ITT: we review restaurants

[Dirtysanchez]

I seriously think this is my first thread on genmay.

Now that we have a forum dedicated to the culinary arts, i think we need a thread to talk about our dining experiences. Dining out has become so common that we tend to take it for granted and not pay attention to the finer details. I would like to present the first review....

Houston's in Austin, TX

Category: Casual but upscale americana
Price range: entrees range from the burger at $10 to the filet and nightly specials up to $29

Location/Appearance (i'll supply pics later)
Houston's has been in Austin for well over 15 years, although i'm not sure of the exact date of its establishment. Over the years, the surrounding area hasn't been fantastic. It's not the best area of austin, but certainly not the worst, either. Parking was ample even when busy. The restaurant on the outside is elegantly simple. dark brown brick, dark green awnings. lots of windows (although many of the shades were pulled down), well groomed landscaping around the patio area.

Interior/Atmosphere
The main entryway is open, with some seating around for waiting. the wall was adorned with a large and authentic-looking navaho rug (that's what they said, at least) framed in glass. you can watch the grill and the rest of the kitchen from here as well. the long, double-sided bar was packed with younger couples, yuppies, and businessmen. dark wood, polished brass, gas lamps everywhere. comfortable booths with nice leather seats. you can watch the grill and the rest of the kitchen from here as well.

The main dining room is dimly lit. each table has a pinpoint light above it, providing adequate light that gives a feeling of privacy, even though there are many people around you. still a little dark, though.

The Food
The menu is simple and single-paged, food on one side, wine on the other. Clean and elegantly simple, again. The selections seem a bit limited, but i suppose there's enough options to keep most people happy. two appetizers were listed on the menu, but there was a featured app as well. some sort of creole bbq shrimp... i don't even know what it was, but it was fantastic. Slightly spicy, but sweet, creamy, and mild at the same time, if that makes any sense. There were other features as well... 2 or 3 fish, and i think a steak. i'll break it down into what we ended up getting:

me: "Austin's Best Pork Chop." Man, they're not kidding. Normally i hate pork chops. i've never had a good one, but i gave this a try at the reccomendation of the server. holy cow. it was juicy, tender, and had such a great flavor to it. it was relatively untouched...salt, pepper, a little butter on the grill, but that's all it really needed. it was HUGE, too. like mammoth big. i had the asparagus for the side item. chilled, drizzled with a vinaigrette of some sort. excellent as well, although i prefer a hollandaise.

the gf: the filet, of course. 10oz. nice and big. the gf got it medium well ( ) but it was still melt-in-your-mouth tender. you can almost cut it just with a fork. had such a great flavor to it that my gf forgot to use the A1. (yes, i hate the way my gf eats steak, and she knows it.)

dessert was a slice of key lime pie. nice and creamy, with a slightly nutty crust and some whipped cream on top. the whipped cream, while obviously house-made and fresh, was a little lacking. not too much flavor to it.

The Wine List
now i'm no wine expert, so take what i say with a grain of salt. the wine list looked similar to the menu, in that it gave you enough options without overwhelming you with a "500000 wines by the glass" attitude. most of the wines on the list i didn't recognize. the server said they specifically go out and look for lesser-known wines that are really fantastic and distinctive. i, being the boring bloke that i am, went for a napa cab..."Marcelina" i think was the vintner. at $10/glass, it was pricey, but it was also a BIG glass. larger than most other restaurants. i took a gamble, having never heard of it before, and i loved it. granted, it's no silver oak, but it was nice and smooth with balanced tannins.

Service
ah, my favorite part. i'm a server myself, so i always judge harshly. we were initially (and quickly) greeted by a server who told us the features and got our drink orders. another server brought out the drinks, and yet another showed up to take our order. turns out the order-taker was our official server, and she was just getting a bit of help from the other guys. so nice to see teamwork in a restaurant for once. all the servers seemed knowledgable and friendly, but not overly so. service was outstanding, to the point of being obsessively clean. they don't use coasters or bev napkins, so condensation is always building up, and consequently they're always all over your table cleaning up the water. kinda cool that they're that detailed, but almost a bit TOO much.

Overall
So yeah, i really liked this place. sure, it's a bit pricey, but not obscenely so. it's more than worth it if you want high-quality food, cooked well, with competent servers.

5/5

[Plazmattack]

If you ever find yourself in Las Vegas, or Nappa Valley I suggest eating at:

Buchon's - Las Vegas (In the Venetian)

The French Laundry - Nappa Valley

Both of the these restaurants are run by Chef Thomas Keller, one of the most amazing chefs in the world. The man is a mad scientist in the kitchen. He uses absolutely NO bitter ingredients in any of his cooking making the flavor that much better.

[stapuff]

meh, houston's is a chain

I got one 3 miles from me, just north of atlanta

edit: props for the thorough and nicely formatted review

[cssilent]

In louisville ky, id suggest The Grape Leaf Restaruant....great middle eastern food

[Dirtysanchez]

Originally Posted by stapuff

meh, houston's is a chain

for what it is, it does things well

but yeah, i know what you mean. once i get a chance to hit the newer stuff in austin, i'll do writeups on them too

[:ninja:]

For anyone in San Diego...

El Comal in Poway is the best damn Mexican Restaurant in the US. I swear it's awesome, and I eat a lot of Mexican food...

They have really good chips that they give you before your food comes, and their burritos are incredible. They also make fantastic Chille Relleno

[miasman1]

In my neck of the woods littered with fast food places, i recommend this place: www.pearstreetbistro.com

the Jack Daniel's/Chappuro steak is to DIE for.

The best sushi joint in the East Bay is Joshu-ya's on Dwight and Telegraph in Berkeley.

[monkeykiller]

Originally Posted by Plazmattack

If you ever find yourself in Las Vegas, or Nappa Valley I suggest eating at:

Buchon's - Las Vegas (In the Venetian)

The French Laundry - Nappa Valley

Both of the these restaurants are run by Chef Thomas Keller, one of the most amazing chefs in the world. The man is a mad scientist in the kitchen. He uses absolutely NO bitter ingredients in any of his cooking making the flavor that much better.

god that man never stops amazing me

[RStype28]

Originally Posted by Plazmattack

If you ever find yourself in Las Vegas, or Nappa Valley I suggest eating at:

Buchon's - Las Vegas (In the Venetian)

The French Laundry - Nappa Valley

Both of the these restaurants are run by Chef Thomas Keller, one of the most amazing chefs in the world. The man is a mad scientist in the kitchen. He uses absolutely NO bitter ingredients in any of his cooking making the flavor that much better.

the french laundry is pretty much like 200-300 per person after tax and wine. I also reccomend around that area www.latoque.com . bouchon is pretty good for a french bistro.

[Scrivener]

Other 5-Star Restraunts in SoCal:
1. Lucilles - All smokehouse style BBQ. Every dish is a moutgasm.
2. The Stinking Rose- This joint specializes in garlic everything... they even have Garlic Icecream!
3. Amazon - This joint serves every kind of meat you could think of - and it's all you can eat. Rattlesnake, Bison, and Shark ftw! Kosher Jews need not apply.
4. Charly Browns - Fucking brilliant Steakhouse. It's always cooked Rare unless otherwise ordered.

[Blossum]

Fogo De Chao

[tenk_immortals]

Originally Posted by PowderdToastMan

Fogo De Chao

Damn good and not that pricey.

[shmerlops]

If you're ever in Atlanta: http://www.figopasta.com/aboutfigotext.htm

Real Italian pasta made fresh every day. Every item on the menu is incredible, and best of all, it's a struggle to spend more than $15.

If you go, be warned that there are no reservations, and that you have to wait in line to order and be seated, which can be long if you go on Thursday-Saturday night.



/fake edit: in the same parking lot there is also Taqueria del Sol which is a delicious (and a little bit more expensive) taco restaurant, as well as Bacchanalia (http://www.starprovisions.com/bacc/), which is probably one of the nicest restaurants in Atlanta (but it's very expensive and requires reservations).

[BlAcK_PlAgUe22]

Originally Posted by Scrivener

Other 5-Star Restraunts in SoCal:
2. The Stinking Rose- This joint specializes in garlic everything... they even have Garlic Icecream!

The Stinking Rose.

[Scrivener]

There's this Cajun place near my school (Monrovia, Ca) that has the best damn gumbo anywhere outside New Orleans. The guys who run the place actually grew up there.

Frank and Joes