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Jack Straw

By Jack Straw
in Austin

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utee94

utee94 15823

Posted
Posted
43 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

We went to La Mancha last night, because Valentine's Day, and my wife wanted to go there.

It was not great.  I got some sort of 3-taco chicken tinga plate, and it was so soggy I had to eat the thing with a knife and fork.  Their table salsa is awful, pretty much just canned tomatoes with enough jalapeno to add decent heat but utterly bland flavor-wise.

My Shiner Bock was on point.

Yeah this has been my experience there the past couple of times.  I just gave up and stopped going.

Too bad, I liked it pretty well right when it opened in the Jorge's space.  But it's been on a pretty steady downward trend ever since.

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105143

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Yeah this has been my experience there the past couple of times.  I just gave up and stopped going.
Too bad, I liked it pretty well right when it opened in the Jorge's space.  But it's been on a pretty steady downward trend ever since.

The truck stop enchiladas are the go-to item there. I tried some of the “street tacos” one time, and they were not good. The crispy tacos are ok. The wife loves it, because it’s a pretty, gringofied Mexican food place. And, we always see people we know.
But, she’s also down with hitting El Nuevo Mexico, which is actually pretty good.
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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 45957

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1 hour ago, utee94 said:

Too bad, I liked it pretty well right when it opened in the Jorge's space.  But it's been on a pretty steady downward trend ever since.

It's a fantastic, convenient north central location, and I like the vibe, both inside and out.  Haven't had a marg there in a while, I assume they're OK, in which case it's a decent choice for mid-afternoon day-drinking to escape the office, but honestly the food is below Chuy's and Maudie's.  I mean, how hard do you have to try to fuck up a bowl of table salsa with some chips?

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hornian

hornian 5219

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

It's a fantastic, convenient north central location, and I like the vibe, both inside and out.  Haven't had a marg there in a while, I assume they're OK, in which case it's a decent choice for mid-afternoon day-drinking to escape the office, but honestly the food is below Chuy's and Maudie's.  I mean, how hard do you have to try to fuck up a bowl of table salsa with some chips?

You’d assume wrong. My wife sent back her margarita, it was that bad, last time we were there. Which will be our last. I’ve given it enough chances. 

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Chet Steadman

Chet Steadman 940

Posted
Posted (edited)
14 hours ago, hornian said:

 

 

All of you have terrible taste, and should be ashamed of that. I've tried La Mancha several times, and each time, it gets worse. It has no redeeming qualities.  And on top of that, the drinks are terrible. 

 

The primary reason our family doesn’t go there.  Probably the worst alcohol-to-drink ratio in the city 

Edited by Chet Steadman
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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 45957

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The wife & I have a rare night off tomorrow (Saturday).  We're looking for a good Mexican joint that we haven't been to.  Anything 3 years old or less has probably escaped us.  Price doesn't matter, location doesn't matter, although it would be nice to be close to a good bar for after dinner drinks.  What's newish and good, maybe downtown or east of I-35?

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South Austin

South Austin 52509

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

The wife & I have a rare night off tomorrow (Saturday).  We're looking for a good Mexican joint that we haven't been to.  Anything 3 years old or less has probably escaped us.  Price doesn't matter, location doesn't matter, although it would be nice to be close to a good bar for after dinner drinks.  What's newish and good, maybe downtown or east of I-35?

Per my post upthread, I recommend Este.  It's on Manor Road.  Looks like there's a bar a couple blocks away -- The Butterfly Bar at The Vortex (???).  You could also uber a bit further east and hop in any number of bars.

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South Austin

South Austin 52509

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25 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Yikes, you aren't kidding.  I grabbed a reservation at El Chile just for backup, but yeah, the pickings look slim.  Austin has definitely changed.

For what it's worth, La Condesa has seats at 5:45 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.  It's still not bad, but the others mentioned earlier are far better, though I've found it next to impossible to get a reservation at a nice restaurant in Austin without at least a week lead time.

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ftf82

ftf82 485

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Back in 21 I started making reservations at popular restaurants a couple of months in advance (3 or 4 for really difficult ones like Red Ash and Hestia). I just calendar the dates with a reminder popping up a week ahead of time. If we end up having plans I cancel since I know they'll be able to fill the table. More often than not I forget about it until I get the reminder. Helps that we're empty nesters and and most of the time I make the reservations for mid-week and not weekends.

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Deej

Deej 76796

Posted
Posted
On 8/11/2023 at 10:49 AM, jimmyjazz said:

The wife & I have a rare night off tomorrow (Saturday).  We're looking for a good Mexican joint that we haven't been to.  Anything 3 years old or less has probably escaped us.  Price doesn't matter, location doesn't matter, although it would be nice to be close to a good bar for after dinner drinks.  What's newish and good, maybe downtown or east of I-35?

All the Mexican restaurants east of 35 are yoga studios and smoothie shops now. 

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105143

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Posted
Come eat in North Austin, up off Lamar. Lots of good choices as long as long as you don't mind sitting at a table outside a trailer. 

Oh hells yes. I get my haircut at Lamar and Rundberg. Goodness abounds.

I keep saying I want to do a progressive taco-eating evening adventure with friends, starting on Lamar just north of 183, then heading to Rundberg. There’s like 8-10 damn fine trailers and such there.

Still, all of that is real-deal Mexican, and not the old-school Tex mex that used to be the east Austin staple.
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Deej

Deej 76796

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2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:


Oh hells yes. I get my haircut at Lamar and Rundberg. Goodness abounds.

I keep saying I want to do a progressive taco-eating evening adventure with friends, starting on Lamar just north of 183, then heading to Rundberg. There’s like 8-10 damn fine trailers and such there.

Still, all of that is real-deal Mexican, and not the old-school Tex mex that used to be the east Austin staple.

Let me know. I know some places, living up here.

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 45957

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4 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Nuevo León

The son who was (I assume) general manager was amazing.  That guy remembered my name the moment I entered the second time I'd ever been there.  He had that Mack Brown / Bill Clinton ability to make anyone feel like his best friend.

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crash_davis

crash_davis 23113

Posted
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On 8/11/2023 at 12:08 PM, ftf82 said:

El Alma is fantastic. Suerte and Este are great too, but getting a table on Saturday night at this late date may be difficult.

We tried Este a 2 weeks ago. Very meh, imo. 

Ceviche was bland. Skate was cook well and tasted great but seasoning was meh. Octopus was ok. Swordfish fish tacos were good. We had another dish which was so forgettable that I forget what the hell it was.

Sucks bc we've been wanting to try it ever since we saw the below show on it. I'll stick to Perla's and Clark's for seafood.

 

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 45957

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I forgot to mention -- we met family for brunch at Maudie's Milagro (360) a couple of weekends back.  I generally like Maudie's.  I wasn't very hungry, so I just ordered a couple of breakfast tacos and a cup of coffee. 

Everything sucked ass, even the coffee.  Very disappointing.  I used to live near the Lake Austin Blvd restaurant and ate my body weight in migas over the years.  Maybe not the greatest migas, but good enough.  Avoid breakfast at the 360 location.

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utee94

utee94 15823

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1 hour ago, 4th&Five said:

milagro and bee caves are terrible.  

Agreed.  At this point I can only do W. 7th or N. Lamar locations.  And even so, neither of them are what they used to be.  But Milagro is just flat-out gross the last two times I went.  Won't do it again.

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Deej

Deej 76796

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I live within walking distance of the North Lamar location. It's slipped a lot. I ate there two weeks ago and then ate at Chuy's (friend was in town and wanted to eat there for nostalgia) just up the road a few days later. Chuy's was better. Pains me to say it. 

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 45957

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We live pretty close to Milagro, so sometimes it's where we end up.  I've had several enchilada plates in the last year or so that were fine (Josie's, Perfecto).  Maybe not "best in Austin" but certainly closer to the old Jorge's standard than, say, Chuy's.  But those breakfast tacos, oof.  How do you screw those up?  I mean, even the tortillas sucked.

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4th&Five

4th&Five 41554

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my folks live right by milagro, which i why i've been way too many times.  it's a chore to get them more than a mile from their house so it's milagro, jack allen's or fresa's for the most part.

last time i had maudie's lake austin it was very good.

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stc

stc 1462

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i frequent the north lamar location. i find that it's great for breakfast or lunch but for whatever reason it's not good after 6pm. the waitstaff is awful all the time. quick to get your food and then you never see them again. hate being held hostage when i just want to pay and gtfo. 

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irishtexan

irishtexan 11519

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South Lamar location has been serviceable. I don't have super high expectations for Maudie's anymore. 

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.

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ztejas

ztejas 43452

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24 minutes ago, 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.

Shark Tank Writing GIF

Looks pretty good. Kind of like a fresh tex-mex, ZuZu vibe?

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irishtexan

irishtexan 11519

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15 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Shark Tank Writing GIF

Looks pretty good. Kind of like a fresh tex-mex, ZuZu vibe?

Yeah. It was suggested by my wife based on a recommendation from her friend. They fucking love overpriced mom brunch places like El Alma, so I was skeptical. But the food was good and the cheese enchiladas held up, IMO. And pricing seemed fair - $15 for cheese enchiladas is the same price at Casa Garcias, and $1.50 more than Maudie's. 

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ztejas

ztejas 43452

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1 hour ago, irishtexan said:

Yeah. It was suggested by my wife based on a recommendation from her friend. They fucking love overpriced mom brunch places like El Alma, so I was skeptical. But the food was good and the cheese enchiladas held up, IMO. And pricing seemed fair - $15 for cheese enchiladas is the same price at Casa Garcias, and $1.50 more than Maudie's. 

You're lucky Mi Cocina hasn't made its way down here. 

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