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Overrated Austin restaurants?


Chet Steadman

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On 3/25/2021 at 11:48 AM, Pescado_Rojo said:

My go-to when Mrs Rojo wants Chuy's is the steak burrito with Boom-Boom sauce. 

I'd bet I've eaten at Chuy's an easy 150x in the 25+ yrs I've been in Austin.  The number of times I've eaten something other than the steak burrito might be 2?

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18 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

I like to think that Brat ordered this big ass plate of fajitas with queso, rice, jalapeno ranch. Then his wife just said she would have the tortilla soup.

"Suit yourself."

Mrs. Brat used all the queso on the chips topped with my guac, pico & the salsa.

I ate two tortillas with chicken, pico, onions, & cheese… dipped in the creamy jalapeño.

Brought half the the chicken, onions & pico home with three tortillas and all the rice for dinner today. (Poured half the creamy j on the rice to ferment overnight)

That was an order of chicken fajitas for one and her soup was the cup size, not the bowl.

We are olds and do not eat that much.

Edited by Armybrat
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Just now, Brisketexan said:

Lupe Tortilla fajitas are indeed really, really good.  And really, really pricey for what you get.

I've heard about the price. I was not paying. But I definitely ate.

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3 hours ago, texasdago said:

That's like me and Guero's... maybe 2-3 items total for me other than alcohol.

I find something I like and get that for life.

Thundercloud - roast beef & avocado
Jimmy John's - Gargantuan
Maudie's - Power Bowl or Straight Plate, depending on day/time/future plans

 

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45 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said:

I found Maudie’s unimpressive. I kept hearing everyone on the old site hype it up. Besides enchiladas y más, I struggled to find good Tex Mex in Austin. So I tried Maudie’s. Not bad but nothing great. It perplexes me that Austin doesn’t have like 10 really solid Tex Mex options.

Maudie's has an enchilada plate called "Josie's" that is basically the same recipe as enchiladas con queso from Enchiladas y Mas.  Usually not as good, but close.  Otherwise, eh.  Maudie's table salsa can be decent, though.

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2 hours ago, Patricio Swayze said:

I found Maudie’s unimpressive. I kept hearing everyone on the old site hype it up. Besides enchiladas y más, I struggled to find good Tex Mex in Austin. So I tried Maudie’s. Not bad but nothing great. It perplexes me that Austin doesn’t have like 10 really solid Tex Mex options.

You’re not wrong. Lupe Tortillas is easily the best Tex Mex in Austin. 

 

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You’re not wrong. Lupe Tortillas is easily the best Tex Mex in Austin. 
 

Good fajitas, completely ridiculous price.

20 years ago Jovitas (yep, heroin jovitas) had a solid enchiladas verdes plate. I recall the salsa being good. But that was a long time ago and the obvious.

Maybe Valentina’s can carry the load in their shoulders.
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Maudie’s is very dependent on the location. The quality various widely. I haven’t been in a few years so I can’t comment on the current status.

Casa Garcia was very good across the board but I haven’t lived south in years so I haven’t been in over a decade.

Nuevo Mexico is very good Tex Mex.

A few dishes at La Mancha are top notch but the whiteness comes through too often.

Los Comales is solid.

I still really enjoy Juan’s, Angie’s, and Amaya’s for specific dishes.

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32 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

Maudie’s is very dependent on the location. The quality various widely. I haven’t been in a few years so I can’t comment on the current status.

Yup. LA and S. Lamar are the best and most consistent, imo. Bee Cave and Milagro are the worst. 

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I made the same mistake because my daughter wanted Torchy’s. And I fucking know better, so that’s on me I guess. The taco of the month came in the usual shitty tortilla but with added rubbery frozen shrimp cooked with what appeared to be no seasoning.

Next time I am skipping all tacos and just getting a bucket of queso.

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A coworker recently moved to Denver. I was presented with the question: bellagreen or Torchy's for his sendoff? 

I was stunned by the question. Torchy's sucks so very hard, why would anyone want to have a last lunch there? 

I responded bellagreen of course. Everybody in the party bitched incessantly along the way about how they wanted to go to Torchy's. 

We get to bellagreen, everybody sits down and eats. No more bitching. I think many like what's familiar than what is actually good. This is my only explanation for why people literally line up in Rice Village to eat at Torchy's. 

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Man, co-sign on La Mancha. My wife (gringa) LOVES the place. She’s managed to persuade the kids the same. So much so, that the day they get back from being overseas and want Mexican, that’s where we went. My Mexican dad (their only local grandparent) joined us. As he examined the menu, he effectively asked “what is this gringo shit?”
Still, he ended up liking his truck stop enchilada, and when we ordered the queso all the way, he said “oh…this is like that Bob Armstrong stuff at Matt’s [local friends like to meet there for drinks]. That’s good.”
And those are the go-tos at La Mancha.
I much prefer EYM, but for some reason, my wife doesn’t like it (I think she doesn’t like the run-down look of the place, whereas La Mancha is all glitzy and pretty).
El Nuevo Mexico is actually kind of a secret treasure, glad to see it get a mention. And, the wife likes it, so that’s a win.
Oh, also…all this Torchy’s hate makes me feel warm and fuzzy. Their queso is the only thing worth a shit.

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33 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

A coworker recently moved to Denver. I was presented with the question: bellagreen or Torchy's for his sendoff? 

I was stunned by the question. Torchy's sucks so very hard, why would anyone want to have a last lunch there? 

I responded bellagreen of course. Everybody in the party bitched incessantly along the way about how they wanted to go to Torchy's. 

We get to bellagreen, everybody sits down and eats. No more bitching. I think many like what's familiar than what is actually good. This is my only explanation for why people literally line up in Rice Village to eat at Torchy's. 

They have Torchy's in Denver too.

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1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

El Nuevo Mexico is actually kind of a secret treasure

For some reason, I never think of that place on "Mexican food night", nor can I even remember its name.  We go there a few times a year and I always say to myself "man, I need to put this into heavier rotation", and then my lack of remaining useful brain cells kicks in and I forget about it for a couple of months.

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2 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

We go to Nuevo Mexico once a week for lunch. It’s a great deal for like $10. I always get the stuffed jalapeños instead of rice as a side. It’s one of the few places in town with homemade tortillas.

Also you can get the breakfast enchilada plate anytime.  2 cheese enchiladas topped with 2 fried eggs, refried beans and fried potatoes instead of rice.

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  • 4 months later...
On 12/23/2022 at 10:52 AM, Brisketexan said:

Man, co-sign on La Mancha. My wife (gringa) LOVES the place. She’s managed to persuade the kids the same. So much so, that the day they get back from being overseas and want Mexican, that’s where we went. My Mexican dad (their only local grandparent) joined us. As he examined the menu, he effectively asked “what is this gringo shit?”
Still, he ended up liking his truck stop enchilada, and when we ordered the queso all the way, he said “oh…this is like that Bob Armstrong stuff at Matt’s [local friends like to meet there for drinks]. That’s good.”
And those are the go-tos at La Mancha.
I much prefer EYM, but for some reason, my wife doesn’t like it (I think she doesn’t like the run-down look of the place, whereas La Mancha is all glitzy and pretty).

I just had the truck stop enchilada plate - pretty darn good and much better than the regular gringo beef enchiladas. 
Double rice as usual. Mexican martini went down well - pretty strong.

 

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Haven’t had a ton there outside of the chorizo migas but, 

Salsa Limon on the drag has pretty good chorizo migas. Wife (no pics) had a couple of their tacos and said they were good as well. 
Portions are legit “two mealers” in terms of size. 

Edited by BrazilHorn
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OK, I looked up "Pasta|Bar Austin" and I see it's a new joint in the old Castle Hill / Corazon building, which has been vacant for way too long.  Reservations are $195 per person, which to me seems insane, but a long way from nearly $600 per person.  What's the catch?  A couple of bottles of super expensive wine?

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2 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

OK, I looked up "Pasta|Bar Austin" and I see it's a new joint in the old Castle Hill / Corazon building, which has been vacant for way too long.  Reservations are $195 per person, which to me seems insane, but a long way from nearly $600 per person.  What's the catch?  A couple of bottles of super expensive wine?

I went last week. That is the correct price, but you can add in wine parings and get it up there pretty quick. 

BTW - I thought it was worth the price. 

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On 12/23/2022 at 3:07 PM, tchookem said:

Has Trudy's been mentioned? It needs to be mentioned. My friend's wife loves that place, so I'm forced to go a couple times a year. I'd rather eat Taco Bell.

I went there in 95 for the first time. I was fresh out of high school and thought it was awesome. If you are a native it probably is terrible or overrated but when you bring nostalgia into the equation,  rational brains tend to warp your view of things. 

I have never been to Trudy's though. 

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