JMueller's BBQ - Austin, TX

The apple fell 37.7 miles from the tree, which given the 24,900 mile circumference of the the blue planet, equates to 0.1526% of the farthest it could have fallen.  

THAT, my friends,

is called a rounding error.

He done good.

Backstory:  trailer off South First opened by a member of the legendary Mueller family out of Taylor, the pioneers and operators of my second favorite barbecue joint in the state (technically, it bounces between one and two but its sitting at two now, not because of a subpar experience, but because my last meal was at number one)

Anyway, this place is G - O - O - D FANTASTIC.

Notice the handwritten menus with items crossed out.  That was at 12:30, so get there early.

Here's how I ordered.

"Give me a little of everything you've got left, some chipotle cole slaw, some cheese, a jalapeno, and some potato salad."

And here is what I received:

Brisket.

BAM!

Pork ribs.

BAM!

Sausage.

BAM!

Beef Rib.

HOT DAMN!!!

Winner winner chicken dinner.  Axe the bird and fly with the cow.  

So, I don't want to ruin how good this was with words, so I'll be brief.

Get the beef rib.  Period.

It's incredible.  Thick, coarse ground salt and pepper crust makes for an incredible bark, while the bone and the fat inside keep the meat as tender as it could possibly be.  My brisket was comparable, I lucked out and got the fatty cuts, which I prefer, but if you're going to go one or the other, my guess is the beef rib is going to have more consistency.  Do NOT, under any circumstance order your brisket lean.  Here or anywhere.

Pearl of wisdom coming....wait for it.......wait for it............



Life's too short for lean meats and light beer.



Pork ribs are great, sausage also good.  Do yourself a favor and get a chunk of cheddar cheese and some saltines and make yourself a little sausage cheese appetizer.

Sides were great, but come for the meat.  They give you sauce, but just think of it as a "thank you for dining with us" after dinner mint type thing.  Not that it's bad, it's not, but it isn't what this barbecue is about.

I'd be hard pressed to find better barbecue.


Summary

Atmosphere:  food truck with a bigolesmoker out back, plenty of outdoor seating some with umbrellas for shade, great for lunch on a nice day, great for bbq any day

Food:  Texas barbecue

Dog Friendly:  yep

Crowd:  country folk, hipsters, business casual crowd, students, you name it they're there

When to Go:  lunch, get there early

What to Order:  beef rib (short rib)

Carl's Jr. - Austin, TX

Pressed for time this afternoon, I made my maiden voyage to the Carl's Jr. drive-thru.  Yes, I promise I won't review too many fast food places, as most opinions have long since been formed, and it's generally not interesting, but I felt compelled to review this one for a few reasons:

1.  Carl's Jr. is quite easily the dumbest name I've ever heard for a restaurant, no offense to Carl or his dad.

2.  A Hardee's Mushroom & Swiss loyalist (I'm from the midwest) as a kid, this was my first visit to it's twin brother.

3.  They've brought Pulp Fiction's Big Kahuna Burger to the real world, and to the lucky residents of Westlake.

And because everything is funnier in German...

Anyway....

Cleverly disguised as the Teriyaki Burger, we all know what this is.

Yep.

Chargrilled beef, grilled pineapple, Swiss (the fake kind) cheese, tomato, red onion and mayonnaise.  Yep, Sammy Jack's favorite, the Big Kahuna Burger.  Worthy of a tasty beverage to WASH down this tasty burger.

I opted to go without lettuce, according to the picture menu it looked like the wilted green variety that certainly wouldn't make the drive, and I'd recommend you do the same.

This thing was actually really good, though you'd better be ready for the sweet tang of teriyaki sauce.  Now I've never been to a Carl's Jr., but they do a good burger.  It's actually got flavor, a nice chargrilled flavor at that, without that sickly gassy flavor that other fast food joints have, though I won't say who.

Anyway, in addition to the beef, the sauce was pretty good, and onion was perfect to cut the sweet of both it and the pineapple, as well as add a much needed texture to an otherwise very soft (and that's a good thing) sandwich.

Decent fast food if your'e in the mood for fast food.



Summary:

It's fast food, I'm not going to bother with this.

Texas Honey Ham Company - Austin, TX

Texas Honey Ham.................YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAWWWWWW!

Reviewed this one already...

http://thefatartery.blogspot.com/2011/11/texas-honey-ham-company.html

...but stopped in for breakfast yesterday after hearing their breakfast tacos were no joke.

Their breakfast tacos were no joke.

Sausage and egg, bacon and egg, baked potato hash and egg, and ham, egg and serranos.

All were very good...but let me sidestep here and say that just watching the guy working the morning shift on the flattop yesterday was like watching an artist with a canvas.  Eggs handled right hand only...crack, split, tossed...yes tossed (his range was about two and half feet) to the appropriate part of the griddle in the same swoop that delivered the shell to the trash.  His work with the spatulas (two of them simultaneously) puts him one rice volcano and a shrimp flip shy of the great Benny Hanna, and has me thinking his chopstick skills might rival Miyagi.

That said, back to the tacos.  All were good, the eggs being that half scrambled variety that though properly chopped together with the rest of the ingredients, leave you with a few really nice yolk bites and some texture.  The meat, all good, though there is no chorizo on the menu and the sausage, while nice, was fairly bland.  Ham was their signature ham, nicely chunked and sweet and salty at the same time.  Bacon, not over crisp, but not chewy.  Perfect consistency to be cut into the egg.  Potatoes were a nice change from a hash brown, darker in color and a little deeper in flavor, though I couldn't exactly put my finger on what they had done to them.  Tortillas were soft, and nicely wrapped in foil perfect for eating in the car if you needed to, and the salsa was homemade and fresh, on the mild side, but perfectly complementary of the tacos, not overpowering in flavor nor heat.  My recommendation if you're into heat in the morning is to adjust it using peppers.  Mild:  just use the salsa.  Medium:  get fresh jalapenos cut into your taco.  Hot:  same but with the serranos.  Just enough heat to make it hum, but not enough to cause you to turn back around on your way to work.

So, my order of preference of these things:

1.  Ham, egg, serrano
2.  Bacon and egg
3.  Baked potato hash and egg
4.  Sausage and egg

Alphabetical order of these things:

1.  Bacon and egg
2.  Baked potato hash and egg
3.  Ham, egg, serrano
4.  Sausage and egg

Front to back on the pig:

1.  Baked potato hash and egg (they'll eat anything, and trust me you want the way in, not out)
2.  Sausage and egg
3.  Bacon and egg
4.  Ham and egg

Right aligned, reverse alphabetical by ninth to last character, spaces being before A and punctuation being after Z:

1.  Ham, egg, serrano

2.  Bacon and egg

3.  Baked potato hash and egg

4.  Sausage and egg

Now, all that said, this is a mix and match place.   I'm a heat and freshness guy, so will opt for the serranos on whatever I get next, and though I do love the front part of the pig, I'll probably pass on the sausage and stick to ham and bacon.

Maybe I'll add some cheese to complete the trifecta...

Summary:

Check out the prior review.

Way South Philly - Austin, TX

A few days ago I reviewed the cheesesteak at Delaware Sub Shop with a theme based on Always Sunny in Philadelphia, both of which I am a big fan of.  I thought it was a good cheesesteak, the best I'd had in Texas in fact, which was true as of a few days ago, but which is very, very wrong today after a trip to Way South Philly.

I was naive.

I was blind.

Blinded by a two year absence from the City of Brotherly Love.

So first and foremost, to Charlie, to Mac, to Dennis, and of course to Sweet Dee (not so much you, Frank, you are a dirty, dirty little man), I AM SORRY.  You all have my sincerest apology in associating you with a sandwich, that while good, and while a cheesesteak, is not worthy of being a PHILLY cheesesteak.

Way South Philly, now THAT is what a Philly cheesesteak is supposed to taste like.   THAT is a Philly cheesesteak.

Delaware, I salute you for trying, and for making a good sandwich, but most of all for stimulating my appetite for a cheesesteak and getting me out there in search of Austin's best.  And as of right now, that Belt lies firmly around the bloated waist of a little trailer out on East 6th, Way South Philly.

For starters, the guy who runs the place is a Philadelphia transplant, hailing from just across the river in south Jersey.  And he's got a resume.  First off, his favorite steak joint in Philadelphia is Jim's, which is legit, less known to tourists, and a favorite of many locals.  Two, he's a good family friend of the folks who make arguably the best roast beef sandwich in the city, Tommy DeNic's at the Reading Terminal Market.  C.) when I started a conversation about pork roll, not only did he know what I was talking about, but he told me that he had some, having just brought it back with him from a recent trip.

So, enough about the man, let's talk about the sandwiches.  Proudly displayed on the side of the trailer is a sign stating that they serve their sandwiches on real Amoroso rolls, straight from Philadelphia, and the only roll that a Philadelphian will accept.  And they are every bit of it.  Buttery, light, soft, and toasty, these things hold that greasy, cheesy goodness more snuggly than a McPoyle holds his milk.

And the cheese.  First thing you see when you peer in the window is this...

Yep.  Wiz.  The real deal.

So, there are several combinations of cheesesteaks here that all looked incredible, but for comparison's sake, I settled on...

THE PAULIE

paul•ie  |ˈpôlē| - adjective – 1. Rocky Balboa’s brother-in-law : Paulie, it’s Thanksgiving, I got a turkey in the oven.  2.  a generous portion of seasoned grilled philly steak, sautéed with steamed onions and mushrooms, then topped with Cheez Wiz : Yeah, I’ll have the Paulie, wit wiz.

Two words:  incredible

Seriously, this thing was perfect.  You know the saying, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts?   Well, it applies to cheesesteaks.  That's for damn sure.  When all of those ingredients are put together on the flat top, and their juices and flavors combine, they become something much, much more.  The flavors change.  They become one.  It.  Becomes one.  It.  Becomes a cheesesteak.

I'm going to offer a comparison here for those who may not have had a real cheesesteak, but may have had one of these.  White Castle.  And I mean no disrespect to Philadelphia, I'm not comparing a White Castle to a great cheesesteak, this is purely illustrative.  Try to make a slider at home.  Good, right?  Now go to White Castle and get the real deal.  See the difference?  You can't find the lines between bun, onion, meat, cheese and bun, nor can you taste any individual ingredient.  It has become one soft, oniony mess, with a flavor all it's own.  And that's what you get with a good steak sandwich, and that's what you get at Way South Philly.  He nailed it.

Oh, before I finish up.  Tots.  Wiz.

Yup.

I think the picture says it all.

Summary

Atmosphere:  food truck, outdoor seating, smoking section, perfect for lunch, carry out

Food:  real deal Philly cheesesteaks

Crowd:  not-so-tough guys, guy in a tie, lady smoking a cigarette and drinking a Dr. Pepper, looked a little like Mac's mom

Dog Friendly:  yes

What to Order for the First Timer:  The Paulie

Best Time to Go:  lunch on a nice day, after the bars on a weekend

Torchy's Tacos - Austin, TX

Torchy's Tacos has a following like no other taco place in Austin, or Texas for that matter, stemming from a loyal student base in search of great food on the cheap.   It's this following that has allowed Torchy's to aggressively expand, from it's start as one of Austin's premier trailers, to numerous brick and mortar locations around Austin, and now...GASP!...Dallas.

I've been a fan of Torchy's since my first visit, and unless I'm in a rush and passing by a location, I like to head down to it's humble beginnings, in the trailer park of South 1st, one of the nicest and easiest in town.

Now, first things first.  Let's boil down what kind of "Mexican" we're talking about here, an important first step for anyone looking for "Mexican" food in Austin.  I've drawn up a little organizational chart here, focusing on the taco side of the equation.

First things first, let's differentiate between Mexican and Tacos.  If you're "going out for Mexican", you're talking about more of a full meal, ranging from something like Taco Cabana to Maudie's to Fonda San Miguel.  Varying degrees of quality, options including enchiladas, burritos, plates, rice, beans, and also different styles such as Interior Mexican, Tex-Mex, or Coastal Mexican.  Now, tacos may very well be a part of your Mexican meal, and that's alright.  For instance, I ate at Maudie's last night.  We "went out for Mexican" and in this instance, Tex-Mex.  I had a combination plate featuring among other things, a crispy beef taco.  But we didn't "go out for tacos", like we did Saturday, when we hit up Torchy's, meaning we were heading somewhere specializing primarily in tacos, though most will likely feature things like chips, salsas, queso, and in the case of some of the authentic Mexican places, tortas...the Mexican sandwich.  That said, generally you're talking about a quicker, more on-the-go meal, something you might associate more with lunch, carry-out, or late-night.

Alright, now that we've got that out of the way, let's briefly touch what I view as this area's primary taco types.

Mexican Street Tacos:  these are the more authentic Mexican tacos, ranging from the more normal classic recipes for al pastor (pork), picadillo (ground beef), and bistec (steak), to the scary...lengua (cow tongue), tripas (small intestine), cabeza (cow face)...and always served on small, usually corn, tortillas with minimal accompaniments, typically cilantro, onion and lime, and your choice of red or green salsa.

Tex-Mex:  think back to taco day at your elementary school growing up, and you've got it, and if your school didn't have taco day, God help you, then drive through Taco Bell and take a look at the menu.  Crispy corn taco shells or soft flour tortillas, seasoned ground beef or shredded chicken, beef or chicken fajita, you got it.  Cheese is typically a component of these tacos, as well as some combination of lettuce, onion, tomato, and salsa.

Fusion:  we're seeing these in the taco trucks quite a bit around here...Korean, Vietnamese, Barbecue, Southern...any kind of non-Mexican food prepared in a tortilla, typically with some sort of meat or vegetable base, cooked, and then any sort of toppings depending on the style...kimchee, slaw, carrots, greens...you name it.   REALLY good.  Not Mexican.

Breakfast:  the pride of Austin, with everyone and their brother, mother, grandmother and everyother making them...I mean come on you can go to Dan's Hamburgers in the morning and get breakfast tacos.  Sounds like a Mexican breakfast joint, doesn't it?  Anyway, you know the drill here, basically corn or flour tortillas, base of eggs, and any assortment and combination of meat, beans, vegetables, tortilla chips, herbs, etc.  Basically, its how you need to start your day.

And there you have it.  Sorry to have digressed.

Alright, so then back to Torchy's.  From a classification standpoint, I'm going to consider Torchy's a Tex-Mex Fusion with side of Breakfast and just a spritz of Street.

Chemically,

 S-Tm – F (B)-S

So I got an assortment to bring back to the house on Saturday for My Lovely Wife Mrs. Gordo and me to share.  First off, they traveled well, due to care in preparation.  Salsas, specific to each taco, are left off of the taco and served in little containers, keeping liquid from gumming up the tortilla.  They're also wrapped tightly in foil, giving juice from the meat little room to squeeze out to the outside of the tortilla.  So, I got all of ours on flour and cut them in half upon arrival for your viewing pleasure.

From left to right:  Ranch Hand, Crossroads, Trailer Park, and Dirty Sanchez.

The Ranch Hand was my least favorite of the four, but not because of failed preparation or a bad mix of ingredients...it was just ordinary, lacking the creativity, flair and flavor that the others celebrated.  Don't get me wrong, this is a good taco, and though not in the breakfast portion of the menu, is basically a steak breakfast taco.  Ample, fluffy scrambled eggs, grilled beef fajita, and shredded cheese, served with their homemade Diablo Sauce, which is basically kind of a creamy fire-roasted habanero sauce, which is quite excellent.  Frankly with the tiny amount of beef featured on this taco, it provided all of the flavor, which was great, but pretty basic.

From here on out it gets a bit more difficult to rank them, as each is very different, very good, very innovative, and any one of them could be your favorite based on what you're feeling like the day you're there.  So let's move to the Crossroads.  Smoked beef brisket with grilled onions, jalapenos, cilantro, jack cheese, and a slice of avocado served with tomatillo sauce.  WELL DONE, TORCHY'S!  What I really like about this is that it's a brisket taco with a great charred and smoky flavor, complemented with sweet grilled onions and the crisp bite of jalapenos and cilantro.  The intentionally acidic tomatillo salsa is a perfect match for this one, with it's vinegary bite and heat cutting through the smoke and tender juiciness of the meat.

Trailer Park.  BAM!  I resisted the temptation to go trashy on this one, replacing the lettuce with queso,  though I'm not sure that really makes it all that much healthier.  Either way, this one is GOOD.  Fried chicken, green chilies, lettuce, pico de gallo and cheese with poblano sauce, an almost jalapeno/poblano infused ranch dressing which is fantastic, and goes really well with this one...think chicken fingers and ranch.  Yep.  The chicken is hot, juicy and crunchy, and the lettuce and pico provide both a temperature contrast and a cool crispness that make this thing perfect.

Dirty Sanchez, also incredibly good, might be my favorite of the four, but I think it's going to depend on the day.  Ready?  Scrambled eggs, a breaded and fried poblano chile, guacamole, escabeche (pickled jalapenos and carrots), and shredded cheese with that same poblano sauce.  Again, think about anything fried...mushrooms, pickles, onions, potatoes, jalapenos...that you like to dip in ranch, and that's what you've got on a tortilla here with non-intrusive scrambled egg providing the body.

Summary

Atmosphere:  covered and uncovered picnic seating in a shaded trailer park, food truck, great place on a nice day for lunch, BYOB

Food:  Tacos

Crowd:  a little bit of everyone

Dog Friendly:  Yes

Best Time to Go:  lunch on a nice day

What to Order for the First Timer:  Trashy Trailer Park, Dirty Sanchez

Delaware Sub Shop - Austin, TX

12:23

on a Thursday

The Gang Goes to Delaware

Kind of...

...well not at all actually.  First off, there was not gang, it was just me, and second of all, it was Delaware Sub Shop.  In Austin.  Texas.  Nowhere close to Delaware or Philadelphia.  Nicer people though.

So here's what I'm going to tell you to do next Thursday.  Go to Delaware Sub Shop for the special of the day, the Philly cheesesteak.

Now I've reviewed this place before, and it's a good sandwich shop, but it's pretty sterile inside and a place that's probably better suited for a carry out or a call ahead/quickie.  But on Thursdays...oh, Thursday...the place is transformed by a full griddle of carmelizing onions and searing ribeye, filling the place with a greasy haze that even your eyeballs can taste, and making you feel as close to the wrong side of the tracks on Snyder Avenue as you can get this side of the Mississippi.

Seriously though, the place has a different feel on Thursdays, and I get the impression most of the crowd there are Thursday regulars.  And even more seriously, the cheesesteaks are legit.

As with a true Philly cheesesteak, it starts with the bread.  I'm not sure if this is a true Amoroso roll, probably not, but it sure has a really close taste and feel to it.  Soft but sturdy, adequately malleable, with the telltale griddle marks and crispness on the edge indicating that these guys know what they're doing.  

Order a 7" or a 14", the latter looks much more impressive split in half and side by side in its basket, and though fourteen inches sounds huge, the proportions are right, and I guarantee if you order the seven incher you're going to wish you had that second half.   

Mushrooms and onions?  Absolutely.  Hot or sweet peppers?  Hot please.   Ketchup?  No thanks, give me mayo.  

And that was my order.  The beef was hot and tender, slightly caramelized to flavor perfection.  The mushrooms and onions were perfect.  That fine line between crisp and soft, with just enough tooth to provide a contrast to the bread and meat, and with just enough cooking to give it that fantastic seasoned griddle flavor.  The hot peppers are an addition that I'd recommend, I prefer hot to sweet, and prefer peppers to none.  These appeared to have been the chopped cherry pepper variety, and added a cool, sweet heat to the sandwich.  As for the mayo, I love it on a cheesesteak, I think because it feels a lot like an extension of the cheese without adding any conflicting flavors, and it fixes any dryness the sandwich may feature, though this one had no problems, and the mayo and provolone blended together to make this sandwich the best Philly cheesesteak I've had anywhere outside of Philadelphia, though I still long for a trip across the tracks back to John's Roast Pork

Summary

http://thefatartery.blogspot.com/2011/06/delaware-sub-shop-austin-tx.html

Only modification to my previously posted summary...go on Thursday.  Get the cheesesteak.

Top Notch Hamburgers - Austin, TX

Alll right all right all right...

I love them drive-ins...

Let me tell you what Top Notch is packin' right here, alll right...we got a 15-8 piece dark, No. 4 Longhorn Special, curbside service, 6 and 1 fried sides, no-doubt 390 cholesterol...we're talking some f-in' food.

Alright, alright...let's start with the fried chicken this stuff was G-O-O-D good, my man...I'm talkin' super juicy on the inside, ultra crispy on the outside, salty, plump...I don't know what they do to it, man, but they got to keep on doin' it, cause that chicken makes life worth livin', man.  L-I-V-I-N.

Sides?  Yeah, man, any and all, all right...mashed potatoes and gravy...and this gravy was smokin', man...S-M-O-K-I-N...I'm talkin' thick, creamy, salty, peppery...dropped on top of those fresh-peeled-boiled-and-mashed spuds like a cheerleader on a quarterback, all right...


Fried sides?  Can't decide?  Get 'em all...you got to eat what Artie Gordo wants to eat.  Okra...fries...rings...you got to know they do it right here, man...hot, crunchy, salty...may even sop up a little of that chicken fat in the fryer for a little soul, all right all right...

Burger...grilled over charcoal, man, the only way to do it, alll right...this number four is the 1976 version of the Big Mac, my man, and what Ronald McDonald no-doubt wants that Big Mac to be to-DAY, man...I'm talkin' two charcoal grilled patties...ripe with flavor....melted American cheese, special sauce, lettuce, tomato, onion...this thing is hot, this thing is big, and this thing tastes great...just wish they had crisper lettuce and ripe tomatoes...I'd be a lot cooler if they did...but who cares, I'm not here for a salad.

That's what I love about these drive-ins, man.  I get older, they serve the same food...

Off to the Moontower

Atmosphere:  old school, mellow, cruise in, drive-in, counter service, indoor seating, sit-in-your-car-and-push-the-button seating, carry-out, throwback, place for a date when you're to young to hit Centennial, THE place to pick up redheads, all right all right

Food:  classic man, burgers, fries, rings, fried chicken and fixin's

Dog Friendly:  you got to do what you got to do

Crowd:  me, Randall Pink Floyd, Slater-son, little Mitch Kramer, and redheads, man, I love those redheads

When to Go:  lunch, dinner, anytime you want my man, anytime you want

What to Order:  you got to order what you want to order, but get the fried chicken or a number four, all right all right...

Dirty Martin's - Austin, TX

I'll let my previous postings on Dirty's speak for the place itself, but must post this to say that Dirty's has the best Chicken Fried Steak Sandwich in Austin.

For years I've stuck to the burgers and sirloin sandwich, which I believe are the best in town, but the other day I decided to stray from my normal orders and give the chicken fried steak a shot.  Wow.  Homemade and deep fried, this sandwich was the perfect blend of tender and crisp, with a great black pepper flavor, just the right amount of grease, a soft bun, and crisp iceberg lettuce and a cool, ripe tomato and mayo to balance it all out.  If you're in the market for one, hit up Dirty's.

Summary

http://thefatartery.blogspot.com/2011/03/dirty-martins-austin-tx.html

Lily's Sandwich - Austin, TX

Since I was already up in Chinatown to try the sandwiches at Baguette House (http://thefatartery.blogspot.com/2011/12/baguette-house-austin-tx.html), I decided to pop into another sandwich shop recommended to me by a little Vietnamese guy for a frame of reference by which to judge the wonderful sandwiches I'd just had.

Lily's Sandwiches got the nod.  Located in the same 21st century slice of China in north Austin...

...Lily's was more along the lines of what I expected of an authentic Vietnamese sandwich shop, the kind of place that makes any white man pause, take a deep breath, and wonder if this is the right decision before opening the door to a great unknown.  Also in-line shop space, this one remains a mystery until that door opens because of the opaqueness of the windows, painted with all sorts of writing and pictures not understandable to anyone not fluent in the language.

As the door opens, the mystery continues when a fish/dried shrimp smell hits you in the face at the same time you see the disposable tin of eggrolls in front of the counter for you to take for a buck.  Given the smell, I'm not sure I'd eat there, and I was getting my sandwich to go anyway, and I opted for the grilled pork sandwich.  Similar in look to the one at Baguette House, the bread was more along the lines of what I'd expect from a store bought baguette, good, but a bit chewy for a sandwich, and tougher to eat.  Ingredients were largely the same...cilantro, jalapeno, carrots, onion, but this place used some sort of brown sauce, which was good, but overall couldn't compare to the feel and flavors of Baguette House.

If you're making the drive, bypass this one and go around the corner where you'll feel better and won't be disappointed.

Summary

Atmosphere:  authentic, a little smelly, a little dirty, limited seating, good for take-away

Food:  Vietnamese sandwiches

Crowd:  real Vietnamese people

Dog Friendly:  only if you want them cooked

When to Go:  lunch

What to Order for the First Timer:  Baguette House

Baguette House - Austin, TX

I went to Chinatown for a Vietnamese sandwich.

Does that make me racist?

No.  Because they set up shop there, blurring the lines themselves and perpetuating ignorant stereotypes that all Asians are, and cook, the same.  They're not and they don't, but I don't really care because it's all  really good.  

Baguette House is worth the drive.  

This place, as the name would suggest, has some of the best bread I've ever had, as if a little Vietnamese man bedded a talented French baker, resulting in something both the Vietnamese (Chinese?) and French would be jealous of.  Incredibly soft, with a thin and crisp, but not too tough or chewy, outer layer, which is absolutely perfect for a sandwich, or to eat by itself or as a side for any meal.  The nice thing here too is that though not on the menu, you can buy this bread to take home.  

You'd be a fool though not to get a sandwich while you're there.  They're incredible, perfectly sized for lunch, and around $3 each, a steal.  

Let's start with Chinatown though.  Forget all you know about hanging chickens, smelly fruits, and eyeballs, this is a Chinatown of the 21st century, a master-planned, newly built strip center with all of the authenticness of a real Chinatown without the scary feel of dismembered eyeballs and dried mystery meats staring you in the face and stinging your nostrils with a "dear God, what the hell is that, turn and run" sort of olfactory violation.  Gringos, fear not what Baguette House can do to you, fear what you miss by not going.

Baguette House is a sparkling new sandwich shop which has a cleaner feel than any sandwich chain you've ever been in, and serves up some incredible Vietnamese sandwiches.  I opted to give two of them a shot while I was there, namely to amortize the $9.80 round-trip, IRS milage-based cost of this nine mile each way drive over a couple of meals, and also because I couldn't decide what to get.  

First up, meatball sandwich.  

No balls here, just an incredible flavorful and moist combination of ground pork and spices, topped with fresh cilantro, jalapenos, carrots and onions, with some sort of mayonnaise-like sauce binding it all together.  The quality of the bread here completes the sandwich.  Where as many places may use a baguette with a little more tooth to it, causing the contents of the sandwich to squeeze out the back, Baguette House's tears away easily leaving every bite a perfect combination of all ingredients.  I'll be back for this one.

Second, the grilled bbq pork sandwich.

Signature bright red grilled and sliced pork, with the same toppings and bread as the meatball sandwich, this was good, but not as good as the meatball.  The pork was very mild, and lacked the great flavor of the meatball, but was tender with a nice grilled flavor, and easy to eat.  

Staff here is incredibly friendly, and very interested in what a six foot white guy thinks of their sandwiches, and helps to put anyone without a clue of what a menu item is at ease and comfortable in their order.  

This place is a little bit of a trek from downtown, but well worth the drive for a good, cheap lunch fix.  

Summary

Atmosphere:  clean, Panera-like sandwich shop in a corner spot of a strip mall, good place for dine-in or take-away, great spot for lunch

Food:  Vietnamese sandwiches, bread

Crowd:  real Vietnamese people, real Chinese people (so you know it's good), white folk, businessmen, rickshaw drivers

Dog Friendly:  no

Time to Go:  lunch

What to Order for the First Timer:  meatball sandwich