Chuco's

900 W. 10th St.

Austin, Tx
(512) 476-TACO

http://www.chucostacos.com/

I know this may come as a shock to some of you, but I haven't always been the gallivanting single woman I first appear to be. Before there was Bachelor #s 1, 2, or 30 there was my ex. We met on E-Harmony of all places. We were both single and hating life in DFW. He was tall, smart and goofy. On the first date I knew we'd date seriously, by the third date he had met my parents, and after a month we had moved in together. But alas the "honeymoon" did not last. I moved to Austin to be closer to my family and he moved to Phoenix to be closer to his. We tried maintaining our long distance relationship for a while, despite the 2,000 mile separation, we managed to see each other twice a month. During the course of our relationship, I managed to make a dozen or so trips out to Phoenix. I went there enough to realize that 1) it is waaaay to fricken hot there and 2) no-one does anything fun there.

One other thing I discovered about Phoenix is that their Mexican food isn't Tex-Mex, or Monterrey, or even Baja style Mexican food, it's Sonoran style. Apparently in Sonoran style Mexican food they don't cover their food in salsas and greasy Tex-Mex style sauces. They focus on fresh ingredients available in the Yuma breadbasket to create simple Mexican yumminess. There was this little Mexican taquerilla in Tempe that we would frequent that had the best taquitos. Quality marinated pulled chicken wrapped in fresh corn tortillas, deep fried to a light golden color, then covered in the freshest, greenest guacamole you've ever seen. We'd order a huge place of those tasty taquitos and chow down.

I've tried a couple of the taquerias around Texas hoping to find taquitos of the same quality, but so far I've been disappointed. Tex-mex taquitos tend to be filled with stringy uninspiring chicken, wrapped in spongy tortillas, and deep fried until they're overcooked. The whole package tends to be rather unappealing.

Bachelor #4 and I were trolling around downtown one night and decided we wanted cheap Mexican food. We thought we'd try a little joint off Lamar that Laura had mentioned had good breakfast tacos. I thought why not. Chuco's is in a converted house that I believe used to be a really nice neo-european gourmet restaurant a few years ago. Its in the high rent district around Lamar and 6th which is why its surprising a low price taqueria has managed to survive where so many expensive restaurants have failed. The parking lot is tiny, but there were surprisingly few cars in the lot behind the restaurant. There were a surprisingly large number of people inside the restaurant indicating most of the folks who frequent this place are locals that walk or bike.

The counter to order is right by the front door and the volume of people coming and going make for a rather convoluted order process and an inevitable traffic jam. You order at the counter, get a number, then find a seat. The place is cute and has a clean feel; an old house with hardwood floors and white trim. After we ordered and sat down we waited what seemed like forever, but was probably close to 20 minutes. I was starting to get really antsy for my food. Who waits that long at a taqueria? Seriously!

Our order trickled out slowly starting with the house special, beef chucos. I ordered them as they're served, smothered in cheese and covered in some sort of watery tomato sauce. I wasn't all that impressed with the cheese and sauce, but the taquitos were top quality. They were the lightly golden fried delicious Sonoran style taquitos I'd get in Phoenix. The sauce, while it was tasty, was really watery and dripped everywhere making for a really messy eating experience. I'd avoid it next time. After we'd each had a few chucos our tacos came out. I ordered a chicken adobado which was spicy but rather uninspired. Bachelor #4's carne asada taco was really great though. Simple, but flavorful, the chicken had a nice texture and the taste of quality meat. They don't use Grade D chicken parts here.

After sucking down our chucos (sounds kind of dirty doesn't it), Bachelor #4 and I headed down the street to pick up a thank you present for my co-workers. I'd had a big deadline at work and wanted a special way to thank my co-workers who had helped, and what better way to say thank you that a big sugary, buttery Cinnabon. I haven't found a better purveyor of fat cinnamon roles here so if anyone can recommend one I'd appreciate it.

Bottom Line: Cute, convenient, quality Mexican taqueria, avoid the sauces

Mariah - 8

Curra's

614 E. Oltorf St.
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 444-0012

http://www.currasgrill.com/

Mariah: Hello fellow foodies. Sorry its been so long since our last post. I feel like we've let you down, like when we don't post, you wallow in bad food at bad chain restaurants, that we're you're only lifeline to a decent tasting meal. But I know its not true, you're all smart people with good taste. and you'll survive if we don't post. So, I take a chill pill and don't worry about posting. It so happens the last few weeks have been a little crazy. Laura's been dealing with personal issues of her own. And in addition to a midterm, and a crazy work schedule, my grandmother's been in the hospital requiring me to make a trip through the Bible Belt Buckle to Nebraska.

Laura: Way to make me sound like a whack job, Mariah. I've just been busy and well getting a little burned out. A much needed break on all non essential things in life was in order. Which meant a break on blogging about good food, but definately not a break in eating good food.

Mariah: Let me vent about that trip for a few minutes (but purely from a food perspective). You would not believe the crap people in the Midwest shovel into their mouths. Everything is deep fried, covered in butter, smothered in gravy, or burned to a crisp. This horrible treatment of poor defenseless food is mostly required to mask the bad quality of the ingredients. For being America's breadbasket, the Midwest sure has a crappy selection of quality food stuffs.

Laura: Yeah I have some relatives in Missouri and I can attest to the blandness of the food. How do the people there cope? I don't know, but I am entertained by watching them recoil in pain at the mere sight of mild salsa.

Mariah: The drive to Nebraska started well, with a quick trip to the Czech Stop for creamed cheese kolaches, but, it quickly deteriorated. There was a failed stop at a Luby's somewhere in North Texas where the fish almondine, normally a safe bet at Luby's, tasted and smelled like canned cat food. I even had a trippy experience in the bathroom where I was accosted by fanny pack bedecked Senior Citizens on a bus trip to God knows where.

Laura: I can't believe you drove to Nebraska. Oh yeah, and I get that a road side gas station that serves baked semi-ethnic goods (Well, you know Texas meets a distant European relative) is all novel and stuff, but as far as the actual kolaches go- I just don't get it. I'm sorry, but in my experience they are not that great. On the other hand, the Jerky Capitol of the World on 45 (halfway between Houston and Dallas) is awesome.

Mariah: Anyway, there was the vomit inducing excursion to an Applebee's in Witchita. I ordered half a BLT and an Asian chicken salad only to discover the BLT had no T's, was soaked in grease and the salad had visibly brown (rotting) lettuce. My mom, the usual Applebee's advocate, had the harrowing experience of having to send her undercooked chicken breast back, not once, but twice, and it still back pink in the middle (though charred to a crisp on the edges). Looking around that middle America Applebee's, I discovered exactly where the obesity epidemic is centered, the Midwest. The restaurant was overflowing with quadruple chins and people so large I doubt if they could move on their own. Between the smoke filled non-smoking section, the grease sodden sandwich, and the gelatinous Midwesterners happily slurping down their ill-tasting swill, I had a moment of sheer claustrophobia and had to retreat to the dirty bathroom.

Mariah: However, my dining experiences went from bad to worse. In Freemont, Nebraska, where my grandmother lives, my mom and I, sick from the crappy food we'd been subjected to, decided to treat ourselves to the best steak house in town. I mean, come on, its close to Omaha, the cattle capital of the Midwest, surely they'd have decent steak. Boy was I mistaken. My Jim Beam steak came out looking suspiciously similar to a smokers lung, the veggies on the veggie kabob were covered in a sickly sweet garlic butter sauce and were burned to an absolutely crisp, and my twice baked potato was covered in a hard crust of what I think was supposed to be cheese. To be honest, the best meal I had all weekend was at Starbucks.

Laura: Meanwhile, I had been hanging out next to the pool being fed amazing grilled Father's Day food by my good friend Jen of Austin Event Co and enjoying lazy brunches at Galaxy Cafe and planning get together dinners at Curra's. Yeah, life this past weekend was pretty good for me. Like I said, I needed the break.

Mariah: After my horrible experiences, you can hardly blame me for being thoroughly disgusted with the Midwest in general. As soon as I stepped off the plane in Austin, I called Laura and said "I need good food." So when she told me that she and her friends were going to Curra's, Bachelor #4 and I made a beeline from the airport straight to Oltorf.

Mariah: We surprisingly found a parking space right in front; usually parking is at a premium. My food luck was starting to improve. When we walked into the funky Austin interior, I felt immediate relief and knew I was home. The first bite I had of queso with veggie chorizo tasted like the best food I'd ever had in my entire life. The hibiscus margarita was heavenly. As I happily munched on chips and queso, my scarred taste buds started to recover and the food started tasting more normal. I realized the previously heavenly queso was of good quality, but was rather bland. The hibiscus margarita was slightly too sweet and light on alcohol.

Laura: Lach ordered the Santa Fe margarita, which was discouraging to him because it was pink and a tad bit emasculating, but he's secure enough in his manhood and the drink turned out delicious. Much better than the hibiscus margarita. The queso was typical Tex Mex, and of decent quality. Very reminiscent of the Trudy's variety. We got an appetizer of the Escabeche - pickled carrots, cauliflower, onions & jalapenos. It looked very appealing, but when I went in for a bite I was surprised. On top of being very vinegar-y, it was cold. I know this was on purpose, and not some sort of weird mistake from the kitchen, but it was still unappetizing. I coldn't bring myself to eat more than just the cauliflower bits. The rest of the concoction sat on the table untouched.

Mariah: By the time my meal arrived, migas smothered in queso, I felt like I had regained my food composure. Which was why i was so surprised that the taste, but more importantly the texture of their migas absolutely blew me away. The eggs were perfectly cooked, neither too wet nor too dry. They were perfectly laced with a spicey and flavorful pepper and onion (and whatever else Curra's uses to make the migas taste so yummy). The fried tortilla strips, usually soggy in most migas, were the perfect texture with a slightly yielding crispness. The previously bland queso made a perfect creamy complement to the spicy egg mixture. I believe Curra's is now the new par of migas perfection in Austin.

Mariah: Bachelor #4 ordered the dinner dish I normally get at Curra's, the Cochinita Pibil, a smokey anise flavored shredded pork dish wrapped in a banana leaf served with sweetened plantains. The Cochinita is served miga style, you wrap the various ingredients into a tortilla to eat. The quality and taste are amazing though. The shredded pork is cooked in thin somewhat sweet sauce that binds the pork shreds into an beautiful dark brown mass of goodness. The large green banana leaf (probably not the one it was cooked in) the pork is served on ads a nice color contrast that adds to the ultimate appeal of the dish. I haven't tried some of the more pedestrian Mexican dishes at Curra's, but if it sounds good on the menu, it will more than likely taste good too.

Laura: I originally wanted the veggie tacos as they came with nopalitos, avocado, mushrooms and veggie chorizo, but when Lach started pointing at the award winning veggie enchiladas containing grilled zuchinni, mushrooms, onion, squash & spinach and suggested to split it, I was easily pursuaded. I pick my battles in life and this was a battle where I figured I would be the winner either way. The dish arrived and we dug in. The zuchinni chunks were a little overcooked, but the rest of the enchiladas worked well (but I wouldn't say award winningly) together. Unfortunately, I was a little bit cheesed-out at this point by the queso dip so I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have. Next time I'll fight for the tacos.

Bottom Line: Funky Austin atmosphere, quality Interior Mexican, great migas

Mariah - 9

Laura - 8

Estancia Churrascaria

4954 Us-290 W

Sunset Valley, TX

(512) 892-1226

http://www.estanciachurrascaria.com/

Phew! I never knew one little post on an East Austin Mexican Restaurant could be so controversial. I want to thank all the people that posted comments on the review, yes even the not so nice ones. Laura and I really appreciate the feedback. We read all the comments and discuss them ad nausium like giddy schoolgirls talking about boys at a slumber party. This set was particularly interesting and eye opening for us. I sure made a mistake with my wording, and I appreciate you gentle readers for pointing it out. That being said, I think some of you were a little harsh and misconstrued the intent of the review. I want to personally thank commenter Murphy for sticking up for us. Murphy – In honor of your awesome comment, I’m raising the rating of Juan in a Million to a 10 (as you suggested) and calling it the Murphy Memorial Rating. Right on!

Now on to the real review..

When I lived in Fort Worth we had a biennial tradition of going to a Brazilian Steakhouse and gorging ourselves on meat - lots and lots of meat. We would usually rotate through the different Churrascarias available in DFW at the time, Fogo to Chao, Texas de Brazil, and Boi na Braza. We even developed a meat lingo to describe our meals. A trip to a Brazilian Steakhouse was called a meat orgy. After partaking of meat orgy, you’ll get meat bloat, that full feeling when you’ve had too much turkey at Thanksgiving. And the truly dedicated, the ones who’d eat through the meat bloat will experience meat sweats, a clammy feeling accompanied with the meat bloat. And there was even one time when Zach, an Atkins devotee at the time, ate through the meat sweats and experienced meat euphoria. After finishing 3 plates of meat he had this stupid grin on his face like the hottest girl in the room had walked up and flashed him.

But since moving back to Austin, I’ve found my friends here are a lot more health conscious and generally frown upon the meat orgy. That is everyone but my brother, the recently converted vegetarian. That boy can never get enough meat now that he eats it again. So when he suggested Estancia for a family dinner I readily agreed. He was going to be traveling to The Netherlands on business for a couple of weeks so my whole family collected together for a nice dinner to see him off. I even called my BFF Becky to join us. I’d been busy going out with random strange men (remember the week of dating?) and hadn’t seen either my family or Becky in over a week. I’m a bad, bad daughter and friend sometimes, disappearing into my single life for days on end, popping my head up from time to time to check in. But sometimes the call of male pheromones will lure me away from familial responsibilities into a deep, dark land of fun, flirting, and general debauchery.

So first of all let me tell you a little about Estancia and the whole Brazilian Steakhouse experience. Most Brazilian Steakhouses come in the small chain variety, Fogo de Chao and Texas de Brazil both have about a dozen locations (mostly in the south, fancy that), Estancia, however, is a homegrown non-chain Brazilian Steakhouse. Plus one point. It is rather unfortunately situated on the frontage road of Ben White (near Brodie) in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn Express – yes, you read that right – in a Holiday Inn Express. Despite its unfortunate location, it’s been wildly popular since opening its doors. I’ve been there a couple of times and it’s always been full, which isn’t surprising since it’s not all that big. There are a couple of dozen tables situated in close quarter around a huge salad bad. The inside is cleanly decorated and understated. White linens, dark wood chairs, no garish artwork, romantic low lighting, etc.

When you’re first seated, a hunky Latin waiter takes your drink order, and you hit the salad bar. All Brazilian Steakhouses have a huge, well stocked salad bar. Some are better than others. I find Texas de Brazil generally has the best salad bar, but Fogo de Chao and Estancia are close behind. . They all generally offer 3 or 4 different kinds of salad, heart of palms, artichokes, fresh mozzarella, marinated peppers and mushrooms, shaved parmesan, and all sorts of other delectable treats. Estancia’s salad bar is similarly furnished, perhaps slightly smaller than Fogo de Chao’s or Texas de Brazil, but all ingredients are extremely fresh and delectable. It’s really only the small details that distinguish one salad bar from the next. Texas de Brazil has FABULOUS Lobster bisque and I don’t think the others have soup. Fogo has smoked salmon, but Texas de Brazil has awesome salamis and even sushi. To be honest, sometimes when my friends go to Brazilian Steakhouses, I don’t feel like I can handle all that meat, so I’ll order just the salad bar (which at Fogo is $20, not sure about Estancia). But that’s only sometimes, most of the time I focus on the real star of the Brazilian Steakhouse, those delicious, soft, hot, cheese filled rolls. Say what you want about the meat, I go to meat orgies fully intending to eat my weight in cheese rolls. I probably have at least a dozen while I eat, seriously.

But that’s probably not why most of you will go to Estancia. You’ll go there to eat meat, and Estancia has plenty of that. 10 different kinds to be precise. The hunky, Latin waiter brings you a huge plate and a little card that’s red on one side and green on the other. In theory, when you want more meat, you flip the card to green and MORE hunky Latin men descend upon you bearing large skewers of meat. They come in a steady stream until you flip your card over to the red side, and then the hunky men stop coming. I always keep my card on green, I still want to see the hunky guy even if I turn down his offering of meat.

Most Brazilian Steakhouses offer a variety of meat options. Fogo de Chao and Texas de Brazil each have 15 different kinds of meat which Estancia only offers 10. I made sure to try all 10 of them.. strictly for the review.. of course.. I even stole the “meat brochure” so I could remember all 10 kinds. I’ll go in order, even. Picanha, the crowning jewel of most Brazilian Steakhouses, is probably my favorite at most Churrascarias, sirloin flavored with garlic and sea salt. I’ve never had bad Picanha at any of the Brazilian Steakhouses I’ve been to, I highly recommend it. Alcata – top sirloin – not memorable to Estancia, skip it. Fraldinha – a “juicy cut of bottom sirloin” as the brochure so nicely tells us and boy are they right. This is probably my second favorite cut at Estancia, and they do it better than all the other Steakhouses. Eat some. Costela – beef ribs – eh, these were ok, I eat a lot of BBQ ribs and these were ok, but not the best I’ve had. Filet Mignon – bacon wrapped no less – yum, try it if you still have room, but its not as good as Estancia’s Picanha or the Fraldinha. Cordiero – leg of lamb – ok so Estancia’s lamb isn’t as good as some of the other Brazilian Steakhouses. The lamb at Texas de Brazil is NOT to be missed, but here, I’d skip it. Lobo de Porco – parmesan pork. Again, the Lombo de Porco at Texas de Brazil is probably my personal favorite, here it’s good and worth eating, but not as nice as Texas de Brazil’s. Frango – bacon wrapped chicken legs – tasty but filler. Fogo de Chao’s chicken is better, but it’s a good palate cleanser between cuts of beef and who can turn down anything wrapped in bacon? Linguica – pork sausage – can’t match Fogo de Chao’s. Costela de Porco, ok so I was getting kind of full at this point and didn’t try these. I had another helping of Picanha and Fraldinha. Sue me.

The meat is generally accompanied by a 4 or 5 side items. Sweet marinated plantains, polenta squares, mashed potatoes, some other filler and more rolls. Most seasoned Churrascaristas (I just made that up BTW) will bypass the side items in favor of more meat, but I love plantains and eat as many as I can. Estancia’s side items are probably the weakest part of the meal. They’re an afterthought here. Texas de Brazil’s plantains are world class and Fogo’s mashed potatoes are drool worthy on their own. This is the one place Estancia could use some work. Onto dessert, if you still have room. I like the papaya cream, a light fruit pudding, usually offered at all the steakhouses. I mean it’s light and creamy, and you’ve already consumed about 10,000 calories on the meat, why not go all out and get dessert. They also have a fine selection of flan, cakes, cheesecakes, etc. Blah blah, I know you’re still drooling over the meat.

And here’s the best part about Estancia, it’s only $30 per person while Fogo de Chao and Texas de Brazil are each $50 per person. Sure you have slightly less selection, but do you really need those extra 5 meats when you already have 10 to choose from?

Bottom Line: Tasty meat, great salad bar, cheaper than Fogo

Estancia - 8.5

Juan in a Million

2300 E Cesar Chavez Street
Austin, TX 78702
(512) 472-3872

http://www.juaninamillion.com/

Being a single woman, I find myself out late some weekends consuming a little too much and having a little too much fun. When you wake up the next morning, slightly hung over, in last night’s eyeliner, smelling of stale alcohol and cigarettes, with a furry feeling in your mouth, all you can do is take a hot shower and have a big hearty breakfast. When I lived in Illinois, after a late night, we’d go for corned beef hash with a side of bacon and sausage. You can never have too much meat and salt on Sunday morning. But when I moved to Texas, I discovered a wonderful, and previously undiscovered gem that most of the rest of the country has never experienced, Mexican Breakfast (cue the angelic music). I’m not talking breakfast tacos, or crappy juevos rancheros, I’m talking migas, eggs smothered in queso, chiles, refried beans, pan fried potatoes.. Sorry.. I’m drooling just thinking about it.

I’ve popped around town eating Mexican Breakfast at various taquerrias or other Latin eating establishments, but since I’ve moved back, I’ve discovered and become a regular Sunday morning patron of Juan in a Million. Now, Juan’s is way out on the east side of town. So if you’re scared by the colorful neighborhoods, you might want to stick with other places closer to downtown, but for the adventurous, Juan is a diamond in the rough. There’s a small parking lot, but I usually park in the street. Don’t worry, its broad daylight, you’re precious Death Cab for Cutie CDs will be fine. The outside of the building isn’t much to speak of, in fact, the inside of the building isn’t much to speak of either. There’s an indoor dining area, a side dining area, a huge covered patio, and a third indoor dining area attached to the other side of the patio. In other words, there is a ton of seating, and every time I’ve been there, I’ve had to wait. This place is always packed. I usually opt for the patio if it looks like I can edge someone out of a table, but the inside’s not bad either.

Now onto the food. The migas are good. Typical fluffy eggs, tomatoes, onions and tortilla strips with some cheese. It comes with a side of decent beans and potatoes. Not the best I’ve ever had, but when you’re hung over, they taste FABULOUS. I’ve also had the "DON JUAN" - El Taco Grande. It’s a huuuuge breakfast taco with eggs, potatoes, cheese, and bacon wrapped in a perfectly toasted tortilla. When covered in sour cream and guacamole the Don Juan becomes a filling and tasty way to start off the day. One will do you, unless you’ve got a huge appetite, then I’d suggest 2. But what keeps me coming back to Juan, is the Con Queso Breakfast. To me, this is the quintessential Mexican breakfast. Two scrambled eggs covered in queso with a side of carne guisada (don’t tell me what’s in it, I don’t want to know), and the same decent beans and potatoes. I don’t know what it is about the Con Queso breakfast that continues to lure me in. The queso, carne guisada, beans, and potatoes all taken separately are all decent but nothing special. Combined together, their harmonic frequencies of goodness combine together to make one super powered, hang-over curing breakfast that is hard to pass up.

Laura's note: I agree, a great Mexican Breakfast. Definitely a hangover cure for someone who doesn't have much planned for the rest of the day - you will be so full and heavy you won't feel like moving very much after the experience. The margaritas are ok, not spectacular. The location is not nearly as bad as Mariah made it out to be. Oh yeah, and they've expanded in the past couple of years and have a patio. But still, on Saturday and Sunday early afternoons you might be waiting quite a while with a load of UT students and Austinites who also participated in general weekend debauchery and are in "the know." If you aren't into waiting in lines or debauchery, try them out on a weeknight. They do casual lunch/dinner as well as breakfast. Laura - 8.5

Bottom Line: Awesome Mexican Breakfast

Mariah - 10 (In honor of Murphy - You rock!)

The Oasis

6550 Comanche Trl

Austin, TX

(512) 266-2442

http://www.oasis-austin.com/

So my crazy week of dating continued on Sunday with Bachelor #4. After the late night with Bachelor #3 the previous evening and the late night with Bachelors #1 and #2 before, I was psyched to sleep in on Sunday and recover. I was glad when Bachelor #4 suggested a quiet afternoon.. at a kids birthday party! Apparently his co-worker's kid was turning 3 and they were having a BBQ. And being the food whore that I am, I will always readily agree to eat someone else's tasty homemade BBQ. We made our way up to the ends of the Earth or Cedar Park, who's mayor I happen to work with (remind me never to move to Cedar Park). You know when the tollway ends, you've reached parts unknown. I swear I saw a dragon somewhere around Avery Ranch Rd.

All through college and even into my mid-twenties I was very ambivalent to children. I liked them alright, but I wasn't sure if having offspring was the right path for me. I figured I would get to it later. Well now later has arrived, and surprising, when I turned 28, something crazy in my brain (or my ovaries) switched on. My biological clock started not just ticking, but screaming at me. So the party was nice but there were noisy kids everywhere. It reminded me again why I don't have any little rugrats yet. I am at least temporary inoculated from the crazy hormones my womanly parts and spewing into my body.

We made our excuses after eating the yummy BBQ chicken and headed back to our original destination the Oasis. Since I live at the south end of 620 and the party was at the north end of 620, we figured we'd take the opportunity to see the sunset at The Oasis. Now I don't know if you've ever been to the Oasis or if you've been in the past 2 years, but its TOTALLY different. They've expanded about 2,000% into a totally new building. The new Oasis is like a catacomb of staircases, landings, patios, and crazy bronze statues. And it is Spectacular. Perched atop Lake Travis, The Oasis probably has the best view in the State of Texas. Seriously. The network of patios allow you the perfect vantage point to watch the shimmering water and the sunset over the Hill Country. I can't express to you in words how amazing the location of the restaurant is.

The food, however, is another issue. The food is awful. Practically inedible. I've had overcooked, undercooked, and just plain tasteless food there. The menu consists mainly of staple Tex-Mex bar food. Nachos, burgers, enchiladas, fajitas, that sort of thing. I chose to have my birthday dinner there, mostly to enjoy the view and I was thoroughly unimpressed. But, man, that view was spectacular. It makes you forget how awful the food is. What the Oasis does do well, however, are margaritas. They make a pretty tasty Cazadores margarita. Totally drinkable while you sit on the patio and watch the sunset.

Bachelor #4 and I happened to go on Sunday. We opted not to eat as we'd both had the food and decided we weren't THAT hungry. So we went up to the bar on the top floor. The bar isn't just any old bar, its an entire dance floor, seating, a huge stage, and a large patio section. The band was playing great salsa music and people were dancing away. Made me wish I had remembered my salsa lessons from when I was bored in Fort Worth. We sat by the huge glass windows overlooking the lake and watched the sunset while drinking margaritas, and listening to the peppy salsa music. That's the way the Oasis should be enjoyed.

Bottom Line: Crappy food, INCREDIBLE atmosphere, and the margaritas rock

Mariah: 8.5 (A 5 for food and a 12 for atmosphere so lets split the difference)

Sampaio's

4800 Burnet
Austin, Tx 78756

512-469-9988

http://www.sampaiosrestaurant.com/

Mariah: So on Tuesday nights Laura and I usually head someplace for dinner and girl time. It’s become sort of a semi-regular ritual and last night was no exception. We decided to meet up at 8:00 so that we wouldn’t have to deal with the caucus voting yahoos filling the road. We e-mailed back and forth all afternoon trying to figure out which establishment to bless with our hot selves. We threw around Jeffries and Casa de Luz but neither of us felt really strongly about any one location. I looked at my handy dandy event calendar to figure out if there was anything fun going on around town, and being a typical Tuesday night, there wasn’t a whole lot. We eventually decided to get a pizza and watch Moulin Rouge at Rounders. But somewhere between that decision and 8:00, Elena decided to come eat with us. Since she is leaving for Italy on Friday, Laura had just gotten back from her crazy Colorado ski trip, and I’d had a rockin weekend I made an executive decision to nix Rounders movie night in favor of someplace we could more easily converse. But where? I picked up Laura and we headed to the Triangle to get Elena and the whole time we were going back and forth. “Where do you want to eat” “I dunno, where do you want to eat?” “I asked you first” and other childishness ensued. By the time we got Elena, we had decided against sushi, Mexican, or Indian. So where do we go? We had almost decided on Thai food when a bright idea popped into Laura’s head “Why don’t we try that Brazilian place Sampaio’s?” Genius.

Laura: Mariah and I would have been doing our patriotic duty of caucusing too except somehow my registration slipped through the cracks (I smell a conspiracy) and Mariah had just plain forgotten to re-register with her new Austin address. Oh well, Brazilian food it is.

When we arrived, I realized Sampaio was right next to Blue Star Cafeteria, another establishment I’ve been dying to try. We surveyed them both before making our final decision.

Mariah: When we took a peak into the Sampaio window to see if it was worthy of our moola, Elena basically lit up, making the choice obvious. It was very nice and upscale on the inside. Hard wood floors, exposed brick walls, a giant, fluted, blue tiled pillar in the center of the room (something reminiscent of a shape I’d have to find the volume of in calculus 101). And the smell emanating from within was amazing. Smoke, meat, spice, oh my. We quickly took a seat in a corner booth and hunkered down.

Laura: They sat us beneath a severely out of place painting of the Jesus and the Virgin Mary. We became quite confused at what kind of décor they were really going for- trendy colored tile lounge or da Vinci Code-esque goth? Thinking this hard made me want a drink.

Mariah: Our waiter in training showed up quickly enough and Laura ordered some egg drink (ew). I ordered some tasty tasty cheese bread for the table and Elena decided to try something new and got the Mandioca Griddles (yucca cakes). The cheese bread was out lightening fast and the yacca cakes followed a few minutes later. The cheese bread was tasty, but not the soft cheesy, doughy balls I used to get at Texas de Brazil and Fogo de Chao. These cheese balls were a little crustier on the outside but were still good to eat.

Laura: It’s called a Pisco Sour you uncultured woman. ;) The bread tasted just like those Thanksgiving day rolls all us southerners know and love- if they were injected mid-baking with cheese.

Mariah: The yucca cakes were a bit more interesting. They arrived looking like little chicken parmesan hockey pucks. They were golden deep fried yucca cakes covered in a thin tomato sauce and topped with a thick sheet of white cheese. They looked damn tasty so I dug in and took a big bite. Boy, that was a mistake. The intense spice of the dish literally exploded in my mouth. As I drank my whole glass of water in a crazed frenzy (the waiter in training being on hand to pour me another) Elena pointed out that the spicy part was the tomato sauce. We all scraped the sauce off the top of our cakes and dug in again (that sounds kind of dirty). Sans super spicy sauce, the yucca cakes were pretty good. The normally fibrous, thick texture of the yucca was a nice creamy texture in the cakes. But at its heart it was still yucca and was pretty bland. I went back to eating cheese bread.

Laura: LOL, actually I ate my tomato sauce and the tomato sauce you scraped off of yours. I thought it was tasty. Yes, a little on the spicy side, but it really complemented the yucca cakes. Without it, I could see how the cakes would taste bland. And remember, I was craving pizza earlier.

Mariah: We chit chatted and girl talked, trying to get each other up to date on our lives (I mean a whole week without talking, so much can happen in a week!). I told them about my awesome, ass kicking weekend: the State Radio show (totally rockin, go see them) on Friday night and drinking at the Gingerman on Saturday night. Elena told us about her boyfriend’s crazy stressful life right now. Poor guy’s been working killer hours and having to deal with a family tragedy too (oh he lives in Italy if you didn’t know). Plus, she’s been totally stressed trying to get all her PhD projects. And Laura told us all about her ski trip to Colorado (I know, she sounds so high-brow).

Laura: Elena and I also ordered a glass of wine each. They were out of Elena’s first choice, but happily recommended something similar to her that she seemed to accept. I thought the wine list was ok. I ended up with a glass of Pinot Noir. They had separate gluten free and vegetarian menus. There were several really satisfying vegetarian choices, including a rice dish with collard green and fried egg. The collard greens sounded appealing, but the fried egg business just reminded me too much of my trip to Switzerland where the vegetarian choice was always Rosti with a fried egg on top. Spend a week eating nothing but potato, egg and cheese and you’ll know what I’m talking about. Just thinking about it made me want a salad. Plus, I already had egg in my drink. So I took a look at the salads and decided to order the Salada de Maca, romaine hearts and baby greens topped with a Burgundy basted apple, stuffed with goat cheese, raisins and pecans and served with a mustard seed dressing. Sounds yummy, doesn’t it?

Mariah: While we chatted, the food arrived. It smelled amazing. Elena and I had both gotten the Xinxim de Galinha con Camarao. Who could pass that up? White fluffy rice and rich green collard greens covered with chicken and shrimp in a coconut cream sauce. It was quite tasty. It reminded me of a Caribbean dish I make from time to time. But that dish involves the liberal usage of dark rum that is flambed. This sauce didn’t taste like that had done that. And while it was a great sauce, it could have used more dimension. They could have used rum or gone truly Brazilian and added strained dried shrimp broth to the sauce. But overall it was very satisfying and I would definitely eat it again.

Laura: I don’t know what I was expecting out of the mustard seed dressing, but I found it to be a little disappointing. The flavor was really powerful and it made my salad feel kind-of dry. Also, there was an ENTIRE cored apple just sitting in the middle of my plate. I cut it up to make it much more manageable. The rest of the salad was very pleasing- the romaine, baby greens, goat cheese pecans and raisins worked well together. Now, I usually don’t like raisins, but these were the cute plumpy golden kind, not the dried chewy brown bits you used to get in your lunchbox as a kid. And they didn’t overpower the salad. In fact, you would hardly notice them if you weren’t paying attention.

Mariah: We decided that since were eating well we might as well go all the way and order dessert. We opted to split the Guava Bread Pudding between the 3 of us. I’m sure glad we did that, the bread pudding slab they brought us was huge. It had a nice flavor cinnamon and nutmeg, infused with bits of dried guava. But the texture was far too gummy for my tastes. Now I know some people like their bread pudding to be a sticky hunk of fused bread pieces, but I prefer my bread pudding to still resemble the bread that made it and to be a lighter texture (if any bread pudding can be called “lighter”).

Laura: I don’t usually like bread pudding at all, I was actually mildly disgusted when you guys suggested it, but I figured I’d give it a try. It was actually ok. Plus we were talking about touchy subjects (the stress of being a grad student followed by exboyfriends and car vandalism followed by healthcare in America) so we all needed the sugar to calm us down.

Overall, the meal was very tasty and the environment was nice. The staff was friendly and attentive. It’s not my favorite Austin establishment but I would definitely take a friend there or recommend it to an Austin visitor with confidence.

Bottom Line: Great but not extraordinary Brazilian - but what other South American options do you have in Austin (that’s not the Fogo de Chao meat orgy)?

Mariah: 8

Laura: 8.5

Juarez Mexican Bakery

1701 S Mays St Ste P
Round Rock, TX 78664
(512) 255-6262

In response to a request for more variety in our reviews, I decided to include my lunchtime experience today. My coworkers were going to Juarez Mexican Bakery. I weighed my options in a flash of an instant, envisioning a small guacamole and tortillas, and decided to tag along. Hell, I’d even offer to drive. It was my turn after all and a little bit of socializing would be good for me.

Mexican bakeries bring back memories of my hometown. There was a little Mexican bakery in the corner of a convenience store just down the street from my high school. We piled everyone into my 1986 Dodge Ram Charger with the gun rack and pop up roof to sneak away at lunchtime or during class. Arriving at the store, we promptly piled out and headed to the back of the store, passing bottles of soda and snacks written in Spanish. We would each order our individual burritos for about $1.50 each, occasionally adding a pastry for fifty cents or so, and take our grease soaked bags outside to the picnic tables to join our other socially deviant classmates.

Perhaps this nostalgia holds Juarez to an unachievable standard. Or maybe my past experiences lead me to expect my Mexican bakeries to contain a different level of divey-ness - just a little more grime (although I did google Juarez and note that on their last inspection they received 10 demerits.) Regardless, I always seem to find the establishment mildly disappointing.

While Juarez is not in the back of a convenience store, it is in a strip mall. In fact it is in that same stripmall that the horrific Gino’s resides in. When you enter there are rows of desserts and various pastries surrounding a counter where two cash registers are positioned. Some of the pastries looked really tasty and there were cakes that I would really have liked to try. Fortunately to my waist line, I just don’t have a big sweet tooth.

A sign on the register says no credit cards on bills less than $5. Shoot! I forgot my cash back in the office. Oh well, I’ll just have to get more than a small order of guacamole to snack on.

In the past, I’ve spoken to the staff at Juarez and they have been accommodating to my no-meat eating requirements. I usually go for off-menu vegetarian tacos with guacamole, rice, and beans. I’ve been promised that the beans do not contain animal lard, but my intestines this afternoon would argue against that. Depending on who is working the cash register, the price on this item varies.

After you order, you move to the left to pick up average corn chips and decent salsa and fill your drink.

The interior of the bakery is average for what you would expect. Not particularly nice, but clean and suitable. A flatscreen tv rests on the wall and was showing CNN on mute with closed captioning for those actually paying attention.

The food came out fairly quickly. My veggie tacos were filled with mushrooms, onions, guacamole, bell peppers and cheese. There were lettuce and tomatoes, refried beans and Spanish rice. All very tasty, but nothing special.

Mike across from me ordered the carne guisada and said it was really good. To me it looked like my mom’s beef tips in gravy. (No offense, Ma!) All the other dishes at the table looked generically cheesy.

Overall: Average Tex-Mex food for average prices in a strip mall in Round Rock. Bakery products look promising.

Laura - 5