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Jack Straw

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Rumor has it that Azul Tequila is moving from their cursed Dry Creek location to the old Double Dave's on Mesa.  I hope so.  They can cook, but every restaurant in that location smells like mopwater.  (Interestingly enough, so does El Mercado on north Burnet.)

Looking forward to trying Los Pinos Jalisco at 360/2222.  I'm hearing good things.  I'm hearing not so good things about Que Divino Cocina on Greystone.

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16 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Rumor has it that Azul Tequila is moving from their cursed Dry Creek location to the old Double Dave's on Mesa. 

Speaking of which, I miss Mesa Ranch.  I went there a couple times when my kids were young toward the end of it's tenure, and I thought the food was still solid and enjoyed the live music.

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So we ended up trying Los Pinos Jalisco last night.  It was good.  I'd say it leans a little more towards interior Mexican than Tex-Mex.  My wife had some mushroom enchiladas that were terrific.  

It's basically a repurposed pizza joint, so don't expect ambience.  We ate outside on their patio.  It's nice, but you're sitting by a parking lot.  

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On 4/24/2024 at 10:28 AM, irishtexan said:

 

We tried Cruzteca out in Sunset Valley about a month ago and I was pleasantly surprised. Cheese enchiladas were good. Drinks were good. I'll go back.

Wife, son and I went there tonight for the first time. Definitely adding to the rotation. Wife is a ceviche snob (her grandmother was from Tampico) and really liked it. Drinks were also top shelf. I had the carnitas tacos this time. Looking for forward to trying the guisada and pibil on future visits. Cool place. 

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Went to Enchiladas Y Mas tonight.  35 minute wait.  OK, fine.  2 minutes later we got called in.  I'll take the 33 minute error.

That place was absolutely hopping.  I've never heard it so loud.  I had just had tacos elsewhere yesterday, so I ordered migas.  Those were probably the best migas I've ever had.  Phenomenal.  My wife got her usual (Enchiladas Perfecto) and says they were in top form, too.

My can of Shiner Bock didn't suck.

EyM is at peak TexMex.  Stop going there.

Edited by jimmyjazz
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23 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Went to Enchiladas Y Mas tonight.  35 minute wait.  OK, fine.  2 minutes later we got called in.  I'll take the 33 minute error.

That place was absolutely hopping.  I've never heard it so loud.  I had just had tacos elsewhere yesterday, so I ordered migas.  Those were probably the best migas I've ever had.  Phenomenal.  My wife got her usual (Enchiladas Perfecto) and says they were in top form, too.

My can of Shiner Bock didn't suck.

EyM is at peak TexMex.  Stop going there.

Well then shut up about it already!

 

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  • 4 months later...

Not sure if this is the right place to put this, but went to Fonda tonight. We usually go there maybe once or twice a year. It's a freaking Austin treasure. My sister in law just moved back after living overseas for 12 years so it was a welcome back to Austin dinner. And it hit it out of the park. Wife and I are big mezcal fans and their choices are, well, so choice. And I can't go there without getting the mole, while wife and SIL got the ceviche and shrimp veracruzano. Parking sucks, and there's always a wait. But man that place is so good.

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20 minutes ago, ftf82 said:

Not sure if this is the right place to put this, but went to Fonda tonight. We usually go there maybe once or twice a year. It's a freaking Austin treasure. My sister in law just moved back after living overseas for 12 years so it was a welcome back to Austin dinner. And it hit it out of the park. Wife and I are big mezcal fans and their choices are, well, so choice. And I can't go there without getting the mole, while wife and SIL got the ceviche and shrimp veracruzano. Parking sucks, and there's always a wait. But man that place is so good.

Lol. I almost shouted Fonda out in the Texas Michelin thread earlier today as a maybe? but iirc there are a lot of condescending dickheads here that think it sucks (shocker - I know). I know that Michelin likes to reward shit like service and ambience and they sort of nail that. 

It's one of my favorite restaurants in Austin and has been for awhile. I'll take a queso fundido, duck enchiladas and crepes for dessert.

Love sitting at the bar as a party of 2. Just do away with that wait nonsense entirely. 

Edited by ztejas
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Fonda san Miguel has had runs where they weren't at their best, but overall it's one of our favorite restaurants in town and has been for decades.  Being a cheapskate, I particularly like the fact that we can get out of there for $100 or so after having an absolutely first-rate meal.

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So not entirely Mexican, but we went to Bar Toti last night (it’s from the Suerte/Este folks and adjacent to Este).  
 

Anyway, it was terrific-all day happy hour on Monday helped keep the cost tolerable and the hongos a la plancha were a highlight.  

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  • 3 weeks later...

Not really gonna miss it, as I havent been since well before Covid, but the Barton Springs Baby A's is no more. No doubt I killed some time and brain cells there back in the day, but the food was average at best. 

https://www.kvue.com/article/money/economy/boomtown-2040/austin-business-closing-location-barton-springs-baby-acapulco-purple-margarita/269-3b0c25f4-0a35-49d6-b5e7-9ef47aedc26c

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1 hour ago, Blotto said:

Not really gonna miss it, as I havent been since well before Covid, but the Barton Springs Baby A's is no more. No doubt I killed some time and brain cells there back in the day, but the food was average at best. 

https://www.kvue.com/article/money/economy/boomtown-2040/austin-business-closing-location-barton-springs-baby-acapulco-purple-margarita/269-3b0c25f4-0a35-49d6-b5e7-9ef47aedc26c

Damn. I swear the purple margs are what kept that place afloat.

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On 10/23/2024 at 12:34 PM, Pam Cummings said:

Damn. I swear the purple margs are what kept that place afloat.

Had a guy I worked with back in the 90's get served four or five of them after a day of tubing on the Guadalupe. When he stood up to leave, he pulled a Chris Farley and fell, knocking down the table next to us that was occupied by a couple and their two young children. 

 

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Fond memories of getting housed at the downstairs bar/patio of the campus location back in the day ....way back in the day. Once I moved back to Austin, I would hit it up the NorthStar location every now and then for the buffet. I hear the quality went to shit after covid, and I hadn't been back. Apparently I wasn't the only one. It seems strange that they are hinting there is a future for the business, now that they have zero locations open. 

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1 hour ago, Blotto said:

Fond memories of getting housed at the downstairs bar/patio of the campus location back in the day ....way back in the day. Once I moved back to Austin, I would hit it up the NorthStar location every now and then for the buffet. I hear the quality went to shit after covid, and I hadn't been back. Apparently I wasn't the only one. It seems strange that they are hinting there is a future for the business, now that they have zero locations open. 

Probably more appropriate for the Tex-Mex thread but either way, I too spent a lot of time at the Texas Star in college, and a lot of time at the North Star in my early professional career.

Some folks thought it always sucked, they are incorrect.  There were some dishes that sucked, and some that were great.  They were never much good at making traditional Tex-Mex, specifically their cheese enchiladas with brown chile gravy weren't very good, but there were several other dishes that were quite tasty.

But even before COVID, the quality definitely slid.  And post-COVID, after the Carolina venture capital firm bought it out, it was pretty much unrecognizable.  I went maybe twice I think, and it was like a totally different restaurant.

But I'll always fondly remember the Trudy's of the early/mid 90s, and for that, I'm sorry to see it go.

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Texas Star by campus was the first place I ever had brisket tacos (late 80s/early 90s), and many Mexican martinis. The brisket tacos were on the menu as the Texas Star Tacos for awhile both there and the South Star that was on South Lamar in the same center where Ray Hennig's Heart of Texas was. Quality nosedived after they expanded to Dripping and when they moved the South location out to off Little Texas and I-35. Shame to have nothing left but the memories, but a 40 year run for a restaurant is top shelf.

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Tinga chile relleno with chipotle sauce was fantastic.  Smoked chicken enchiladas and chorizo stuffed chicken were great too.  

Their standard Tex-Mex cheese enchiladas, not so much.

Anyway, it was an Austin icon for decades despite its late-season slide in quality and it'll be missed.

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