restaurants

The Hula Hut on the water in Austin

/ Roadtirementvintage / 21 Comments

They serve good Margaritas

The Hula Hut is a Tex-Mex restaurant with, as their website states, a Hawaiian twist. For 25 years it has served delicious meals offering an “island feel” with thatched roofs, bamboo walls and outdoor decks overlooking Lake Austin.

Sher and I went to this establishment with our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter for a Friday night outing. The weather proved to be too cool and windy for an outside table, so we opted for a table inside.

The Hut has a festive atmosphere

Tortillas made fresh daily

 

 

 

 

 

Even the menu items have a flavor of Hawaii. Sher had the “Tubular” taco, vegetarian style. This thing was huge, flanked by black beans and rice. Our daughter-in-law and granddaughter had grilled Hawaiian chicken and grilled salmon, respectively. Our son and I both ordered Five-O Fajitas (get it?). He had the BBQ Tai and I had the Hawaiian beef and shrimp.

Veggie “Tubular” taco

Grilled salmon

Hawaiian beef and shrimp fajitas

Grilled Hawaiian chicken

The service was excellent, our waiter George really took good care of us. This is a very good restaurant, great atmosphere, service, and marvelous food. We all thoroughly enjoyed our choices and this most enjoyable evening out with family.

A fun luncheon with our granddaughter

/ Roadtirementvintage / 29 Comments

Things worked out great for us to have a fun luncheon with our just turned ten year old granddaughter. As her school was out this week Sher and I could take her out to lunch. This has become somewhat of a tradition with her when we visit family in Austin.

Our daughter-in-law recommended that we dine at Mandola’s Italian Kitchen. There are several locations of this Texas original chain. We picked one reasonably close.  Our granddaughter had been there before, and approved of this choice for lunch.

Well stocked dessert counter, one of two!

Wine bar, vacant for the lunch crowd.

 

 

 

 

 

Not only is the food menu extensive, but in addition you’ll find wonderful desert counters and a well filled wine bar. You order your meal at the counter, pay there and get your order number sign. Drinks and tableware are self serve with plenty of take home containers also available. Once seated you are immediately served a traditional basket of fresh bread with olive oil sprinkled with spices for dipping.

Fresh warm bread with oil for dipping

That’s a lot for a kid’s meal!

Our meals were brought to our table in a very short time. The presentation was good and portion sizes were quite impressive. Our Granddaughter ordered the chicken fingers and fries. She got three huge “fingers” plus a stack of fries. There was enough there for an adult meal.

Loaded chopped Italian salad bowl

Gnocchi with meat sauce

Sher thoroughly enjoyed her Italian salad overflowing the bowl with greens, fresh mozzarella, green & black olives, and tons of other delectable veggies. I really liked the Gnocchi with meat sauce. (Little Italian dumplings with a tomato sauce of beef, pork , garlic and veggies).

Main dining area decorated with soccer club flags

While the meal was very good and filling, what made this lunch special was the fact that we could share it with our granddaughter. Time with family is so precious. When family is far away it makes time intervals between visits seem way to long! The pandemic sure messed up our travel plans, and hopefully we’ll be able to spend more time with our scattered out kids and grandkids even more in the upcoming months.

 

A fun wine and beer walk

/ Roadtirementvintage / 27 Comments

We had a most enjoyable wine and beer walk at the Mill Creek Town Center this evening. There were 10 stations, most had three wine samples, a couple had different samples of beer.

The Mill Creek Town Center is an upscale shopping and entertainment area. It includes restaurants, shops, banks and art galleries.



Anthony’s HomePort Everett, a detailed look

/ Roadtirementvintage / 23 Comments

Here we go again with another follow-up post about a delightful restaurant we visited recently. We posted a double picture of a part of our meal at Anthony’s HomePort Everett, one of a large chain of Pacific Northwest based fine dining places.

On this rainy day the exposed decks were covered

We picked a rainy somewhat dreary day, but we still enjoyed getting a table that overlooked the Everett waterfront. We were seated within a few minutes of our arrival without reservations. It was enjoyable watching the surprising number of boats out on the water running in the rain.

Getting a whiff of the fresh baked bread!

Ground pepper being added to the chowder

 

 

 

 

 

We started with a loaf of freshly baked, still warm sourdough bread. Don’t have to tell anybody how good that bread was! I had to try a cup of Anthony’s Award-winning clam chowder with potato and bacon. Topped with freshly ground pepper and oyster crackers, this appetizer was clearly worthy of awards.

Fettuccine pasta specially prepared for Sher

Sher ordered the vegetarian version of the Oregon Fettuccine. In place of the shrimp, Chef Joe added additional vegetables to the fresh pasta, tomatoes, zucchini and
fresh herbs in the garlic cream sauce with Parmesan cheese. Delicious!

Three perfectly fried pieces of fish

A unique lettuce bowl of ginger slaw

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t have to tell you what I ordered, do I? (If you’ve been following us, you probably know. If not, well here goes.) I ordered the fresh caught panko crusted cod fish and chips with ginger slaw. Oh yes it was delicious. The three pieces of fish were especially tasty, with the fried panko crust so good. It’s going to be hard to say which Pacific Northwest Fish and Chips is my favorite.

One bite left on the first of three

Very tasty and potent Pomegranate Drop cocktail

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spotted an interesting drink on a table nearby. Our server told us this was a Pomegranate Drop. It’s a cocktail made with pomegranate juice, vodka, orange liqueur and lemon juice. A very tasty drink indeed. We were glad we “discovered” the Pomegranate Drop. Our experience at Anthony’s HomePort Everett was a highlight on what some call a typical Seattle area rainy day.

Diamond Knot Brewery and Alehouse

/ Roadtirementvintage / 6 Comments

After we toured the Mukilteo Park it was off to the Diamond Knot Brewery and Alehouse. Maybe “off to” is misleading as the Brewery is next to the Historic Lighthouse on the waterfront, and only about 100 yards from where we were watching the water. The Diamond Knot Brewery occupies a massive building that formerly was a bus maintenance facility.

The entrance to the Brewery

The on tap menu board

A look at the bar: nice old counter seats!

 

 

 

 

 

Detail of the seasonal decorations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being a brewery we of course had to order a flight of four. We chose three IPA’s and one Lager for our flight. We found all four of the brews were quite tasty. These were all smooth, free of bitterness and worthy of consumption. We tend to like beers with lower IBU numbers. ABV%? We like 6.5 to 8.5. That covers a lot of beers!

Sampling a flight of beers is fun!

And as is our normal activity at a brewery, winery or distillery, we had to try the DKB bar food. We were not really that ready for a full meal. Maj opted for Fish and Chips without the chips. These 1/4 pound wild caught cod pieces were coated in beer batter and bread crumbs for a crunchy texture and delicious taste. (Maj now has a new favorite fish!) We also ordered the Elote Mexican Street Corn dip with spicy cream sauce and warm chips. Delicious!

A quarter pound of fish per piece!

This Street Corn dip was absolutely delicious

 

 

 

 

 

 

We really enjoyed our time at the Diamond Knot Brewing Company. The food and beer was great. The staff at this pub was very nice and efficient. Our server took very good care of us, and we also had a nice conversation with the manager as well.  We’d give a 5 star rating here.

 

 

Snoqualmie Falls Brewery, a detailed look

/ Roadtirementvintage / 13 Comments

Yesterday we gave you a sneak peek at the Snoqualmie Falls Brewery. What you did not find out about was how nice a pub this is.  The main seating was outside in the open with tables that were sun protected by umbrellas. The small indoor eating area had tables spread very far apart, with mask required. All staff wore masks all the time.

 

 

 

 

We had just come from seeing the actual Falls and were both hungry and thirsty. This brewery certainly took care of immediate needs. Of course we had to get a flight, so our server Kelly picked out four to sample. Sher and I liked each and every one of the flight.

We’re having a ball in Snoqualmie

The “bar food” was absolutely delicious. We love good bar food and good beer. Thus it is easy for us to say “We love Snoqualmie Falls Brewery!” The cheese bread, garlic fries and of course the Fish and Chips really hit the spot.

Flight’s gone, time for a tall one

Sher and I both liked the Mailbox Hazy IPA

 

 

 

 

 

Kelly on station, taking care of business

By the time we finished our meals we had also finished our flight of beer samples. It was time for more, as we were planning to enjoy just relaxing at our table for a while, enjoying each others company and the delightful weather. Kelly kept checking in and taking care of us. She made our time at the pub very nice indeed. This stop was a most enjoyable part of our day at Snoqualmie.