Quick random notes.

Posted on April 26, 2018 by dwightbrown

1. Mimi’s Cafe in Bee Cave is closed, according to an email from their mailing list.

Yes, it was a chain. But they had pretty good breakfasts, and sent out a lot of BOGO coupons, so Mom and I ate there fairly frequently. With that Mimi’s gone, there’s an even bigger lack of breakfast places in the Lakeway/Bee Cave area. There’s a crepe place that has really inconsistent service, a “gastropub” that’s kind of noisy even for weekend brunch, a restaurant in the HEB, and a place that seems to cater to the old locals – the ones who have been there for 20+ years – and if you’re not one of them, to hell with you.

Somebody (not me) could probably make some money with an Egg and I or something like it in the Lakeway/Bee Cave area.

2. Overlawyered linked to this Sixth Circuit decision in the case of Acosta vs. Cathedral Buffet and Ernest Angley. Basically, the Department of Labor sued the buffet for using volunteer church labor: a trial court ruled in DoL’s favor, but the Sixth reversed and remanded.

I note this here for several reasons:

1) I hate cafeterias.
II) Before it was Ernest Angely’s “Cathedral Buffet”, it was a cafeteria run by Rex Humbard.
c) Back in the day, when we were visiting my maternal grandmother, I got dragged to Rex Humbard’s cafeteria over my strenuous objections. To this day, I can still reliably get a rise out of people by referring to “the time y’all dragged me to Rex Humbard’s soup kitchen”.

Posted in American, Breakfast, Closed, DIAF, Gripes, Meta | Leave a comment

Noted.

Posted on April 18, 2018 by dwightbrown

Eater Austin is reporting that Pacific Rim (located in the strip center on 183 at Burnet, where the Chili’s and Pluckers are) is closed.

We ate at a Japanese place that was in this space previously: I’m not sure if it transformed into Pacific Rim under the same management, or if it was entirely new people.

And what I didn’t know, since I don’t go that way as often as I used to: back in January, they changed from serving sushi and yakitori to…being a Cajun restaurant and sports bar.

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Earl Cooley 1956-2018.

Posted on March 28, 2018 by dwightbrown

The Saturday Dining Conspiracy notes, with great sadness, the passing of unindicted co-conspirator Earl S. Cooley III.

We have known Earl roughly since Jesus was a second lieutenant, dating all the way back to the pre-Internet days of computer bulletin boards. Earl was an influential early presence on the Austin BBS scene, and in the local SF community. He attended conspiracies as much as he possibly could.

He was a swell guy, and will be greatly missed by many, many people.

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Giggle. Snort.

Posted on March 26, 2018 by dwightbrown

Galaxy Cafe will close its location at the Triangle (4616 Triangle Ave.) on April 15 after 10 years of business. The location celebrated its 10th birthday on March 22.

I think I went there once, maybe twice. We may even have had an SDC there. But I note here because of this:

The Austin-born cafe, which opened its first location at Brodie and Slaughter Lanes in 2004, plans to relocate the shuttered business to a location with more of a neighborhood vibe, and one with fewer parking and logistical distractions, allowing the business to focus on food and guests, according to co-owner Kelly Chappell.

This. The Triangle and The Domain are two places that I avoid as much as I can, specifically because parking at either of those places would incite me to violence if I were a violent person.

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Waffling.

Posted on March 26, 2018 by dwightbrown

Just got a promo email from Red Lobster.

(Yes, I know. Mom likes to go there sometimes for lunch, and it was worth it to sign up for their rewards program. Also, I think their food has improved some.)

Anyway, as part of Lobsterfest®, they’re offering lobster…and waffles.

And not just any waffles: “a Cheddar Bay Waffle that takes lobster to a whole other level”. I’m trying to imagine how a Cheddar Bay waffle would taste and failing.

Also, I’m sorry, but the promo photo depicts the lobster and waffles being drizzled with maple syrup. That’s a big “nope” from me: I don’t see maple syrup going with lobster. (Probably isn’t real maple syrup anyway. Probably some sort of HFCS concoction.)

Posted in Meta, Seafood | Leave a comment

Mangia on Mesa closed.

Posted on March 22, 2018 by dwightbrown

At least, according to Eater Austin and confirmed by their website.

Which is kind of a shame, since I ate a fair number of meals there. Lawrence even ran the pre-Armadillocon pizza lunch at that Mangia for many years.

In the past few years, though, there was that unfortunate bankruptcy, reorganization, some closings…and, well, I think the quality of the pizza had declined some.

These days, if I want pizza, either we go out to Mod Pizza (which is a chain, but: each of us can get our own personal sized pizza and/or salad, with a finite but almost unbounded set of toppings, for a reasonable price), or we order in from Mangieri’s. Or if I’m out and about and really craving pizza, I get a deep dish Lone Star Special from Milto’s.

Posted in Closed, Pizza | 1 Comment

Ruby’s BBQ Closing

Posted on January 31, 2018 by lawrenceperson

Ruby’s BBQ (not Rudy’s) near campus is closing. It used to be a regular lunch break destination back when Bruce Sterling used to throw Turkey City Writer’s Workshops at his house on Cedar street. In truth, their BBQ was pretty average (though better than the other campus-area BBQ choices in most years, slim as they were), but what they really excelled at was crawfish etoufee. That was always worth eating.

Anyway, I’m sure the rent is sky-high there, and I can see someone buying up that lot, Milto’s and Spider House and using the lot to build Yet Another Condo.

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Closing time.

Posted on December 29, 2017 by dwightbrown

Banzai Sushi on North Lamar is closing January 3rd.

I think maybe I ate there once: I really can’t remember. What I find more notable is that they’re apparently closing so that the new Rudy’s location can go in (replacing both Banzai and EZ’s).

Sullivan’s Steakhouse is closing January 9th. We went there once for a birthday dinner. Once. When I get time, I’ll put up the old review (I have the file, I just need to get it off my phone and upload it), but suffice it to say we were very unimpressed with the food and the prices, never went back, and never had any desire to go back. (Edited to add: the old review is up now.)

Not really Austin related, but since I’ve blogged about it in the past: Guy Fieri’s place is closing. Which raises some interesting questions: among them, who or what is going to take it over? That’s supposedly a massive space. And with all the sexual harassment scandals recently in the NYC restaurant industry, who’s left standing that could take it over?

Edited to add: Forgot that I wanted to blog this, too:

All told, Miller, who owns three Subway franchises in Northern California, says it costs him well over $4 to produce one of Subway’s foot-long subs. And that is why, when the chain announced plans to drop the price of the sandwich to $4.99 starting in January, he and hundreds of Subway’s other 10,000 U.S. franchisees sent a strongly worded letter warning that the promotion could force some stores to close.

…

In California, where the minimum wage will be $11 per hour starting Jan. 1, Miller’s labor costs are up 50 percent from 10 years ago, he said. The cost of a full-price sub has risen only 20 percent.

Two things about this:

1) The effective minimum wage is zero.
2) I’m sad when anyone’s business closes. But in my opinion, there are just too damn many Subway restaurants (specifically), and too much competition from other, better sandwich chains. I think the market is way overdue for a contraction.

Posted in American, Closed, Steak, Sushi | Leave a comment

Our long national nightmare is over.

Posted on October 19, 2017 by dwightbrown

Pao’s Mandarin House in Lakeway reopened yesterday.

At least, that’s the word on the street. I’ve been a little busy and didn’t get a chance to make it over there last night. Plus, judging from the reaction on NextDoor, I figure it was probably packed to the rafters.

In other news, the HouChron is reporting that Romano’s Macaroni Grill has filed for bankruptcy protection.

I used to go to Romano’s semi-regularly, but now I can’t remember the last time I set foot in one. (I do vaguely remember the last time I set foot in an Olive Garden, but only because I got so annoyed, I left before they even asked for my drink order.)

And I would have sworn Romano’s was a Brinker International restaurant. I was wrong: according to Wikipedia, Brinker has a minority interest, but:

  • the majority of shares were sold to “Mac Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of Golden Gate Capital” in 2008.
  • Ignite Restaurant Group (the parent company of Joe’s Crab Shack and Brickhouse Tavern, which also filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and was bought up by Landry’s) bought the majority stake for $55 million in 2013.
  • And then sold it to Redrock Partners LLC for $8 million in 2015.
Posted in Chinese, Italian, Meta, Opening | Leave a comment

Rebel Pizza Bar Closes

Posted on September 18, 2017 by lawrenceperson

This news came out last month, but I just saw it recently Rebel Pizza bar has closed and being replaced with a Filipino Restaurant.

We had an SDC at Rebel Pizza Bar once, and thought the pizza was pretty good (and the place seemed quite crowded).

The second time we tried going there for lunch on Friday, only to find that, while they delivered, they didn’t serve pizza in their restaurant during the lunch hour.

We never went back.

Hopefully the new restaurant will adopt more reasonable business hours…

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