The Saturday Dining Conspiracy: October, 2007

October 6, 2007: Phil's Icehouse.

5620 Burnet Rd.
524-1212
30.33215° N, 97.74025° W

Pepper grinder rating: 0.
Men's room rating: 2.0.
WiFi: No.

Dwight's comments:

A really solid burger joint from the folks who brought you Amy's. Just double-check your order to make sure you didn't get any unwanted condiments.

Lawrence's comments:

This comes pretty close to my platonic idea of a burger joint. The double-meat hamburger is fairly large and juicy, the service was ultra-quick, drink refills are free, and I liked both the onion strings and the french fries. And they did a very efficient job clearing off the table for you after you were done.

On the minus side: The vanilla shake I had there was pretty uninspiring, despite the fact I saw them dipping actual ice cream out of a plastic container. Dr. Shake is prescribing a dosage increase to Blue Bell. (A malt option might also help.) Also, seating is fairly limited, and if you don't like big screen TVs showing sports, the aesthetics might not appeal to you.

This is probably the best burger joint in North Central, and is certainly in the running for best in Austin.

October 13, 2007: None.

Dwight's comments:

Guy walks into a bar with a duck on his head. Bartender asks, "Can I help you?". The duck says, "Yeah, can you get this lawyer off my ass?"

October 20, 2007: Pflugerville Pizza & Wing Pfactory.

1202 FM 685 Suite B5 (Pflugerville, 78660)
(512) 990-3587

Pepper grinder rating: 0.
Men's room rating: 2.0.
WiFi: No.

Dwight's comments:

This is the kind of place we seem to eat at pretty often; the kind where there's nothing really wrong with the food, or with the restaurant, but there's nothing so right that it makes you want to rush back, especially when the restaurant is a fair distance away.

Lawrence's comments:

Pflugerville Pizza & Wing Pfactory makes for pfine pfamily dining...

OK, I'll stop now.

Actually, this is a pretty decent neighborhood pizza joint. The pizza was fine, the pepperoni rolls were OK, and the garlic wings seemed pretty good. Service, except for one 5 minute stretch when everyone seemed to be in the kitchen, was pretty good.

If I lived in the area, I could see dropping by on a semi-regular basis, but nothing we had was compelling enough for anyone outside the Greater Pflugerville Metroplex to make a special trip to visit.

October 27, 2007: Shanghai.

6718 Middle Fiskville
(512) 458-8088
30.32926° N, 97.70697° W

Pepper grinder rating: 0.
Men's room rating: 2.5.
WiFi: No.

Lawrence's comments:

We really liked Shanghai when we had dim sum there in August, so we had high hopes for dinner. Alas, while the food was decent, and the service very good (save for bringing my "Deluxe Wonton Soup" with the entrees rather than before), it just didn't stand out particularly from the crowd. While the dumplings were decent, the eggroll was nearly tasteless; not bad, not good, not really anything at all. Moreover, while the Deluxe Wonton Soup did have more varied ingredients than usual, the taste was still nothing special. And while I liked my spicy beef dish, it wasn't any better than that at a half dozen restaurants in town. They do serve a good crème brûlèe, which is a welcome (and unexpected) addition to a Chinese menu.

It wasn't bad, and I wouldn't mind trying something else off the dinner menu, but it's nothing particularly special or compelling for a Chinese restaurant.

See the logs for November of 2007.

See the logs for September of 2007.

Return to the main Saturday Dining Conspiracy page.

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Send email to Dwight Brown (stainles@bga.com).