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Trudy's in trouble


elguapo

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We went to Trudys North Star a year or so ago, and I realize that nostalgia is bullshit. 

Because the place was dirty and terrible. 

When you're a broke ass college kid, a lot of things seem great because you're stupid, drunk and/or high all the time, and have no taste. 

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17 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

My main Trudy's memory, out on the deck with friends getting our drank on. There's an intense little white guy sitting there unironically wearing a silk Chinese shirt from the Ming Dynasty or some shit, buttoned up to his intense white chin. Apparently, Honorable White Devil has survived a bruising round of job interviews with unsatisfactory results. He kept ranting about his "skill sets", this was 2001, that bit of jargon was fresh and edgy. Skill sets. Skill sets. Skill sets.

I was drunk, but not drunk enough to say "Maybe it's not your skill sets. Maybe it was your dumbass Kung Fu movie shirt."

Skill sets.

And, that intense little white guy in the dumbass Kung Fu movie shirt grew up to be Justin W. Smith!"

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18 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

My main Trudy's memory, out on the deck with friends getting our drank on. There's an intense little white guy sitting there unironically wearing a silk Chinese shirt from the Ming Dynasty or some shit, buttoned up to his intense white chin. Apparently, Honorable White Devil has survived a bruising round of job interviews with unsatisfactory results. He kept ranting about his "skill sets", this was 2001, that bit of jargon was fresh and edgy. Skill sets. Skill sets. Skill sets.

I was drunk, but not drunk enough to say "Maybe it's not your skill sets. Maybe it was your dumbass Kung Fu movie shirt."

Skill sets.

This deserves a /csb.

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On 1/16/2020 at 11:06 AM, Brisketexan said:

The surprising good dish there was their CFS.  It was really good, and you could get it topped with gravy and then green chile sauce, which took it up a notch.  But again, I haven't been to one in at least 10 years, and that was only because I was dragged there by an expat Austinite back in town who wanted a plate of nostalgia.

We stayed across the street in an AirBNB for our youngest's graduation last May.  Location was fantastic, and the Mexican martinis hit the spot.  I don't think we ever actually had a meal though. /csb

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3 hours ago, DDD Dad said:

We stayed across the street in an AirBNB for our youngest's graduation last May.  Location was fantastic, and the Mexican martinis hit the spot.  I don't think we ever actually had a meal though. /csb

They serve food? 

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Baby A's was always shit, but Trudy's back in the 90's at least up until 2005 was pretty good.  Migas hit the spot every time.  They had good quesadillas as well.  Stuffed avocado, too.  And I remember one dish called Ciro's Special.  Grilled chicken cut into cubes, mushrooms, spinach, and sliced avocado, all covered in queso.  Yes please.

I was excited when the Dripping Springs location opened because I hadn't been in several years, but that location sucked from day 1.

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On 1/17/2020 at 2:39 AM, vicerous said:

Fuck em. The location near Dripping Springs always smelled like bleach and wet carpet. Terrible service and shit food apart from a few items that they couldn't serve half the time

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk
 

The Dripping location was terrible.  The only reason they stayed open so long was because it was one of the only options out there.  When all the restaurants started to open across the street they were done.  They closed down almost a year to the day that Hat Creek opened up.  After Hat Creek opened up another 5 or 6 were open within a few months and Trudy's was a ghost town.  I thought I remember seeing that they were trying to sell that property for 8 million, its still for sale a year after it closed.

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On 1/16/2020 at 11:03 AM, conVINCEd said:

I’m a little surprised that they have managed to maintain their liquor license for this long.  Lots of underaged fun back in the day with seemingly zero fucks given.

This.

Loved it in college. Wife and kids and I stopped in the flagship a few years back on our way to SA. It was average-at-best.

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  • 1 month later...

Looks like the ownership group for El Arroyo, and others, are stepping in to loan money to Trudy's to get it back to being fully operational and a viable candidate for sale.

 

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/trudys-tex-mex-restaurant-boosted-in-bankruptcy-court-by-loan-from-el-arroyo-owner/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_KXAN_News&fbclid=IwAR1PcPXJmWs5o1dO5X3aFESutnMof_cRK5Uy_IDaSx8FmNyqDoIGpSLT2qE

 

 

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8 hours ago, utee94 said:

Looks like the ownership group for El Arroyo, and others, are stepping in to loan money to Trudy's to get it back to being fully operational and a viable candidate for sale.

 

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/trudys-tex-mex-restaurant-boosted-in-bankruptcy-court-by-loan-from-el-arroyo-owner/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_KXAN_News&fbclid=IwAR1PcPXJmWs5o1dO5X3aFESutnMof_cRK5Uy_IDaSx8FmNyqDoIGpSLT2qE

 

 

from the article:

Trudy’s Tex-Mex restaurant chain has three locations in Austin: Trudy’s North Star on Burnet Road, Trudy’s South Star on Little Texas Lane and South Congress Cafe.

 

So is the Trudy's just north of Campus under different ownership?

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24 minutes ago, yoladu said:

from the article:

Trudy’s Tex-Mex restaurant chain has three locations in Austin: Trudy’s North Star on Burnet Road, Trudy’s South Star on Little Texas Lane and South Congress Cafe.

 

So is the Trudy's just north of Campus under different ownership?

It burned last Fall and I don't think it has reopened yet, so maybe they're not considering it for that reason? 

19 minutes ago, Lobo said:

 Like the play by El Arroyo but begs the question—-how the hell are they still in business too?   

Yeah, my thoughts too, kinda like the blind leading the blind...

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On 1/16/2020 at 11:04 AM, irishtexan said:

The food at Trudy's is pretty terrible. I did enjoy numerous Mexican martinis and bowls of queso at the campus location in college. But the food..... it's not good. 

pretty much the size of it.  the martinis were cool and tasty.  the food is below average, but acceptable college eats.  

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  • 4 years later...
  • 8 months later...

The last one (North) is closing:

https://www.kvue.com/article/life/food/trudys-north-star-closing-austin-burnet/269-4a0401f6-ffab-4a66-b871-24cfc9203e82

I couldn't give less of a shit.  Never understood all the Trudy's love.  Had a few good times there way back in the day, but if you don't have a good time someplace with free-flowing booze and hot college girls when you're in your 20s, something is wrong with you.

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31 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

The single biggest...and I mean BIGGEST... mistake I ever made in taking home a casual partner was the result of consuming more than two of their OG Mexican Martinis. I met a buddy and his fiancée and her fat sister for drinks. Fiancée wasn't drinking, but bought her ration of two and let fat sister and me split them (after we each had our two).  Next thing you know I'm giving her the two pump special and hopping across her living room while trying to put my pants on and find my car keys at the same time.

Celebrate In Love GIF by Max

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57 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

The last one (North) is closing:

https://www.kvue.com/article/life/food/trudys-north-star-closing-austin-burnet/269-4a0401f6-ffab-4a66-b871-24cfc9203e82

I couldn't give less of a shit.  Never understood all the Trudy's love.  Had a few good times there way back in the day, but if you don't have a good time someplace with free-flowing booze and hot college girls when you're in your 20s, something is wrong with you.

I'm not sure how much "love" it ever got.  It's been constantly shit upon on Longhorn message boards going all the way back to austin360 days.  

But you answered your own question with the free-flowing booze and hot college girls.  In the late 80s thru late 90s, there were a handful of these places around town, and Trudy's was one of them.  

Personally I never understood all the Trudy's hate.  Their traditional Tex-Mex cheese enchiladas with brown chile gravy weren't very good, but they had some non-standard dishes that were extremely tasty, like the pecan-smoked chicken enchiladas with chipotle sauce.   Throw in free-flowing booze, hot college girls, a decent tap list, and relatively cheap food and drinks, and it's easy to see why folks liked it.

 

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The single biggest...and I mean BIGGEST... mistake I ever made in taking home a casual partner was the result of consuming more than two of their OG Mexican Martinis. I met a buddy and his fiancée and her fat sister for drinks. Fiancée wasn't drinking, but bought her ration of two and let fat sister and me split them (after we each had our two).  Next thing you know I'm giving her the two pump special and hopping across her living room while trying to put my pants on and find my car keys at the same time.

Blah blah blah, so you had a great time. No need to gloat.
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Like a lot of other places that have been around a while and that people like to shit on, it’s all about knowing the right menu items to order. At Trudy’s, it was chorizo stuffed chicken, stuffed avocado, or fish tacos. If you fucked up and ordered fajitas, you were gonna have a bad time. (Note, I can only speak to their food from around ‘05-‘15).

Edited by D_Goose
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1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

The last one (North) is closing:

https://www.kvue.com/article/life/food/trudys-north-star-closing-austin-burnet/269-4a0401f6-ffab-4a66-b871-24cfc9203e82

I couldn't give less of a shit.  Never understood all the Trudy's love.  Had a few good times there way back in the day, but if you don't have a good time someplace with free-flowing booze and hot college girls when you're in your 20s, something is wrong with you.

but sir, there is something wrong with you 

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1 hour ago, D_Goose said:

Like a lot of other places that have been around a while and that people like to shit on, it’s all about knowing the right menu items to order. At Trudy’s, it was chorizo stuffed chicken, stuffed avocado, or fish tacos. If you fucked up and ordered fajitas, you were gonna have a bad time. (Note, I can only speak to their food from around ‘05-‘15).

Wait a minute - you’re saying that there’s no such thing as a bad restaurant - just an ignorant customer?  If I was better informed… I would t order the bad food?

Vehemently disagree.

Also, those martinis sucked too.

 

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2 hours ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

The single biggest...and I mean BIGGEST... mistake I ever made in taking home a casual partner was the result of consuming more than two of their OG Mexican Martinis. I met a buddy and his fiancée and her fat sister for drinks. Fiancée wasn't drinking, but bought her ration of two and let fat sister and me split them (after we each had our two).  Next thing you know I'm giving her the two pump special and hopping across her living room while trying to put my pants on and find my car keys at the same time.

ZMv6Iw.gif

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The single biggest...and I mean BIGGEST... mistake I ever made in taking home a casual partner was the result of consuming more than two of their OG Mexican Martinis. I met a buddy and his fiancée and her fat sister for drinks. Fiancée wasn't drinking, but bought her ration of two and let fat sister and me split them (after we each had our two).  Next thing you know I'm giving her the two pump special and hopping across her living room while trying to put my pants on and find my car keys at the same time.

If the server knew you were going to give the big’un two pumps, they were supposed to call the other Trudy’s locations twirh your description to make sure you didn’t go and try to give two pumps to a hambeast there too. Urban lore.
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