Louisiana Longhorn Cafe

200B East Main Street

Round Rock, TX 78664

512-248-2900

http://www.louisianalonghorncafe.com/

Hey, fellow foodies. It's been a while since the last time I've had a chance to post a review for Mariah and Laura. What can I say? I have no excuse save the same one that any of us have: I've been totally slammed. It's been so hard to find time to go out and find time to write. However, sometimes motivation just falls into our lap, and we have a story that is so good it would be a shame to not share.

Let me paint the picture. Last Wednesday, I was finishing up a trip to the grocery store getting ingredients for what I envisioned to be an amazing pork chop dish with a citrus pecan sauce, roasted potatoes, and pureed carrots. Just as the last of the groceries enters my trunk, the trusty cell phone rings. It's my girlfriend, Michelle, calling to ask me if I had taken the big screen TV into get serviced. She sounded rather confused. She got home to discover that the TV was gone, but there was a strange chihuahua running around the house. To quote her directly, "I'm serious. I would not make this up to f*ck with you."

I immediately raced home to discover that someone had broken into the house. The TV really was gone. A strange chihuahua really was running around inside the house. I can't even begin to describe the sense of confusion this brought about. Well, to make a long story short, by the time the police showed up and I verified what was stolen, cooking dinner was the very last thing on my mind. So, off to get dinner.

We went to the Louisiana Longhorn Cafe. This is a restaurant that Mariah and I have been talking about reviewing for months now, but have never gotten around to it. So, in looking for that sometimes hard to find silver lining, I am proud to say that being the victim of burglary, I am able to finally write this review.

Walking into the place, we were greeted with a warm Austiny feel. The decor is laid back and mismatched with lots of tribute to our beloved Longhorns via a Bevo-esque gator head mounted to the wall above our table. You gotta love that warm Austiny feel. It's enough to settle two victims of theft and a ravenous 6 year old.

Now, with Austin with us, it meant an order of Fried Pickles for an app. I can't say that these pickles are anything above and beyond the typical fair you'd get at other restaurants or the state fair, but they certainly filled the role nicely. They are served very crispy with a light battering and with a side of very cold ranch dressing.

Michelle had the fish tacos. They looked very good. The fish looked nice and flaky with very decently sized fried fillets that didn't obnoxiously over fill each taco. The tacos also came with an order of the house red beans and rice. I'll save discussion about the authenticity of red beans and rice for another time, but these were definitely well above average and quite flavorful.

It had been a while since I had any of the gumbos that Louisiana Longhorn offers, and I couldn't remember how good they were. So, I ordered a small cup of the seafood gumbo to remind myself. I'm glad I did. The soup was made with a very nice, dark roux that permeated each bite. Most impressive, though, is how much seafood the restaurant managed to stuff into the bowl and easily maintain that it was a soup.

As for the entree, I went with Pirogue. Imagine a toasted hoagie roll filled to the brim with fried oysters and covered in etouffeee sauce. It's definitely not a sandwich that you're going to be able to tackle without fork and knife. Oysters were lightly fried and maintained the crunch of the breading even underneath a rich etouffee sauce that hinted at spice. This also came with a side of that sausage filled Red Beans and Rice.

I have to admit that the kids menu isn't very unique or original. It looks like a collection of stuff that was easily pulled together by buying in bulk, but they had one. I can also add that it did feel quite appropriate for the little ones. Austin ordered the cheeseburger off that menu and ate it well.

While I hope that no one here suffers from a break in as well, I can assure you that if anyone comes home to find that electronic devices have mysteriously morphed into chihuahuas, that disconcerting feeling you experience can be settled with some good company and the food at Louisiana Longhorn Cafe. It worked for me, anyhow.

Bottom Line: Austin-like atmosphere in Round Rock with a good combination of Cajun, Creole, and Southern food.

Lee - 9

Laura's note: Fried food is fried food, and as custom dictates, at the end of your fried appetizers you'll have a nice little puddle of leftover grease. It's important to note that they do not have vegetarian options on the menu. In fact, I doubt they know what a vegetable is unless it's overcooked and/or served covered in bacon. The salads are really pitiful. I understand if you are craving some cajun food this place might do it for you and that you can probably get a decent po-boy or etouffee. But really Lee, a 9? I question your judgment. I generously give it a 5.

Mariah's note: When I dated that dude that lived way up in Jerrell, we used to eat here as "middle ground." While it's not the best Cajun food I've ever had, it's the best I've had in Austin. The decor is fun and its on a street thats nice to stroll up and down after dinner. My experiences there haven't been mind blowing, but its a good decent place to have some fried shrimp and gumbo. I'd give it an 8.5 but since they don't have any vegetarian options, I'd knock it down to a 8. Recommended if your in the area and hankering for some mudbugs.

Pizzaria Corvina

3107 S IH 35 Suite 840
Round Rock, TX 78664
(512) 310 - 2625
http://www.pizzeriacorvina.com/

One of the great things about being a single dad is that, from time to time, I get pretty tired and the last thing I want to do is cook, and I find myself with a good number of reasons to go out for dinner. Just yesterday, I had such a day. I had started a new contract with Hewlett Packard, and at the end of my second day on the job, I found myself emerging from an 8 hour meeting. Oh, the humanity!!! 8 hours! It wasn't hard to see that I wasn't cooking after I got Austin and went home, and I started to think of where to go for dinner after getting Austin. I didn't want to drive very far, and Round Rock is pretty slim pickings for decent places to eat. Fortunately, I remembered my friend Evelyn telling me about Pizzaria Corvina, and we were off! After all, it isn't terribly hard to convince a 6 year old to have pizza for dinner.

After Googling the address and arriving at Pizzaria Corvina, my heart sunk a little for the business. It seemed like it had violated all three rules of "location, location, location". It's tucked up in the Round Rock Crossing shopping center right near the Williamson-Travis County line. Now, the shopping center has a Target and a Best Buy in it and gets a good amount of traffic. However, the pizzaria is in a building right in a dead man's zone between those two stores. I also know of two places in that particular location that had already gone out of business.

Austin and I got inside to find a small and cozy pizzaria. Even though the place was pretty much packed, we had no problems finding a table and were seated immediately. I immediately noticed one of the effects of violating the rule of location. The place has a wicked western exposure, and getting there at about 7 PM on a summer evening put the sun square in my eyes as I sat at the table. That was easy enough to handle thanks to the very thick and heavy blinds, but the late afternoon sun was affecting the temperature in the restaurant, too. It wasn't hot and balmy, but I wouldn't have guessed that it was 72 degrees, either.

The decor looked pretty nice, though. It was a very clean design with a modern feel to it. The ceilings were nice and high---perfect for the guys behind the counter hand tossing pizza dough a good 10 feet into the air.

While we were waiting for drinks and I perused the menu, Austin gave me the night's topic of conversation. He said to me out of the blue, "Daddy, I wish kids could take over the world." With that, I got to hear Austin's vision of childhood domination. Wow. That would make for an interesting world. Apparently, all of the kids could get any toy they wanted and there would be no bed time. He wouldn't ever have to eat liver. The kids wouldn't drive anywhere either, since they weren't allowed to. He doesn't know what would happen to his teachers since he couldn't remember, and other grown ups would just sit around.

Austin wasn't feeling it for appetizers. So, I just ordered something for myself...which worked out just fine for me. The menu for appetizers and tapas just looked amazing and creative. I ordered the Hot Cherry Pepper Shooters so that I could take advantage of Austin passing on the first course and I could have something particularly spicy. By the way, this also gave him more time to tell me about how he wouldn't be president if kids conquered the world---he would just be something scary on Halloween. Back to the appetizer. It wasn't quite what I was expecting. Whenever I hear the word "shooter", I expect something liquidy and soupy...probably served in a shot glass. Not in this case. I was served small portions of mozzeralla cheese wrapped in prosciutto. Then, the whole thing was stuffed into a cherry pepper and fired in the oven. It was very tasty, and I liked it alot. However, it wasn't quite what I expected when I saw it on the menu.

It wasn't too long into hearing about childhood visions of global rule before the pizzas showed up. The pizza was everything that the menu described the coal firing of the pizza to be. There was a nice, light char to it. The dough was very light inside the crust while the outside maintained a very delicate crispness. It immediately got me to thinking of how I could get an 800 degree oven at my house so that I could make stuff like that. The combination of topping the pizzeria offered impressed me, too. My pizza, for instance, was covered in prosciutto, arugula, and truffle oil. It was totally awesome. Then, I looked over at Austin tackling his pizza covered in pepperoni and pineapple. He was totally tearing through it. The restaurant gets the kid vote.

Let me digress...just a little. For those of you who have read my previous reviews, you'll notice that I've mentioned a kids menu quite a few times. It's almost like a chip on my shoulder. Now, the restaurant did not have a kids menu....and I'm not going to ding them for it. For, as much as I think that there's no excuse for a pizza restaurant to not have a menu for ankle biters, Pizzeria Corvina has at least addressed the issue. The pasta and other dishes on the menu are available in smaller, child sized portions for a discount. Unfortunately, that did not extend to the pizza menu, though.

On to dessert. Mariah will love that they serve S'Mores fired in their coal burning ovens. I can't say that the coal firing really did anything for the flavor of the S'Mores or for the texture, but is a S'More ever bad? Austin and I tore our way through a plate of them. We also had an order of the Bananamisu. It was a great dessert, billed on the menu as banana pudding meets tiramisu. In my heart, I felt that something else could have been done to the dessert, but I couldn't figure out what. So, I brushed that thought aside and completely enjoyed the bananamisu for all that it was: flavorful!!

Overall, I'd have to say that the service was pretty good. Our waitress seemed a little uncomfortable in her duties, but I'll just chalk that up to inexperience in a new restaurant. I'm sure that she'll gain a comfort level as the place matures. On the way out, I got a chance to speak with the one of the owners of Pizzeria Corvina. She was a very charming lady and quite conversational. I learned from her that she and her husband also own 219 West downtown, too.

Bottom line: Despite a few minor challenges in location, a much needed combination of class and cuisine in Round Rock.

Lee - 9
Austin - "140,000 more than yours, Daddy"

Pflugerville / Round Rock Vegetarian Roundup

It finally happened. The recession hit home. And by that, I mean I was laid off from my job. But no fear, I feel fairly positive about the change. First of all, I was sick and tired of driving to Round Rock everyday. Secondly, it just gives me more time to do the things I want to do for a while like blog, hang out at Barton Springs, plan vacations, read and think about exactly what it is I want to be when I grow up. I mean really, when was the last time I could make it to a noon yoga class? I can see you've stopped feeling sorry for me now. ;)

As a farewell to my daily adventures in Round Rock, I've decided to do a roundup of all of the restaurants I frequented but never got around to writing about because I was too busy, you know, working.

Firebowl Cafe

http://www.firebowlcafe.com/

150 Sundance Pkwy # 300

Round Rock, TX 78681

(512) 248-2695

A chain restaurant with some healthy options. As a vegetarian I was a fan of the stir fry. You pick your protein (chicken, beef, tofu, shrimp or scallops) Then you choose a vegetable mix, a sauce, and your type of noodle (ramen lomein, flat chow fun, vermicelli or rice sticks) or rice (white brown or fried).

Kung Pao Tofu and Spring Veggie Mix on Brown Rice

All vegetarian items are clearly marked on the menu. The atmosphere is nice, teetering the line between hip and casual with bright red and blue interiors marked by track lighting.

Maggie of Maggie's Austin is also a fan and has posted about it here.

Pho Hoang
http://www.pho-hoang.com/
399 W Louis Henna Blvd Suite 450
Round Rock, Texas 78728
(512) 238-8008

This place wins the "Most Annoying Website" award. Regardless, it is really a Round Rock staple. Pho is served piping hot and fast. Pho Hoang is always packed between 11:30 and 1, so get there at the beginning or the tail end of the rush if you don't want to wait for a table. If you don't mind waiting, I promise it won't be long. There aren't many vegetarian options but there are a few. I would order either the vermicelli noodles with tofu and julianne vegetables or vegetable fried rice. The vermicelli nooodles threw me off the first time I ordered them because the julienne vegetable were seriously cold. Apparently that is intentional. Once I got over this the first time, I never saw it as a problem. My coworker Drew would always finish off a meal here with an ice coffee concoction that contained condensed milk. I tried it once and it was super fierce. The buzz I got from the caffeine was punctuated by the sugar rush.


Rosie's Pho Asian Noodle
2400 S IH 35
Round Rock, TX
(512) 828-3838

It took me a while to discover Rosie's Pho. Mostly because I already had a pho shop that served pho I couldn't eat (meat stock used) and I figured this place would be the same. A coworker convinced me to give it a try and found it actually to be completely awesome. I was impressed by the extensive menu with many vegetarian choices and the quality of vegetables. The portions are large, so watch out, but at $7-$10 a meal, it really is a steal. The delivery of the food can be a little slow, but it is worth it.

Taste of Ethiopia Restaurant and Cafe
http://www.tasteofethiopiaaustin.com/
1466 Grand Avenue Pky
Pflugerville, Texas
(512) 251-4053

I found this place one day after a quick trip to AutoZone. I figured that I could snake my way back to I35 using a side road and on the way this place caught my eye. I forced my coworkers Joel and Brandi to accompany me there one afternoon and I was not sorry. Not only was the food delicious, but it was fun to watch Ethiopian food virgins struggle with the concept of Injera and eating with their hands. There is a lunchtime vegetarian buffet but patrons are also welcome to order from the menu. The owner, Woinee is from Ethiopia via Washington DC and she really knows her food. Just be careful if you are in a hurry at lunchtime, this meal could take a while. Woinee likes to chat with her customers and has some pretty interesting stories to tell. Also, do not turn down the gratis coffee at the end of the meal. It is absolutely amazing and strong. Boots in the Oven posted about Taste of Ethiopia here.

Grapevine Market
/www.grapevinemarket.com
2400 South IH-35
Suite 160
Round Rock, TX 78681

Have a need to pick up some wine / liquor / gourmet specialty items? Grapevine Market has a really nice cafe in the back that is open for lunch. The last time I was there I had a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich with grapes for $4. They do mostly pizza, sandwiches and salads there and have a pretty good vegetarian selection. There's a patio outside that's nice for good weather, but you mainly just have a view of the parking lot. The hardest thing about this place is convincing coworkers that it is OK to go to a liquor store during their lunchbreak.

Gumbo's
http://www.gumbosroundrock.com
901 Round Rock Ave
Round Rock, TX
(512) 671-7925

mmmmm... Gumbo's. When someone else was paying the choice of restaurant defaulted either to North at the Domain or Gumbo's on 620, depending on time constraints. I can't say that there were a lot of vegetarian options at Gumbo's but they will gladly make you a very nice vegetable pasta and the salads are pretty rockstar.

Zorba Greek Restaurant
2601 S IH 35
Round Rock, TX
(512) 716-0100

There is one thing I find really confusing about this place. Is it a chain? Or is Zorba's just an extremely common name for Greek Restaurants? I snapped this picture while I was in Amsterdam, and I swear it has the same color sceme and graphics of the one in Round Rock.

Anyway, for about $8 you can get a vegetarian plate. You pick a soup or salad and then four sides. I usually ended up with lentil soup, hummus, spanokopita, eggplant and falafel patty. It turns out to be a whole lot of food. If you aren't that hungry, you can have a falafel with pita, lettuce, etc for $5 or $6. It is also nice to note that the place is BYOB. Cork fee is $3 for the first bottle and $1 for each bottle after that.


That's all I have for now. Of course there are those establishments that have already been written about here. Did I miss your favorite? Let me know in the comments!

Galaxy Cupcakes

1501 Park Lane #105
Georgetown, Texas 78628
512-868-0996

http://www.galaxycupcakes.com/index.html

Hi. My name is Lee....and... I'm addicted to cupcakes. There. I said it. Seeing Laura's post about SugarMama's really opened my eyes. Rather that nonchalantly realize that I'm all the way up in Round Rock and I wouldn't be able to fight rush hour traffic to make it to to SugarMama's in time for the free cupcakes, I began to plot. Which coworkers live in South Austin? Which South Austin coworkers owe me a favor? Which South Austin coworker could I bribe into stopping there in exchange for a future favor? That's when it really hit me. I'm addicted. It might be a mild addiction, but still an addiction nonetheless.

It all started innocently enough. About three weeks ago, I was at work and got a little hungry. It was after lunch and I still had a ways to go before the end of the day. I needed a snack, and the office kitchen was out of good stuff. So, perhaps something could be delivered. Tiff's Treats? Nah. They're good...they're awesome, in fact...but I wasn't feeling "cookie" right then. So, I got hit with the inspiration for cupcakes. I Googled. Oh, I Googled my heart out and for quite a while and was pretty disappointed. I found a few cupcake delivery services, but none to my area (I mean come on, I live in Round Rock, who REALLY wants to go there, no one)...until I hit on the link for Galaxy Cupcakes. Ooooh. Gourmet Cupcakes...in Georgetown? I was intrigued. The plotting began. Yes, they delivered, but required a day's notice.

I left the office early that day, picked up Austin, my son, and bravely fought the traffic - I was going to get my cupcakes. Well, Galaxy wasn't the easiest place to find. It's kind of tucked away in an old and small strip center in North Georgetown, but Austin and I had made it. The shop is quaint, with only a modest selection of cupcakes on display. I chose the Chai Tea Latte cupcake and Austin immediately insisted on the Strawberry. They were excellent!

While Austin and I sat there eating, I got a chance to talk to the owner. She was such a sweetheart. She explained that she chose the out of the way location because of rental costs. To go downtown, she'd have to charge $6 for a cupcake, and that wasn't happening. She also enlightened me to all of the various cupcake places around town. (Austin and I ordered 2 more cupcakes...Bailey's and Cream for me; White Chocolate Cherry for Austin). Through the discussion with the owner, I realized that she really put alot of thought into the business...researched her competition before she got started. I liked her take on what she wanted Galaxy to be...a place with unique cakes that will stick out in the mind of a foodie. I can't say that I disagreed with her. Before Austin and I left, I ordered a chocolate one for Austin and tried the red velvet cupcake for myself.

Here's how Galaxy Cupcakes works. Every day, they offer 5 standard flavors. These are for the most part your typical garden variety cupcakes, albeit done very well. Then, each day they are opened (Tuesday through Saturday), they offer 2 specialty cupcakes such as the Chai Tea Latte on Thursdays or the Jack and Coke cupcake on Saturday. They also offer up a specialty cupcake of the month, which for February was the White Chocolate Cherry.

Again, they are tucked up pretty well in Georgetown, but they do deliver. I think the owner told me that delivery to the Round Rock area is $5 with a minimum order of a dozen. Only $5, for hand delivered cupcakes? I'll be utilizing this service in the future. But to be honest, I like making the drive up there. I've even calculated precisely the logistics of getting cupcakes during my lunch hour(..what.. I AM an addict remember).

Now, for Laura and my fellow Round Rock foodies and cupcake aficionados, here is what I've managed to come up with. From 35 and Louis Henna (near Dell), it takes about 10 or 11 minutes to get to Georgetown. Double that for a round trip. You still have 40ish minutes left on your lunch hour. Near Galaxy cupcakes, there is a Whataburger, Mickey D's, slightly below average BBQ place, and an above average Greek food place. Now, it didn't occur to me to check out the vegetarian menu at the Greek place, Laura, but I'd imagine they have something that fits your tastes. Anyhow, if you can keep lunch to 30 minutes or so, that leaves 10 minutes for a stop at Galaxy, and tasty cupcakes can be enjoyed in the office during the afternoon. I have verified this outing as completely viable during a lunch hour...three times....in three weeks.

Barring a 12 step program for cupcake addiction, I have and will certainly be back to Galaxy numerous times as I continue to sample and re-sample cupcakes around town.

Lee - 8.5 (9.5 if you take location out of the equation)
Austin - 150000 million

Mangia Chicago Stuffed Pizza

1700 E. Palm Valley #300
Round Rock, TX 78664
(512) 238 - 6300

3016 Guadalupe Suite 100
Austin, TX 78705
(512) 302 - 5200
Other locations, too.

http://www.mangiapizza.com/

Maybe I'm a nerd; maybe I'm a forward thinking visionary. I don't know which, but I embrace technology. In the information age that we exist in today, it's full of things that will help make our lives easier and better. Take communicating with friends and such. I can keep in contact with those closest to me with quick emails, IM conversations, text messages, and phone calls. It's great..whether the person is across town or across the country, I feel like we're still involved in each other's lives. However, as much of a technogeek as I am, I realize that it still can't replace that awesome face to face interaction. So, I love it when I get a chance to hang out with Mariah for dinner so that we can catch up on all of the personal nuances we can't quite convey in an IM chat. Plus, we get to write about the experience as well.

So, last week sometime, Mariah and I opted for dinner at Mangia's. I jumped at the suggestion since it's my most favorite pizza place in town. Now, before anyone jumps out with hard set protests about pizza places that are near and dear to their hearts, do note that I said it's my favorite. I made no mention about quality and taste, although I do think Mangia's runs high in those regards. It's probably my favorite because it's super kid-friendly and my son loves it. However, my son used to drive me CRAZY with his interesting kid-like way of eating pizza. Instead of eating it front to back (or even back to front) like everyone else, he would start at the top, with the cheese and toppings, and work his way down, even licking the sauce of the crust before discarding the hollow shell of the crust. Now, I don't know if it's the addition of the extra crust in Mangia's stuffed crust pizza, but ever since he had their stuffed pizza pie, my kiddo has started to eat pizza the way that I've always dreamed he would...front to back. I'm sure other parent-type foodies will appreciate how such an event can cause a very fond place in your heart despite just how silly it is.

Anyhow, Austin and I met Mariah at the Mangia's down on Guadelupe finding no issues with parking or locating our beloved M. We were promptly seated and a quick order for appetizers was placed. I talked Mariah into joining us in an order of the Basil-Cheese Torta. That thing is just awesome. I mean, come on...basil, cheese, pine nuts, and sundried tomatoes all in one dish? That's like some of the best stuff in the world in a single recipe...the only thing that wasn't listed was love. M made a comment about it being too salty, but I disagree. I could taste the saltiness, too, but think that it really drew out the flavor of the sun dried tomatoes quite well.

Mariah: No I made the comment after watching your child attempt to put more salt on something that I thought was already salty enough. That child REALLY likes salt! No the torta was great. It even came out in a bundt ring of congealed goodness. Not the healthiest thing on the planet, but it sure tastes good.

The service time between app and entree was very well timed, too. Didn't feel like I was left hanging after finishing the app, nor rushed and crowded with the pizza being thrust at us. Plus, it provided plenty of time for us to do that catch-up I was mentioning. I got to hear about all of the cool stuff happening to Mariah lately and upcoming plans and such. I talked about work, Austin (my child, not city), and even told Mariah some more of the fall out since Miss Stunning decided she wasn't worthy of that title.

Mariah really perked up when I mentioned Miss Stunning. Well, not when I mentioned her, but when I talked about the stuff that happening after her departure. I went to a psychic. I know, I know. I saw Mariah roll her eyes when I mentioned it too. But, it did began a good long conversation about just how fun it was to have a reading, and that the results pretty much matched the expectations...getting a chance to talk to a complete stranger about the happenings in my life. What emerged were not so much predictions of the future (emanating from the mysterious nether as my psychic assured me), but rather with food for thought about my life and what had recently transpired.

Mariah: Yeah I admit it, I totally rolled my eyes when he mentioned it. I mean, come on, he went to a psychic! But then he explained how, being Vietnamese, its kind of a custom to get a reading at Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, in the hopes of glimpsing what the coming year holds for you. In the context of tradition, I guess one little visit to a psychic for entertainment purposes can't be so bad.

The pizza arrived and lived up to my expectations. We ordered two wheat crust pizzas...one was a single topping cheese pizza. The other was a stuffed crust pizza with pineapple and Canadian bacon. I really to like the wheat crust at Mangia's. The crust is rather gluten-y, which makes for a stronger crust that is able to hold up to the amount of cheese and good stuff that Mangias packs into their stuffed pizzas. Yet, the crust still manages to maintain a flakiness that you'd find in a lot of other crusts that immediately soak through from sauce.

Mariah: Growing up in Chicago, I'm used to a pretty high standard of "Chicago style" deep dish pizza. And while Mangia's is fresh and generally good quality, it doesn't hold a candle to the pizza I grew up on. For those of you that might not know, Chicago style deep dish, is a thick bready pizza covered first in cheese then toppings and then finally covered with sauce. Its kind of an inside out pizza. And while Mangia's is fresher and probably far healthier than the versions of my childhood, their deep dish just doesn't have the same disgusting clog-your-arteries, rib-sticking goodness of other Chicago Deep Dish style pizzas. But I guess if you want that, you should go to Chicago. If you want good, less greasy fare that's MUCH closer to home, than Mangia's is the way to go.

Somewhere along the way, Austin was even able to show Mariah exactly how smart he is. I pulled out the homework journal, and my little Kindergartner began to dazzle us with his artistic ability drawing rhinos and writing a little story about it. Hmmm. Austin didn't get a chance to demonstrate his new found ability to read to M, though. Guess we'll have to save that for next time.

So, dinner was ended with a quick trip to Amy's Ice Cream down the road and a drive up and down Guadelupe while M and I listened to a CD recording of my visit to the mysterious psychic. Good times.

Mariah: Yes, he is being totally honest. The psychic recorded their session! I had to listen to it. I wanted to know what a psychic reading was like. I was burning with other worldly curiosity. And I have to tell you, when I listened to it, I was severely underwhelmed. He did a "reading" of Lee, which basically was him guessing things about Lee's past and personality. And lets be honest, anyone who's half way astute can do that. Such gems as "You had trouble reconciling what your father taught you" or "You were a loving child" or my favorite "You've had a hard time finding romantic acceptance". Christ, everyone has those issues! The one thing I thought was funny was this psychic was POSITIVE that Lee has a gluten allergy. He said "stick to rice and corn." Well Lee isn't allergic to gluten, he's allergic to rice and corn. Ha! Take that psychic. I could only stomach about 20 minutes of it, and that was because I was eating some fine fine Bailey's flavored Amy's Ice Cream. But the whole situation left a bitter taste in my mouth.

As always, I'd like to thank the ladies for yet another chance to contribute to this awesome blog.

Mariah - 8
Lee - 8
Austin - 140,000 million thousand

Fish City Grill

Brodie Oaks Shopping Center

4200 South Lamar Suite 300

Austin, Texas 78704
512-442-FISH

Hill Country Galleria

13500 Galleria Circle Suite C-120

Bee Caves, Texas 78738

512-263-0400

The Triangle

4616 Triangle Ave. Suite 200

Austin, TX 78751

512-494-6323

Wolf Ranch Shopping Center

1019 W. University Ave. Suite 1025

Georgetown, Texas 78628

512-864-7400

http://www.fishcitygrill.com/

Well fellow foodies, I feel like I've let you down again. Its been several long weeks since my last review and I apologize. I've been so busy, reaclimating myself to life state side, working on school, recovering from love gained then lost, the list goes on and on. But that's no excuse. I resolved myself a few days ago to sit down and write a review, but I was at a loss as to what restaurant to review! I hate to say it, but I haven't been eating out as much lately!

As a consequence of the sucky economy, everyone's been tightening their belts. Laura and I love traveling almost as much as we love food. And in order to keep paying exorbitant airline prices, we have to cut back a little. For us here at Dining in Austin Blog, that means eating out less. We said goodbye to the twice a week $40 food binges at Sampaio's or Wink and hello to some of the cheaper establishments around town. Just the other night my girlfriend Becky and I opted to eat at the new Austin Trailer Park & Eatery on SoFi near Pulvo's. Right now, the only two trailers are Torchy's and Shuggie's, but there are whispers of empanada and cup cake trailers set to open in the now vacant spots. And you know I love Torchy's Democrat taco. It's probably the best taco on the planet (yes even with the hated cilantro), but we've already reviewed it. Damn, back to the drawing board. And last week I went out several times with a nice gentleman, but we went to Uncorked and Primizie.. Ok nothing to review there.

So in order to provide you with an exceptional review of the caliber you've come to expect here, I'm going to pull a name out of a hat. I'm going to review a restaurant that I frequent with my family but haven't had the opportunity to review yet. I thought of it in a flash of brilliance last night when I was imbibing a Sierra Nevada at the Saucer. I looked down the row of neat eateries at the Triangle, and my eyes lit upon Fish City Grill. Of course! Now, I try to only review places that I've eaten at recently. That way, my opinions and impressions are fresh in my head. But I've had so many decent experiences at Fish City Grill, that I feel like, even though I haven't eaten there in a month or so, I can still provide you that exceptional review you're expecting.

There are now 3 Fish City Grills throughout Austin: one at Brodie Oaks, one at the new Galleria, and one at the Triangle. Its one of those small Regional chains a la PF Changs and In and Out Burger that have gotten so popular of late. And to be honest, I've been eating there since the first Austin location opened at Brodie Oaks. My mother, a lifetime midwesterner, LOVES fish. She loves fish, shrimp, clams, (cooked) oysters, any kind of frutti di mare. When I was a small child, before I become an unabashed food snob, I have vivid memories of family celebrations at the local suburban Red Lobster. Yes, I know, Red Lobster.. I see you foodies cringing. But you have to understand, I grew up in Northern Illinois. You try finding a decent fish-ateria in a sea of McDonalds and Pizza Huts. It's impossible. So, we would happily don our plastic lobster bibs and dig into the sub-par fish that only the finest in chain restaurants can provide.

But now we're all more sophisticated - even my midwestern family. I've lured them away from Appleby's and IHOPs and into the places where there aren't pictures on the menu. My mom, actually, discovered the original Austin Fish City Grill not a month after it opened. Her fish-sensitive nose sniffed out the delicate aroma of grilled Thai spice salmon and blackened mahi mahi. And we've been eating there ever since. I now know that if I want to have a nice dinner with my mother, all I have to utter are the words "Fish City Grill" and she's there.

Fish City Grill at first seems rather unobtrusive. The decor is simple and rather generic. Even the facade has nothing special about it. At first blush you'd say, eh, another shitty chain. And if you delve into their normal menu, I'd say you're right. They're normal menu contains all the obligatory seafood favorites you'd expect: crab cakes, calamari, all manor of deep fried seafood, clam chowder, etc etc. Rather uninspired. But I'm going to let you in on the secret of Fish City Grill - don't order from the menu. Don't open it, don't touch it, don't even look at it.

As soon as you're seated, look for the large chalk board attached to the wall and order off that. Now I can't tell you exactly what's going to be on it, it changes every time I go. But, there will be a nice selection of a half dozen seafood dishes to choose from. They usually range anywhere from sauteed cod in french herbs to spicy salmon with peach salsa. But each one will be good. That's the beauty of Fish City Grill, they serve whats fresh, and they serve it simply. Now I usually only eat fish at the higher end restaurants around town; I've had my fair share of bad seafood experiences. Fish City's dishes aren't not going to be fussy over-thought fish you might get at those higher end fusion restaurant, but it will be simple and delicious and will satiate that craving you've had for roughy.

Each dish on the specials board comes with some kind of grilled, sauteed, or broiled fish and 2 sides. And this is where fish city starts to lose points, the sides. You can chose from fries, veggies drenched in butter, hush puppies, new potatoes, rice pilaf, slaw, or sauteed spinach. It seems like a good selection, but if you eat here as often as I do, you'll discover there are really only 3 sides worth eating: the veggies, hush puppies, and rice pilaf. So while I love the variety and variation they offer in their fish, I am always less than satisfied with the sides that go with it. I'd love to have a salad, some broccoli rice casserole, creamed corn, spinach casserole, something other than.. rice pilaf, sauteed veggies or hush puppies. If they offered just one or two daily special sides along with their fish, I'd be happy.

But the biggest downfall of Fish City Grill is their glaring lack of quality bread. When I eat at a fish joint, I want warm, crusty-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside, home baked rolls. I want a tender baguette with a pad of half melted butter on top. I want garlic biscuits. I want good bread!! But instead, at Fish City, I get uninspired, dry, and downright crappy thinly sliced french baguette. It sucks. But, really, when bread is my biggest complaint, how bad can it really be? Not bad at all.

Their desserts range from key lime pie to bread pudding and are all good, but rather average. The key lime pie is pretty good, but I can cook one that's just as good at home. And the bread pudding is warm and gooey, but not anything spectacular. Save the calories unless you're just dieing for something sweet.

All in all, I love eating at Fish City Grill. Its an old stand-by that I pull out of my hat from time to time when I want some good quality fish in a casual, family-friendly atmosphere.

Bottom Line: Shiver me timbers and walk the plank for some awesome fish!

Mariah - 8.5

Twin Peaks

701 E. Stassney Lane
Austin, Texas 78745
512-383-9699

100 Louis Henna Boulevard
Round Rock, Texas 78664
Phone: 512-238-7325

http://www.twinpeaksrestaurant.com/

Have you ever been cursed before? I mean really and truly cursed? I'm talking the kind of metaphysical malediction originating from the occult...all packed with bad ju-ju. I'm talking about being the target of a mal-aligned spiritual energy, the likes of which you only see on afternoon documentaries on the Discovery channel. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I've been cursed. I just know it. I don't know how it came about. I must have slapped a gypsy or cut off a witch doctor in traffic a couple of weeks ago, but something strange and supernatural has been happening to me. (For any gypsies or witch doctors reading this, I mean no offense here. So, no need to retaliate against me....one damnation at a time is plenty, thank you.) What's really bothersome, though, is that I think it might have been someone I know because the effects of this spell have been so personal---hitting me right where it counts...in my dining experience.

Let me back up a couple of steps. A couple of weeks ago, Mariah and Laura gave me an opportunity to guest blog about a somewhat bad dining experience I had at Ms. B's here in Austin. Little did I know that was just the beginning of things. Since then, eating out about 4 times a week, I have had nothing but incredibly bad service at restaurants here in town. Trust me, if there has been a bartender, waitress, hostess, manager, table busser, or cook who was a trainee, having an off day, or was just dumped by her boyfriend; you can bet your butt that person was going to somehow be involved with my dining experience. The effects have ranged from small to large. From being double charged for entrees to given the wrong order to having my order lost altogether. I've seen it all lately. Hell, on two occasions, I've even had the hostess give away my table to another party AFTER seating my son and myself. There was one humorous occasion where I had ordered a salad. I was served the wrong one and kindly asked my waitress to correct the order. She brought me back the same salad plate with the correct salad order simply layered over the wrong one. If that isn't the sign of some weird restaurant-based jinx, I don't know what is.

Well, the curse reared it's ugly head again last night. My kiddo and I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie with my buddy Bo. (Great movie, by the way). It was about dinner time after the flick, so we decided to go grab something to eat. Bo deferred the selection to me given my foodie status. So, after carefully accounting for the tastes of who was going, the time, and location, I chose Twin Peaks in Round Rock. I'd like to say that I just made a bad choice, but with this jinx hanging over me, I just can't be sure...

Austin and I get to this restaurant before Bo and are seated immediately. Let's cover the restaurant itself first. It's very much a Hooters-esque type of estabishment. Lots of gorgeous (and not so gorgeous) waitresses in short shorts and plaid tops tied just below the bustline. I'm not typically one to notice someone's shoes, but they were all wearing furry bootlike shoes...I guess to compliment the restaurant's mountaineer type lumberjack theme. Since I had arrived before Bo, I had a few minutes to check out other qualities of the restaurant. The music selection played over the speaker system was decent...mostly 80's top 40 type stuff, but it was almost uncomfortably loud. They've also got free wireless there, too.

Well, enough about that. Onto the curse. My waitress stopped by to take drink orders for Austin and myself. I simply order a Coke for him and a Dr. Pepper for myself. Minutes later, she brings back Austin's soda and says, "I'm sorry. I don't remember what you ordered." I know. I know. With the curse going on, I should have taken this as a sign to leave. But, for some reason, I thought that was as bad as it was going to get. Nope. Time to order food. I asked for the Kid's Nachos for Austin and the Sirloin Chili Nachos for myself. 5 minutes later, the waitress brings Austin's order and says, "I'm sorry. I don't remember what you ordered." OMG!!!! Are you kidding me?!?!? It was at this point that Bo showed up to discover a smiling Austin eating away and me with my face buried in my palms.

My next request was a new waitress to whom I explained the situation of the curse and told her how I had ordered a kids nacho for a Sirloin Chili Nacho. This young lady was quite nice and very eager to help right any wrongs. But, alas. She was just another mere mortal doing battle with an unseen and unimaginable force. The poor girl never even knew what happened.

The menu listed two types of soup, which Bo ordered one of each...a bowl of each. He ordered the Sirloin Chili and the Corn Chowder. Our new waitress brought him 2 different soups of the wrong size. Great. The spell is no longer just affecting me, but it's decided to badger my dining companions as well. On the bright side, Bo said the Corn Chowder was great. His preference is for a thicker soup and he didn't find the soup too watery for his tastes. The Sirloin Chili on the other hand, had great flavor he said, but he was really expecting large chunks of sirloin, not something with more the texture of ground beef. Still, he gave it a thumbs up.

I did eventually get what I wanted, but I couldn't eat too much of it. It wasn't that the food was bad. I had just loaded myself up on a second order of the kids meal (that showed up unannounced somewhere along the course of the meal) and I was pretty full by then.

Mariah and Laura, I'm sorry ladies, but I am not going to give this restaurant a rating at this time. I couldn't in good conscience rate this place while I'm still fairly convinced that the service I experienced was due to an unexplained cult phenomenon. I will say that the food (that I got to experience) was of a decent caliber for this type of restaurant. I will also add that I'll be going back once this hex has been broken. In the meantime, I'll be stockpiling lucky rabbit's feet, avoiding black cats and walking under ladders like the plague, and might even consider weaving myself a necklace out of wolfsbane and garlic. I don't plan to let any mirrors within a football field's length of my person; will keep an eye out for any pennies heads up; and if I have anything to say about it, the upcoming Friday the 13th will find me curled in a fetal position in my bathtub covered with blankets rather than venturing out for food and drink.

Bottom line: Never eat out when there's some strange curse affecting you. It's just bad mojo.

Lee - ??

OK, as I mentioned in my latest comment below, I feel that my curse is finally over. I still don't know what caused it or how I ended it, but I'm not going to question it. I feel that I can finally venture forth in Austin again to enjoy the great food and restaurants that our wonderful city has to offer. Of course, it doesn't mean that I'm still not going to be wary. I plan to be on the best of terms with any supernatural entity I should meet from here on out. Now, I have been back to the Twin Peaks in Round Rock since the spell got lifted, and I'm able to give a rating. I rate it with a 4.5. Mediocre service and food. Thanks to my anonymous friend from the comments, though, I've decided that in order to give this place a really objective opinion, I'll have to hit the South Austin location sooner or later....

Cafe Java

11900 Metric Blvd # K
Austin, TX 78758
(512) 339-7677

2051 Gattis School Rd # 120
Round Rock, TX 78664
(512) 238-0700

http://www.cafejava.info/

My good friends Leslie and Joel are getting married in July. After picking out the awesome bridesmaids dresses on Monday night, Leslie was about to head up to Pflugerville to pick up her invitations from her friend Sarah of the stationary company, Icing on the Paper. Seeing an opportunity to be a super bridesmaid, I volunteered to save her a trip and pick them up for her, as I would be heading up north the next day anyway.

I arranged to meet Kyle, Sarah’s husband on our lunch breaks. I let him pick the place and he chose Café Java. I had never been there before, so he gave me directions and told me it was in the Randall’s parking lot.

I pulled into a rock star parking spot in the front row and made my way inside. There were a good number of tables and they were about at 75% capacity. This was a good sign.

I found Kyle and sat in the booth next to him across from a corporate couple (i.e. husband and wife team from the same company) Kyle works with. They were very friendly and after the initial introductions and business dealings with Kyle, they began to extol the virtues of Café Java. As Wells Branch area residents, they were regulars. The wife was very excited to announce that the café serves breakfast all day long. This definitely scores big with me. Sometimes you just want breakfast at 2 in the afternoon… perhaps this is because you didn’t get up until 2 in the afternoon, but hey it happens.

I looked over the menu and was pleased by the amount of options included on it. I was even more pleased when I noticed that there were options for those with vegetarian diets. They had lots of different coffees, usual breakfast fare with pancakes, omelettes, migas, huevos rancheros and various meats with eggs, hashbrowns and toast. Oh, and also Corn Beef Hash (Mariah I know you appreciate that). The meals included burgers and sandwiches, soups and salads and tacos.

I debated between a grilled garden melt (like a patty melt with a garden burger), a veggie sandwich (white swiss-american cheese, sprouts, tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms, onions, cucumbers and ranch dressing on grilled whole grain bread) or the avocado grilled cheese. I’m a sucker for grilled cheese, but I’m even more of a sucker for avocado. In the end I ordered the veggie sandwich because I had my eye on the vegetable of the day as my side item. The vegetable of the day was spinach casserole, and I suspected that was going to be heavy with cream/and or cheese and I wanted to balance my meal out with the lighter sandwich option.

Kyle ordered a cheeseburger and was extremely disappointed when the waitress said they didn’t have fries (not just that day, but ever) and he settled for chips. The wife ordered the 1x1x1, which is one egg, one pancake, and one serving of bacon. The husband went with the chicken cheddar melt- a chicken breast smothered in cheddar cheese with lettuce and tomatoes on grilled hoagie.

I listened as the table discussed life in the suburbs (which highways are best to live next to, etc etc) and the wife pointed out that the café was very Austin. I stopped to think about this and look around the room. Yes, there were vegetarian options, yes there was local art, and it had a mildly funky feel to it. You wouldn’t confuse this place with IHOP or Denny’s. But the décor seemed very vanilla when compared to Magnolia or a few other places I’ve been. Granted, I hadn’t tried the food yet but it seemed more like a normal cute coffee shop/café to me. I’ve been to equally charming cafes in San Antonio, Houston, DFW, Tucson, Seattle.. and well yeah. Just about every major city. I think she could tell that I was thinking too hard so she threw in that the other location (the one on Metric near ACC campus) was more funky and that this was Round Rock afterall, and that the Round Rock answer to the Keep Austin Weird slogan was “Keep Round Rock Mildly Unusual.”

The food arrived and I was disappointed to find that the spinach casserole was littered with pieces of bacon. The waitress was very nice and offered me another side item choice. I went with potato salad (which by the way had egg in it for any of you vegans out there.) My sandwich was pleasing. The bread was grilled as promised and tasty, and not soaked in olive oil like the sandwiches at Caffe Panini. The vegetables were fresh and the cheese and ranch dressing brought just enough smoothness to the sandwich. The potato salad was pleasant as well, but not the spinach casserole I had been pining for.

The breakfast plate and cheeseburger looked a little bleak, but the chicken cheddar melt looked amazing - the colors from the vegetables were appetizing and the cheese melted across the chunks of chicken and bread oozed of tasty comfort. Kyle complained that the food was too healthy, but I have to argue with that. I think he was just jaded from the absence of French fries and that you can go unhealthy there if you wish.

We finished our meals and paid at the counter where I got a chance to examine all of the pastries. They looked delicious, but so did the rest of the dessert menu and sadly I was too full.

The cashier was a little bit weird and went into a rant on how she thought drinking water without ice was nasty. I thought that was odd commentary on my ordering habits. (I order it that way because I chipped my front teeth as a kid and despite having them fixed, I now have very cold sensitive teeth.)

I was asked by my dining partners if I enjoyed my lunch. I responded that I did and that after seeing the chicken cheddar melt, I will definitely try the garden patty melt for sure next time.

And yes, there will be a next time. It’s nice to have a place like this in far north Austin.

Update: So I went back and ordered the soup and sandwich - not the garden patty melt as I had promised. I chose the grilled cheese and avocado sandwich and the tomato basil soup. The grilled cheese was not what i expected. Instead of a super cheesey flattened sandwich like your mom used to make, it turned out to be just a sandwich on toasted bread. But, I must say, it was good, and much healthier for me. In addition to two slices of cheese and half of an avocado, it had sprouts and tomato. When combined with the soup, it was just the perfect amount of lunch. The only thing that bothered me was that the waitress came by to snatch my plate away while I still had my mouth full. When I told her no she couldn't have it, she gave me an odd expression and looked at my empty plate. At that point I had to mutter through a full mouth that I was on my last bite. Maybe it's just me, but I need the sense of security of the plate until the end. Also, I tend to save the best bite for the last, and sadly i had to swallow it up really quick so that I could defend my plate. There's something odd (and not Keep Austin Weird weird) about their waitstaff...

Bottom Line: A charming café that doesn’t rock the boat in north Austin with a good range of options and all day breakfast.

Laura - 7.5

Brooklyn Pie Co.

2711 La Frontera Blvd. Ste. 330
Round Rock, TX 78681
512-255-1414

8127 Mesa Dr.
Suite B-202
Austin, TX 78759
512-346-1414

http://www.brooklynpie.com/

My friend Natalia recently moved to Brooklyn. I asked her how the pizza was and the response I got went like this:

“Actually, I live above a Mediterranean cafe (good hummus and falafel) that has a delicious lamb pizza. The cafe also makes the apartment smell of garlic at times, when we open the window and they happen to be cooking outside in the back. But hey, that's how it goes.”

So yeah, you know where else you can get lamb on your pizza? Brooklyn Pie Company.

They make a really awesome pie. The crust is thin but not cracker crispy and if you order by the slice, the slices are huge! Like an entire 4th of an 18 inch pizza. The cheese they use is yummy, but if you don’t like mozzarella, you have 7 other cheeses to choose from, including goat cheese, le gruyere and Gorgonzola. You also have a whole lot of toppings to select from. The topping selection ranges from the normal pepperoni, sausage, extra cheese, mushrooms, onions, black olives blah blah blah boring Pizza Hut toppings, to the really interesting stuff like fresh minced garlic, portabella, broccoli, zucchini, bean sprout, artichoke hearts, chorizo, and baby clams.

My favorite topping is spinach. I think the green on top of the cheese and bread tricks my brain into thinking what I’m eating is healthy and makes me not feel guilty. Anyway, the spinach is fresh. The only wilting is what’s caused by the natural heat of the pizza. Trust me, it really works. Although one time I actually got asked by another customer why I had lettuce on my pizza. What can I say? Round Rock- not exactly the culinary or cultural epicenter of the universe.

They also have good salads (including Caprese and Greek) and desserts (think Baklava) and really decent prices. A slice of pizza and a drink will run you about $6.

The staff is cool. They are always nice, and I think that the size of the establishment probably has something to do with this. It’s tiny… exactly like I imagine a pizza place in Brooklyn to be, well you know except that it’s in a small strip. And I say imagine because I’ve never been to Brooklyn.

There are high tables and stools if you want to eat in. Or you can sit on the picnic benches outside if you prefer. People often get pizzas to go or for delivery too if that’s your thing. And if you go alone, they stock Austin Chronicle, so you can plan your weekend out over your lunch break.

Overall: Really good pizza for super decent price. Try the spinach.

Laura ~ 9

Caffé Panini

Caffé Panini
1105 S Mays Street
Round Rock, TX 78664

http://www.caffepaninitx.com/

My coworkers were all headed to Whataburger, so my work friend Joel (not to be confused with Joel of Kenobi fame or Galaxy Café Joel) suggested we head to Caffé Panini instead. Caffé Panini is a sandwich shop in Round Rock that insists on spelling café with two f’s. I was grateful to try a new place, so I quickly agreed. We made the short drive from our cube farm down to Mays Street in Round Rock and found ourselves parking in a small ugly strip.

We walked into the restaurant, and I was pleasantly surprised by the stylish and up-to-date non frou-frou interior. There were couches at the front of the shop and rows of tables that lined the square simple space all the way to an ordering counter in the back. A look at the website promises patio seating in the future, but I think in the future I might prefer avoiding the strip mall atmosphere by sitting indoors.

The lunch and dinner menu is small. It contains 9 appetizing paninis, a few specialty coffees, Italian sodas, (iced tea and regular sodas of course), pastries, white chocolate bread pudding and brownies. For breakfast you get the option of an egg poblano panini or a sausage kolache. All lunch and dinner sandwiches are served with either pasta or bistro chips. The soup of the day was Broccoli Cheese.

I chose the Veggie Panini. It contained portabella, artichoke, sun dried tomatoes, sweet balsamic onions and swiss cheese. I decided on chips instead of pasta since the pasta was littered with pepperoni bits. Joel had the Trio (Turkey, ham, bacon, tomato, provolone with dijon mayo) and he went all out with the pasta.

The staff was friendly and cute. The food was quick and a girl walked around asking if everyone was alright. This was hilarious to me because every request Joel made was rejected, but yet the girl felt it seem necessary to help us in some way.

Cute Staff Member: Is everything OK today? Could I get you anything else?
Joel: Well, I could use some Tabasco sauce.
Cute Staff Member: I’m sorry we don’t have any Tabasco sauce but I think we might have some Louisiana Hot Sauce.
Joel: OK, sure, that’s fine.
Cute Staff Member leaves and returns 2 minutes later: I’m sorry we don’t have any Louisiana Hot Sauce, but perhaps I could get you some banana peppers.
Joel: OK, sure, that’s fine.
Cute Staff Member leaves and returns 2 minutes later: I’m sorry we don’t have any banana peppers, but perhaps I could refill your drink?

And so on and so forth.

My sandwich was tasty, but please do not be fooled by the word “veggie.” It was in no way healthy. The bread was soaked in oil (exactly what was making it taste so damn good) and the vegetables were smothered in cheese. The artichoke and sundried tomatoes were very tangy, and immediately dominated my taste buds. The bread became the necessary taste bud escape. The chips were plain old chips and can only be described as salty and crispy.

We tried not to talk too much about work as we finished our sandwiches. Joel seemed to like his sandwich, but I didn’t see him touch the pasta.

Overall: A decent sandwich shop in Round Rock that doesn’t look suburban on the inside and has a really friendly staff. A lot better than Schlotzsky’s, but with a much smaller menu.

Laura ~ 7 (It was a 7.5 but I rethought the menu size)

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

Beluga Japanese Restaurant

http://www.belugasushi.net/

661 Louis Henna Blvd # 300

Round Rock, TX 78664

(512) 255-6454

There are a few lunch places that I tend to visit over and over again. Beluga Sushi on Louis Henna is one of them, but I hadn’t been there in a while. One reason is because none of their lunch specials are vegetarian, so I end up ordering a la carte items and that can get pricey. I usually get some combination of veggie roll, vegetable tempura, edamame, seaweed salad or age doshu (tempura tofu). I have to admit that while their veggie roll is good, it’s not spectacular and an entire plate of vegetable tempura is just too much fried friedness for one meal. Despite this and the fact that I just went to a sushi restaurant on Saturday, I decided to visit Beluga again today.

Beluga is in the HEB shopping center just west of A.W. Grimes on Louis Henna (45 tollway). It’s not much on the outside, but the inside is nicely done. It’s a swanky spot that offers stylish music, sleek decor and staff members with cool haircuts. It’s really got the cool edgy factor going for it since there’s not much competition for this approach in Round Rock.

Today I decided to sit at the bar since I was all alone and it was just a little too windy for their small make-shift patio. There usually aren’t many people at the bar but today some of the Dell crowd was there flirting with the bartender.

Blair, the bartender, brought me water and a menu. The menu looked new, so I began to scan it for previously unavailable items I could eat. Turns out Blair was a pescatarian so she understood my plight and was more than happy to help me find something really delicious. She recommended an off-menu item of Tofu steak in a Bento box. Something new- this was exciting!

I took her up on the offer and she brought me some miso soup as a starter. The miso soup was good but very typical. It contained small chunks of tofu and strips of seaweed. I slurped it down and soon my Bento box arrived.

Wow was I surprised at the amount of food: a California roll (minus the crab), a salad, vegetable tempura (broccoli, carrot, Eggplant, sweet potato, and shiitake mushroom), fresh orange slices and the elusive tofu steak topping a heap of white rice and sautéed vegetables. Then there where sauces: ginger soy for the tempura and a fantastic savory chili sauce for the tofu steak with just the right amount of spice. The tofu steak was perfectly flaky and the sautéed vegetables were a nice touch. The salad provided the perfect amount of green freshness the meal needed. The vegetable tempura was delicious except for the shitake mushrooms were tough on the ends. The roll was typical, but satisfactory.

The super friendly bartender offered me a box and I gladly took her up on the offer. She boxed up the leftovers (even the chili sauce!) and brought me my check- a mere $11.50, and although this is more than I like to spend daily on lunch, it was completely worth it for the variety and quality of food I consumed.

My faith in Beluga has been restored. Now, I wouldn't want to make a special trip up to Round Rock for it, but I’ll be happy to meet you there after work for their awesome happy hour specials- Anyone up for $2 Saketinis on Tuesdays?

Note: July 21, 2008.

Well, I returned for lunch today, and let me just say the waitstaff was a lot less accomodating this time. Apparently the super sweet bartender in the past was a super sweet fluke. My waiter refused to do any substitutions this time siting restaurant policy. For me as a non fish eater, the restaurant is far too expensive for lunch time. It's still lovely if you partake in raw fish, but not being a fish eater I will not return until they make a few additions to their menu. I have amended the bottom line.

Bottom Line: Decent Japanese food in swank decor. Not vegetarian friendly. Can get pricey if you order a la carte but they have decent priced fish happy hour and lunch specials.

Laura - 8 if you eat fish, 4 if you don't.

Chola

2601 S IH 35 B400
Round Rock TX 78664
512 - 244 - 2222


Hey. Laura reviewing from Round Rock again.

Lately I’ve been having a severe craving for Indian food. I’ve been day dreaming at work about tikka masala for days now. I even planned to satisfy my craving yesterday at lunch, until I realized the reason I couldn’t find my keys was because I had taken my car to the shop to get the oil changed and I had to jump on whatever lunch bandwagon my coworkers were on. But today. Today was the day I was going to make it happen.

I didn’t want to go far. I didn’t have the energy or patience for driving and dealing with traffic, and there was an Indian restaurant close by that I had not tried yet. I’d been there once before, but turned away when I realized it was a buffet. I always get the raw deal at buffets. I don’t eat that much in a single session. Plus, I’ve been scarred for life from those 4 months I worked as a cashier at Golden Corral as a teenager. I would stand at my station, pretending to rearrange cups and to-go plates, watching the post church crowd graze like cattle. They were bent over to examine the slop, swaying back and forth as they traversed the troughs. The thought of it still makes me shutter. But I had been convinced to try the buffet once at Madras Pavillion on 183 near Burnet and was fairly pleased with that, so Chola deserved a chance too, right?

I walked in, a lone diner with a book and asked how much the buffet was. I was told $8.99 and was seated immediately. I asked to see a menu, just to make sure I wouldn’t rather order a meal. The menu prices for meals were mostly $7.99 to $9.99, so I figured this might be worth the buffet to try lots of different things. I sucked up my buffet prejudice and hit the troughs.

Now keep in mind that I’m a Westerner reviewing an Indian food restaurant. I’ve never been to India. I’m not sure what makes Indian food authentic, but I do know what tastes good.

The selection was really wonderful for vegetarian eating. 2/3rds of the buffet contained vegetarian items and the meat dishes (chicken, lamb, goat, etc) were grouped neatly together at the end.

Two different soups were offered, a brothy soup with chunks of tomato and a spicy and flavorful soup with lentils and onions. The latter was definitely the more exciting of the two. It was very flavorful and on the edge of my spice comfort level. Both soups were tasty, but neither rocked my world.

Oh well, on to the rest. The onion pakora was really good in a comfort food sort of way. But, as Mariah and I have discussed, everything tastes great fried. The buffet also contained Saag Paneer- spinach and cottage cheese blended with cream. It warranted seconds. As did the Aloo Gobhi curry- potatoes and cauliflower cooked w/ onions and tomatoes. There were curried beans that were mediocre. And a fabulous mushroom dish with an amazing creamy sauce. Dare I say it tasted like it was cooked in wine? That can’t be right. I have to find out that secret ingredient.

The basmati rice was just perfect.

For dessert, the rice pudding was amazing with the fresh fruit. I braved a steamed cream cheese patty (Rasmalai). It could be my uncultured taste buds, but I’ll pass on it next time.

The waitstaff was friendly, one even kindly came by to tell me that there was yogurt if the spice was too much for me (which it wasn’t). And best of all, they served me water without ice. I didn’t even have to ask for it this way.

And in true buffet fashion, I completely stuffed myself.

All in all, a good experience. Chola is a pleasant surprise for a strip mall restaurant in the Round Rock area and a good lunch spot, if you are up for a little gorging.

Laura- 8

Gino's Italian Restaurant

1701 S Mays St Ste B
Round Rock, TX 78664
Phone: (512) 218-9922

Hi, Laura here.

This being my first post, I feel the need to begin with a little background information. I work in Round Rock. Not quite known for the culinary center of Texas, but I spend a lot of time in the RR, so consequently I eat a lot of meals here. Some places my coworkers drag me to, some places I venture to on my own. Hopefully during the course of this blog, I can detail the good, the bad and the ugly for you.

Let's begin with a little Italian restaurant called Gino's.

First of all, Gino's is in a really fugly strip mall. I've learned not to judge a restaurant by it's location. Afterall, one of my favorite restaurants (Wink) is in a strip, so the outside appearance can be overcome.

Upon arrival, we were seated immediately. The interior is average suburban American/Italian restaurant. Nothing special, but they dress it up with candles and such to make it pleasant enough. The table was greeted with bread and garlic dipping oil. The bread was so-so, but the garlic dipping oil was great. Sadly, this oil was the highlight of my meal.

I ordered the eggplant parmigiana. It was $7.50. Not a bad price, if it had turned out alright. First I received a salad. It was ok, nothing special. Just some lettuce and onion and tomato. It seemed more of a token effort than anything.

Unfortunately, after a long wait, they brought me chicken parmigiana instead of eggplant. Easy mistake to make, and the mistake was corrected quickly enough. However, the eggplant I received was extremely limp and to be honest, kind of disgusting. It did not seem like there was any kind of thought put into it's preparation. Instead, it seemed as thought they slopped some overcooked eggplant onto a plate, added some cheese, and added a HUGE heaping of marinara over it. The spaghetti was overcooked as well. And they made up for it's inadequacy with marinara too.

Not the worst dining experience I've ever had, but I honestly believe if this restaurant was not in extremely close proximity to Dell it would be long gone. If I can possibly steer my coworkers away, I won't be returning.

Laura - 3