Every now and then, I'll hit a Waterloo Ice House: they serve a decent burger for a fair price. But I was a little surprised when they went into this space: it just didn't seem to fit. (I have good memories of the one time I ate at 22, which I believe was the first tenant: that closed suddenly and was replaced with an Alligator Grill (like Austin needed another one of those), then a dubious looking TexMex joint (Polvos? I never ate there, I admit.) and now this branch. It looks like an awfully expensive site for a place selling burgers and fries.
I figured I'd branch out a little and try the pulled pork sandwich. Sorry, it just didn't work. The pork seemed dry, slightly tough, and bland. The hickory barbecue sauce they served on the side didn't help much: there really wasn't enough to go very far, and a "pulled pork" sandwich really needs (in my opinion) one of those squeeze bottles of vinegar and spices to work well. The fries served with the meal were okay: the chili cheese fries we ordered as an appetizer didn't grab me, and the wings are standard, seen 'em before, Louisana hot sauce style.
Ehhh. Cheap, tolerable, but not a destination.
I must admit that I like this location a lot better than the one down at 6th and Lamar, as both the waitstaff and the interior are nicer. (They've also gone for the "family restaurant" template in a big way, with a huge playground behind the restaurant, which is a sharp contest with the "hungry musician coming down off a meth jag" vibe of the 6th street location.) And the food?
The burger was pretty good but undersized for the price; Fuddrucker's has nothing to fear on this front. I like the onion rings and hot wings quite a bit. The cheese fries (with or without chili) just don't measure up to those at The Outback. Salad plates straight from the fridge were adequate but overpriced.
All in all, the food is nothing to write home about, but was still slightly better than I expected it to be. I would not object to trying some of the non-burger dishes at a later date.
I used to go here fairly regularly with Mike. Sometime after he moved, they changed the menu and it became a lot less interesting: gone are most of the combo plates with your choice of sauces (those may still be available as off-menu options, but it is hard to tell).
Also, when we were there, the service seemed to be a beat or two off: it may have been because of the large post-OU game party that they were setting up for. And the food wasn't anywhere near as good as I remembered it: my plate seemed heavy on the limp lettuce, and light on actual content.
Maybe an off night, but a disappointment in any case.
Antonio's charms have waned since our last visit. To start with, there didn't seem to be anyone managing the front desk. After waiting several minutes, we finally flagged someone down to point out that we weren't part of the incomplete party of 50 they were setting up tables for. (And were all those crappy video games and such there the last time we visited? Maybe I didn't notice before, but I don't think so; it looks like they're trying to turn it into a Chuck-E-Cheese with booze.) And at one point there was some sort of really annoying, intermitant, high-pitched screeching sound coming out of the sound system every now and then. When we complained, the waitperson acted like it was some natural phenomena, like lightning or the waning of a pestilence, over which they had no control. How about fixing it? How about turning the damn things off?
The appetizers (nachos and wings) were still tasty, but the El Gordo plate I had seemed pretty undistinguished. I asked for a habanero enchilada and couldn't detect any heat at all. It was filling, and not too expensive, but it was a lot better than that last year.
Given these manifest difficulties, I'm not anxious to rush back to Antonio's, and I'd have to say that Pappasito's is now clearly the better choice for TexMex dining on this stretch of I-35.
This is yet another place (see also Antonio's above) that I used to like. Sometime after our last visit, though, they...yes, changed the menu, and it became much less interesting. Since I stopped going there, though, they've changed the menu once again: the new menu does represent some improvement, but not really enough to make me start going back. (It isn't that I mind change: I mind unnecessary change, especially to things that are working well in the first place. So shut up about the damn cheese already.)
I had a stuffed shrimp platter, which was more than tolerable: the problem is, that was the only dinner item on the menu that I thought really looked interesting. Further, Rockfish actually does better stuffed shrimp. As for the appetizers, they all struck me as heavy on the fries, light on the actual appetizer they were selling. I will say that Razoo's service is generally pretty good, without the in-your-face teenage jailbait approach of Bone Daddy's (but the waitstaff is certainly as good looking).
I don't feel much like rushing back, but I will take Razoo's over just about any other seafood place on 183. (And I wish to add my thanks to Lawrence's parents for underwriting this SDC.)
Not a whole lot has changed about Razoo's since our last visit, but there have been some notable improvements. They now have a paper towel dispenser, solving my most significant water closet gripe from our last visit. (Could that review actually have prodded them into adding paper towels? SDC, Agent of Change? Perish the thought...). Also, the "tricky fish" special I had was a suitably savory entree, and seemed to have larger portions than the last meal I had there. The appetizer platters still have too many fries (and too few pieces of alligator or crawfish), though I did like the cheese fries, which were skillfully enhanced with bacon and chives. My "Zydeco Dancer" strawberry cheesecake was very good indeed.
It's still not as good as Pappadeaux, but the quantity and quality are in line with the price. Where they overlap, it's not as good as Sambet's Cajun Cafe, but for decent sit-down chain seafood on this stretch of 183, I prefer it to Florida Seafood Grill and Joe's Crab Shack. Worth a visit if you're so inclined.
A special tip of the SDC Hatlo hat to my parents, Murray and DeLois Person, for underwriting this excursion (not to mention helping me trim the trees at my new house, or foisting me off on an unsuspecting world).
Among the many publications I read is an odd magazine called Unlimited ("Action. Adventure. Good Times.") sponsored by Philip Morris and Marlboro. (I get it for free. No, I don't smoke. I hate smoking. But I believe in milking tobacco companies for anything you can get out of them.) The Fall 2004 issue had a brief sidebar article on the "best Chinese food" (according to "Geoff Carter", about whom I know nothing): among his choices was Hunan Lion. So, okay, I figured, why not give it a try and see if a tobacco company magazine can be trusted?
Well, it wasn't bad. Carter raves about the "roast duck - carved at your table and served in scallion-stuffed crepes". I think he actually means the "Beijing Duck", which is what Lawrence and I split. (The "roast duck" is served with "mixed vegetables".) I thought it was pretty tasty, and Hunan Lion is the only place I've found so far that doesn't require a 24-hour advance order.
Carter also mentions the firecracker prawns (which I don't think anyone at our table ordered) and the black bean jalepeno chicken (which I was able to sample a bit of, and also liked). The various dumplings were okay, but I still think Tien Hong has the best fried dumplings overall. As for the seafood rolls: ordering these was my idea, and, as it turned out, everyone at the table loved them. Except me: they turned out to be filled with a sauce closely resembling mayo. I'm sure this will mark me as a food philistine (like I'm already not) but I hate mayo: it makes me gag. Violently.
I think Hunan Lion is a little pricy, but it isn't a bad choice for South Austin Chinese (closer than Lakeway).
I like it. The seafood rolls were excellent, though the various dumplings were merely OK. The duck that Dwight and I split was very tasty indeed, though I think the "waiter prepares the duck wraps at your own table" bit is a gimmick. Service was pretty good, and the interior is fairly attractive.
Though it's not quite up in the same league as Pao's, this is a strong consider for best Chinese food south of the river.
Turkey City.
See the logs for November of 2004.