Tidbits.

Posted on August 27, 2018 by dwightbrown

According to Eater Austin, “Venezuelan food truck Four Brothers is opening another food truck within South Congress spot Hotel San Jose.”

Expect high prices, long lines, for them to be out of everything when you get to the front of the line, and to be imprisoned if you complain.

Wait a minute. Actually, “Expect the usual array of arepas, patacones, and cachapas.” Cut and paste error. My bad.

In other news, Sweetish Hill Bakery has been sold to “McGuire Moorman Hospitality Group”, the people who run Jeffrey’s, Clark’s, Perla’s and a bunch of other places.

I’m not sure how to feel about this. I don’t get down that way very often these days, but Sweetish Hill had really good pastries when I used to go there. Also, I used to pick up one of their Dutch chocolate cakes on a regular basis, and those were to die for. I’m hoping Moorman doesn’t screw it up.

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Frank and Angie’s Pizza to Close…In A Few Months

Posted on August 21, 2018 by lawrenceperson

So sayeth the owners, though the timeline is vague. They say Hut’s, which they also own, will remain open. I imagine the Frank and Angie’s site will be the location of a new condo or office building.

Can’t say this breaks me up, as I never cared for their crust (though I disliked it a bit less than that The Brick Oven). And if you’re going to keep one of those restaurants open, Hut’s is the one to keep…

Posted in Burgers, Closed, Pizza | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Ha ha!

Posted on August 21, 2018 by dwightbrown

News that’s a couple of days old, but I haven’t seen spread that widely, and worth commenting on anyway:

Noon Mediterranean filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday.

Noon was famously and formerly known as VertsKebap, and started here in Austin. I remember going there once and thinking it was…okay. But as I’ve written before, that’s a style of food that really doesn’t resonate with me. I knew people, including some of my cow orkers, who loved the original Verts and ate there regularly.

Then, sometime last year, they decided to:

Of course, Chapter 11 is just a reorganization, not a termination. But:

Boyd indicates in court documents that Noon Mediterranean intends to use bankruptcy to “reject” leases for underperforming locations.
“The debtor intends to use the streamlined footprint to pursue a strategic transaction (whether via further investment, financing or other means) which maximizes the value of the debtor’s assets for the benefit of stakeholders,” Boyd says in court documents.
Noon Mediterranean says it intends to work with Griffin Financial Group to help weigh its options going forward.

One hopes that the options they are weighing include selling people good food that they want, and not spending money on expensive restaurant consultants.

Posted in Fast Food, News | 1 Comment

Away game.

Posted on August 15, 2018 by dwightbrown

I wasn’t going to comment on this. But then Mike the Musicologist put some stinky old bait on a hook, dangled it in front of me, and I bit:

Food and Wine‘s “The 40 Most Important Restaurants of the Past 40 Years”.

  • “…others on the list opened as recently as 2017 and have already become canon.” NO. If you’ve been open for a year or less, you are NOT “canon”. Indeed, I’m not even sure “canon” makes sense in this context.
  • What is that under “The Inn at Little Washington”? It looks like a pear sitting on a wrapped Ding Dong with an upside-down glass over it.
  • Frack Shake Shack. I’ve eaten at the one in the Domain and it was mediocre. I’d eat at Five Guys, Mighty Fine, The Back Porch, or about a dozen other burger places before I’d go back to Shake Shack.
  • “…he launched a gourmet seed company that optimizes seeds for flavor and the earth.” What do these words mean?
  • What does Kogi serve? I get that it is a food truck, but what kind of food does it serve? Pretty much all of the other entries on this list give you some idea of the type of food the establishment serves, even if it’s something vague like “fine dining”.
  • “Is a truck a restaurant? We offer a resounding yes…” No, you morons: a truck is a truck. That’s why we call it a “food truck”, not a “restaurant”. Do food trucks have value? Should they be considered for a list like this? Sure. But a thing should be called what it is, not something else.
  • If that’s a burger under the entry for Husk, it looks singularly unappetizing to me.
  • Likewise that bowl of whatever it is under the entry for Vedge.
  • “The chef behind Charleston’s treasured Rodney Scott’s BBQ, which earned him the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast this year, is the new-wave barbecue hero we need. (He’s the first-ever BBQ-focused chef to win a JBFA, no big.)” Hey, Rodney Scott may be the greatest thing since pulled pork, and I’d love to eat at his place. But “first-ever BBQ-focused chef to win a JBFA”? Aaron Franklin won in 2015.
Posted in Barbecue, Cajun, Media, Meta | Leave a comment

More lazy substitutes for content.

Posted on July 26, 2018 by dwightbrown

Shot:

Should you make the trip out to Lockhart for barbecue?

(As we all know, Bob, any time a headline asks a question, the answer is “No”. And if you think this case is different…nope. The Statesman food critic thinks Lockhart barbecue is overrated.)

Chaser:

Franklin Barbecue closing for summer vacation

(Speaking of barbecue, this isn’t a formal SDC review, but I’ve made it over to The Switch twice now. And I like it. Especially the boudin.)

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Twitter: the lazy man’s substitute for content.

Posted on July 26, 2018 by dwightbrown

Well, it is. But I thought this Twitter thread was both interesting and relevant here for reasons:

(Note the shout out to the late Anthony Bourdain.)

This meta thread in response is also worth reading:

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Frisco Shop on Burnet to Close

Posted on July 19, 2018 by lawrenceperson

The Frisco Shop on Burnet, the last surviving member of the Night Hawk chain, is closing down as of July 29.

I loved the Night Hawk Steak House back in the day, which was the only real mid-priced steak place between budget places like The Hoffbrau and swanky joints like Ruth’s Chris (this was back before chains like Outback, Texas Land & Cattle, etc. opened locations in town). However, the last time I went, both the food and the service were sub-par.

I hope an interesting restaurant takes over the space.

Posted in Closed, Steak | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Things I Won’t Be Purchasing.

Posted on July 5, 2018 by dwightbrown

Joey Chestnut branded condiments.

Because when I think about “good eating”, my first thought is not ketchup from a guy who’s famous for cramming as much food down his gullet as fast as he can.

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Conan’s at 29th Street Closes

Posted on June 25, 2018 by lawrenceperson

Another closing of another longtime Austin restaurant, this being the Conan’s Pizza at 29th and Guadalupe.

While I ate their a couple of times, it was the long-closed location a few blocks down (in what is now, I think, a Kerby Lane) that was the campus Conan’s I favored. (I expect that within a decade, both of those locations will be torn down and replaced with expensive condos…)

The problem with the 29th street Conan’s is that it wasn’t even the best pizza place in a two-block radius, which was Milto’s. And Milto’s felt less like a grim hole-in-the-wall to boot.

Anyway, you’ve got a month left to visit it if you feel any sort of nostalgia.

Posted in Closed, Pizza | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

We don’t need no water…

Posted on May 14, 2018 by dwightbrown

According to Austin Eater, the Goodnight has closed.

You may recall the Goodnight (described as a “fancy bowling alley and bar”) as one of the recipients of the not-so-coveted Saturday Dining Conspiracy “Die In a Fire” awards. The one time I tried to do anything there with friends, they brought me to a state of seething homicidal rage, and I left without giving them a penny. Never went back, never wanted to go back, been waiting for this to happen for a long time.

The Goodnight is still opening that 506 West 6th Street location in the Blueprint building in downtown Austin, which was announced in 2015. The new Goodnight will feature an updated food menu, as well as karaoke rooms, virtual reality games, and more.

Won’t be going there, either. Will be actively rooting for it to fail hard, and take as much of the ownership’s money with it as possible.

Disclaimer: I’m sure there were a few honorable people working for the dump that was the Goodnight, and I hope they’re able to find new jobs at a non-Goodnight affiliated restaurant soon.

Posted in Closed, DIAF | Leave a comment