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Bee Caves, Lakeway, Hudson Bend Eats


Anastasis

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On 7/3/2019 at 12:57 PM, blacklab said:

went to Giovanni's table yesterday and it was great. It's a little hole in the wall at 11701 Bee Caves Rd. Family owned, it seems to be a guy and his wife running the show. They might not be right off the boat but are from Italy. I had the carbonara and it was great. I'm looking forward to trying the pizza. 

finally tried it and agree 100%.  Huge portions as well.  Whole family loved it.

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I'm gonna try it for lunch this week then.  Thanks for tip. 

Also, the Wayback is a good date night spot (on Bee Caves Round about halfway between town of Bee Caves and Loop 360).  I've only tried it for happy hour but I like the place.  Not completely sure what they're going for, seems like some bored housewife's extremely expensive hobby with the little cottages for rent.  But the grounds are gorgeous and great place to stop by after working out in Lakeway/Bee Caves area for a drink and charcuterie.  They also serve breakfast AND lunch until 3:00p during the week.

Edited by Lobo
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Just affirming Giovannis as a great dinner spot.  I had a crab and pasta dish with cream sauce the other night that was fantastic.  

Have eaten at Wayback the past 2 weeks and it has been spot on both times.  Very good date night place.  I understand the woman who owns the place is divorced and she has to make this place work.  She puts in lots of effort and it shows.  Had chicken/waffles Sunday after church.  Place was packed and the food was on point.  

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Heh . . . I know Vicki (The Wayback) very well.  One of her daughters is my daughter's long-time friend, although they no longer attend the same school.  Yes, Vicki has put a lot of work into the place, but I assure you that her ex is rolling in dough and generates it with ease.  I don't think failure of the business is insurmountable.

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Good story.  It just appeared on the surface to be well funded.  But glad to hear she's making a go of it on her own.  My mother opened up a restaurant a few years after my parents split up and she poured herself into making it work.  Tell her we love the place and best of luck.  We'll be back often.

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On 4/5/2019 at 11:33 PM, hornian said:

Los Pinos on Hudson Bend Road slams and goes hard. Homemade tortillas (flour and corn), best pozole in town, great enchiladas, etc. 

The other one had a less than stellar reputation on TOS, but I’ve never been to that one. 

Love LP. They have the absolute best tacos al pastor in Austin.

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On 3/31/2019 at 5:46 PM, Judge Roybeanbag said:

I liked it better back when it was Alpenhof Steak House.  

Man....I swear I’ve had to have met you before.
 

If I remember correctly, you’re from Wharton or El Campo and know about the rice farms. My family owned a few in El Campo and Edna where I grew up until 6th grade and move to Lakeway where I then I got a job working for Pepi at the Alpenhof.

 

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40 minutes ago, Orange&White said:

Man....I swear I’ve had to have met you before.
 

If I remember correctly, you’re from Wharton or El Campo and know about the rice farms. My family owned a few in El Campo and Edna where I grew up until 6th grade and move to Lakeway where I then I got a job working for Pepi at the Alpenhof.

 

We’ve probably crossed paths at some point. I actually grew up in Garwood, went to Rice CISD.  But worked for several rice farming families in the Garwood/Nada/Taiton area.  And married into an El Campo family.   Going there next week matter of fact.   

I had never eaten at Alpenhof while it was in Lakeway, only after it moved to the Hamilton Pool location.  I was sad when the old Ciolas in Lakeway closed.  My wife and I had some fine meals there.

 

Edited by Judge Roybeanbag
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15 hours ago, Orange&White said:

Love LP. They have the absolute best tacos al pastor in Austin.

I need to try that one on Hamilton Pool Road because I've given the one on Bee Caves road a few shots and it has disappointed each time.  

I've enjoyed both Santa Catarina and also the Lakeway location of Flores Mexican over the last several months as well.  

Couple of other random looking joints down Hamilton Pool road---any recs on those from y'all?  

 

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30 minutes ago, Lobo said:

I need to try that one on Hamilton Pool Road because I've given the one on Bee Caves road a few shots and it has disappointed each time.  

I've enjoyed both Santa Catarina and also the Lakeway location of Flores Mexican over the last several months as well.  

Couple of other random looking joints down Hamilton Pool road---any recs on those from y'all?  

 

Carmelas is decent cheap Italian and has good pizza.  Verdes has been mentioned in this thread.   Proof and Cooper is meh but has good drinks.  There’s a place called Route 12 Diner on 12 a little south of Hamilton Pool Road that has brunch, and supposedly good burgers and chicken fried steak, but I haven’t eaten there yet.   

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1 hour ago, Lobo said:

I need to try that one on Hamilton Pool Road because I've given the one on Bee Caves road a few shots and it has disappointed each time.  

I've enjoyed both Santa Catarina and also the Lakeway location of Flores Mexican over the last several months as well.  

Couple of other random looking joints down Hamilton Pool road---any recs on those from y'all?  

 

Santa Catarina is good. They have a location in Cedar Park that's also quite tasty.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Is that the pad site joint in front of Dillard's?  seems like it took forever to open up after the exterior finish-out, so I completely forgot about it.  But I'll try it week of New Year's on your rec.  What did you have?  

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On 12/19/2019 at 9:21 PM, Lobo said:

Is that the pad site joint in front of Dillard's?  seems like it took forever to open up after the exterior finish-out, so I completely forgot about it.  But I'll try it week of New Year's on your rec.  What did you have?  

Yep. That's it, right on the 620 side between the ecostation and the exxon. Terrible location. 

We had a lunch spread...spanakopita, lamb gyro, saganaki, and hummus. 

My primary criticism is that they didn't toast the pita.  Should be brushed with some olive oil and toasted slightly on the flat top.  It was warm, but needs to be toasted a bit to finish, akin to the HEB tortillas.

Spanakopita was very good.  Gyro was good and loaded with meat. Saganaki was ok. I did not like the hummus, it was a roasted red pepper hummus and I prefer a more traditional hummus.  Not terrible, but didn't really do it for me.

I did see a bowl of the avoglomeno soup come out.  It looked quite good, and I will try that one on a repeat trip. The got quite a bit on the menu.  It's not limited to Mediterranean food.  http://artemismediterraneangrill.com/menu.html

 

 

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On 12/21/2019 at 11:21 AM, 4th&Five said:

Ha. We’re aiming for NYE. Gonna try to get in and out before the Horns kickoff. 

Btw our dinner last night was great.  My wife enjoyed their wine system, we had the lobster corn dogs (cuz I’m trashy that way), the Caesar salad, and the filet.  Steak was good, on par with Perry’s usual.  The service was fantastic, maybe because it was Christmas Eve.   Hopefully your experience will be as good.  

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21 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Btw our dinner last night was great.  My wife enjoyed their wine system, we had the lobster corn dogs (cuz I’m trashy that way), the Caesar salad, and the filet.  Steak was good, on par with Perry’s usual.  The service was fantastic, maybe because it was Christmas Eve.   Hopefully your experience will be as good.  

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That looks great. NYE is a prime rib prix fix so I’ll have to try the full menu another time. 

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Many people in Central Texas take big liberties with how they describe locations of things.  Southwest Austin used to end at Loop 1/Loop 45.  Now SW Austin refers to everything up to the post office in Driftwood. 

I've appreciated this thread since my 9-month stint working in Lakeway.  Only one more month out there and I need to try a few more spots.  Was hoping that breakfast place where Gattis used to be on 620 will open before then, but it's doubtful.  One curious opening to me is "The North End" in Bee Cave proper (by that giant carwash).  No relation to "North Italian Grill."  A curious gambit to put another Italian place in a small area already populated with 4 mid-priced Italian joints (Giovanni's, TOSS-admittedly more pizza, Tony C's, and Mandola's).  "The North End" looks like it's going a little more upmarket based on the site.  It'll also be smack dab equidistant from two locations of the The Grove, which is a very Italian-driven menu.  Anyway, if anyone knows when this North End is set to open, post it here-would love to try it on my way home from Lakeway some time.  

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I think we allowed for the trek down 71 (and up 71 toward the perd) upthread.

I don't think that Grove really competes directly in the Italian category. Yes, they have pizza and pastas but there are very few of their dishes that are straight up Italian (bolognese for example).

Update on Artemis. My wife went by and tried their avgolomeno soup and was unimpressed. Said it was a good chicken noodle, but not a avgolomeno. El Greco had the best avgolomeno soup ever.  Too bad the owners of the place were batshit crazy. 

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On 12/26/2019 at 10:14 PM, AustinMT said:

Looks great, but how did a southwest Austin restaurant get on this board?

I sorta made a caveat.  Most people traveling to and from Bee Cave/Lakeway to Austin commute past it.  

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Not quite ‘Bee Cave’ but Carve opened up this week at William Cannon and SW Parkway.   Going to try it out next week.  It’s a Perry’s joint.

 

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By the way, I want to give another shout out for Jim’s Smokehouse, the BBQ trailer by the Bait Shop and Fort Fletch near Marshall Ford on 620.  Stopped in several times, and the brisket is very good. Sausage is also good, ribs are OK but not as good as the brisket. Sides are excellent.  In the 620 rankings, below Interstellar but much better than Rudy’s.

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Big twin liquors in galleria is moving into their little store by HEB.  Total Wine is moving into Twin’s spot and it’ll actually be one of their smaller stores.  
 

had lunch at Giovanni yesterday.  It was good, not great.  The couple that runs it though, make it worth coming back.  

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22 hours ago, Lobo said:

Big twin liquors in galleria is moving into their little store by HEB.  Total Wine is moving into Twin’s spot and it’ll actually be one of their smaller stores.  
 

had lunch at Giovanni yesterday.  It was good, not great.  The couple that runs it though, make it worth coming back.  

That’s a major downsize for twins but glad to have a total wine in that location. 

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12 hours ago, Anastasis said:

That’s a major downsize for twins but glad to have a total wine in that location. 

That space was too big for Twin.  They were trying to mimic a Spec’s, but they weren’t doing the volume.  Problem with Twin is that their prices are generally higher on liquor and always higher on wine than TW or Spec’s.  Sometimes I will stumble across a wine that is typically not in stores (they had some Seven Stones at the Four Points one time, and Notre Vin at the Balcones store), but it is way overpriced.

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Total Wine is gonna crush that Spec's across the street.  Twin has locational convenience and (usually) much better service than TW or Spec's.  TW beats Twin on price and selection.  Spec's was the gamechanger by being the first big box liquor/wine place in Austin, but Total Wine is gonna squeeze them out eventually.  Twin will always remain, though they'll probably quit building out those massive end cap stores and just stick to the neighborhood strip center locations.  I'm genuinely surprised at how many little one-off liquor stores Austin can still sustain though. 

On the lunch topic---any insight on "Hops & Thyme" off 620?  One of the last places I've yet to try in my Lakeway stint.  Was thinking about hitting it up today or tomorrow.  

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1 hour ago, Lobo said:

Total Wine is gonna crush that Spec's across the street.  Twin has locational convenience and (usually) much better service than TW or Spec's.  TW beats Twin on price and selection.  Spec's was the gamechanger by being the first big box liquor/wine place in Austin, but Total Wine is gonna squeeze them out eventually.  Twin will always remain, though they'll probably quit building out those massive end cap stores and just stick to the neighborhood strip center locations.  I'm genuinely surprised at how many little one-off liquor stores Austin can still sustain though. 

On the lunch topic---any insight on "Hops & Thyme" off 620?  One of the last places I've yet to try in my Lakeway stint.  Was thinking about hitting it up today or tomorrow.  

Agree on service — Twin does a good job.  Also agree they should stick to the small to mid-size store model.

And also agree TW will suck a lot of business from the Spec’s

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3 hours ago, Lobo said:

On the lunch topic---any insight on "Hops & Thyme" off 620?  One of the last places I've yet to try in my Lakeway stint.  Was thinking about hitting it up today or tomorrow. 

We like sitting on the patio when the wether is nice and grabbing a few beers. Last few times we were there the kitchen was having serious problems getting the right things out in a timely manner. 

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5 hours ago, Lobo said:

Total Wine is gonna crush that Spec's across the street.  Twin has locational convenience and (usually) much better service than TW or Spec's.  TW beats Twin on price and selection.  Spec's was the gamechanger by being the first big box liquor/wine place in Austin, but Total Wine is gonna squeeze them out eventually.  Twin will always remain, though they'll probably quit building out those massive end cap stores and just stick to the neighborhood strip center locations.  I'm genuinely surprised at how many little one-off liquor stores Austin can still sustain though. 

On the lunch topic---any insight on "Hops & Thyme" off 620?  One of the last places I've yet to try in my Lakeway stint.  Was thinking about hitting it up today or tomorrow.  

That Spec’s is bad even for Spec’s. 

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5 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

Yeah, had prime rib on Xmas so didn’t want the prix fixe or miss the horns. I’m gonna spend some time in that bar area though. Nice to have in the hood. 

I’m looking forward to going on a normal Friday evening to see how the rest of the menu is.  

Edited by Judge Roybeanbag
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  • 1 month later...
We stopped there on the way back from Marble Falls one time and found it kinda meh. Pizza was very similar to Toss.

I like Yaghi's the best out of everything I've tried. 

 

Yaghi’s pizza is good. Toss is good. I like the seafood pastas at casa nostra. The pizza is so-so at best.

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