6400 S. 1st Street Suite B, Austin (just North of William Canon)
441-2424
Pepper grinder rating: 0.
Men's room rating: 2.
A semi-decent Mexican place! Will wonders never cease?
My combo plate was a good value for the money, and I appreciated the fact that Bontanitas offered something other than Spanish rice as a side.
I also liked the nachos, and the assortment of sauces was a nice touch. (I wish more places did that.)
Tempering my excitement, though, is the minor detail that they're way the heck south: sure, the food's okay, but I'm not going to drive 30 minutes for Tex-Mex. On the other hand, if you live in the area, and aren't put off by sleazy looking storefront joints...
If Botanita's was in my neighborhood, I would probably drop in every now and then, as it has many low-key virtues. You get several interesting hot sauces with your chips, the nachos were good, and my chipolte enchiladas were very tasty (though not nearly as hot as the menu makes them out to be). However, the quesadillas were positively Lilliputian (about 1/8 what you could get at Freebirds for the same price), the portions on the other dishes were merely adequate, our waitress declined to ask us if we wanted dessert, and nothing about Botanita's is compelling enough to make me want to trek down to far South Austin to try it again.
911 W. Anderson Lane (where Asian Restaurant used to be)
302-5433
Pepper grinder rating: 0.
Men's room rating: 2.
Well-executed Vietnamese food, much like you can get at just about any little storefront Vietnamese place in Austin.
Only two things stood out to me: you could get an individual-size serving of soup (something sadly lacking at just about every other Vietnamese place), and the staff actually got Lawrence's order right (also a rarity at most Vietnamese places).
I wouldn't drive across town for this, but I'd be a regular if I lived (or worked) in the area.
(888? Is that the New, Improved Beast with 33% more evil?)
It's getting to be a real challenge to review pho restaurants. I always get the bun (vermicelli), and it always seems about the same no matter where I get it. However, there are a couple of distinct points in 888's favor: they got the "no peanuts" specification on my bun right (you'd be surprised at how many pho places don't), and their eggrolls come out very hot and fairly tasty (though not, alas, nearly as tasty as those at Kim Phung). This is enough to push them into the upper middle of the pack, but with Kim Phung a mere quarter-mile away, they're going to have to do better to stand out in Austin's packed pho scene.
713 E. Huntland Dr. (in Lincoln Village)
458-6283
Pepper grinder rating: 2.
Men's room rating: 3.
I hadn't tried the prime rib before. Disappointing: on a level with Steak and Ale's. I expected better.
Cheese fries, salads, desserts, and bread are still good, though. I recommend sticking to the steaks. And, from what Lawrence and Andrew said, I'm not convinced the "Outback Prime" (or whatever they call the items on the pseduo-slate) menu is worth the extra money.
Though a chain, the Outback has long been a favorite of ours when we're in the mood for meat, but don't want to drop $50+ at Ruth's Chris. Their cheese fries are still the best in town, a salty, artery-clogging wonder of fries, cheese, real bacon bits, and chives.
However, the steak Andrew "Hell on Wheels" Wimsatt and I each ordered (16 oz. New York Strip) was almost as expensive as Ruth's Chris ($22.95), but not nearly as good. It was the wrong side of the line between seared and burnt on the outside (which is odd for medium rare), and didn't seem terribly flavorful. On the other hand, the salad was entirely adequate, and the cheesecake was more than I could finish, and the service was generally good.
Maybe this was an aberration, or maybe you should opt for the Prime Rib over the steak. But don't miss the cheese fries. Maybe next time I'll just get a couple of plates of those, diet be damned...
3519 Ranch Road 620 North
266-9445
Pepper grinder rating: 3.
Men's room rating: 2.5.
I'd like to take this chance to let local restaurant owners in on a little secret, one which seems to have been lost (like transmuting lead into gold) in the mists of time.
Ready? Warm bread good. Cold bread bad. Jeez, people, how much effort does it take to stick some in the oven (or the bread warmer)? Hill Country Pasta House is only the most recent offender: pretty much every place we've been to that serves bread is unclear on this concept. You would think they'd teach this on the first day of cooking school (for everyone who hasn't already figured this out empirically...)
As for Hill Country Pasta House: the service was pleasant enough, the salad okay, the bread a nice heavy Tuscan style (and served cold), and the appetizers competent but undistinguished.
My main course (the smoked chicken pasta) frankly seemed bland and uninspired: the rest of the menu options didn't strike me as having much of a creative spark, either.
On the upside, the prices were (fairly) reasonable. Still, Hill Country Pasta House strikes me as a major disappointment. You can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride, they say. And I can't recommend driving a good 30 to 45 minutes (at least) for this menu.
Quick Take: Worth the price, but not worth the ride.
The appetizers were nothing special. The fried mozzarella was good, while both the calamari and mussels were adequate but undistinguished, and the accompanying marinara sauce quite bland. The salad was OK, but I would have preferred a choice of dressings. The bread was good and very heavy ( I would think heavy bread would be anathema to restaurant owners who want customers to pony up for appetizers and dessert, but hey, it's not my restaurant).
The entrees were better, and I quite liked my veal piccatta and angel hair pasta. The amaretto cheesecake was good, but if I ever find myself dining here again I'll probably opt for Dwight's mud pie, which came in a huge portion that was also very tasty. Service was quite efficient.
Hill Country Pasta House offers decent value for the money, but isn't better than Reale's, Mama Mia's, or Carrabba's. The main problem is that they're way the hell out 620 near Hudson's Bend. Nothing on the menu is so compelling that I want to spend 30 minutes driving out here to eat.
See the logs for April of 2000.
See the logs for February of 2000.
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