Springhill does very credible fried fish, especially catfish, and has excellent service. It seems to be very much a family-run place. My problem is that it is a long way to go for fried fish, no matter how good.
I think I would have liked Springhill better if we hadn't tried RO's Outpost so recently. Springhill makes a very good chicken fried steak. The problem is that RO's, in the same general neighborhood, makes a great chicken fried steak. On the other hand, Springhill does seem to make the best onion rings in Austin, plus pretty decent fried catfish. Except for the onion rings, the other appetizers were fairly undistinguished. The cobbler was too heavy (a common complaint on my part), and the salads were an afterthought.
If you're in the area, and have a large party, or are in the mood for catfish rather than chicken fried steak, then Springhill is a pretty solid choice.
My corporate masters were having their Christmas
annual dinner on this night. At Jeffrey's. The rest of these guys went off
to Fuddrucker's.
Surprisingly good barbecue and excellent sauce. I'd avoid the jalepeno steak fingers, which I think are a bit pricy and straight off the institutional apppetizer menu. Pretty decent fries, too.
'Bout Time BBQ has a lot of black marks against it from the get go.
Strip mall location? Check.
Plastic tables & seating? Check.
Stupid name? Check.
And the BBQ? Surprisingly good.
First, the sausage is among the best I've had in Austin; not quite up to Kreuz Market standards, but still very good for Austin, and a lot better than Rudy's. Ribs and brisket (or "sliced meat") were also quite good, just a touch below Rudy's, and significantly cheaper. (And everything here blows away Chisholm Trail.) The sauce was quite interesting, with quite a bit of cumin in it; I wouldn't think that much cumin would work in BBQ sauce, but it works here; still, it isn't even in the same league as that atThe Salt Lick.
The "jalapeno cheeseburger fries" were actually jalapeno steak fingers; they weren't bad, but maybe a touch pricey at $1 each. I'm afraid the banana pudding was sub-par, and not a patch on that served at most BBQ joints. Service was pretty quick.
This is far more of a "grab and go" joint than a sit-down place, but still a very credible BBQ joint within the confines of Austin, and definitely one of the better BBQ places out here in the NW. Give it a try.
Christmas.
For what it is worth, the Christmas brunch at the Driskell (604 Brazos Street, 474-5911) was very very pleasant.
See the logs for January of 2005.