this is life in austin & aspen

Austin Restaurant Week can be intimidating … there are so many good restaurants to try! Basically, RARE media gets all the restaurants together to host fixed-price meals for two weeks, Sunday through Wednesday. This year, it’s February 28th – March 3rd and March 7th – 10th.

My top ten picks:

Baby, you got options:
1. Chinatown on Mopac: Lunch $15 / Dinner $35
   So much food. For a lunch, you get soup, a sushi roll, a piece of sushi, and entree, and rice. Wow! For dinner, you choose an app, Peking Duck or Boston Live Lobster, AND an entree and dessert. I can’t even imagine eating this much food … wait, yes I can, and it’d be awesome. We used to frequent Chinatown when I was younger, I’d love to go back.
2. FINO: Brunch $15 / Lunch $15 / Dinner $35
   the Spanish-style gourmet restaurant won’t disappoint. Brunch (salmon, eggs benedict, doughnut) and lunch (butternut squash bisque, salmon, and creme catalan) are just $15 each, dinner (app, sea bass, creme catalan) is $35. Interestingly, FINO may be the only one not offering choices in its menu, but hey, that’s some serious confidence.
3. Bess Bistro: Lunch $15 / Dinner $35
   Lunch features lots of choices, including the yum Croque Monseuir and for dessert bites of Walton’s cupcake-smackdown-winning delights. I love that Bess serves all local meats, even on their sandwiches, so obviously couldn’t let you miss out during ARW.

You might not try it otherwise, but you should:

4. Fabi & Rosi: Dinner $25
   The year-old German restaurant has stayed relatively under the radar, but its ARW menu is a steal with tons of local ingredients, including meats, and preparations you likely haven’t experienced much of.
5. Finn & Porter: Dinner $35
   Long a looking-to-impress business lunch standby, Finn & Porter’s menu lets you get a sushi sampler as an appetizer and Chilean Sea Bass as an entree, among other choices. An easy way to sample the goods sans expense account.
   
6. Judge’s Hill: Dinner $25
   I think I list Judge’s Hill as a place to try every time the opportunity comes up … yet I still never have. Onion soup and coffee-rubbed pork tenderloin tickle my fancy on this ARW menu.

My Usual Faves:

7. Carillon: Dinner $35
   Haven’t I raved about it enough? Looks like they’ve got everything ever on their menu, and you can just throw any of it together to make a fabulous meal. That Josh Watkins kid sure loves to play around with his menu.
8. Max’s Wine Dive: Dinner $35
   Max ‘n Cheese, Shrimp ‘n Grits, Ancho Chile Brownie. Do it.
9. Perla’s: Dinner $35
   Last year I complained that they shortchanged their ARW menu, but this year they’re offering lots of goodies: oysters, the lobster roll, salmon, and any dessert. Sounds like one of Austin’s most nationally-heralded restaurants is coming back to its roots.
10. Roaring Fork at Stonelake: Lunch $15 / Dinner $35
    Site of my infamous food coma, how could I not list Roaring Fork? They have a Niman Ranch (happy) pork tenderloin and a Parmesan-crusted Swordfish on their dinner menu. However would I decide between the two??

For a complete listing of Austin Restaurant Week restaurants and menus, and to make reservations, hit up the Austin Restaurant Week website.

Of course, you can never go wrong with TRIO …