Texas restaurants

Corner restaurant offers “Flavors of Texas” in Austin

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Our group found the Corner restaurant pretty much by accident. We had just parked our car after our trip from San Antonio, I needed a restroom and I saw the Corner sign a block north of Caesar Chavez Street. The rest of our family in the second car had parked south of the Congress Avenue Bridge and walked across to join us for supper.

The Old Fashioned Burger served with fries

The Corner is one of the newest restaurants in Austin.  It is in the J.W. Marriott hotel and offers both a sit down dining area and quite a lively bar as well. We all enjoyed a delicious and reasonably priced meal. The kid’s menu satisfied both youngsters in our family, no easy feat these days!

Roasted watermelon and tomato vegetarian plate

The staff was most helpful in assisting us with our plans to see the famous bats under the Congress Avenue Bridge. Timing is important when seeing the 1.5 million bats leaving their roost for the night’s bug catching. Location of viewing is of course vital, and the Corner staff helped us with that  too. Here is our bat watching adventure.

Blue Corn Harvest Bar and Grill is a near perfect casual dining experience

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The Austin, Texas area is home to many great restaurants. Cedar Park is home to the Blue Corn Harvest Bar and Grill. This causual dining restaurant offers both inside and, weather permitting, outside dining under the canopy of beautiful trees. Using local sourced ingredients whenever possible, the menu features varied items with a definite Southwestern flair.

Casual and comfortable dining room.

We dined with our family at the Cedar Park location. (A second location is in Georgetown, Texas.) Between the five of us we enjoyed a nice variety of menu items. All of the entrees were delicious, and portion sizes were larger than your average restaurant. Of note was the chicken fried chicken which I enjoyed. What a large portion, with delicious veggies and terrific mashed potatoes! Corn bread muffins, moist and sweet, were kept on the table at all times.

ROASTED VEGGIE SANDWICH
Grilled farm fresh vegetables and New Mexico cilantro cilantro pesto.

BLUE CRAB STUFFED CHICKEN
Grilled chicken breast stuffed with crab meat, jack cheese and sweet roasted peppers with Cajun cream sauce, cheddar seared potato cake and farm fresh vegetables.

CHICKEN FRIED CHICKEN
Chicken with peppered gravy, mashed potatoes and farm fresh vegetables.

The service was excellent, and our meals were delivered in a very short time. This is most definitely a must dine spot in the Austin area for anyone who wants to enjoy a great meal at a great price. The quality of the food is really superb and the presentation is great. Get there early or make reservations. We were lucky and arrived before the evening crowd and were seated immediately, and shortly thereafter there was a considerable wait for other patrons arriving after us. Five stars for Blue Corn Harvest Bar and Grill. Here is the website for you to check out.

This First Watch restaurant in Austin gets a big thumbs up

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There are First Watch restaurants all over the country. Tagged as “The Daytime Cafe” these upscale eateries are open for breakfast and brunch only, with the Northcross location in Austin open from 7:00 am until 2:30 pm daily.

CHILLED PEAR CIDER
Red Anjou pear, Fuji apple, organic
ginger, lemon and cinnamon

The service was excellent. We hit the door at a great time, about 9:30 am, and were immediately seated. The coffee was strong and hot. Sher enjoyed a local menu specialty drink: the chilled pear cider was made with Red Anjou pear, Fuji apple, organic ginger, lemon and cinnamon.

CINNAMON ROLL WAFFLE topped with cinnamon syrup, cream cheese frosting, toasted
pecans and cinnamon powdered sugar

The food was served in good time, and was hot when delivered. The pancakes I had were huge, and the eggs cooked to perfection with the fried potatoes. Our son had a Chimichanga with fried potatoes and fruit. Sher had the Cinnamon Roll Waffle, complete with cinnamon syrup, cream cheese frosting and more.

MULTI-GRAIN PANCAKES that were huge, topped with a couple of fried eggs and a side of seasoned potatoes

We highly recommend the Austin Northcross location of First Watch. The staff is great, the ambiance is inviting and the food is excellent! Visit the First Watch local website here for directions and other information.

We discovered why the Hula Hut restaurant is a local favorite

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On our way back from San Antonio to Austin we stopped to see the view of Lake Austin and to get a bite to eat. We decided that we’d try a place called the Hula Hut. Because it was so cold, none of the outside eating areas or two of the three bars were open. The five of us gladly took a table inside!

Part of the main dining area

The ambiance was unique with its island themed decorations, including palm trees scattered throughout. The Christmas lights were still up, adding to the festive feel.

The entrance

Large portions

The wide selection of the menu was intriguing, with American, Mexican and even “island” fare offered. The service was excellent and our food was served quickly. Flour tortillas are made on the spot. All of our orders were served hot and fresh.

In the vernacular of restaurant reviews, I’d call the Hula Hut $$ to $$$ on the price scale. I’ll give it a solid 4.5 on the one to five thing. Bottom line is that we recommend the Hula Hut on Lake Austin.

A real Mexican supper in a real Mexican restaurant

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Tonight we went with our family to a real Mexican restaurant here in Austin. Keep in mind that we do not have many genuine Mexican restaurants in central Indiana. Of course there are the Taco Bells that don’t even count. There are sit down Mexican eateries, but they all seem to have the same limited menus and most all items taste alike from restaurant to restaurant.

When you first walk into the La Tapatia restaurant you know that you are in for a real Mexican meal. The interior is simple but clean, and our party of five was directed to sit at whichever table we wanted. Our wait staff immediately took our drink orders and brought warm nacho chips and salsa to our table. Of note was the size of our drinks: the glasses were huge, and must have held at least 32 ounces.

Within a very reasonable amount of time our meals were delivered to our table. The size of the portions were frankly amazing. The amount of food was the most I have ever seen. Even the kids size order for our 5 year old granddaughter was huge! Everyone in our party praised the quality of the food. My plate was filled with 2 enchiladas, one taco, beans, rice and salad. There must have been at least a pound of seasoned ground beef in the items and sprinkled on the plate. The whole plate was covered with shredded cheese.

This was a great restaurant. The food was excellent, the service was also excellent, and I can’t say enough about the portion size. The prices were reasonable, averaging about $10 a person. We all were full when we left!