March 30, 1996: Shields Restaurant.

Posted on March 30, 1996 by dwightbrown

5122 Bee Caves Road
328-9770

Pepper grinder rating: 0.

Men’s room rating: 3. (Average and large enough. The old cigarette ads on the wall are amusing for a few seconds, and I like places that put sections of the daily paper above the urinals. I’m still waiting to hear from Terri about the women’s room.)

Dwight’s comments:

We went to Shields expecting it to be a pizza place. Yes, they do serve pizza, but we reached the conclusion early on that it isn’t a pizza place: it’s a sports bar that serves pizza. (I counted three TV sets, all turned on, including one projection screen in the middle of the restaurant.)

The pizza is just okay: the style is very close to Milto’s deep dish pizzas, but Milto’s does a much better job, I think.

If you live out along Bee Caves, it wouldn’t be a bad place to take the children (there’s even an outdoor deck where noisy families can exile themselves), or a bad place to watch the sporting event du joir.

As a pizza place, though, Shields is not an essential stop on any dining tour of Austin.

Additional comments from +Rich:

Also, we weren’t terribly impressed by Shields pizza, it seemed overpriced, the crust was average and obviously the same thing they served as garlic bread. And while it wasn’t too bad while we were there, the atmosphere there has the potential to be absolutely testosterone laden. I like sports and that was still a bit high on video availability.

Additional comments from Ann Anonymous Diner:

No better for lunch than dinner. I work minutes away and NEVER go there. (Well, hardly ever.) They get points for actually showing both Formula 1 and Grand Prix motorcycle racing; seeing as almost nobody in this country watches either one. (Except for me, of course.)

Posted in Closed, Pizza, Sports Bar | Leave a comment

March 23, 1996: Gumbo’s.

Posted on March 23, 1996 by dwightbrown

14735 Bratton Lane
251-1606

Pepper grinder rating: 0.

Men’s room rating: 2. (Very nice, but loses a point for being undersized relative to the resteraunt’s seating capacity.)

Dwight’s comments:

If you look at my “Not a Top Ten List”, you’ll see I really like Gumbo’s. It’s the sort of place that does just about everything right: from service to food to the little things like change.

It’s also the sort of place you don’t want anyone else to know about: I’m afraid it’s already too late for that, though. They’ve expanded once since I’ve started going there, and the place is still just too small. If you go, especially on a Friday or Saturday night, be prepared for a 30 to 40 minute wait at least. (No reservations.)

I’m partial to the pasta dishes: I don’t care much for gumbo in general, but other people I’ve been with rave about that and the etoufee. (Gumbo’s don’t skimp on the portions, either.)

It’s nice to see this place making a go of it: now, if only they’d expand again…

Additional comments from Ann Anonymous Diner:

Both the crawfish and shrimp etoufees are great and very reasonably priced. (Go on a weekday night if you know what is good for you.)

Posted in Cajun, Closed | Leave a comment

March 16, 1996: Compadre’s Cafe & Cantina.

Posted on March 16, 1996 by dwightbrown

1817 S. Lamar
441-9789

Pepper grinder rating: 0.

Men’s room rating: 1. (Generally run down, but I didn’t see any obvious health hazards. The single toilet (yes, one) is positioned way too close to the wall for sitting comfort.)

Dwight’s comments:
Yet another in Austin’s long line of bland TexMex places, complete with not-very-hot hot sauce (but decent chips).

I had a completely undistinguished and tasteless chicken breast (stuffed with cheese and bacon). Lawrence took the chance to order the buffalo fajitas, and commented that they could have used more salt and flavoring (perhaps a marinade). The (beef) fajita nachos had the same problem, I thought.

I have yet to find any TexMex place I really like; but, if I want TexMex, Serrano’s is a more comfortable and less bland alternative. (I also feel pretty good about Curra’s Grill.)

(Editorial note, November 10, 1996: Compadre’s is now advertising that they’ve changed names (to “Cheyenne Cafe and Cantina”), but are still under the same management, with the same food. I haven’t been back, but, given that the new advertising seems to place a heavy emphasis on the the strength of their “Turbo Rita”, I see no reason to change my views.)

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March 9, 1996: Catfish Parlor.

Posted on March 9, 1996 by dwightbrown

11910 Research
258-1853

Pepper grinder rating: 0.

Men’s room rating: 3.5. (Clean, with some nice touches. Lawrence particularly liked the “Please wait. Your hostess will seat you.” sign.)

Dwight’s comments:

It was one of those weeks, when we wanted to go somewhere and know exactly what we were getting, and how much of it we’d get. “Comfort food”, for want of a better description.

Catfish Parlor does a reasonable job of this, with good service and all-you-can-eat specials (Catfish all the time, popcorn shrimp Monday and Tuesday nights.). They have the sort of style I usually don’t like (fake homestyle, complete with decoration by the BMTCRSC, but it works for them: I think because they don’t take it too seriously.

It’s not fine dining by any standard (and I’m not really a big fan of catfish as a food), but if you want to go someplace predictable (and like a good loose child policy: “Unattended children will be seized and sold to the gypsies.”), or pick up dinner for the family on the way home, Catfish Parlor is worth a try.

Posted in American, Seafood | Leave a comment

March 2, 1996: Bertram’s Restaurant and Bar.

Posted on March 2, 1996 by dwightbrown

1601 Guadalupe
476-2743

Pepper grinder rating: 3. (Actually, a 2 pepper grinder, but they get an extra point for a good looking design.)

Men’s room rating: 3. (Clean, well lighted, but seems too small for the size of the restaurant. Extra points for the exposed ductwork, which makes it look like something out of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.)

Dwight’s comments:

This was recommended to us by my good friend and former partner, Heather Galyon. I don’t think we were as impressed by it as she is, though.

Bertram’s falls pretty squarely on the upscale side of the dining experience: about $40 per person with salads and appetizers, in addition to the main course. The steamed mussels (in a white wine and butter sauce) were an excellent appetizer, but I felt cheated by the black pepper Parmesan biscuits with crayfish sauce: biscuit would have been a more accurate description. My Caesar salad was competently executed, but I’ve had better ones elsewhere.

The main courses suffered from two basic problems we’ve been running into recently:

  • The French Problem. Or, “I enjoyed my main course. All three ounces of it.” Again, Lawrence and I (and our good friend, Andrew “Scarlet Letter” Wimsatt, who joined us for dinner) aren’t pigs. But high prices and small portion sizes are a sure turn-off for us.
  • We’ve also found that a lot of places seem to have given up marinades or spices on their various meat dishes. Instead, they serve the dishes with a sauce and let that carry the flavor of the dish. The problem is, that only works if the sauce is interesting. Neither the nicoise (a black olive) sauce on my roasted leg of lamb, or the cognac and green peppercorn sauce on Lawrence and Andrew’s beef tenderloin were that interesting.

Conversation after dinner:

“I think I’ll have the $7 cheesecake.”
“Excuse me? A $7 cheesecake?”
“Yes.”
“That’s cheese and cake, right? They don’t put bourbon or nothing in it?”
“Nope.”

I wouldn’t mind going back again, if someone else was paying (I wonder if they do corporate events.) or if I was trying to impress a date. However, given a choice, I’ll take Castle Hill Cafe over Bertram’s.

Posted in American, Fine Dining | Leave a comment

February 17, 1996: Pao’s Mandarin House (downtown) (Location Closed)

Posted on February 17, 1996 by dwightbrown

800 Brazos St.
482-8100
Pepper grinder rating: 0.

Dwight’s comments:

The Chinese food here is as good as any I’ve had in Austin, and the prices were surprisingly reasonable. I had been led to believe (from the location, and word on the street) that Pao’s was expensive; it looks like, with careful ordering of specials, you could get out for $10 or less on a weeknight (without drinks).
The service was excellent, approaching fawning. I think we were waited on by two different waiters at the same time, as well as the head waiter (owner? manager? Couldn’t tell for sure, but it seemed possible he was one or all of the above.) Discussing the differences between the HP48SX and HP48GX handheld computers with one of the waiters added a fittingly surreal touch to the dining experience.
I’d say Pao’s blows away China on the Avenue and Chinatown (which I think has gone downhill in the past couple of years), and gives Tien Hong (my gold standard) a run for the money. I also want to go back and try dim sum, to see how it compares to Shanghai (our standard for dim sum – no, we haven’t tried the Rainbow yet, and that’s next on my list.).
Editorial note: The phone book and the Austin WWW Restaurant Guides both show this as “Pao’s Mandrin House”. I’ve chosen to go with the spelling on their card.

(Added editorial note, revised May 26, 1997: We did try the North Rainbow for dim sum and dinner: the dim sum we thought was as good as Shanghai’s. However,
(1) Shanghai has changed names (several times now) and wasn’t serving dim sum the last time we checked.
(2) The North Rainbow closed and has been replaced by a place called Mong Kok: we haven’t tried dim sum there yet.)
Life is suffering. Pao’s remains consistant, though: I’ve been eating there about once every two weeks, and have yet to have a bad experience. And they have some good specials if you get there before 7.)

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February 10, 1996: Alpenhof Steak Haus (Closed)

Posted on February 10, 1996 by dwightbrown

16018 Hamilton Pool Rd.
263-9875
Pepper grinder rating: 0.

Dwight’s comments:
This isn’t a bad steak place, and the prices are reasonable. I like the atmosphere much better than the Outback’s: it feels very…European hunting lodge. (Whatever you do, don’t talk about the war.)
The service was okay as well. On the other hand, this is pretty far out to drive from where we live, and I can’t justify doing it on a regular basis for the quality of food they serve.
Alpinhof is a good mid-range dining choice, and someplace I’d take family members (or other people) that I wanted to impress with a scenic drive. It’d also make a nice couples spot.
As far as the food goes, however, I didn’t feel it had much to recommend it over Outback: and for high-end steak, Ruth’s Chris remains our gold standard.

Additional comments from Ann Anonymous Diner:
I liked the food, and most of the decor was fine, but the concrete walls made me feel like I was eating in Hitler’s bunker. (“No shortage of cream in the bunker!”)

Posted in Closed, Fine Dining, Steak | Tagged , | Leave a comment

February 3, 1996: Mesa Hills Cafe (Closed)

Posted on February 3, 1996 by dwightbrown

435 Greystone
345-7423
Pepper grinder rating: 1.

Dwight’s comments:
As Lawrence put it, “Now I know why we go there every couple of years: so we can remind ourselves why we don’t go there more often.”
The Mesa Hills Cafe is within walking distance of my apartment, and has a 1/2 price burger special on Saturday nights: that’s about all that can be said for it.
Even though it wasn’t crowded that night (I guess the weather kept everyone in.) the service was indifferent (I got the feeling they were short of wait staff because of the weather; but they sure seemed to have enough staff to give the few other customers much more attention than they gave us.) and the food was…mediocre. They have some unusual menu items, but they couldn’t even seem to get a simple burger right: I wouldn’t trust them with anything more complicated.
Frankly, it seems to be a “bar food” sort of place; but even in that category, Waterloo does a better burger.

Additional comments from Ann Anonymous Diner:
A stripmall burger place for housewifes who don’t know any better. Yuk.

Posted in Burgers, Cheap Dining, Closed | Tagged , | Leave a comment