This was the choice Dwight plucked from among my suggestions. I must admit I viewed the prospect of dining at Rocco's with a bit of trepidation, as some recent comments on it have not been kind. So how is the food?
Pretty darn good, actually.
While I'm not a particular fan of the style of mural they've got up there, overall the restaurant is bright and attractive, though the TV above the bar does detract from the ambiance slightly. (Then again, if it weren't for the TV, I might never have seen Mike Ditka's Pimp Suit.)
Things started out on the right foot when they brought out some nicely warm bread with some plates of olive oil; normally the olive oil approach leaves me cold, but here they add enough garlic and other herbs to the oil to make it work.
Appetizers were ranged from decent to excellent: I really like the bella baci (bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos), and the crab cake was quite good as well. The toasted ravioli was also good, while the calamari was pretty standard.
For my main entree I selected the salmon alessondra, a lemon butter grilled salmon filet with crab meat, again with a bit of trepidation, given how disappointing my crab and salmon dish was at The Veranda. However, the one I had at Rocco's was excellent, very well seasoned and quite flavorful, behind only the blackened offerings at Gumbo's and Pappadeaux.
I finished up with a crème brulee that was very tasty indeed, but didn't stand out from any other cr¸me brulee I've had recently.
Service was generally very good, bringing (except for one short lapse) soft drink refills before I asked for them.
There are a few drawbacks: First, there's that mandatory 20% tip added to parties of six or more. Second, there is the problem of where exactly Rocco's sits in The Searchspace of All Possible Austin Dining Destinations. It's quite good, but lacks a stand-out imaginative "signature" dish to raise it out of the pack. It's also a pricier than the upper tier of "family" restaurants; the prices are still lower than those at Hudson's on the Bend, which is clearly way up in the Fine Dining stratosphere, but they're starting to edge up toward the $30 entree barrier. So they're in a bit of a no-man's land, a place for slightly special occasions. ("Honey, my Night Elf just leveled up to 60! Let's go to Rocco's!")
Pao's is still our clear bang-for-buck champion in Lakeway. However, I do think it's worth giving Rocco's a try, especially if you're up that way or in Northwest Austin.
Much, much better than DinHo, in my opinion. My biggest problem is: every time I go in, they're out of the duck leg and wonton soup. Every damn time. The roast duck and wonton soup is good, to be sure, but the duck leg is what people rave about. Do you think, maybe, if you run out all the time, that's a sign to make more?
A good choice for our first SDC up in the new Chinatown center up on North Lamar. Short version: Like Din Ho, except competent. My pork and duck dish was both tasty and pretty cheap. (It seems many others agreed, as it seemed to be the most popular dish at our table and in the restaurant as a whole.) I think the fried rice was OK, but actually undersalted (a complaint you seldom hear about a Chinese restaurant). Service, except for a pretty lengthy delay waiting on the arrival of Todd's Sesame Chicken, was very efficient.
The only drawbacks were a lack of appetizers and the fact that it's pretty packed in.
Good, cheap food, and well worth a try.
A nifty little neighborhood pizza joint. I thought both the Meatfest and Chicken Gorgonzola pizzas were quite spiffy.
It seems like swell pizza joints are springing up like mushrooms after a rain, and Brooklyn Heights Pizza is a nice addition to that trend.
Situated in a strip center off Parmer a mile or so north of 620, Brooklyn Heights is a bit out of the way from anyone outside North Austin, but there are at least three compelling reasons to give them a try.
First, they offer a wider range of appetizers than the average pizza place. Though the calamari was pretty standard, I thought the roasted garlic wings we had were among the best wings I've had in Austin.
Second, the pizza is pretty darn good. Though the Greek and chicken gorgonzola pizzas weren't really my thing, the Meatfest pizza was certainly quite satisfying.
Third, the desserts are huge. The slice of Chocolate Tower Cake Andrew and David shared looked big enough to wedge an aircraft hanger door open with. I thought my Banana Foster's Bites were very good, and the portions here were again among the most generous I've had in an Austin restaurant.
Service was generally very attentive, the only fumble being a mix-up about pizza size, which they didn't charge us for.
Ultimately, while I don't think this supplants Reale's as my favorite neighborhood pizza joint, but it certainly gives them a run for the money, which is a pretty strong endorsement for a restaurant open only a few months. Plus, unlike Reale's, they're open Sunday. (On the other hand, they don't offer the wide range of non-pizza dishes Reale's does.) If you live up in NW Austin and feel like pizza, I strongly suggest giving them a try.
"Fast casual" TexMex. Problem is, the menu isn't terribly large, and what there is, isn't very interesting.
Pass.
Barring the inexplicable geek table number system (instead of a number placard, you get a plastic key to insert in a table gizmo to let servers know where you're sitting; why this is thought to be superior to simply handing people plastic number placard eludes me), Tin Star was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be: Decent but over-priced and under-sized fast-food style "Southwestern" (essentially TexMex) cuisine. I will say that the chunky salsa, though not hot, was much better than I expected. Other than that, it's no better (or worse) than Taco Cabana, which makes me wonder why they're trying to pretend they're an actual sit-down restaurant (they aren't), and why they haven't bothered to put in a drive-through.
See the logs for March of 2007.