Showing posts with label draught house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label draught house. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Alice in Wonderland AKA Texas

Alice fell down the rabbit hole and somehow found herself in another land full of beef, Tex-Mex and cheap liquor! Some might call it heaven, others just call it Texas. 

Alice, or as we used to call her Utbi, is a childhood friend from California. Her parents were good friends with my parents back in Vietnam! Alice's dad sewed up my mom's finger when she ran it through a sugar cane press machine way back when! So yeah, we're basically family.

We don't get to see each other often (last time was summer 2008), but when we do, we pick up exactly where we left off.. like licking each others faces. Totes normal.


A few weeks ago, Alice visited Austin AND Texas for the first time! I knew I her trip was going to be food-centric, but I was still shocked by the amount of food we put away in the span of three days! 

We did take in a couple of Austin sites and sounds, but the bulk of time was spent chatting and chowing.

 

She couldn't get away from her hometown... 


On the first night, we had a good ol' crawfish boil! I bought the crawdads and Linda hooked it up with Zummo's sausage (gotta have the Zummo's!). We managed to eat around 19#, I had a few pounds leftover that ended up going into an etoufee.  



That night, we went down to Dirty 6th to mix it up a bit! Every visitor wants to see Dirty 6th, right?! Alice was blown away that there are pitchers of booze for sale... at the great price of $15! Shocking.


I don't even want to drink this... But I did. And I kind of liked it.


Here's a recap of where we ate that weekend: 

Brunch at Cover 3, where they have muffin tops! It's like an episode of Seinfeld!


Quick coffee stop at Mozart's on Lake Austin


Beers at the Draught House. We bring everyone here!


A pit stop at the Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood! I mean, you kind of have to go there, right? I guess we could have gone to Franklin's, but the Salt Lick is so much better ambiance! I mean, look at all that meat!


Yep, that's all for 4 of us!


Tacos at TacoDeli -- we didn't get to go by Torchy's for the queso -- so little time!


Another quick stop at Paul Qui's East Side King inside the Hole in the Wall. The ramen was good but nothing AMAZING, the pork buns were fatty but pretty good!


Do you know how to eat ramen? There's a tutorial guide on the wall, just in case!


Last but not least, a stop at Hopdoddy on Anderson. After eating so much meat over the weekend, I opted for a salad. 




While it was a short trip, it was great seeing an old friend and stuffing our faces! I can't wait to visit Cali this year!

P.S. I also sent her home with a dozen kolaches. omgeez.

*Half of the pictures are from Alice's Iphone.



Thursday, April 28, 2011

Bye bye Taqueria, Hello Organic Living

I've been MIA for the past few months, but I have a good excuse: I was held captive and had to be a part of the Humancentipad. Gross. I know.

Ok, I can't say I've been eating poo, but organic food is pretty close, right?! Just Kidding.

Micah and I have actually been super busy settling into our new city, Austin. It's been a busy two months, but after securing a new job and leaving my San Antonio job, I am ready to be an Austinite!

I will miss my neighborhood taqueria, El Tropiko, where the chilaquiles and hot sauce are off the hook; but I'm looking forward to having several banh mi shops within 5 miles of the house.

{Austin = Willie Nelson land. Photo: me}

Here are my TOP 5 reasons I will enjoy living in Austin (food related, of course):
  1. Options: There is an Ethiopian restaurant here (maybe more?). SA had ZERO.
  2. Asian Markets: The Asian population is bigger here, hence, bigger Asian grocery stores. The most popular one, MT Supermarket, is exactly 5 miles from our new abode. I miss my Asians.
  3. Brew-pubs: And lots of them. This was Micah's main reason for moving to Austin, fo realz. We are really enjoying the new Black Star Co-Op and we've always loved The Draught House. I can't wait to try the new Uncle Billy's Brew-B-Que next to the Oasis!
  4. Food Districts: There are so many cool areas of town where you can dine al fresco and people watch, e.g. Barton Springs area. SA was sorely lacking in this department.
  5. Whole Foods: Their flagship store is here and it's KIND OF amazing. Am I all about organic stuff? No. Do I want to pay 2X the normal amount for bananas? No. But I do enjoy the option to buy that stuff if I want to. The menagerie of prepared dished is seriously out of control.
I realize that Austin will be lacking in the "real Mexican" joints, but I'm sure if I roam around enough, I'll stumble across some.

I can't wait to get the new home in a more livable state so I can really settle in and enjoy all that Austin has to offer!

What are you favorite places to eat in Austin?