I wasn't expecting to find a place this good in this remote an area. I also wasn't expecting to find a waitress as beautiful as Geneva: in addition to being extraordinarily cute, she was also able to keep up in the wit department with our large party of wiseguys.
I recommend the Sportsman's Platter: grilled quail, catfish, and frog legs. (No, the frog legs do not taste like chicken.) I also liked the fried mushrooms and the onion rings.
This is worth a drive. And, if you get Geneva, please tip generously.
Since we were out in the area helping our friend Karl Rehn open his new A Zone Shooting Range, we stopped by the Elm Creek Cafe afterwards. This is the sort of place that chain restaurants like The Black-Eyed Pea aspire to emulate without ever getting it quite right. The have a decent salad bar, good onion rings, and commendable quail and chicken-fried steak. Plus a waitress that was exactly as big a smart ass as we deserved. Well worth trying if you happen to be in the area.
I've eaten at Treehouse a few times now. The first time I went, I didn't think it was terribly inspired. The second time, I took some folks from Rhode Island (who know Italian food) just because it was close to the office: they liked it, and I thought it had improved enough that I was willing to try an SDC there.
I liked my chicken marsala well enough (though I prefer the version served at the late lamented Mama Mia's: by the way, Piccolo Italian Cafe was disappointing last time I went). Lawrence's veal saltimbocca seemed fine, but I believe Treehouse's real speciality is seafood dishes: they do an excellent fettuccine with crawfish in a cream sauce, as well as canneloni stuffed with fresh crab meat (among other possibilites).
The last time we ate here it was called Bambino's Cucina Italina. The decor has undergone a certain amount of cheesivation, but the food still seems pretty good. The appetizers in particular seemed top notch, with the smoked salmon, escargot and calamari all among the best we've had in Austin. For my main appetizer, I had the veal saltimbocca, which was quite nice (though the spaghetti served on the side was rather uninspired), as was the cheesecake I had for dessert. Except for a few bobbles due to the late arrival of Andrew "Chaingunner" Wimsatt, service was quite good.
Very possibly the best Italian place south of the river.
I liked Buster's. I thought the garlic pork bomb was outstanding, and the pork ribs pretty good. Unfortunately, they ran out of all of their other meets before I got to try any non-pork products. I'd suggest getting there early. Also, just chips: no fries or baked potato (as far as I could tell, though they did seem to have some kind of barbecue stuffed spud for lunch...) Seating is basically a plastic enclosed patio: I'm not sure I'd brave a cold winter's day to eat there. (Much of Buster's trade while we were there seemed to be take-out, anyway.)
It just seems to me to be a nice place with nice people running it. I'm okay with that.
I'm afraid Buster's leaves me rather underwhelmed. The pulled pork was somewhat on the bland side, and distinctly inferior to what the late, lamented Captain Tom's used to serve. The pork ribs were good, but wouldn't crack my top ten list. The potato salad was quite literally the worst I've ever had; mashed potatoes, skins, and precious little of anything else. I did like the "all-you-can-eat drinks and chips for $1" policy.
I had intended to try the garlic bomb (a garlic stuffed porkloin), but foolishly forgot to order it once I got there. Dwight says it was good. If I ever come back, I'll give it a try. But that's a big "if."
Fair to middling TexMex. They have a few interesting dishes (like the chicken dish with ketchup and prunes?) and they do decent gorditas. The tacos al pastor aren't bad, though a bit on the small side.
The big problem I had with Garibaldi's is that I felt we were being nickel-and-dimed to an extreme. 25 cents per tortilla. Chips and salsa weren't free. (This is an unacceptable policy in Mexican restaurants, as long as the customers order dinner. Curra's Grill, I'm looking at you.) They could possibly get away with it if the food was better, but it wasn't good enough.
There's plenty of better places in the area. I'd go back to the Serrano's on that corner first.
So what is it with mediocre TexMex places in Austin?
Do potential restaurateurs go to their local bank and proclaim: "Hey, I want to open up a really mediocre TexMex joints that will taste like all the other TexMex joints!"
Banker: "Sure, as long as it's really mediocre! Here, have some dough!"
Is there a TexMex mediocrity pact of which we are unaware? An Average Association for the Advancement of the Aggressively Adequate? A Conspiracy of Commonplace Conformity?
Whatever it is, Garibaldi's is just the latest example of TexMex mediocrity we've chanced across. Adequate nachos. Mediocre fajitas. Average hot sauce and chips. (And a rather troubling policy of charging for chip refills posted on the wall, though our waitress seemed to provide them for free.) The usual undersized tacos el pastor. I could have done without the peas in the (still mediocre) rice. Service was decent considering there was only one waitress working (and later the owner/cook helped bring out the plates).
While Garibaldi's isn't actively bad, there are a dozen other South Austin TexMex places that do as good or better a job.
See the logs for March of 2002.