Fearless Critic Austin Restaurant Guide

[Kent Wang]

The second edition of the Fearless Critic Austin Restaurant Guide just came out on 28 November. It is available from Amazon and a number of local stores including BookPeople, Cissi's Market, Spec's and Whole Foods.

I've written a number of reviews for the book, mostly for Chinese and Southern cuisine restaurants, and had a hand in the ratings for most of the other restaurants.

I truthfully believe that this is the best source for information on Austin restaurants, by far. None of the newspapers like Austin Chronicle and The Statesman are reliable, as nearly all their reviews are gushingly positive. There are of course online sources like eGullet and Chowhound but it's often difficult to wade through the threads and you never know which poster is knowledgeable or not. Certainly internet forums have their place and I will continue posting here, but I think this book will be useful even to restaurant-goers that keep up-to-date with the forums.

The updated website is being overhauled and will be launched in just a few days. But here's a copy of the top ten, for your perusal and discussion:

Restaurant, Food rating, Feel rating

1. Uchi, 9.8, 8.5

2. The Driskill Grill, 9.5, 9.6

3. Louie Mueller BBQ, 9.4, 8.7

4. City Market, 9.4, 8.4

5. Mulberry, 9.3, 8.6

6. Vespaio Enoteca, 9.3, 8.5

7. Smitty’s Market, 9.3, 8.2

8. Lamberts, 9.2, 9.6

9. Fino, 9.2, 9.2

10. Nubian Queen Lola’s, 9.2, 9.0

[Deacon]

The second edition of the Fearless Critic Austin Restaurant Guide just came out on 28 November. It is available from Amazon . . .

I've written a number of reviews for the book, mostly for Chinese and Southern cuisine restaurants, and had a hand in the ratings for most of the other restaurants. . . .

←

I've not only seen it, but read many of the reviews in detail, since Austin is a city in which I enjoy eating out.

But you guys are *savage* to some of those places. Every sacred cow in sight: slaughtered! Ouch!

[ariggsby]

I truthfully believe that this is the best source for information on Austin restaurants, by far. None of the newspapers like Austin Chronicle and The Statesman are reliable, as nearly all their reviews are gushingly positive.

The FC book has a lot of value, especially compared to the Statesman; the Chronicle isn't so bad, especially once you get to know the takes of their stable of writers. But I think the value of FC has more to do with the skills of the individual critics than a superior method.

1) A weekly newspaper reviews 50+ restaurants a year. Those can all be positive AND honest if you just don't cover the bad places. After all, the Michelin guide only lists recommendations.

2) FC's income is based, I believe, solely on sales. Thus it has some financial motivation to be negative (to back up the above claim to credibility) and contrarian (to make it distinctive), even if those stances aren't based on the facts of particular cases. Of course, the same has been said of Consumer Reports, and I still tend to believe in them.

Andrew