Guero's Taco Bar

On our last morning in Austin, we decided to have breakfast at Guero's Taco Bar.  My wife was in the mood for Mexican food and she told me that this place was supposed to be very good.  Parking is sometimes an issue on South Congress, but we were fortuitous and found a parking spot less than a block away from Guero's.

Our party of four was famished so we ordered quite a bit for breakfast.  Below are my thoughts and opinions of what we ordered:

Queso - Regardless of the time of day, I have to order queso when I see it on the menu.  Unfortunately this queso was very bland and tasted similar to what one would get at a concession stand while watching 7th grade basketball.

Breakfast Tacos - Basic breakfast taco that was nothing special.  I only tried the chorizo and bacon, but neither were very flavorful.

Migas-Decent portion, but could have used a little more pico de gallo.  The flour tortillas were the only bright spot of this dish

Huevos Mexicanos - Like everything else we tried, this dish was super bland.  We got corn tortillas with this dish and I didn't like them as much as the flour tortillas.  Everything was once again tasteless, from the  eggs to the potatoes.

I ate some outstanding meals while I was in Austin for this particular weekend, but this meal was not one of them.  In addition to the bland food, the service was super slow too.  I would not go back here for breakfast and I cannot recommend it.  This might also be the last time I let my wife pick a restaurant while we are on the road!

Guero's Taco Bar
http://www.guerostacobar.com
Livin the Good Life=1

Lonesome Dove Bistro-Austin

Tim Love owns and operates one of my favorite restaurants in Fort Worth, Lonesome Dove Bistro.  Recently he opened up a second location of in Austin.  Since my wife and I are big fans of the Fort Worth location, I decided that we must visit the new location while in Austin and see how it compared.  Lucky for us, the Austin location of Lonesome Dove Bistro was just 3 blocks from our hotel where we were staying, the JW Marriott Austin.

Fettine Trio

While dining there with some friends from Houston, we sampled several items.  While looking over the menu, we started with the Fettine Trio.  The Fettine trio included duck-rattlesnake sausage fettine, elk-pork fettine, and lamb-quail fettine.  Although I didn't love the version with the lamb, the other two were absolutely amazing.

Nilgai Antelope Nachos

For appetizers, we ordered several items to share for the table.  The three that we ordered were the Nilgai Antelope Tenderloin Carpaccio Nachos, the Blue Corn Lobster Hushpuppies, and the Deviled Gulf Coast Blue Crabs.  The deviled blue crabs were my favorite of the three, but they were all exceptional and I would not hesitate to order any of the three again.

Blue Corn Lobster Hushpuppies

Following appetizers, I also ordered the Winter Squash Soup.  The soup had great flavor and texture.  It was one of the best soups I have had in recent memory and it had a sweet taste that I really liked.   It was also topped with the shaved grana padano cheese, which was also flavorful.

Winter Squash Soup

For our main course, all four of us ordered the house speciality, which is the Roasted Garlic Stuffed Beef Tenderloin.  This cut of meat was especially tender, had excellent flavor, and was topped with a great mop sauce.  The Western plaid hash and grilled asparagus were both very good as well.  My wife and I also chose to share a side of the burnt carrots, which were about as good as carrots could be.  

Roasted Garlic Stuffed Beef Tenderloin

Burnt Carrots

For dessert, the table share an order of the Ancho Chile Chocolate Cake and the Churros.  The chocolate cake was very moist, topped with ice cream, and you could even taste a slight hint of ancho chile.  The churros were good in their own right, but were even better when dipped in the raspberry, chocolate, and caramel sauces.

Churros

Ancho Chile Chocolate Cake

Since we made our way through such a large portion of the menu, I was about as full as I could ever remember being.  The service was spectacular, but the food was even better.  This location lived up the high expectations I had experience of the Fort Worth location and I would highly recommend anyone to try this place out.  You will not be disappointed.

Lonesome Dove Bistro
http://lonesomedoveaustin.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=5

Terry Black's Barbecue

Quality barbecue is getting much easier to find in Austin, TX.  The barbecue revolution there is really amazing when you think back to a decade ago and there not being any truly great barbecue joints in the city limits.  On my most recent visit to Austin, I visited Terry Black's Barbecue.  Terry is a relative of the family that operates the famous Black's Barbecue in Lockhart, TX.

I ate there on a recent Saturday and sampled several items while eating with my wife and some friends from Houston.  Below is my thoughts on what I tried:

Brisket- This brisket was very tender, moist, had well rendered fat, and was perfectly smoked.  It was heavy on the pepper and the bark tasted very similar to what you would find at Louie Mueller's Barbecue in Taylor, TX.  

Brisket, pork ribs, cream corn, and mac n' cheese

Pork Ribs- These were tender, had a nice glaze, and easily pulled off the bone.  They had a slight peppery taste, but not near as much as the brisket bark.

Turkey- I had this in a sandwich, but ate several slices on their own.  Great smokey flavor, moist, and lightly peppered to perfection.  

Turkey Sandwich

Beef Rib- This was one of the top 3 beef ribs I have ever had.  It had a similar flavor to the brisket, but was extremely tender.  A lot of beef ribs are chewy, but this one was not like that at all.  It was so tender that you could literally pull it off the bone with a fork.  This meat was the highlight of my visit to this barbecue joint.

Beef Rib

Sides-I tried the cream corn, mac n' cheese, cole slaw, and potato salad.  The cream corn was my favorite item, but the mac n' cheese was good as well.

Banana Pudding

Desserts- I tried the banana pudding and the peach cobbler.  The pudding was rather bland, but the cobbler was really good.  I would definitely order the cobbler again!

Peach Cobbler

The meats were great and the sides were decent enough as well.  While there may be a few people in line, the line moves really fast because Terry Black's has multiple cutting blocks and registers to get your food, rather than everyone waiting on one cutting block and register.  The ten minute wait for quality barbecue is an excellent alternative to waiting hours at some other joints in town.  Terry Black's will now be on my rotation of restaurants to visit when I am in Austin!

Terry Black's Barbecue
http://terryblacksbbq.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=4

Via 313

Being a foodie, I often find myself watching shows on Food Network, particularly those that feature restaurants.  One day I found myself watching a special about the Top 5 Pizzas in America, and it featured a pizza called The Detroiter, that can found in a pizza trailer in Austin, TX.  Via 313 pizza operates behind a bar on Rainey St. and I knew that I would have to try this place the next time I visited Austin.

The Detroiter pizza features smoked pepperoni and natural casing pepperoni on a deep dish pizza that is cooked in a metal tray.  When I visited 313, I didn't realize there were multiple types of pepperoni pizza on the menu, so I just ordered a pepperoni.  What I got was the Original Pepperoni, which consisted of smoked pepperoni under the cheese with sauce on top.  Although it wasn't what I intended to order, it was a really awesome pizza.  It reminded me a lot of Sicilian-style pizza, but it had a crispy crust, despite the fact it was deep dish.

Having only sampled one pizza, I can hardly consider myself an expert at Via 313.  That being said, I really thought it was one of the better pizzas I have ever tried and really liked the Detroit-style pizzeria.  The flavor was great, but the crust was amazing and I will certainly go back her on my next visit and actually try The Detroiter!

Via 313
http://via313.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=4

Franklin Barbecue

Me reading a book in a lawn chair as I await the opening of Franklin Barbecue

On my final day in Austin, I had one more stop to make.  A colleague and I decided that we were going to brave the lines and go on a pilgrimage to the Mecca of Smoke Meats, also known as Franklin Barbecue.  Texas Monthly recently listed it as the #1 Barbecue Joint in Texas.  Bon Appetit Magazine claims that Franklin Barbecue is the #1 Barbecue Joint in America.   Franklin Barbecue has also been featured on the Travel Channel's No Reservations, The New York Times, and Southern Living.  

We were happy that we were number 5 and 6 in line behind these stylish and classy gentlemen

I had heard rumors of four hour waits for Franklin Barbecue and my colleague suggested we get there as close to 8 a.m. as possible. We arrived at 8:15 and were the 5th and 6th people in line.  We sat our lawn chairs down and prepared to sit and read for the next 2 hours and 45 minutes.  By 10 a.m., the line was over 250 people deep and stretched far beyond the parking lot.  I finished the latest David Baldacci book a few minutes before the 11 a.m. opening and I was ready to eat some barbecue.  Right before we entered the restaurant, we had a Johnny Come Lately offer us $100 to buy him a barbecue sandwich so he didn't have to stand in line.  We declined his offer from an ethical standpoint, but I can't say that we were not tempted by his offer.

By 10 a.m., the line stretched through the entire parking lot

While ordering, they give customers samples of burnt ends.  One bite of the burnt end was all it took for me to realize that this brisket was going to be a real treat.  I ordered the two meat plate with brisket and ribs, but I added a sausage link.  For sides, I  ordered the beans and cole slaw.  Since I waited almost three hours to order, I went ahead and got two pounds of brisket and two pounds of turkey to go.

Aaron Franklin himself greeting the first customer of the day

The brisket was absolutely the best I had ever had.  It was smoky with an excellent bark and was very moist.  The ribs were good and had a sweet flavor to the rub.  The sausage was not very remarkable in comparison to the brisket, but was still pretty good.  I also snuck into to my to-go order and pulled out some of the turkey to try.  Much like the brisket, it was the best smoked turkey I have ever had.  It was perfectly smoked, moist, and had a nice pepper rub on the outside.  Even the beans and cole slaw were fantastic.  I am not usually a fan of cole slaw, but I would eat this cole slaw any day.  To finish off the meal, I tried the bourbon banana pie.  It had a graham cracker crust with a flavorful banana pudding filling.

Brisket, ribs, and sausage with beans and cole slaw.

Bourbon Banana Pie

After sampling the goods, I can now see how this place earned the reputation that it has.  Aaron Franklin truly is the Meat Whisperer. Would I wait in line for almost three hours again with the knowledge that there is extremely high quality barbecue down the road at John Mueller Meat Co. and Freedmen's Bar?  Probably not.  Would I let you wait in line for me at Franklin Barbecue and buy 10 pounds of meat for me?  Absolutely!

Next time, I will call early enough in advance to take advantage of the pre-order opportunity that Aaron Franklin offers.  If you order five pounds or more, you can skip the lines and go get your food at 10:30.  Unfortunately, they limit their number of pre-orders per day and our calling two weeks ahead of time was not early enough.  Apparently these pre-orders get booked a month in advance or more.  If you get the opportunity and have the time, I recommend trying this place.

Franklin Barbecue
http://franklinbarbecue.com/
900 East 11th St.
Austin, TX
Livin the Good Life Rating = 5

Hopdoddy Burger Bar

At some point during my trip to Austin, I had to take a break from barbecue.  As much as I love barbecue, there are times I crave carbs.  On my last night in Austin, I decided a burger and fries were in order, so I started Googling to see if I could find the top rated burger joint in Austin.  Several publications listed Hopdoddy Burger Bar as the best in Austin, so I took the short mile and a half walk to Hopdoddy from my hotel.  I also knew that they had recently opened a location in Dallas.   Although several friends and acquaintances had recommended this place, but I had not been able to try it yet.

Apparently I was destined for lines in Austin

After the short walk, I arrived at Hopdoddy and saw that there was a line out the door.  I figured this had to be a good sign that this might be an awesome hamburger spot.  There were about forty people in front of me in line, but I finally made it the register and ordered after about a twenty minute wait.  I ordered the classic burger and the truffle fries.

And the line continued inside for another 20 yards

After finding my table assigned to me, the waitress brought my order out very quickly.  The first thing I noticed was that the burger was very small.  I could have easily consumed the entire thing in less than six bites.  The burger itself was pretty good, but not "out of this world" great.  The only remarkable thing about the burger was the "sassy" sauce, which had a nice flavor to it.  The truffle fries were very good, but the serving size was also small.

Classic Burger 

Truffle Fries

Overall, I was not impressed with Hopdoddy Burger Bar.  It was a decent burger, but I can easily think of seven DFW burger places I would prefer over this place.  It was a good hamburger, but far from great.  Since there seems to still be a lot of hype about this place in both Dallas and Austin, perhaps they should just change the name to "Hypedoddy" instead.

Hopdoddy Burger Bar

http://www.hopdoddy.com/

1400 S. Congress Ave.

Austin, TX

Livin the Good Life Rating= 2

John Mueller Meat Co.

Barbecue stop number three in Austin was John Mueller Meat Co. After opening up his own place this year after a business split that he had with his sister, John Mueller Meat Co. has been getting a lot of buzz. Texas Monthly included this joint in its list of the 50 Best Barbecue Joints in Texas and his barbecue has been praised in the New York Times. A buddy and I arrived there 20 minutes prior to opening and were some of the first in line. While waiting in line, we visited with a nice couple from Wyoming who were visiting Texas in order to eat at as many good barbecue joints as possible.  That is a vacation worth remembering in my opinion.

Where the magic happens

Since we were some of the first in line, we got to sit in the shade and watch the steady line of customers.

Together we ordered 1/2 pound of brisket, 1/2 pound of beef sausage, 1/2 pound of turkey, and 1 pound of beef ribs. All of the meat was absolutely terrific, perfectly smoked, and heavily peppered. The beef rib was one of the best I have ever had. The brisket and turkey were of very high quality as well. The highlight on this particular visit might have been the beef sausage.  It was very flavorful, smoked well, and had a nice snap to it.  For a side, I got the baked squash which was very cheesy and very tasty. My buddy had the beans and said they were good with a nice kick.

Beef Ribs, Beef Sausage, and Baked Squash 

Brisket, Turkey, and Beans

This was easily one of the top five barbecue experiences in my life. The barbecue was so good, we didn't even mind the fact that that we were sitting outside in the June heat and humidity in Austin. I could have easily gone back and taken a nap because I felt a meat coma coming on, but I was able to go back to my conference and finish the afternoon sessions.  John Mueller claims that he is a cook and not a pitmaster or a pit boss. Whatever you want to call him, he serves up some mighty fine barbecue.  This is the third Austin barbecue restaurant I had visited on this trip and it is the third restaurant I would recommend to you guys!

Beef Rib Before

Beef Rib After

John Mueller Meat Co.

http://www.johnmuellermeatco.com/home/index.html

2500 E. 6th St.

Austin, TX

Livin The Good Life Rating =5

Stiles Switch BBQ and Brew

If you haven't already figured it out from reading my blog, I love barbecue. When I received my most recent copy of Texas Monthly, I was excited to try several of the newer places in Austin that made their list of the Top 50 Barbecue Joints in Texas. Lucky for me, I was attending a conference located in Austin. One of the joints that made the top 50 was Stiles Switch BBQ and Brew, so I dragged some colleagues of mine there one night after our conference.

Unlike most of the acclaimed Austin barbecue joints, this one stays open for dinner. As soon as you walk into the building, the cafeteria style line takes you closer to the smells of smoked meat. I ordered the three meat plate of brisket, turkey, and pork ribs. I also added a link of the Switch original sausage. For my sides I ordered mac and cheese and beans. My colleagues and I sat down in anticipation of barbecue that looked and smelled great.

Switch Original Sausage

Now the only thing left, was the taste test. The brisket was very good with a thin layer of fat at the top. It was well smoked with one of the thickest smoke rings I have seen on a brisket.   The pork ribs were top notch as well. They came of the bone easily and had a flavor that was both sweet and peppery. The Switch original sausage was fantastic and lived up to the designation of it being "hot and spicy." It tasted similar to a hot link, but had the consistency of sausage and looked like sausage. The one disappointing meat was the turkey. It was very moist, but you could barely taste the smoke. The mac and cheese was great, but the beans were average at best.

Brisket, Pork Ribs, Turkey, Beans, and Mac n' Cheese

After this visit, I can see how this place made the Texas Monthly Top 50. Three of the four meats were fantastic and although I didn't use much of the sauce, it was thin and flavorful. I see the popularity of this joint increasing significantly over the next few months. It wasn't packed while we were there, but the crowd was pretty steady. The staff was friendly as well and even gave one of my friends a sample of the meat before she ordered it. Friendly service and good food will have me coming back and I recommend this place to anyone who doesn't like waiting in lines at some of the other Austin establishments.

Stiles Switch BBQ and Brew

http://www.stilesswitchbbq.com/static/

Livin The Good Life Rating= 3

Moonshine Patio Bar and Grill

While in Austin for a conference, I went to lunch with some colleagues at Moonshine Patio Bar and Grill. This restaurant is one that I go to almost every year that I attend the conference.  Besides serving up some great Southern dishes, it is literally right across the street from the convention center. It usually gets packed around lunch, so we usually try to get there early. They have a large outdoor patio, but the five of us elected to eat indoors and enjoy the air conditioning.

Seasoned popcorn to snack on while looking over the menu

The restaurant always gives a bucket of seasoned popcorn for the table to snack on. We also elected to try the shrimp corn dogs for an appetizer. They were tasty and served with a spicy mustard dipping sauce. They were two distinct tastes that seemed like they did not go together, yet they did somehow. 

Shrimp Corndogs

Everyone else in my group elected to split sandwiches, but I was not going to let these slackers ruin my meal. I went ahead and ordered the chicken fried steak with chipotle gravy. It came with steamed carrots, zucchini, and Parmesan squash. I also elected to get a side of red beans and rice. The chicken fried steak was better than average, but not as good as some recent ones I have dined on. The gravy did not have any seasoning to it that even hinted at chipotle, but it was a very good size portion of chicken fried steak. The veggies were the surprise highlight of the meal and I particularly liked the red beans and rice.

Chicken Fried Steak with Chipotle Gravy

To conclude the meal, we ordered the bread pudding and shared it between the five of us. I am not usually a big fan of bread pudding, but this was a really good dessert. Although I was a little disappointed in the chicken fried steak, the rest o the meal was great. Moonshine is one of my favorite restaurants in the area and I will be back again.

Moonshine Patio Bar and Grill 

http://www.moonshinegrill.com/ 

303 Red River St. 

Austin, TX 

Livin the Good Life Rating = 4