restaurants

Top Picks for Austin Restaurant Weeks

August 15, 2018 by Alyssa

With some many Austin Restaurant Weeks choices, here’s the few you should be considering.

If you aren’t familiar with Austin Restaurant Weeks, it’s a 2-week period, running August 16th-September 3rd, where select restaurants offer a specialty priced menu for lunch, dinner and drinks.

A portion of the price from each meal is directly donated to the Central Texas Food Bank. Each dollar donated allows CTFB to serve four meals to an Austin neighborhood in need. Now that’s reason to eat right there!

Since there’s so many options and only 2 weeks to eat, I scoured the menus and picked the very best recommendations to maximize your Austin Restaurant Weeks eating potential.

Check out my picks below and let me know what restaurants make your list!

Lunch Picks ($25)

La Condesa – As a quintessential Austin restaurant that’s often overlooked on the Austin foodie scene, head to La Condesa for lunch and remind yourself why it’s been a longstanding Austin staple! Order the La Reyna, a veggie torta followed by the flourless chocolate cake and add on the Summer Sangria made with a dry rosé to your ‘working’ lunch!

Sway – Start with their fresh vegetable spring roll which comes with a crunchy sweet peanut sauce. Follow it with the Po-pea Jay and finish with a classic Pad thai with either roasted chicken or egg tofu. Sway knows how to do these classics right.

Cane Rosso – Offering 3 courses at lunch, this $25 priced meal is a real deal. I suggest sticking to to something traditional like the Kale Caesar, Cane Rosso Pizza, and Mini Dirt Cup. Let me know if you need company!

Other worthwhile menu options include Austin Daily Press, Caroline Restaurant, Thai Fresh, and Forthright Cafe.

Dinner Picks ($45)

Rosewood – This new comer to the Austin restaurant scene has a killer offering. Choose three options from their tapas-style menu plus a dessert. My picks include Grilled Peaches, Sautéed Shrimp, and the Drum Ceviche followed by the seasonal dessert!

Barley Swine – As one of my favorite Austin restaurants, I highly suggest taking advantage of Barley Swine’s 4-course offering. This pairing serves as an intro to the 10-course chef’s tasting menu Barley Swine regularly offers. It’s a great way to taste your way through the restaurant’s food without a huge splurge.

Parkside – I think Parkside is an overlooked restaurant but it has a fantastic menu offering. I’d choose the local melon & tomato salad, seasonal fish with rock shrimp, and wrap it up with the chocolate almond cake.

Looking for more dinner options? Check out Boiler Nine, Odd Duck, True Foods Kitchen, and The Capital Grille.

Do you plan to take advantage of Austin Restaurant Weeks? What restaurants do you plan to visit?

The Brewer’s Table: Deliciously Beautiful Food

August 7, 2018 by Alyssa

Even before it’s opening, The Brewer’s Table was one of Austin’s most anticipated restaurants of 2018. After a visit for brunch and dinner, it’s lived up to the pre-opening hype and is a sure contender for the city’s best new restaurant.

I heard whisperings of The Brewer’s Table ages before it opened. And, at least in my circle, it was the most talked about Austin restaurant opening which made me ridiculously eager to visit. Although the restaurant celebrated its grand opening in early June, I waited until it premiered its brunch menu for an initial visit. A few days later, <3M and I ventured back to The Brewer’s Table for dinner.

In full transparency, <3M and I treated ourselves to brunch the first time around and were invited back for dinner a few days later by owner, Jake Maddux. However, all photos and opinions are my own.

Atmosphere

The Brewer’s Table is a beautifully designed venue. In fact, everything about The Brewer’s Table is beautiful — decor, menus, kitchen, plating, the food. (Side note, be prepared to see the word beautiful used multiple times below because I truly can’t think of any other word to describe both The Brewer’s Table venue and food. Simply gorgeous.)

The restaurant’s atmosphere is airy with bright, natural light and pops of color giving it a modern feel. It’s full of natural wood and clean lines with a backdrop of neutral, calming colors. Inside there are loads of dried ingredients, including a large fish hanging from the ceiling.

The open kitchen and chef’s counter has views of food preparation including a large wood-fired grill which is banked with stacks of cookbooks by famous chefs and brewers. Outside, the same airy, calming feeling extends to a patio and small bar where The Brewer’s Table offers up drinks and small bites during happy hour. I had serious decor and kitchen envy while dining.

Drinks

With a selection of their own beer, guest taps, wine, and house cocktails, The Brewer’s Table offers something for everyone. I found true love with the tap wine, a chilled Shiraz that was pure perfection for this red loving girl on a hot Austin day. <3M enjoyed their twist on an old fashioned, the Hop & Bothered, that had a similar flavor palette but with a touch more sweetness than the standard drink.

And, although I only sampled one of their own brews, I was intrigued by the unique use of ingredients in each of The Brewer’s Table’s offerings — roasted beets, sweet potatoes, and dried jasmine.

Food

If I had to make one statement about The Brewer’s Table, it’s that they have the most beautiful food I have ever seen. Each plating is exquisite and each dish has a combination of colors and textures that make each presentation a pure work of art. I could truly stare and take photos of their food all day long. Below’ a look at the dishes <3M and I enjoyed during our visits.

Deviled Eggs

These looked divine and were again beautiful, however, I learned I’m not much of a fan of smoked chicken liver mousse. Although I truly enjoyed the crunchy bits beneath, I recommend knowing whether or not you enjoy liver before ordering.

Summer Bean & Barley Salad

I really enjoyed this salad. It was light and full of fresh seasonal flavors with a subtle ranch dressing. It had every note of flavor I could have asked for — salty, creamy, crunchy and I could have licked the plate clean. My only lasting desire was for more of the beans and barley.

Fried Chicken Sandwich

This chicken was perfectly moist and savory but the real star of this dish was the mesquite buttered roll. It was soft, buttery, melt in your mouth goodness. And the chips were lick your fingers addicting.

Snacks for the Table

I’m a sucker for snack plates and this one was my favorite ever, anywhere. I was so impressed with the presentation, the mix of textures and flavors. I also loved the different techniques presented in this dish including the beer compressed peaches with berry granita, lager chicharrones, and the crunchy beer grain falafel.

Hearth Bread

While this bread was delicious, just like the roll from the Fried Chicken Sandwich, the real star was the mesquite butter. I will usually skip over bread and butter but this butter was everything. Slightly sweet with a touch of smoke and salt. I wanted it on everything.

Chicken Paprikash

If you want comfort food then this is your dish. It was tenderly cooked, fall-off-the-bone chicken smothered in a tomato-paprika sauce served with soft, chewy beer grain spaetzle. And it left me wanting more. I hope the Chicken Paprikash remains on the menu throughout the winter months because I want to snuggle up with it again during a cold December night.

Green Tomato and Blue Crab Parfait

I went back and forth on the dish. I loved it when I composed the perfect bite by incorporating each ingredient on my spoon which created a balance between the fishiness of the crab, the acidity of the tomato, and sweetness from the fruit. However, if I got something alone it was a bit off balance which is why I’m torn on whether or not I’d order it again. But again, as with all the dishes, it had a beautiful presentation.

Whipped Chocolate Mousse

If I were dining solo, I would have chosen a different dessert because this mousse had bananas in it and I’m not a huge fan of bananas but <3M wanted the mousse and so it was. However, I was beyond happy with the result. The banana flavor was subtle and I loved the crunchy hazelnut pieces and the light, silky chocolate mousse. In truth, I’m usually unimpressed with restaurant desserts but this, I’d order again.

Ice Cream Cone

I loved that this dessert because of its miniature size and the different textures it offered. It had pops of crunch from the toasted barley and the gooey caramel at the bottom of the beer grain waffle cone. It was the perfect little ending to the meal.

Final Thoughts

If you are a fan of restaurants like Barley Swine, Odd Duck, or Emmer & Rye then you need to make your way to The Brewer’s Table.

In my opinion, The Brewer’s Table has more to offer than the others in terms of unique craft brews, an outdoor space that’s kid & dog-friendly, and seating that can easily accommodate a large group. On top of that, the food’s elegant, creative, and delicious while offering a memorable dining experience.

I honestly believe The Brewer’s Table has a bright future. With its gorgeous interiors, creative use of ingredients, and beautiful food it will definitely land itself on a few top restaurant lists this year both locally and on the national front. I’m excited to see where the future takes it.

Have you visited The Brewer’s Table yet? What were your thoughts?

Cheap Eats in Austin

September 10, 2011 by Alyssa

So it’s well known that not only am I a picky eater, but I’m also a food snob – not in the “I only eat at 4-star restaurants” but in that I have high expectations when dining out. I feel that if you own a restaurant there better be a darn good reason as to WHY you own a restaurant and that reason better be because you have insanely good food.

That being said, here’s a run down of my opinion two famous cheap eateries in Austin that I’ve had the pleasure of dining at thus far.

Let’s start backwards and with dessert first, since I’d rather be eating dessert than an actual meal anyways.

Hey Cupcake!

Austin’s very own cupcake trailer. They have a bunch of locations all over Austin and are pretty well known. They have typical cupcake offerings – chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, red velvet, carrot, and sometimes a specialty flavor.

I’ve tried a few of their classic cupcakes – the Snowcap (Chocolate cake and vanilla frosting), Sweetberry (aka, strawberry with cream cheese frosting), and the Double Dose (better known as the Chocoholic). I like that they spice up their cupcakes with cute names. It makes the more appealing.

Sweetberry Cupcake & SnowCap: M<3 and I had these babies dolled up while celebrating our anniversary during my December visit to Austin. As my Mom taught me, presentation is everything.

I like cupcakes a lot and every flavor combo I’ve had from Hey Cupcake has been exceptionally good. Not the BEST cupcake I’ve ever had – because I’m partial to anything with peanut butter in it, but yes, the Best Classic flavored cupcakes I’ve ever had. (I Love You Dollop – you totally win best Rochester cupcake, PB cupcake and crazy combo cupcake in my heart!)

Scored this cupcake one afternoon by knowing the phrase of the day – Don’t be a lazy cupcake. Also, they usually have a BOGO coupon on their website so you can always get a freebie!

The Sweetberry/Strawberry actually tasted like strawberry (as most strawberry cupcakes don’t), the chocolate rocked my world and even had chocolate chunks in it! It actually tasted like rich decadent chocolate that is usually lost in cakes.

As for the frostings……I don’t care for cream cheese frosting but when it came to Hey Cupcake!’s, I found it delish, maybe because it had the added strawberry element that hid the cream cheesiness I detest! Lastly, their vanilla buttercream was fab as well – great, rich vanilla flavor and not at all like snackin’ on a stick of butter like some frostings.

In my opinion, if you can’t do vanilla in a cupcake shop you shouldn’t be open. It’s a standard flavor – a prerequisite for baking, comparable to knowing your ABC’s in order to graduate kindergarten. Get my drift? If you can’t make vanilla taste like vanilla, close shop.

As for their cake – light, fluffy, and moist, exactly how a cake should be. So bravo Hey Cupcake! My food snobbish ways were satisfied. And I’ll stop by whenever a cupcake craving hits while driving.

Juan in a Million

You may have heard of the Juan in a Million restaurant from Man v. Food. It was made famous by Adam Richman while attempting to eat the eight of the gigantic breakfast tacos. It’s a hot spot for UT students to grab breakfast at and there is a lot of hype about the restaurant in general.

Since there was so much hype about the little Mexican restaurant, <3M and I had to try it out. Our first Juan in a Million attempt was a massive fail. We went on a Sunday morning and there was a line out the door. Both of us were ready to chew our arm off so we kept on driving….which is what we should have done this second time around.

Juan in a Million is situated in the ghetto part of Austin. Driving through the area makes me a bit uneasy, and it even made me question the quality of food being served. The place inside reminded me of college living. Lawn furniture chairs, pictures hung haphazardly on the wall, and frames dangling off center.

Juan’s fencing to keep the rabid dogs out. Take note of the folding chairs and tables!

But hey, even after risking my life while driving and sitting in the sketchy, ready to collapse chairs,I was still on board for eating at the Man v. Food legacy – plus, I thought M<3 would love it since he’s a fan of the show.

Doesn’t he looked psyched? He could probably pass for Don Juan himself with his moo-stache growing and glowing tan.

The menu was simple and I decided to just get a classic Mexican breakfast: two eggs, beans, potatoes, and tortillas. How hard could that be to screw up? M<3 went with the Migas – basically the same thing except some tortillas and cheese were thrown into the eggs.

The waitress came with coffee, chips (at 9am? Sure! Why not!) and salsa.

Fresh salsa. I love salsa so I was sold on the oversized dish of tomato goodness.

Salsa – also known as poor-Lyssa’s Gazpacho!

We waited around a bit…a bit longer than I typically like to wait for breakfast.

It’s the first meal of the day, and if you’re a restaurant, you better make it speedy because people are usually hungry and the hungrier I am and the longer I wait, the more HANGRY (that’s hungry & angry) I become.

Finally the grub showed.

Juan in a Million’s Breakfast Taco from Man v. Food

This is where it all went down hill. I’m a sucker for refried beans so I had high hopes for beans at breakfast time, especially because these beans were made by an authentic Mexican restaurant and showcased on Man v. Food.

M<3’s Migas – Mine looked the same minus the cheese and add some tortillas on the side.

With high hopes, I tasted the beans…Instantly I knew, they were made with meat, I could even seek the specks of fried meat bits in them as I dug through. <3M had high hopes for the beans as well. Refried pinto beans are a fav of <3M’s and he left his untouched, so sadly, these beans must have been well under par for <3M to pass on a favorite.

After a quick chat with the waitress she confirmed what I already knew – the beans were cooked with LARD (that evil 4 letter word I absolutely hate). But hey, I could sub another side of potatoes or rice for the beans since they didn’t have vegetarian beans. After appraising the other items on my plate, I passed on both of those options as well.

Don’t be fooled, it’s not cheese. Just pure fat!

I took a breath and put the beans behind me, setting my sites on the potatoes – which resembled little cubes of grease soaked (or more likely lard glazed) sponges. These usually delicious carb-y wonders lacked flavor, their texture was mushy, and they were another breakfast fail.

On to the eggs! After careful examination I dove in. And to my surprise, they were decent. And by decent, I mean at least they weren’t lard covered. But I could have made better at home.

Now for the tortillas. Probably the best part of the meal, besides the salsa, for those I enjoyed! But my guess is Juan didn’t make the tortillas himself…….

So, thank you random-mass-produced-tortilla-maker for upholding your quality standards.

In the end my breakfast ended up being a makeshift breakfast taco – a few greasy potatoes (I convinced my self they weren’t cooked in lard), eggs, and a generic tortilla smothered in salsa for flavor!

Looked a bit like this but sissy sized.

I ate it. I was no longer hungry but I wasn’t satisfied. <3M even suggested paying, leaving, and going to another diner because he was so unhappy with his meal.

Sadly, we Juan’t be going back.

All in all, Juan in a Million’s claim to fame is it’s TV appearance, not its food. Like I said before, if you’re going to own a restaurant then reason you should be in business is because you serve great food. Juan, did not have great food. He had great advertising.

I have a few more restaurant reviews, a few other food trailers that I won’t mind ranting and raving about, and one restaurant which I absolutely love in Austin that I’ll share another time…..