Austin Land and Cattle

I had heard about Austin Land and Cattle for a long time.  It was Jo's Birthday and she wanted steak or seafood.  We looked at menus from all the local Steak restaurants.  This one won out since we had never been there.

One difference at Austin Land and Cattle from the other high end Steakhouse's is that they include a potato selection as well as vegetables.  I went with a petite filet with a baked potato.  Being the usual pig that I have been lately, I cleaned my plate.  The steak was cooked to perfection.  It was tender and had a great pure meat taste.  One of the best I have had.  I have a hard time deciding between Flemings, Ruth Chris, Perry's and now Austin Land.  In addition to my entire plate, I had at least 2 rolls, which were incredible I might add.

Jo had the Sunday Night Prix Fixe and chose fried shrimp.  Hers came with a salad before and dessert after.  She chose the caesar salad.  It was just the right size and hit the spot with the bread rolls that were served.  I was not crazy about the shrimp.  I just don't like Jumbo Shrimp other than in shrimp cocktail.  Steak is the way to go.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird,

Alan

Hopdoddi Burger Bar

After weeks of hearing about the new burger joint downtown, I finally made it there.  The set up is a little confusing so it was good that there is an employee to meet you at the door to explain.  You stand in line to order and since it is so crowded, one of the employees finds a table for you as you get near the front of the line.  The choices of burgers is interesting.  They make them using either beef, bison, lamb, turkey, tuna or veggie.

I have been trying to eat healthier but after a 9 mile run in the morning, I figured all bets were off.  As soon as I read the ingredients of the Terlingua, I was sold.  It is a beef patti with chili and cheese and wait for it.... Frito's.  I decided not to be a total pig so I split it with Jo.  But, we did add a side of chili cheese fries and a chocolate shake to split as well.  Let's start with the shake since they make such a big deal about churning their own ice cream.  It was good but it was kind of small and a costly $5.  Personally, I think the shake at Mighty Fine made with Blue Bell Ice Cream is just as good if not better and less than $4.  Either one of these restaurants would be smart to copy the old Mad Dog and Beans shakes.  They carried about 10 different flavors of Blue Bell and would make a shake out of any of the flavors they had in stock.  A Cookies and Cream Shake is unbelievable.

The burger was sublime.  The combination was great with the Frito's completing it.  I am glad I only ate half especially with the chili cheese fries.  The fries were good but I would not say the best I have ever had.  The chili cheese sauce was served on the side which was nice.  It was more cheese than chili but it was good.

I will definitely be back to try some of the other burgers.  I think next on my list will be one made with Bison.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird,

Alan

House Pizzeria

My son has been telling me about a new Pizza place that he says is the best in Austin.  So, I decided that tonight was a good night to try it.  I needed carbs for the run tomorrow and figured pizza was a good choice.  I always try to get plain cheese on my first visit to a new pizzeria.  Of course Jo needed some pig so we split a half pepperoni and half cheese.  Well, Zach was kind of right.  It was great pizza.  Best in Austin?  Maybe.  On different days, I like different kinds of pizza.  This was thin crispy pizza.  For tonight, this was perfect and I enjoyed it.  Flavorful but not too heavy.  But I would probably say that generally speaking, my favorite is still Home Slice.  We did have a salad before the pizza.  It was mixed greens with walnuts.  The whole experience was perfect for tonight.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird,

Alan

Bistro 88

I have been to Bistro 88 a couple of times in the past.  However, I have only recently added Sushi Rolls to my edible list.  So when I was asked to meet for a business lunch there today, I checked out the menu online beforehand.  The roll that stood out as a must try was the Spicy Sarah.  It has spicy tuna, cucumber, avocado topped with salmon sashimi, aioli and tempura flakes.  It was one of the best sushi rolls I have ever had.  It was so creamy and full of a great combination of flavors.  I was so excited about the sushi roll that I forgot to mention the Just Wonton.  It is a soup that is big enough for a meal.  We split it and the kitchen was nice enough to split into two for us.  I cannot imagine anyone eating the entire bowl themselves.  Half of the bowl was more than enough.  Just Wonton has Beef, shrimp & chicken with seasonal vegetables in a savory broth.  It was very good as well.  


I have always been happy with my meal at Bistro 88 in the past but now that eat sushi rolls, it took it took this restaurant to a whole new level.


Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird,


Alan

Julio's

Julio's has been in the Campus area since my collage days.  Although, I never ate there until I came back to Austin in the late 1980's.  It is on Duval next to another Campus Classic, Hyde Park Cafe.  Julio's is famous for their rotisserie Chicken.  It taste great and falls right off the bone.  They serve it with rice, beans and tortilla's.  Usually if just 2 of us eat there, we split a 1/2 chicken plate.  It is more than enough for both of us.  Last night, we had Zach and Abby with us.  Abby had her usual refried beans and tortilla's.  The refrieds looked good.  Just cannot convince Abby to try the chicken.  I know she will love it but in her mind, it is a Mexican restaurant so she has to order what she always gets at Mexican restaurants, beans and torts.   I was still suffering from my 10 mile run earlier in the day and just wasn't that hungry.  I had seen someone eating soup the last time I was there so I decided to try that.  It was really good.  It had big chunks of the rotisserie chicken in it, together with carrots, squash and other vegetables.  Then there was a half of an avocado sliced on top.  It was served with a couple of tortilla's and rice.  It was a big bowl of comfort.  I could only eat about half of the bowl.  Jo had the 1/4 chicken plate and indicated it was tasty as always.  Zach has discovered the Chicken Enchiladas Verdes and really likes them.  I guess making enchiladas with the rotisserie chicken, you cannot go wrong.

They have beer, margarita's and Mexican sodas.  We tried all the different flavors of soda last night.  I had the grapefruit, Jo had orange, Zach had apple and Abby had lime.  We all liked our drinks.

The only negative I can say is that they only take cash.  Luckily, there is an ATM across the street at Fresh Plus.  All the food was great and the next time I need a bowl of chicken soup, I know where I am going.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird,

Alan

Dining plans ruined by MoPac Traffic

It was the usual Friday night dilemma, where to go eat dinner.  Zach and Abby were with me so that really makes it a stressful event.  Zach is a snob and only wants good food.  Abby never wants to leave the house and only eats about 2 things.  I wanted to eat pasta since I am scheduled to run 10 miles in the morning.  I had heard that La Traviata is good and called and by chance they had a cancelation and they could fit us in at 7:30.  We left the house a little after 7 which should have given us plenty of time to make it downtown.  We reach MoPac and it is packed.  No movement.  Finally at 7:20 and only reaching FM 2222, I called and cancelled our reservation.

This led us to the Triangle.  We figured that Mandola's would be very crowded but would give it a try.  Another crowded situation.  No parking and we could see the line at Mandola's out the door.  I was on my way out to go, I don't know where, but saw a parking spot.  So we decided to go to Galaxy Cafe.

I always eat the same thing, Chicken Wrap with sweet potato fries.  It is so good.  I love those sweet potato fries.  Zach had the Mozzarella Sandwich.  He like it but was still hungry after eating the entire sandwich and fries.  Abby had Chicken Strips and Fries.  Big surprise!  But I did taste the chicken and it as very good.  Jo had a pasta that had lemon and herbs and chicken.  It was good and looked healthy.  Overall, a good experience.  I still would like to try La Traviata.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird,

Alan

La Condesa

We went to eat at La Condesa Saturday night.  It was a perfect night for eating outside.  With the UT game going on, it was not that crowded so we were able to be seated on the patio.  Let me start by telling you that this is a ridiculously overpriced restaurant for Mexico City style sidewalk food.  But, the quality and taste of the food makes it worthwhile for an occasional splurge.

We started with Guac and chips.  Both were made fresh at the restaurant and very good.  I then had a small bowl of Tortilla Soup.  It was not the usual watery type broth.  It was thick and hearty.  The flavor was very tasty.  There were chunks of chicken and with the crispy tortilla pieces, the texture was perfect.

Me and Zach had the chicken tacos.  They are very small, like what you would get off a sidewalk vendor.  There are just 2 small corn tortillas with chicken, onion and cilantro.  They were incredible.  Since I had the soup, I had not ordered a side.  Zach had the roasted corn.  I tasted it and it was full of flavor.  There were cheese and spices on the corn.  One of the best roasted corn on the cob I have ever had.

Jo had the ribeye taco's with a side of roasted corn.  I had a bite of one of the taco's.  It was very good but I still prefer the chicken taco.  The tortilla had a layer of grilled cheddar cheese on it and then the steak was on top of that.

We then decided to try a dessert.  There was a flour-less chocolate tort with sautéed bananas and a scoop of banana ice cream.  The tort was made with a hint of cayenne pepper.  The mixture of chocolate, spice and banana was unbelievable.

To give you an idea of how pricy this place is, the meal I described was $74 before tip.  I had a beer and Jo had a Margarita.  But as I mentioned at the beginning, the food was so good, that I plan to come back to La Condesa to over pay again.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird,

Alan

Fried chicken

I just finished a business lunch at the Red Porch. I had a fried chicken sandwich. It was one of the tastiest fried chicken I have had. It was tender while still maintaining a crunchy crust. They also have fried chicken on the menu. The French fries were also good and crispy.

With 70 different beer varieties, I will be back for dinner very soon.

Doing my part to keep Austin weird.

Alan

Dominican Joe's

We decided to go to a different coffee shop after our Saturday run.  Part of the Austin Fit group was meeting at Dominican Joe's so we joined them.  One of the nice things at this place was finally a different source of breakfast tacos.  Every coffee shop I have been to seems to carry Tacodeli breakfast tacos.  I do like Tacodeli but variety is the spice of life.  Dominican Joe's carries Torchy Tacos.  I had a Migas and avocado taco.  It was good.  They serve fair trade coffee as well.  The coffee was better than average.  The atmosphere was great.  There is an outside patio and with the perfect weather we are having, it was a good place to hang out with fellow runners and enjoy coffee and discuss running.  In addition, it is walking distance from where Austin Fit meets.  I am sure I will be frequenting this place over the next few months as training continues.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird

Alan

Chuy's

I had not been to Chuy's in a long time.  Especially the original one.  I have been going to that restaurant since it very first opened, 1983.  I hate to admit it but most times, I still order the same item that i have been ordering since the very beginning, The Chuy's Special.  This is an enchilada dish but prepared more in a lasagna fashion.  Instead of rolling the tortillas, the tortillas are layered with shredded chicken, cheese and tomatillo sauce.  The tortillas are made with blue corn for this dish so it has more of the New Mexico flare to it.

Last night we went and I decided to try something different.  There is a dish called Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  It is basically chicken enchiladas but the sauce is made with Hatch Green Chilies from New Mexico and cheese.  So, it is spicy, cheesy and very flavorful.  Since I ate way too many chips with their incredible pico da gallo style salsa, I only ate one of the enchiladas.  It is very difficult, but I am trying to not eat past the point that I am full.  Normally, I would have eaten both enchiladas anyway.  Jo had the Baja Fish Taco's.  I was not expecting the fish taco's to be very good from here.  I tried a bite and they were very good.  It was just fried fish, cabbage and a creamy spicy sauce.  There is a grilled version as well.  I may have to try that one day if I am trying to be healthy.

All in all, a very good meal.  Not to mention the place brings back so many memories from college days.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird,

Alan

Strip Mall Chinese

I had been looking for a Chinese restaurant in Austin that is good, clean and not overly expensive.  I had tried all the well known places but was not overly happy.  The one that I liked most so far was probably P F Chang's.  But 2 issues.  It is not cheap and it is a chain.  As you know I try to avoid chain restaurants.  I have finally found the neighborhood Chinese restaurant that I have been searching for, Twin Lion.  It is an unassuming place in the strip center that also houses HEB at 183 and Great Hills.

I now go to this restaurant any time I want Chinese food.  It is family run.  The egg roll is very good.  It is fresh, crispy and tasty.  One of the main items that I was looking for was good Hot and Sour soup.  Twin Lion has the best.  It is very sour and not overly spicy.  It is the best i have had in Austin.  There are a few main dishes that I like.  The Kung Pau Chicken is also the best I have found in Austin.  They have a dish called Wonderful Chicken.  It is similar to Sesame Chicken but more flavorful.  It is slightly spicy.  The Sesame Chicken is also good.

I realized that I had not blogged about Twin Lion even though I have been going there now for a couple of years.  Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy P F Chang's but if I want to go somewhere quick and not break the bank, Twin Lion is the restaurant of choice.  We went Friday night and it was one of the best batches of Kung Pau Chicken I have had.  I think I had remembered to ask for all white meat.  I will have to remember to request all white meat every time from now on.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird,

Alan

La Sombra

I had been hearing about a new restaurant on Burnet by the name of La Sombra.  We finally made it there on Friday night.  I was there with Jo, Zach and Abby.  As usual, Abby did not want to eat anything.  I am getting used to just going to places whether Abby likes it or not.  Otherwise, I would never get to eat at any restaurants.  I had the Torta De Pescado.  It was very good.  It was beer battered fish, jicama, cabbage and chipolte slaw on a bolillo.  It was a great mix of flavors and textres.  Not fishy at all.  It is served with a side and I chose fried sweat plantains.  They were incredible.

Jo had a torta as well.  She had the Chacarero.  This was a torta with Shiner Bock marinated sliced hanger steak, green beans, avocado, tomato and pickled cucumber on a toasted bolillo.  I tried this torta and it was also a great sandwich.  She had chosen papas fritas as the side.  The fries were very tasty.

Zach had Aji De Gallina Risotto which was a roasted chicken risotto.  He indicated that it was very good as well.  

This experience was a winner.  I will have to go back and try some of the other menu items.  I look forward to having the Risotto in the future.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird

Alan

Greek

I had a business lunch meeting at Athena Grill last Wednesday.  I have not been there in a long time.  I had forgotten just how good the food is there.  I had the chicken plate.  It has a small salad, rice, shaved chicken and vegetables with tzatiki on top.  I had a warm peta bread with it.  Everything is full of flavor.  The plate is large enough to feed 2 people.  I have never had dinner here but it is a great place to go for lunch.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird

Alan

Thunderbird Coffee

Last week I was out and about and in need of a caffeine kick.  I was driving by Thunderbird Coffee and remembered it is a decent copy of my regular coffee spot, Cafe Medici.  They also make French Press coffee using beans from Cuvee.  I had an iced coffee.  There were a few things that I noticed at Thunderbird that made it stand out.  First, as most of my friends know, I am a snob about sugar in the raw.  Of course they carried it like any legitimate coffee shop would.  But they also had simple syrup which was great for iced drinks.  Sugar just will not dissolve so you are stuck using either pink, blue or yellow.  I have had simple syrup in iced tea before but had never tried it in iced coffee.  It was great.  My friends at Cafe Medici need to take note of this and provide simple syrup as well.  There was one other area that I feel like Cafe Medici could learn from Thunderbird.  I did not have anything to eat but did notice the food options.  Like Cafe Medici, they carry taco's from Tacodeli.  But the pastries looked much better and the selection was larger at Thunderbird.  Additionally, they carry bagels from Rockstar Bagels.  This seems to be the hot bagel supplier.  I am not sure where Cafe Medici gets their bagels.  I will have to ask. 

Well, in summary, it was a good experience at Thunderbird.  I still prefer the regular coffee at Medici but it is good to know there is an option closer to home.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird,

Alan

North

I had a lunch meeting at North in the Domain last week.  I had a dilemma, eat what I wanted or try to eat healthy.  It was a tough decision.  There were a couple of pasta dishes that looked very good.  It was very hard to pass up the Baked Ziti or the Chicken Lasagna.  I ended up choosing a Chicken Sandwich.  Staying with the healthy bend, I didn't even pick the potato side instead opting for grilled veggies as the side.  The sandwich was very good.  It was Grilled Chicken, Crescenza Cheese, Tomato, Avocado on a bagel.  Well, a bagel in name.  It was not crusty on the outside.  In this case that was a good thing.  Much easier to eat than if it would have been a real bagel. 

Going to the Domain can always be an interesting experience.  You can always count on seeing the rich and famous and the people that want to be seen.  A neighboring table had 8 Cougars that showed up in a Hummer Limo.  Since I was joined by a couple of twenty somethings at my table, you can imagine the looks we were getting in our direction from the Cougars.  Definitely made the lunch interesting. 

I will have to return to North for Pasta in the very near future.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird

Alan

Star Sighting

I still have been slow to remember to blog in a timely manner.  On September 5th, 2010 we had a craving for Mexican food.  Decisions, decisions.  We finally decided that we had not been to South Congress area in awhile so we headed to Guero's Taco Bar.  I know it is a Austin icon but my overall opinion of Guero's is that it is hit or miss.  Luckily that night was a hit.  First while having a drink in the bar while waiting for a table, I had my first Star sighting in Austin, Luke Wilson.  He was at a table with a couple of others.  I figure they always get disturbed while they are trying to eat so we did not go talk to him or take a picture. 

I usually get the chicken Enchiladas Verde but decided to try tacos that night since Taco is part of the name.  I had chicken al carbon tacos.  This may be my new favorite item.  I also think it has to be healthier than a cheesy enchilada.  The taco was just a corn tortilla with white meat chicken that was well seasoned inside.  Very clean and tasty.  I was only partly healthy, I had more chips and salsa than I care to admit.  I would have to say that this visit to Guero's Taco Bar was a hit.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird,

Alan

The forgotten blog

I completely forgot about my blog.  I will try to remember different places that I have been to recently.  I had dinner at 24 last Saturday.  I now know why I am need to lose 10 pounds.  Even after receiving my most recent blood test results, indicating that my cholesterol is up, I still had chili cheese fries.  I would have to say the risk was worth it.  The chili was very good.  It was made with brisket instead of ground beef.  The fries still remained crispy.  There was plenty of cheese as well.  I followed this up with a cheeseburger.  Of course there were more french fries with it.  At least I did split both of those with my date.  My son had the pulled chicken sandwich.  Since he does not share and I don't eat after other people, I can only go by appearances.  But it looked good.  If I remember some other places that I have recently been to, I will update blog with older visits.

Doing My Part to Keep Austin Weird

Alan

Juan in a million.

Several TV shows Travel Channel and Food Network have discussed this East Austin restaurant. They are known for their breakfast tacos. I finally made it there. When we first arrived, there were about 20 people waiting for a table. It was mostly frat rats from UT.  The wait was not too bad.

We tried a few different tacos. I had a migas taco and a potato, egg and cheese. Both were very good. I still think Maria's Taco Express is better.  My coeater had a Machacado with egg, tomato, onion and chile jalapeño.  She said it was very good.  Since we had seen the restaurant featured on Man vs. Food, we went and took a picture with Juan.  He was very nice and greeted all the guest to his restaurant.  I would recommend this place but I personally like the breakfast tacos at Maria's better.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird

Alan

The hunt for the best hamburger continues

I usually don't eat out on weeknights.  Last night was an exception.   We had not taken anything out for dinner and I was craving a hamburger.  Decision time.  Was it going to be Mighty Fine, P Terry's or was it time to try someplace we had not been.  P Terry's was the winner.  We hit the newer location on North Lamar.  The only way to go at P Terry's is with the double double.  The meat patties are very thin.  The single does not have a good meat to bread ratio.  This is the kind of burger that the meat and cheese blend together into a perfect bite.  The fries that go with this are the thin cut, peel on variety.  One of the better fries in town.  P Terry's is somewhat of a copy of the famous In-N-Out Burger.  The menu is limited to burgers, fries and drinks.  P Terry's takes it to the organic level.  Everything is organic.  From the all natural Black Angus Beef to the organic tomatoes for the burger.  The fries are made fresh cut in the kitchen.  I have to qualify my statement that everything is organic.  They do serve Coke products and the ketchup is regular Heinz.  All in all, a good experience.  Much better than fast food.  There are many places that I need to try in search for the perfect burger.  I will report back as needed.

Doing my part to keep Austin Weird,

Alan

Many days, no blogs. Let's correct this now.

Okay, I have not been online over the weekend.  I have been to many restaurants and coffee shops since I was last on.  The few people that follow this blog have instructed me to add some excitement and normal Nirenbergisms.

Last Friday evening, I went to the Boathouse Grill on 620.  I have been there once before and did not remember it being anything special.  My memory was correct.  I had the fried shrimp basket.  The main event, fried shrimp, is mediocre.  It is not even close to being as good as Sam's Boat.  I have not been to Sam's since the blog was started but I will get in a visit soon to tell about how good the fried shrimp is at Sam's.  I will say the french fries at Boathouse are very good.

On Saturday afternoon, I had been doing some work in the South part of town and was hot and thirsty.  I needed a beer.  We stopped in at the original El Mercado on South 1st.  We split an order of crispy beef taco's and had a couple of Dos Equis.  The food was okay, nothing special.  The beer hit the spot.  The visit did give us an opportunity to watch the World Cup.  We watched Spain beat Paraguay.  I normally have cheese enchiledes at this restaurant.  Those are usually good but I would not get taco's again.  Store bought taco shells was the issue.  You have to make them fresh or don't even bother.  If I want store bought, I would make the taco's myself at home.  Hell, my significant other makes taco shells fresh when we eat taco's at home.   

Saturday night, we went to the last beta testing night of the newly opening Uchiko.  Before I begin, I should indicate that I am very new to eating raw things.  I have never been to the original Uchi.  The design of the place is nice.  I like the architecture a lot.  Very cool.  All the beautiful people were there.  Even the food is beautiful.  We went with another couple that are regulars at Uchi.  I depended on them for ordering.  The bottom line is that this just is not my kind of food.  The other couple loved it.  So I would defer to them on whether the restaurant is good or not.  We had a couple of different Saki's and about 7 or 8 different dishes.  We had a Sushi roll that had grilled tongue on top.  My first experience of tongue other than the female human variety.  It was interesting.  I liked it.  Then we had Uchiko's version of ceviche.  It was served like sushi.  It was a slice of cucumber with a scallop that had been "cooked" in lime juice.  It was good.  We also had a dish that was made with fried pork belly and apple.  It was good but not for me.  I guess it was the Jewish mother screaming in my ear that I should not be eating pig.  Then we had a dish that included slices of big eye tuna and a hot rock.  You are supposed to cook the fish on the hot rock.  Another interesting experience.  It was good.  As I mentioned before, I will take the word of the other couple that the food was very good.  Just not my thang.

Sunday morning was the usual run on Lady Bird Lake followed by coffee and conversation.  Today was a special counselling/advice session.  The Kunik's are always full of advice but today we had an in depth conversation about marriage, divorce, dating women with children and why that is probably not a good idea for someone that does not like kids.  Well, let's clarify, it is only ill behaved kids that I don't like.  The jury is still out on how this advice will effect my life.

Today I hit a new coffee shop.  I had heard that one of the main guys from my favorite coffee shop, Cafe Medicci,  had ventured out on his own.  So we hit Houndstooth Coffee.  As soon as I walked in I recognized the barista that I had not seen in awhile at Cafe Medicci.  He had started his own coffee shop.  He serves coffee from the same roaster as Medicci but also has some beans from a couple of other roasters.  Today I stuck with the regular french press and had the Guatemalan single origin.  It was very good.  Just as good as Medicci and closer to my house.  The owner/barista described the other roasters that are used in the espresso drinks.  I will give one of those a try next time. 

I will try to be more timely with my post.  That way I am more likely to remember the experience to describe in the blog. 

Central Texas, Land of BBQ

Today I had a working lunch meeting in which Iron Works BBQ was brought in. We had either sliced brisket or chopped beef. There was cole slaw and potato salad as well. I had not had Iron Works in a few years. I had forgotten how good it is. The brisket was lean but not dry. Very good flavor. The potato salad was acceptable. The winner was dessert. Peach Cobbler with Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream. Iron Works is still a great classic Austin restaurant.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird

Alan

Slow Dining Day

My only outing today was for the weekly coffee after the Sunday run on Lady Bird Lake. We hit Jo's Coffee. The coffee is okay but it has a great atmosphere. Sitting on the sidewalk, people watching. I did have a small mishap with the coffee. I bumped my cup and splashed coffee on my hand. Lawsuit? Anyone remember the McDonald's coffee incident from last decade. This is about the third time i have done this at this coffee shop. Not sure what it is about this place. Maybe I am just too busy watching people. That's all for now. Be back after my next food or drink outing.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird,

Alan

Alan takes his first blog

My coworkers and friends have told me that as much time as I spend talking about food, restaurants and coffee, I should start a blog. So here goes.

While I normally prefer the local coffee shop, today I went to Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. They are celebrating their first year anniversary in Austin by offering $1 frozen drinks. I had the Original Mocha. It was incredible. I have not had the regular coffee but will have to give it a try.

For dinner tonight we ventured to The Daily Grill. I had the fish and chips. I have been looking for a good fish and chips in Austin and until today have not been too excited about what I have found. Tonight, the fish and chips were very good. The fish was fresh, crispy and hot. The fries were thin cut and crispy. They served it with the traditional malt vinegar. I have to say the price is high but they do serve a lot of food. It was worth the price to me.

My daughter had the kids chicken tenders and fries. I tasted it and it was very good. I always taste the her chicken tenders and this was one of the best. While mine was on the pricey side, her meal was a bargain. $5.95 for 6 tenders and a plate of great fries.

Doing my part to Keep Austin Weird,

Alan