http://www.holeinthewallaustin.com/2538 Guadalupe St
Austin, TX 78705
(512) 477-4747
Note June 17, 2009: I suppose all good things must come to an end. I happened to be near campus yesterday with some time to kill. I wandered into Hole in the Wall for a Fireman's 4 and Fried Pickles and although the beer was great, the Fried Pickles were just awful. They were probably the worst fried pickles I've ever had. They were not thin and delicious, they were way too thick chunks fried in oil that had been sitting out way too long. Oh it was so sad. But don't worry, if you find yourself in a pickle needing crisis near UT campus, trek down 24th street towards Lamar and hit up Cuatro's. Grab a watermelon fresca and enjoy the patio while you are there.
A few weeks ago Jenn and I found ourselves near the UT campus with an hour and a half to kill, so we decided to spend it at the Hole in the Wall on Guadalupe. I haven’t been there since I was in college, and even then I wasn’t a regular. As an engineering major, my appearance was required at the north end of campus and my drinking time was mostly split between Posse and Crown and Anchor. This is why I didn’t even realized what a fantastic patio and drink prices they had.
After two beers at the beautiful price of $2 each, we found ourselves looking over the food menu, and that’s when I pointed out to Jenn that the menu contained… fried pickles. Being the fried pickle connoisseurs we are, we knew what we had to do.
We ordered and paid the $3 for the pickles and went out to the patio to enjoy the daylight. We had some massive confusion about where we were to pick up our salty fried treats and spent the next few minutes looking around quite bewildered. Eventually after asking about 4 people, we found the kitchen pick up area in the back.
The pickles were of the thinly sliced variety, as opposed to the spears you get at Pluckers and Katz’s. The concoction was a beautiful clumpy fried mess that came with a side of ranch dressing. Upon taking a bite, my tastebuds were overcome by the greasy goodness and extremely salty flavor. The salt complimented the beer and I could imagine the more inebriated one to be, the better the treat. We dubbed the concoction “Chicken Fried Pickles,” although this is a bit of a misnomer since the batter was more of a tempura style.
Jenn said it was the best $3 she had spent in a long time. And even though we were huge fans, we were unable to finish the basket between the two of us. At one point I had to push them away citing that I liked them but continual gorging would change that.
Bottom line: Do it with beer. Don’t do it alone. Ask for extra ranch.
Laura - Recommended.*
*Please see note at top of review. Recipe has changed and this item is no longer recommended.
