Pretty good appetizers and sushi. But I've eaten here twice, and come away with the same impression both times: nice people, trying to do an upscale Chinese restaurant (with prices to match), and not having the food to back it up.
I had the "Cassoulet Chinois", mixed seafoods in a clay pot. Unfortunately, I thought the brown sauce was too salty and they put too much brocoli in the dish for my taste. (It isn't exactly the same dish, but a good version of it done well is the "Party With a Mermaid" at Thai Tara.) I also tried some of Lawrence's "three cup chicken", and it didn't taste right to me: by "not right", I don't mean, "not like Pao's", I mean "bland and lacking in spice". This is supposed to be a spicy dish.
And the prices are easily $2 - $3 more than even Suzi's China Grill, which I've griped about before. Hard to justify for Chinese, unless you live very near. But it may be better for sushi.
Everything I had here was pretty good, except my entree. I had the Three Cup Chicken, and it just couldn't compare to Pao's. But both the appetizers and the sushi were quite nice, and I'd certainly be willing to make a return trip.
Lawrence was out of town, alas.
Andiamo shows some potential. They do a wonderful (and very pungent) shaved fennel salad, liberally dosed with truffle oil, that's one of the best salads in town. The grilled sausage and mushroom appetizer isn't too shabby, either, and they have a pretty good wine list.
But. The vension special I had the night we went (in which the venison was served as scallopini in a creme de cassis based sauce) just didn't click for me. I'm not sure why: maybe there wasn't a strong enough cassis flavor, or enough contrasting elements, or just simply enough on the plate, but it didn't seem like a $27 dish to me. And I'd also say $9 seems a little high for the appetizers, too, especially the calamari.
The other diners I spoke with after the meal pretty much felt the same way I did: willing to give Andiamo a second chance, but not really enthusiastic about their meals.
A high end Italian restaurant, and a pretty good one at that, though there were some lapses. The fact they were out of diet coke was an annoyance, especially after the waiter said they had it. The appetizers ranged from OK (the calamari) to excellent (a very nice grilled sausage). My veal chop was nicely done, and the polenta (not a particular favorite) which came with it was quite edible.
My biggest gripe was with portion sizes and values. My salad was just not interesting enough to justify the price, and my flan-like caramel crème dessert, while good, was also way too small.
Still, if you're looking for upscale Italian food, this is a very credible entry. But frankly, nothing here was so good I'd opt to come here rather than Reale's.
Not too shabby. I had a very nice blackened tilapia, with good dirty rice and hushpuppies, along with a decent crawfish bisque and some good boudin. And nothing I had was unreasonably expensive. I note, with particular approval, the "create your own" appetizer platters: two of those worked out very well for our party of eight (including Andrew "Liver Eater" Wimsatt and his father, the distinguished Dr. Wimsatt.)
I think Louisana Longhorn is slightly inferior to Evangeline Café (but LL has a better selection), but significantly better than Jazz, and perhaps a notch above Fish Daddies. I'd gladly go back.
(Appparently, there's free parking in a garage "across the street" from Louisana Longhorn. Of course, you don't find this out until after you've been seated and read the menu. Fortunately, I was able to find parking on the street in downtown Round Rock on a Saturday night, but you may want to keep this in mind.)
I like the idea of Louisiana Longhorn. Why not have a restaurant with by Cajun and Texas dishes? And I liked the appetizers I had. The onion strings, crab cakes, hot wings, and frog legs were all fine. And my bowl of gumbo was OK, if not exceptional.
But my blackened catfish etoufee was a huge disappointment. First of all, I'd never run into a blackened dish that was batter-fried before. Second, the etoufee itself was unacceptably bland. And I also wasn't wild about the "loud restaurant plus narrow confines" feel of the place. (I also wasn't wild about all the TVs, but at least sports go with the name.)
My co-conspirators didn't seem to have such problems with their entrees, and I'd be willing to give them another shot, but the only advantages Louisiana Longhorn has over Gumbo's is price and the non-Cajun dishes. Otherwise it's not even close.
See the logs for February of 2006.