Austin Restaurants Under Stage 5 Coronavirus Restrictions Again

Posted on December 27, 2020 by lawrenceperson

Because clearly Christmas through New Year’s Eve isn’t an important time to make money for restaurants and bars:

During a press conference this morning, city officials announced that Austin and Travis County has been bumped up to Stage 5 of the city’s risk-based COVID-19 restrictions for the first time during the pandemic.

Under Stage 5 recommendations, restaurants and bars are asked to roll back to only takeout, curbside pickup, and delivery services, which means shutting down their indoor dining areas. KUT reports that these businesses are also asked to limit their outdoor dining capacities to 50 percent, as well as voluntarily closing from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

In other news, lots of restaurants are open in Williamson County…

Posted in News | Leave a comment

October 24, 2020: Southside Market & Barbecue (North MoPac).

Posted on October 26, 2020 by dwightbrown

10515 N Mopac Suite B-225 (Austin, 78759)
(512) 838-3600
30.38917°N, 97.73333° W
https://www.southsidemarket.com/

Pepper grinder rating: 0.

Men’s room rating: 2.

Dwight’s comments:

Good pork ribs. The jalepeno and cheese bacon wrapped “Sausage Slammers” were also pretty good. But the brisket was dry and really not worth it.

I’m not sure I’d want to go back anytime soon, but if I did, I’d avoid the brisket.

Posted in Barbecue | Leave a comment

A few nice words.

Posted on October 19, 2020 by dwightbrown

Since we just pretty much curbstomped Easy Tiger in the Linc, I would like to say a few kind words about Fixe Southern House. This is not a formal SDC review, since it wasn’t an actual SDC. But my family went there last night for someone’s birthday.

  • They have very good biscuits.
  • On that point, they actually serve breakfast between 8 AM and 3 PM daily. We were talking at the SDC about whether there was any place downtown that still served breakfast, so I guess that answers the question. (I suppose there are also a few hotels that have breakfast menus or buffets. But in terms of stand alone downtown places that serve breakfast, we were having a hard time coming up with any.)
  • They didn’t sing “Happy Birthday” or anything else, which was nice.
  • I’ve eaten a lot of birthday meals with a lot of people at a lot of places. I have never, before last night, seen a restaurant not only bring out a dessert with a candle in it, but also give the birthday person a card with a handwritten personal note inside…and a $20 off coupon for their next visit.
Posted in American, Breakfast, Southern | Leave a comment

October 17, 2020: Easy Tiger.

Posted on October 18, 2020 by dwightbrown

6406 N Interstate 35 Frontage Rd Suite 1100
(512) 494-4151

Pepper grinder rating: 0. (We were not offered salt or pepper, and (of course) there were no condiments on the tables.)

Men’s room rating: 1. (Two one-hole unisex restrooms with a single sink outside are not enough for a beer garden this size.)

Dwight’s comments:

I like Easy Tiger. I had some pleasant meals at the old downtown location (now closed) and I had a good meal at this location pre-Wuhan Flu.

This was not a pleasant experience.

First problem: outside only seating. The Linc location used to have a nice indoor space, but that’s “employees only” now. Okay, fine, beer virus, I get it. Good thing we picked a day when the weather was nice.

Second problem: there’s no table service in the beer garden. Instead, you have to scan the QR code at your table, and use something that I believe is called ToastTab to order and pay. God forbid you’re one of those people who doesn’t have a smartphone, or your smartphone isn’t charged, or…

Third problem: the second problem wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the fact that ToastTab is a poorly designed almost unusable pile of dreck.

Fourth problem: I’ve really liked ET’s pretzel in the past. But this one didn’t taste right: it was actually kind of tough and chewy, rather than being a good warm soft pretzel.

Fifth problem: one of our party had to wait forever for his order, to the point where I ended up flagging down a waiter and asking them to check. I’m not sure he ever got an explanation.

Sixth problem: I hate the restrooms. (See above.)

Look, I get that we have to make compromises to deal with the current situation. But in this case, the compromises Easy Tiger has chosen to make rendered the experience unpleasant for me. I would go to another Easy Tiger (they’re opening or have opened one in the old Red’s Porch space on South Lamar). But: I would not go if I had to sit outside, use a one-hole unisex toilet, and order and pay with ToastTab. And I don’t think I’ll be going back to the Linc location until this Chinese virus thing is over and life gets back to normal.

Lawrence’s comments:

What Dwight said, only more fucking so. Easy Tiger’s web interface is infuriating garbage that it’s entirely too easy to click off of, and I think the “QR Code Only” is in fact a violation of the Americans with disabilities act, and looks to be geared as a way to force you to give them your email address (I entered a fake one instead). Print some frigging paper menus.

Plus they no longer offer the multiple sausage plate that was the entire reason I wanted to go. The pastrami sandwich I ordered was OK, but not as good as, and more expensive than, competing offerings.

I see no reason to revisit any Easy Tiger location until they drop the QR-code only bullshit.

Posted in American | 2 Comments

More Austin Restaurant Closures

Posted on October 15, 2020 by lawrenceperson

While no one was looking, a whole bunch of Austin restaurants closed:

  • BRIO Tuscan Grille: Pricey Italian chain location in the Arboretum. Good food, but I only ate there on the very occasional Sunday (when Reale’s is closed).
  • Blue Baker: Another Arboretum closure. More bakery with a sidelight in sandwiches. I really hated the design of their space.
  • Brick Oven: Longtime Austin pizza restaurant at Braker and 183 is closing because that center’s HEB wants to expand into the space. I never liked their crust.
  • Bombay Bistro North: Same center, possibly the same reason, but they seem to have closed before now. Pretty decent Indian food.
  • Third Base Northwest: Sports bar on 183 that served pub grub; seems to have closed sometime in the last 10 months or so.

    • There are a lot of Austin restaurant closures that aren’t getting covered by Eater or the Statesman because they aren’t downtown and/or hipster-frequented joints. I only noticed these because I discovered that two of the three restaurant pad sites near the Arboretum had no labels on them in Google maps.

    (Cross posted to Futuramen.)

    Posted in American, Closed, Indian, Italian, Pizza, Sports Bar | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

    And nothing of value was lost….

    Posted on October 15, 2020 by dwightbrown

    Lawrence has sent me a long list of restaurant closings (which he promises to blog soon) but he doesn’t give a flying flip at a rolling doughnut about this one. On the other hand, I find the closing of Mother’s Cafe slightly interesting.

    I ate at Mother’s a few times with friends who wanted to eat there: at the time, I valued their company more than the food. And I feel sorry for the people who are losing their jobs. But even those friends stopped eating there eventually. It seemed like the food kept going downhill, and as Austin grew, there were other better vegan/vegetarian options popping up.

    I’m not alone in that feeling, if this Reddit thread is any indication: the general consensus seems to be that, in addition to the food steadily declining, Mother’s didn’t grow or change with the times. What might have been a great place to go 40 years ago when Austin was a small town got superseded by newer offerings with more variety. Even non-vegan restaurants started offering vegan entrees, while Mother’s (as one poster put it) was stuck in the Moosewood cookbook era.

    It’s old-school, first-wave vegetarian food. AKA casseroles, black beans, sweet potatoes, and cheese. I used to work with a former cook from Mother’s who left because management wouldn’t let them do anything interesting or help the menu evolve. We worked somewhere where he could whip up the most delicious vegan recipes. I get that the long-term customers are valuable, but clientele changes, and the food scene is just a little bit more competitive here now than it was in 1980.

    On the other hand, it does look like you can still get your windows tinted.

    Posted in Closed | Leave a comment

    Garbo’s Coming!

    Posted on October 8, 2020 by dwightbrown

    No, not Gabbo, Garbo’s.

    By way of Austin Eater, we have discovered that Garbo’s is moving into the old Opal Divine’s Marina space (12709 North Mopac Expressway, in the same parking lot as the soon-to-be-defunct Fry’s).

    This is great news from our point of view: Garbo’s makes excellent lobster rolls. While we’ve had them from the trucks more than once, we’ve only managed to get into the current sit-down space one time. That space is over in the Wells Branch area, and has actually been the home of many excellent restaurants (including the original location of Gumbo’s). The problem is, that space is just too darn small. With the expansion into the larger old Opal Divine’s space, and especially if they maintain the outdoor seating, this could be a whole lot more fun.

    (Side note: you know who else has a really good lobster roll? Shore Raw Bar and Grill. This is an unpaid endorsement.)

    Posted in Seafood | Leave a comment

    Shut down the company and give the money back to the shareholders.

    Posted on September 8, 2020 by dwightbrown

    That’s what Luby’s is doing.

    Luby’s Inc. said Tuesday that it plans to liquidate its businesses and distribute the proceeds to its existing investors.
    The Houston-based company had said in June that it was looking to sell its restaurants and assets.
    Assets to be included in the proposed sale include Luby’s Cafeterias, Fuddruckers, real estate and the company’s culinary contract services business, it said. The company projects that it would receive between $92 million and $123 million in proceeds from its liquidation operations.
    Luby’s said it values its property and equipment at $104 million. It had long-term debt of $57.3 million and obligations on operating leases of $22.7 million.

    Posted in American, Closed | Leave a comment

    Another shoe drops.

    Posted on August 17, 2020 by dwightbrown

    I missed this last week, but the Luby’s Cafeteria on Brodie Lane is closed.

    Good.

    Posted in Closed | Leave a comment

    Austin Java Closes Three of Four Locations

    Posted on August 5, 2020 by lawrenceperson

    Three more restaurants fall victim to the Wuhan coronavirus:

    Austin Java will close three locations in Austin and Dripping Springs, including the cafe’s City Hall, Met Center and Dripping Springs locations, according to an Aug. 4 social media announcement that referenced coronavirus as the reason for downsizing.

    “It’s been a rough few months for us,” read the post. “We intend to keep serving up your favorite java and eats at our Menchaca location and find some new spots to rebuild post-COVID[-19].”

    With the closing of Austin Java’s City Hall location at 301 W. 2nd St., Austin; its Met Center location at 7701 Metropolis Drive, Austin; and its location at 3799 Hwy. 290, Dripping Springs, only the company’s 5404 Menchaca Road location in South Austin remains.

    Not to be confused with Cafe Java, which is still open…

    Posted in American, Breakfast, Closed | Tagged , , | Leave a comment