. In Rico's it means chunks of chicken that have been simmered all day long with onions, peppers, mushrooms and rice. The sauce was hot and spicy, and guacamole cool and refreshing. Drake's burrito was equally awesome. This place is worth the detour to get to it. It's about 20 miles southeast of Roundrock. Rico's is so, so much better than anything you'll find in Roundrock to eat. As a bonus, the decor is slick contemporary paired with nostalgia - very appealing and clever.
I'm certain you're tired of reading about food. I could list another 15 restaurants, but I'll give everyone a break and stop now before you eat the contents of your refridgerator because I've made you so hungry.
I'll finish with a list of the OTHER places we've eaten: Moonshine Cafe & Patio Bar (Austin), Anitas (Bastrop), Wildflower Cafe (Bastrop), Gracie's (Bastrop), Tommy's (Bastrop - excellent HOMEMADE ice cream), Casa Garcia (Austin), Bess Bistro (Austin - Sandra Bullock's restaurant), Cedars (Bastrop), Snack Bar (Austin), Hut's (Austin), Louis 106 (Austin), Flip Happy Crepes (Austin), Annies (Austin), South Congress Cafe (Austin).
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