Posts tagged ‘restaurants’

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October 7, 2010

ACL: Eating Guide

Eating with me is a challenge, I will freely admit. I want free-range happy meat, chicken, milk, and eggs. I don’t want white bread, I probably don’t want whole wheat bread, I definitely don’t want corn (unless it’s a tortilla chip) or beans or soy. I don’t want fake sugar, or agave, or real sugar (but sometimes I eat it anyway). I am definitely a pain.

That said, eating in Austin is easier than eating almost anywhere else. Take the ACL food court … (if I accept a sandwich, assume I’m not eating the bread) here is a complete listing, anything I won’t eat is strike-out-ed, but you can still read it and eat it if you so choose.

AMY’S ICE CREAMS psh that’s not healthy

AQUARELLE RESTAURANT & WINE BAR
Spicy shrimp sandwich

AUSTIN’S BEST BURGER – I could not find a damn thing on this … happy? no? what’s in the veggie burger? no idea.

AUSTIN’S PIZZA

BESS BISTRO – YAY! HAPPY LOCAL MEAT!

Fish and chips /Semolina crusted artichoke hearts / Steak sandwich / Fish sandwich

BEST LEMONADE

THE BEST WURST unhappy meat

BOOMERANG’S PIES
Thai veggie (vegan) fine, how good does that sound? yum.

CHILDREN OF THE KETTLE CORN delish, but no good for you

JUICEBOX (assuming no added sugar)
Fresh cherry limeade / Cucumber mint agua fresca / Pure coconut water / Sambazon acai smoothie

FREEBIRDS WORLD BURRITO

GALAXY CAFE

GARRIDO’S BURRITOS

GUERO’S

HYDE PARK BAR & GRILL

KERBEY LANE CAFE
All-natural sausage pancake on a stick

LAVACA ST. GRILL

LONESOME DOVE WESTERN BISTRO – no word on happy meat status but sounds delish!
Wild mushroom and tenderloin skewers / Truffled mac and cheese

MAINE ROOT

MANGIA PIZZA love, but need whole wheat. and spinach.

MIGHTY CONE
Hot and crunchy shrimp and avocado cone / Venison sausage wrap

OLIVIA not happy meat

P. TERRY’S BURGER STAND – HAPPY MEAT! DELISH VEGGIE BURGER!
Hamburger / Cheeseburger / Double cheeseburger / Veggie burger

PLUCKERS

THE SALT LICK

SNOWIE

STUBB’S BBQ

SWEET LEAF TEA

TIFF’S TREATS

TIM LOVE’S LOVE SHACK – again, don’t know if it’s happy meat?
Love Burger (prime tenderloin/prime brisket burger with Love sauce, lettuce, tomato, house pickles and cheese)

TORCHY’S TACOS

WAHOO’S FISH TACO
Blackened fish tacos

… so there you have it. Eat before you go if you’re as picky as me :-)

Also, I highly recommend stopping by Uncle Billy’s for a to-go cup of beer for your walk down Barton Springs Road into the fest. It’s a $5 steal for a microbrew, and you just feel cool carrying a to-go beer down a street you normally aren’t allowed to carry beer down.

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September 29, 2010

Aspen: Shop and Eat in New Places!

New places to shop (I still love Susie’s):

WeSC, which stands for “WeAretheSuperlativeConspiracy”, opened its Aspen concept store this August. The Swedish born street-fashion brand is designed “For intellectual slackers,” it means for hipsters with cash to spend and attitude to spare (461 East Hopkins).

Courage. B boutique will open “soon” and specialize in fashionable women’s apparel and accessories. From ballet flats to Hermes-inspired Kelly bags to knit shifts with matching cardigans, you’ll find everything you need to update your wardrobe  … if you’re a tourist, probably.

Yoga studio 02 Aspen is opening a retail store in the Aspen Square building by Thanksgiving … while I think it’s amazing a lululemon hasn’t opened here yet despite the fact that you can’t GO to a yoga class in Aspen without seeing the silly om sign, the luxury yoga line is just one of many carried at 02′s main street store, but lulu’s shorts are marked up 150%. Unless there are some serious sales, I still have my fingers crossed for a local lulu (and you know my loyalty lies with King Yoga).

Dannenmann-Pure was such a hit during Aspen Fashion Week this year that German fashion designer Petra Dannenmann is bringing her signature 100 percent organic pure boiled wool fabric produced with no chemicals to the little ski town that could (525 East Cooper).

Eating

Some of us are stuck with the off-season deals (though I can hardly say stuck when Matsuhisa offers $5 rolls), but for everyone else there are some new grub-gettin’ places in town:

The Silver Queen opened in September 2010 occupying the former famous Syzygy space. Chef Jamie Flatt, formerly of Willow Creek and known for some incredible use of truffle in his sweet potato fries, is overseeing the kitchen. The cuisine is American-eclectic with an Aspen-reasonably priced bar menu (520 E. Hyman).

Pitkin County Steakhouse & Pitkin Tavern opened in August of 2010 replacing Double Dog and Steak Pit on the corner of restaurant row. The steakhouse serves dry aged steaks, fresh fish, and a salad bar stocked with local produce, while the tavern is a classic locals’ hangout with a full menu, shuffleboard, and 12 beers on draft (305 East Hopkins).

Casa Tua restaurant and private club is slated to open mid-December across from Belly Up. Can another “private club” make it in a Caribou Club town? Look for the restaurant to offer fine Italian fare with French and Swiss influences, while the upstairs club will offer an “Italian oasis” for members only. Do we have that many Italians visiting Aspen?

Hopefully C & P Burger will fill Aspen’s much-needed quick-n-dirty dining scene. Austin has its food trailers, why can’t Aspen have some grab-and-go options? Lunch, dinner, and adult beverages, will include locally grown beef burgers (yum!), LuLu Wilson’s famed Kale salad (better than Peaches?), truffle parmesan fries (sign me up), soft-serve yoghurt with seasonal fresh fruit (ha! it was only a matter of time…). It opens “soon” so keep your eyes peeled!

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September 24, 2010

Aspen: Oktoberfest. In September. Whatever.

Maybe it’s a smidge odd that the Second Annual Oktoberfest in Aspen is being celebrated at the end of September … but nonetheless, the Wienerstube celebrates German traditions with live music, authentic Austrian and Bavarian food, and, naturally, beer!

wienerstube.com, 970.925.3357

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September 17, 2010

Aspen: Off-Season Eatin’

One of the best things about off-season in Aspen (the time between summer and winter where no one comes here because it starts to snow but not enough to ski, so it’s supposedly just miserable … I’ll keep you posted) is the amazing deals the usually too-expensive-for-my-budget restaurants have. Check out EatAspen‘s full list of specials, but here are all the ones I want to try:

- Ellina Modern Italian Restaurant is offering a $30 Prix Fixe every evening. Choice of appetizer, main course & either a glass of wine or a dessert. (a friend says this is the best meal he’s had in Aspen …)

- Il Mulino Prix Fixe $20 Lunch or $30 Dinner for Autumn Harvest menu! (a friend’s friend owns this restaurant and I CAN’T WAIT to try it!)

- Brexi offers a $34 prixe fixe – appetizer, entree, dessert (me & the Vermonster’s fave restaurant in Aspen)

- LuLu Wilson offers a $35 prixe fixe – appetizer, entree, dessert

- Takah Sushi is offering $6 sushi rolls & 1/2 priced atomic shrimp & sake

- Syzygy Restaurant offers a 3 course prix fixe for $39

- Silver Queen is now open–don’t know if they’re doing any specials, but definitely want to check it out!

Then, Viceroy Snowmass is offering Colorado residents a special rate of $95 per night per room, including parking.  The Spa at Viceroy Snowmass is also offering 25 percent savings on all spa services!! For Viceroy Snowmass’ spa, call 970.923.8007.

Hear of any more deals? Let me know!

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July 21, 2010

Aspen: Ute City Bar & Grill

With my parents in town for just two nights, we decided to hit the town one night and cook one night. On our night-on-the-town, we debated heartily before settling on Ute City Bar & Grill because its menu looked good, it was expensive but not outrageous, and its location is on that strip of see-and-be-seen restaurants in Aspen (Social, LuLu Wilson on its side, Jimmy’s, Cache Cache, Campo di Fiori, Bruno’s on the other side).

I’ll save you the trouble of reading all about my experience and say: The food was good. The service was terrible.

We were not to be see-and-be-seen, as they sat us at the furthest back table in the restaurant immediately next to the kitchen. Alright, we didn’t have reservations, we’ll take it. We order a bottle of wine, not cheap, not expensive. We toast, and I’m looking at the lint in my glass before I sip when I spot a FLY in my wine. I very nicely point this out to our waiter, who, flustered, grabs me another wine glass, pours most of the rest of the bottle in, and says, “oh, we’ll take a couple of dollars off for that.”

We’ll take a couple of dollars off for that?!

After appetizers (good but small calamari, delicious beet salad), she offers me another glass of wine, to make up for the missing glass from our bottle. I decline.

We have dinner – out of five diners, we only ordered two dishes, the halibut and the eggplant-sweet potato “lasagna” (no noodles). The veggie lasagna was good but lacked a certain pizazz. The halibut was excellent in flavor, but lacked in presentation–it’s a white fish, served on a white plate, over “spanish” pinkish rice. We also ordered the quinoa artichoke side–delish! and the summer vegetable medley, which was good but not particularly memorable.

When the bill came, the bottle of wine, at full price, was still on there.

The manager was super friendly, and I wish we had told him about our experience. But we didn’t, so now the universe gets to hear about it. If you’re looking for just one Aspen restaurant to enjoy, Ute City wouldn’t be my top recommendation, but it’s worth trying if you’ve got several nights in Aspen.

Read all about the Ute City restaurant history here.

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May 20, 2010

Aspen: 50% off Kenichi TONIGHT and 520 Grill Opens!

Austinites, I know we have one too, but this ONLY applies to the ASPEN Kenichi. From EatAspen Blog:

Kenichi Sushi is hosting a fund raiser for Mountain Rescue (you know the crew that may just save your butt) Thursday night May 20th. Make any dollar donation to Mountain Rescue and you get 50% off your food, sushi, and sake.

—-

Down the road (because everything is down the road in Aspen, as downtown is about 6 blocks squared), the brand-new 520 Grill is opening today too, in the old Noodles by Kenichi (ha?!) spot at 520 E. Durant.

520 Grill will offer half-pound, hand-crafted burgers using buffalo, beef, or turkey (with bacon ground INTO the meat on bacon burgers!!), and hot dogs (all-beef kosher franks and turkey dogs), plus not-your-average salads like kale-and-quinoa and chipotle Caesar. Fresh-cut fries and homemade potato chips round out the new menu, created by two young locals with experience all over Aspen.

The pair plan to serve lunch and dinner daily from 11a to 7p. Hopefully the hours will extend soon, 7p doesn’t seem very late!

Aspen Times article here.

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May 14, 2010

Austin: Taste North Austin at the Domain

Taste North Austin is an all-day family event Saturday from 11am to 5pm in the original Domain. The Domain will also host a post-party from 5-7pm in the new-ish Domain II with desserts, drinks, and music by T Bird and the Breaks.

To sample bites from all the restaurants, you buy a $20 tasting wristband and get 10 tastes. Participating restaurants:
-          The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf                             – Marie Callender’s
-          County Line                                                             – The Melting Pot
-          Crú – A Wine Bar                                                    – Newks Express Café
-          Daily Grill                                                                – NoRTH
-          Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar         – Panera Bread
-          Kona Grill                                                                – The Steeping Room
-          Lick it, Bite it or Both
-          Mangia Pizza

You can also sample AND watch cooking demonstrations from these restaurants:

- California Pizza Kitchen                                                – Sushi Zushi
- Cookwell and Company                                                 – Urban: An American Grill
- Jasper’s Gourmet Backyard Cuisine                           – Viva Chocolato
- Maggiano’s Litte Italy

Kids can decorate their own chef hat, make a sand art bracelet, craft a beaded key chain, and get their face painted!

In case you live under a rock, The Domain is located at 11410 Century Oaks Terrace, it includes a 57-acre first phase with an upscale Main Street center anchored by Macy’s and Neiman Marcus, nine upscale restaurants, 75,000 square feet of Class A office space, 390 high-end apartments and a Westin Hotel. Phase 2 of The Domain opened this year with 136,000 square feet of small retailers and restaurants. www.TheDomainInAustin.com.

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February 27, 2010

Austin Restaurant Week picks

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.

    4. 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.

    7. 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 …

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January 27, 2010

VIP at The Carillon

For once, I’m not talking about me being VIP. Wait, yeah I am. Well, I mean, I was, when I was there (again) last night sampling some of the new menu. And there was magnificent pork belly, being prepared in the open kitchen:

Put together to look like this:

That’s thinly-sliced pear on top. Absolutely amazing. Also from happy pig, from Snake River Farms, a special kind of Berkshire pork called Kurobuta. Exec chef Josh Watkins himself told me all about it, and his passion and intimacy with the food is evident after just a few minutes.

So The Carillon is a bit of a mystery: this gourmet restaurant with this young, award-winning celeb chef, but in the AT&T Center. And the restaurant (and bar, which is a whole ‘nother story … coconut water mixed drinks?!) has been open for about a year but is only now REALLY opening just this week with a new seasonally fresh-focused menu.

Oh, but back to the VIP treatment … The Carillon is offering a chef’s table experience to the first 20 reservations this opening weekend, Jan. 29 – 30. These 20 reservations will receive VIP treatment and a specially crafted tasting menu with Chef Watkins providing tableside commentary and insight into his acclaimed cuisine (and let me tell you, the boy has INSIGHT). Do it: 512-404-3655.

The Carillon, 1900 University Ave. Breakfast 7-10am; Dinner 5:30-10pm Tuesday through Saturday. www.MeetAtTexas.com/Restaurants

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December 8, 2009

My Fit Foods Update – Open & Huge Discount!

My Fit Foods’ Westlake location finally opened last Friday (here’s my previous coverage of My Fit Foods), and today a fantastic Groupon arrived in my email box:

$15 for $40 worth of food – that’s 64% off!

I immediately bought it. My Fit Foods is prepared foods that are healthy in the real way (low carb, low sugar, good fats) and easy to store and reheat. Can’t wait to pick up some grub!

If you haven’t heard about Groupon, it’s pretty awesome. The idea is that a local business offers a steep discount (coupon) that it only has to provide if a certain number of people (group) buy it. I bought an awesome deal from Mangia and have seen sweet deals on spa treatments, manis, pedis, gym memberships, and more. Fun!

Posted in Eating, Good people/services | 2 Comments »

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