Lawrence was attending the World Fantasy Convention.
It is somewhat of a shock to me, but Katz's actually does one of the best burgers in town, in my ever-so-humble opinion. (Try the excellent cheese-stuffed potato as a side, if you're not keeping kosher.) I was also somewhat shocked that we were able to get in quickly on a Saturday at 6 PM: perhaps there's much more of a late night crowd.
Even more shocking, to me, was the price: thanks to the half-price dinner special, the tab for our party of 6 was $54, including automatic tip. And that included a non-half price $6 glass of wine for one member of the party. (As a side note on service, the first glass of wine the server brought was off: much to their credit, they substitued a replacement glass of a different wine with no hassle.). At these prices, Katz's may be one of the best bargains in Austin.
And, one final shock: it is looking to me like Marc Katz may very well be the best candidate for Austin mayor so far.
(According to Katz's, the dinner special runs from 5-7 AM and again from 5-7 PM. At this time, it runs seven days a week: the week of South by Southwest 2003, Katz's plans to cut it back to Monday-Thursday. I'm not clear if that's a permanent cutback, or only for SXSW: I'd suggest calling Katz's directly if you have questions.)
Though something of an Austin institution, Katz's has a bad reputation among many on austin.food. Personally, I've never had a bad meal there, and they do a pretty damn good breakfast, so we decided to see how well they did dinner.
Be forewarned that being on Atkins does limit your choices. The hot wings and salmon were both decent (though the later would have been overpriced were it not for some mitigating factors described below). For dinner I had the roast half-chicken (were I not on Atkins, I no doubt would have opted for something like a hamburger or a pastrami sandwich),which they forgot to hold the side stuffing on (which I didn't eat). The chicken was pretty tasty but rather undersized; I think Vespiao offers you a better deal here. The salad was larger than I expected for a side salad, but otherwise unexceptional. Service was adequate.
The biggest surprise was a pleasant one: the price. They have a 5-7 PM half-price dinner special every day, so we ended up spending less than $10 a person for the meal. Katz's is a good choice for latenight and for breakfast, but their half-price deal makes it a bargain for hungry dinner patrons.
Suzi's China Grill does decent enough Chinese food: better than the other Suzi's location on South Lamar, for sure.
The hot-and-sour seafood soup is pretty good, and a fairly sized portion for the price, but what's with the use of "krab"? Suzi's also does good steamed dumplings (with a nice peanut based sauce). Frankly, though, the main dishes seem to me to be out of proportion with the prices charged.
And that's my big complaint about Suzi's: a meal that costs me $18-$20 (with tip) at, for example, Tien Hong, runs closer to $28-$30 at Suzi's. And Suzi's food just isn't so much better that it justifies a $10 price difference.
I still go there every so often (some of my friends don't feel the same way I do), and I'm interested in trying the sushi bar (which has opened since this visit). But I can't really work up a great deal of enthusiasm for Suzi's.
Other than a dearth of Atkins-friendly appetizers, I really have no complaints about Suzi's China Grill. I liked both my duck salad (though it loses points for inflicting cauliflower on defenseless lettuce) and my Golden Sesame Chicken (though, as usual, it wasn't spicy enough for me, which is pretty much a universal experience for Chinese restaurants) well enough. Still not in the same league as Pao's, though.
Yet another sign that I'm getting old: I saw the attractive dark-haired waitress in too-short shorts and a too-short shirt walking around with a strategically placed coaster, and all I could think was, "Damn, woman, isn't that uncomfortable when you sit?"
But enough about my issues: how's the food? Bone Daddy's has improved some since the first time I visited it: the barbecue sauce no longer tastes like straight-from-the bottle Kraft product. The meat itself is still only just about fair: they do have reasonable wings and biscuits.
The whole experience is kind of "Hooters as a barbecue joint", in terms of waitstaff and food. If you don't want to eat average barbecue while watching attractive underdressed (but not naked) women, there's really no point in going. Bone Daddy's does have the advantage of being open until 2 AM if you need a late-night spot to eat, but really nothing else to pull it above "concept" roots.
As mediocre chain BBQ places go, Bone Daddy's has a lot going for it.
The appetizers (wings and onion rings) were pretty good; the wings weren't hot but they were full-sized wings. The salad was adequate. As for the BBQ, well, it was better than Pok-E-Joe's, but not in the same league as Rudy's.
The best thing about Bone Daddy's is that they adhere to Making It's famous "Good Taste: You Can't Afford It" staffing scheme, the same one used by Hooters: "Remember: Women in Degrading Costumes Spells M-O-N-E-Y." As a single male, I have to approve, though our own waitress looked too much like jailbait to make a suitable object for objectifying. (oink, oink) Add TVs tuned to football, "primitive art" and BMTCRSC wares on the wall, plus every other "faux down home" interior design trick, marinate and grill for 3 months at 350 degrees, and viola! Instant chain restaurant.
The only real reason to come to Bone Daddy's is if you want a sit-down BBQ dinner up on 183 with more sides than Rudy's offers, and you want to ogle the staff. Within those rather narrow confines, Bone Daddy's fits the bill.
What can I say about the Boiling Pot that hasn't been said previously? That she was beautiful and brilliant? That she loved Mozart and Bach, the Beatles, and me? Actually, no, I can't say that, since those are lines from the opening of Love Story, and I have my standards.
I would say that I have very little to say about the Boiling Pot North that I didn't cover in our last visit, but Dwight doesn't seem to have put those comments up. So I'll just say that my comments on The Boiling Pot's downtown location apply here as well. I liked my crab legs just fine, and I'm happy to make a return visit anytime.
See the logs for December of 2002.