LonghornGal

Here's another thread with some info to get you started. Welcome to Texas! http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...1&st=&p=entry

It was the weirdest kolache I've ever seen. A soft sweet bread, about the size of two large dinner rolls. And inside, a teeny vienna sausage. So you'd have a couple bites of just bread and then suddenly, a nibble of sausage-finger. unpleasant to say the least!

Last year beer was $4-6 a can depending on what you wanted to drink. Water was also $4. You can bring in sealed water bottles of your own. Bring a light lawn chair to sit in. You can usually get close for all the lesser known bands. You can also get up front for many if you plan ahead and work your way through the crowd. In between stages there's plenty of room. Plan ahead so you know where you want to go. I highly recommend seeing the "Rebirth Brass Band" band on the gospel stage. They rock and always get a big crowd. The food is good, just be prepared to stand in line. Last year the lines moved fairly quick but it still takes time. I recommend the TEO gelato and plan to try out the Tofu, tomato, chipotle chili from Primizie. The tamales are also tasty.

I finally got to try some of these wondrous donuts last week. They were strangely orange-yellow. I need to get a box of Crayolas to pick the exact shade. Maybe marigold? Anyways, we had a ton, and discovered that they get stale very quickly. The donut holes were stale by 11am and the regular donuts (both cake and chocolate glazed) were inedible by 3 pm. But we all enjoyed them in the morning. Also, what's with the weird sweet bread-with-a-vienna-sausage thing? I liked the bread, but that sausage was too much like biting into a finger for me. ewwww!

I love the sausages from Southside Market. Never had the smoked ones, but I'm sure they're equally tasty as the fresh. Also been to Wiekels and had an apricot kolache. Haven't been able to embrace the whole sausage version. But their apricot one was good!

So sad, I loved Crimson. Hopefully something cool goes in there.

Went this evening for a local "gourmet" group event. After reading these comments I was watching service pretty closely. We had about 30-35 people (? didn't count) and were seated in the "Sunday House" which is a smallish outbuilding off the patio. Service was attentive and we even got a brief history of the building (the 2nd oldest in Austin). But I have no idea what life was like out on the patio or in the main restaurant. Appetizers: Sadly we were not offered the famed corn dog shrimp. Fried Asparagus - Dipped in some sort of batter - not a corn dog texture, more just fluffy and crispy. Tasty way to sneak asparagus into your kid's diet. Potato Chips with dipping sauce - The sauce was some creamy white dressing - not ranch, maybe blue cheese? I was too enamored of the seasonings on the thin, crispy, perfectly fried chips to bother much with the dip. This was a big hit with all. Kabobs - button mushrooms, teensy grape tomatoes, and beef chunks, alol bite sized and grilled, served over corn salsa. With the same sauce as above. Tasty, but no competition for the potato chips. Main Course: We had choice of four items Jalapeno Corn Bread Muffins These were the winner of the night. Sweet, buttery, with a bit of zip. And warm from the oven. So delicious! I had the Pan Seared Drum with Pecan Butter Sauce - oh yeah, this was good. The fish had a perfect amount of spice and the pecans added a touch of sweetness. Served wiith veggies, corn relish, and garlic mashed potatoes. My neighbor got the pork Claire797 discussed above. He cleaned his plate. I did not try so cannot vouch for the Heinz-Kraftyness of the dish, but he ate it all. Other choices were Vegetable Lasagna which looked fine but you can get that at the Olive Garden, or Chicken with Macaroni and Cheese which was a HUGE dish - it must have contained 2000 calories on it's own - easily would have fed a family of 4. Dessert - the real reason anyone goes out to eat! Again, we were offered a choice. I, through my ESP influence powers, was able to try all 3. Bread Pudding - My personal selection, and pretty decent. It was a very firm bread pudding - held its shape in a nice triangle. Personally, I prefer a less rigid bread pudding - more of a smooshy texture without actually being mushy in the bread chunks. I like it to require a bowl to prevent accidents. I also like to drown it in whiskey sauce. They used a ladylike drizzle and topped with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting - I am a frosting gal and I loved this frosting. The cake was 6 layers (well, 3 cut in half for those that are bakers) and a beautiful red color. It won the dessert category beauty contest. The cake layers themselves were adequate but not earth-shattering. They served their purpose as a delivery vehicle for frosting. Chocolate Brownie with Malt Ice Cream - Now, I love chocolate. But I'm glad I didn't order this. Pretty much your typical brownie wedge, with nuts, and with some ice cream on top. Doesn't Dairy Queen do this one already? It was very sugary and rich and lacked frosting. The amount of ice cream was not sufficient to properly balance the richness. I prefer Chili's Molten Chocolate sugar bomb to this one. I am willing to return to Moonshine as a regular guest based on the quality of the food I received. But there's so many places to try (still!) that it will probably have to be someone else's suggestion or a Southern-food craving attack. It's desserts that usually get me to come back, and nothing I tried was a "wow gotta have it" item. --LG

Take I 35 to the 38 1/2 street exit. Head west on 38.5 street - it turns into 35th. Turn Right on Lamar (this is the corner with Central Market and the Heart Hospital) Go North on Lamar to 51st, the 7-11 is on your right just after the light. They're doing work on the gas tank but there's still parking. --LG p.s. I went again this morning and had a lov-er-ly custom gourmet Pecan Nut coffee with chocolate, vanilla, hazelnut additions, topped with the freeze dried mini-marshmallows. Thankfully, I again resisted the bakerey case (although it is getting tougher and the foods are now screaming "LonghornGal come eat me now!!!"

I've gone back and confirmed my impression of the new 7-11 format. They have awesome sandwiches and a good-looking baked good selection. This time I noticed several fresh fruit baskets with several types of apples, bananas, oranges, etc. oh, and I discovered that you can simultaneously add cherry and vanilla to your soda with that wonderful magical fountain machine. I also went to the 7-11 on Lake Austin Blvd. It also had these wonderful items, and it had a selection of 6 types of Slurpee. Now I'm definitely hooked.

Austin... I have no idea if it's a special 7-11. They always have "gourmet" chocolate goodies there too. But it's not in a ritzy area or anything - it is only 1 mile from the N. Lamar Central Market. But it's also only one mile from the Yellow Rose.

Crazy, but true! Y'all need to stop by the 7-11 on 51st and Lamar. Holy smokes, does this place rock. Today, on my way to Central Market for a produce binge, I stopped at my favorite 7-11 to get a drink - thereby making my tummy full and my hands less likely to pick up a stray chocolate concoction... There are 3 reasons I already loved this 7-11 1. They have super-friendly staff. 2. The free coffee upgrade materials that let you make a treat out of a regular price cup - including miniature marshmallows! :D 3. The best of all - the soda machine where you can add vanilla, cherry, or lemon to any fountain drink. There is nothing better than a Vanilla Diet Dr. Pepper! But today... They've been remodeling so I hadn't been in a while. Today, they were handing out awesome samples of these pressed grilled chicken and roasted red pepper foccia bread sandwiches - you pick your sandwich out of the fresh case, and the employee grills it right in front of you! They also had a wide selection of fresh cut veggies with flavored hummus dips, tuna and chicken salad, and my favorite pickle-in-a-bag snacks. And samples of their new bakery selections. Instead of prewrapped, 4 month old, smashed Little Debbies, they had a fresh bakery case - which included 7 layer bars, marshmallow chocolate moon pie things, and even single-serving pineapple upside down cakes! I sampled happily, wished I hadn't already eaten lunch because I really wanted one of those sandwiches, got my personalized Big Gulp, and headed down to CM. Now, I did purposely choose 1:30 on a Wed because I knew there would be less crowds, lunch would be over, and I might get to chat with some coworkers. But there were no samples. None! Ok there was fruit but that doesn't count. Not even bread in the bakery, just sad empty baskets. I did get to sample chocolates in the bulk section, but that wasn't the same as my freshly grilled 7-11 sample! My world has shifted on its axis.

Doh. Got told I have to come in for training tomorrow night. So sad boo working world! next time...

Those are crazy looking! I'll definitely be on the hunt for puffy tacos on the next trip.

I'm in.

Well, I'm back and I did go to La tierra - something to be said for a place that can seat a crowd of 13 wihtout reservations in the time it takes to order a margarita at the bar. Of course, it was raining cats and dogs so there wasn't a huge roaming dinner crowd. The food was tasty but I would have liked a bit more zip to the salsa. I had fun examining all the mexican-style pastries at the panaderia. :) Where else did we go... oh, the Aramark-run cafeteria (decent BBQ chicken and brisket, tasty grilled veggie wrap, avoid the stir fry like the plague), Sonic (mmmm Cherry Limeade), and catered BBQ. Also, the Radisson hotel restaurant had the worst evening service I'd ever experienced. The morning crew was great (a decent edible hot breakfast buffet that was regularly freshened up) but the afternoon / evening crew took 15 minutes to bring out some ranch dressing for my salad, and the appetizer came out after we'd finished eating the entrees. I'm glad to have y'all's suggestions as we go back again in October. I'll hit the "real" taco places. What the heck is a puffy taco???

If I knew how to work the search engine properly I wouldn't be posting this thread... Next week I'll be in San Antonio and most likely need to round up dinner most of the nights. Anyone got any mid-priced or cheapie restaurants that I should check out while there? Never been to SA before so bring on the tourist traps and the holes in the wall! Oh, and I'll eat anything so no worries on food types. Thanks!

:( I'd love to meet the Shorters but am supposed to be in San Antonio on the 10th. Maybe I'll be able to come back up. :)