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Overrated Austin restaurants?


Chet Steadman

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19 minutes ago, Atxracer said:

I judge Tex-mex on 4 things: fajitas, queso, salsa and margaritas.   They fail, miserably, on 3 out of 4 of those criteria.  If I a missing something, I am all ears.   

you’re missing that steamin, greasy plate of enchiladas. 

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Here's a Maudie's Pro Tip.

Instead of ordering the Enchiladas Perfecto, order the Mexican Special.

You lose one enchilada, but you gain a crispy taco and guacamole salad. And those two items are served before everyone else gets their plate, so you get a good feeling of rubbing it in their face that you are eating tacos and guac and they aren't.

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13 hours ago, Atxracer said:

I judge Tex-mex on 4 things: fajitas, queso, salsa and margaritas.   They fail, miserably, on 3 out of 4 of those criteria.  If I a missing something, I am all ears.   

you got two out of four right.  salsa and queso.  i would go with enchiladas and beans for the other two.  

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15 hours ago, rage-a-holic said:

You're an idiot. Maudie's has great queso, salsa and margaritas. And you don't order fajitas from any place that doesn't make their own tortillas, so you're 4th criteria is invalid.

Maudie’s queso is terrible, maybe the worst I’ve ever had. But I agree on their salsa. And, tortillas aside, I actually like their fajitas. The serranos are a nice touch.

I think, in general, having any Tex-Mex joint on this thread is stupid anyway. Some places do certain things better than others, and I’ve occasionally been to a place that was BAD. But when it’s good, it’s all kind of the same. In a good way.

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Wow, whole lotta love for Maudies.  Maybe its the location.  For convenience and the margarita, I primarily go to the Bee Caves one. Thanks for the tip on the strait plate.  Sounds interesting, will give it a try.

Not ordering fajitas from a place that doesn't make their own tortillas is a fair point.  

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5 hours ago, formermav43 said:

Maudie’s queso is terrible, maybe the worst I’ve ever had. But I agree on their salsa. And, tortillas aside, I actually like their fajitas. The serranos are a nice touch.

I think, in general, having any Tex-Mex joint on this thread is stupid anyway. Some places do certain things better than others, and I’ve occasionally been to a place that was BAD. But when it’s good, it’s all kind of the same. In a good way.

I don’t know if they do them better at different locations, but the maudie’s on lake austin blvd has absolute shit fajitas.  still great for queso and enchiladas though. 

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I don’t know if they do them better at different locations, but the maudie’s on lake austin blvd has absolute shit fajitas.  still great for queso and enchiladas though. 

The fajitas are bad at all their restaurants. They just don’t do them well, but other things are damn good.

It’s one of those places you just have to know what to order. I live walking distance from one location so we go there all the time for takeout on nights the kids have practice and whatnot.

Their tortilla soup is surprisingly good and in takeout form all the components are separate - so you can combine to you liking.


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I’ll probably get flamed for this, but... Fonda San Miguel.  Yeah, it’s an institution, but they really need to re-work the menu, and step it up in the kitchen.  For the interior Mexican food style, they are (in my opinion), well behind Javier’s in Dallas or La Fonda in San Antonio, and Hugo’s in Houston.

Our food on my last visit (about 4 months ago) was, well, bland and over cooked.

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22 minutes ago, Gardner Barnes said:


The fajitas are bad at all their restaurants. They just don’t do them well, but other things are damn good.

It’s one of those places you just have to know what to order. I live walking distance from one location so we go there all the time for takeout on nights the kids have practice and whatnot.

Their tortilla soup is surprisingly good and in takeout form all the components are separate - so you can combine to you liking.


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seconded on the tortilla soup.  it’s good. 

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5 hours ago, AustinMT said:

I’ll probably get flamed for this, but... Fonda San Miguel.  Yeah, it’s an institution, but they really need to re-work the menu, and step it up in the kitchen.  For the interior Mexican food style, they are (in my opinion), well behind Javier’s in Dallas or La Fonda in San Antonio, and Hugo’s in Houston.

Our food on my last visit (about 4 months ago) was, well, bland and over cooked.

We ate there a little over a year ago, and the food was awful for the price.  I'd recommend a taco cart over that place.

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I love Fonda San Miguel for what it is, which is a very nice restaurant that serves better than decent Mexican food.  I'd sure rather pay $20 for a plate of enchiladas there than $17 at Manuel's.  The difference in dining experience is vast.

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5 minutes ago, bularry1 said:

I don't understand evaluating tex-mex by fajitas.  tex-mex is cheese enchilada, chips and salsa, guacamole, chicken enchiladas with verde sauce, chile relleno, carne guisada, etc. 

Definitely agree on the cheese enchiladas.  That's the very first dish I order at any Tex-Mex restaurant.  If they don't get that one right, I won't bother visiting a second time.

 

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1 hour ago, bularry1 said:

I don't understand evaluating tex-mex by fajitas.  tex-mex is cheese enchilada, chips and salsa, guacamole, chicken enchiladas with verde sauce, chile relleno, carne guisada, etc. 

 

1 hour ago, utee94 said:

Definitely agree on the cheese enchiladas.  That's the very first dish I order at any Tex-Mex restaurant.  If they don't get that one right, I won't bother visiting a second time.

 

 

1 hour ago, 4th&Five said:

Yep. Chips & salsa, an order of cheese enchiladas and a crispy beef taco. That’s always my first order at a new place. 

All of these QFT.

Fajitas are not necessarily something a tex-mex restaurant will have or be good at.  They require a grill.  Most tex-mex does not, so if the place doesn't have a grill, don't order the fajitas.

I really can't believe there are folks bitching about Maudie's enchiladas on this thread?  Seriously?  They're damned good. 

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^^^^^

 

Agree on that front, too.  Fajitas aren't really a Tex-Mex thing, and they certainly weren't an expectation at ANY restaurant until maybe a couple decades ago.  Add to that, that it's easy and fun to grill fajitas myself, and I can do it better than any restaurant I've ever been, and it's just not something I ever find myself ordering.

7 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

 

 

All of these QFT.

Fajitas are not necessarily something a tex-mex restaurant will have or be good at.  They require a grill.  Most tex-mex does not, so if the place doesn't have a grill, don't order the fajitas.

I really can't believe there are folks bitching about Maudie's enchiladas on this thread?  Seriously?  They're damned good. 

It's the surl/shag.  People would bitch about anything.  Texas could win the national championship in football for the next 5 years straight, and folks around here would complain that the team wasn't beating teams by large enough margins, or that there's too much White Stripes being played in the stadium, or something.

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Usually the best fajitas coincide with a higher grade cut of beef. The smaller joints don’t spend the money on expensive  beef. If anything, stick to the chicken if you must. 

Expensive beef? Fajitas are about taking an inexpensive cut of beef and making it into something better. 
 
And f chicken ‘fajitas.’

Verdad.
And yes, although started from the cheapest cuts, the fajita meat at Maudie’s vs pappasitos is night and day regardless of tradition. It’s not the prep

WTF???

It’s skirt steak. Period. It starts with cheap cuts, and ends with them. Because “fajita” IS a specific cut. The difference between grades is negligible. Prep damn well does matter - removing membrane, type and time of marinade, not overcooking, slicing properly.

Jesus. What the fucking fuck.
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If you think the meat used at the higher end Tex mex places (pappasitos, Lupe etc) are the same, I don’t know what to tell you. Are you saying they just suck ass with that cut of meat or are the latter using a different product?  

Your taco truck and those restaurants ain’t serving the same skirt steak just cooked differently. Shit. Does Taco Bell use the same meat in this universe?

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