A couple weeks ago, I asked for help finding places to eat in Austin. Despite the terrible weather, we had a blast, and did some pretty good eating too. Follow the jump for where we went, and apologies to all of you whose favorites I didn’t go to. I wanted to try them all! Must go back soon…
(Pic at left from the Oasis. I know, great styling).
Friday:
Lunch at Las Manitas. Amazing refried beans and delicious beef taco. Wasn’t that crowded at 1:30 and patio was closed, but we loved it anyway. Sad it’s going to move.
Since we knew it was supposed to rain all day Saturday (and it did), we decided to drive out to the Oasis for a drink or two around sunset. I’m really glad we did, even though it was chilly and overcast. The view was amazing and I’m happy mom got to see that part of Austin.
Dinner: Vespaio. Wonderful. What wasn’t wonderful was the wait–about 1 hour and 30 minutes. We were able to get a seat at the bar about halfway through and ordered some mussels to tide us over–we were really hungry. So by the time we sat down, anything would have tasted fantastic. I had the vegetable plate, which consisted of roasted cauliflower, fried polenta, a spinach cake, and roasted mushrooms. Mom had veal saltimbocca. Delicious.
Saturday:
Brunch at South Congress Cafe. We both had migas and they were amazing. They serve them with a potato pancake which is so much better than hashbrowns or homefries. I liked it there a lot and it was my mom’s favorite place. At this point we are noticing how nice everyone is. Every server wants to chat with us, and every store owner seems to really want to know where we’re from, our story, etc. It made me nervous but I liked it.
Shopping on South Congress, then coffee at Jo’s. Shopping at Kick Pleat as well.
Snack: Threadgills for the fried green tomatoes. This place was right by our hotel, and at this point the downpour was in full effect. We drove to Torchy’s…and obviously it was closed since it was all outside. So we went to Threadgills, and sorry to say Todd, it wasn’t very good. Possibly this is because it’s winter and obviously tomatoes aren’t in season. But they were super heavy and didn’t have much flavor.
Dinner: We did this in two parts. Started at Wink Bar, which is totally adorable. Everyone must go there the next time they are in Austin. The full menu from the restaurant is served at the bar, as well as a bar menu with mini hamburgers with brie, macaroni and cheese, and other wonderful things to eat. We had a cheese plate and edamame (boring but we were trying to be somewhat healthy). The wine was fantastic and the place is just so cute. For our second stop, the server recommended a place called Fino, just down the street on 29th and Lamar. This place was fine but I really felt like I was in suburbia. I wanted to go to Malaga but for some reason mom wasn’t feeling it, and the server said it wasn’t that great (I still want to try it next time). At Fino we had dolmades, hummus and pita, fried olives, and spanikopita. From there, we went to the Driskell for a drink, then I went out to the Cloak Room (amazing) and Star Bar with friends.
Sunday: Got totally lost driving to Eastside Cafe, but it was worth it. The place is very cute, with a huge garden out back. Thankfully the weather was beautiful. I had a grilled chicken sandwich and mashed sweet potatoes, and mom had an artichoke manicotti, which was very rich and great.
Mom’s flight was at 2:50, so after driving around UT’s campus as much as we could (roads were blocked off because of the marathon), we decided to head over to Torchy’s just to try a taco. We got there, stood in line for 15 minutes barely moving, looked at our watches, and realized we only had an hour before mom’s flight left. We were next in line and we had to put down the menus and leave–so close! But we need a reason to go back, and we definitely have it.
