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i ate at zen somewhat frequently in college because it was cheap and relatively healthy. it was never very good but it was a break from cheeseburgers and taco cabana. never had the sushi, just the rice bowls. 

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  • Macanudo
    Macanudo

    True story....   I lived in an apartment on Nueces right where it splits off of Guadalupe there where Ken's was and Dirty's is for a year my junior year (91-92.)   I ate a shit ton of both.   But the

  • Biff Tannen
    Biff Tannen

    I went into Ken's one night on mushrooms and when I went to get water from the fountain the lever stuck and I couldn't figure out how to make it stop so water was just pouring out all over the floor a

  • We went to Dan's because of this thread.  Cheeseburger, fries, onion rings and milk shakes.  I'm gonna die Elvis Presley style on the shitter.

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1 hour ago, ftf82 said:

I got nothing to add to this except the first time my Mom came to visit me after I moved to Austin in the 80s and was living on Shoal Creek she thought the sign said "Panty Barn". So my wife and I have called it that for years.

So it literally like a Seinfeld scene “are those the panties your mother laid out for you” kinda situation?  I hope @Biff Tannen sees this.  

59 minutes ago, stc said:

i ate at zen somewhat frequently in college because it was cheap and relatively healthy. it was never very good but it was a break from cheeseburgers and taco cabana. never had the sushi, just the rice bowls. 

It was good until they changed the concept to healthy.

2 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I preferred Mother's,

Sad Doctor Who GIF

2 hours ago, stc said:

i ate at zen somewhat frequently in college because it was cheap and relatively healthy. it was never very good but it was a break from cheeseburgers and taco cabana. never had the sushi, just the rice bowls. 

I did after college-I finally stopped going after a menu change and because the staff, to a (wo)man, would ask “would you like to add a tip?” with such undisguised hostility that I was afraid to eat the food. 

  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/19/2024 at 1:32 PM, MAUFRAIS said:

Just went to Breed’s. Across the street it looked like Junior’s closed.

 

On 4/23/2024 at 4:29 PM, Mittens said:

That may or may not be permanent.  New property owner is weighing options.

RIP Junior's.  Fridges have been sold and the owner is replacing about half of the building that was rotting away.  He'll use it as his shop until a good offer comes along, I suspect.

Ahhhhhhhhhh!  I fucking loved that place.  Hadn't been there in about a year, but was doing my part.  Best Charcuterie Board in Austin except for the time I ate one off my wife's ass.  Long story.  

Edited by YGIFS

Yeah I really liked it as well.  Not an every week kind of place for us but we went as often as we could.

 

1 hour ago, YGIFS said:

Best Charcuterie Board in Austin except for the time I ate one off my wife's ass.  

I'll be honest, I wasn't pleased with the $50 upcharge I had to pay to eat charcuterie off your wife's ass.

I used to live back in the neighborhood behind it and always thought it was kind of bad location.  I bet they did about as well with it as one could do.  

Just be glad it was only $50.  I'm out 1000x that amount for the privilege.  

Don't know where to post this as it was certainly not an Austin institution.  But that old Red Robin on Brodie in Sunset Valley.  I'm impressed with how fast they demo'd it and are building a Raising Cane's in its place from the ground-up.  I'm sure it'll do well as shopping families can grab something from the drive-thru.  But it's tiny.  It's almost finished (aside from interior), but the footprint is maybe 3,500ft2.  It's about 1/3rd of the Red Robin footprint on an even larger site.  That's a tough NNN nut to make each month slinging chicken fingers.  

Speaking of closures-was not a regular but when I was in the area, Cuvee Coffee in East Austin was always a great stop.  Not exactly a longtime stalwart on the scene but certainly had an old school Austin vibe to it.  closed last month apparently.  

We'll know Old Austin is truly dead when the Chili's at 45th and Lamar closes.  At that point, just shut the city down.

^

Ha.  All the great restaurants from 29th to way up Burnet Road, and that Chili's still frequently ranks in the Top 10 in gross revenue of metro pad stores in the whole chain.  Fucking amazing.  

But I think we are truly lost as a city when the South Austin Texas Roadhouse shutters.  I mean, Texas Roadhouse?  It just means more.  

I'm thinking Scholz Garten has to be the gold standard for Austin, right?  158 years?

 

Yep, 1866.  I'm almost certain the German Texan Heritage Society a few blocks over, that building had a private drinking room in 1858...but Scholz's was the first truly "public eatery & bar", though it mostly just an isolated gathering place for German immigrants at the time.  

Since I am of German-Hispanic heritage, my daughter did a cool project (that I admittedly helped with) about how for a long time, German and Spanish were spoken far more broadly in Texas than English...particularly in Central to South (a bit of Czech, too).  And now, most "native" white Texans can barely speak English properly.  

We're all (plus City Council/Project Connect/et. al.) to blame when an old Austin institution goes away.  But bloody hell, if Scholz's ever goes........I'm gonna cut a bitch.  

16 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Since I am of German-Hispanic heritage

Wow that's actually really cool. I think there's only like 16 million of you in Texas and Mexico.

(jk)

2 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'll be honest, I wasn't pleased with the $50 upcharge I had to pay to eat charcuterie off your wife's ass.

has everybody in town eaten a charcuterie board off his wife's ass?

lets not lament one chain restaurant closing and being replaced with another chain restaurant.   

That's just what 'the Cheesecake Factory' said you would say.  Are you a bot?!?!?!

3 hours ago, thrillhammer said:

lets not lament one chain restaurant closing and being replaced with another chain restaurant.   

RIP California Pizza Kitchen at Barton Creek Mall. 

  • 3 weeks later...

Article in the ABJ today about Esther's Follies which has now been around for 47 years. Haven't been since mid-2010s, but definitely need to get back. Shannon Sedwick and the rest of the cast are insanely talented and Austin is fortunate to have had them around for so long.

  • 3 weeks later...

I don’t know if you’ve been to Chuy’s post Covid but Olive Garden quality would be something of an upgrade*
 

*note I’ve not actually been to an Olive Garden since the ‘90’s.  

Unlimited breadsticks & salsa?  

Unlimited chips & salad?  

BUT WHY?

Uh, corporate had some excess inventory and decided to find new ways to off-load it.  

While it's not particularly good, I have a soft spot in my heart for Chuy's.  I doubt we go there more than 1-2 times per year now, though, so it's kind of immaterial, but still a bit of a bummer.

Meh.  I've ordered the same thing 99% of the times I've been to Chuy's the last 30 years and it's been crap maybe twice.  Their service has absolutely gone in the shitter, but that's pretty much everywhere.

Soft spot is a good way to put it.  It went to crap a long time ago.  Although I will say, the staff has actually improved post-Covid.  

But we have fond memories of biking down there and attacking that HH queso bar and a cold one or three.  Never liked their chips, but their salsa fresca and queso were always solid.  There's still a few above-average items on the menu if you know what you're doing.  

When they first got bought out, it was one thing.  But the fact that it's now the people that brought us Longhorn Steakhouse is a bit of salt in the wound.  I forget Darden owns Bahama Breeze.  I remember when that place and Sam's Boat in "the Gateway District" or whatever the fuck douchey North Austin was called about 20-25 years ago.  They were all the rage for about 18 months.  But we were young, horny, and didn't care we might get towed from a Burger King parking lot to find Sam's Boat.  

After all these years, Chuy's can still deliver on a few things besides nostalgia.  That's not nothing.  

I guess this is why they sold off hula hut a few months ago?

  • 11 months later...

Looks like they finally put the corpse of Z'tejas out of its misery.... the restaurant, not the poster.

https://ztejas.com/

Probably a decade late. I thought it died when they shuttered the location on 6th, but apparently they had 3 or 4 locations.

Lifelong Austinite and I don’t think I’ve ever been in a ZTejas. 

16 hours ago, Blotto said:

Looks like they finally put the corpse of Z'tejas out of its misery.... the restaurant, not the poster.

https://ztejas.com/

Probably a decade late. I thought it died when they shuttered the location on 6th, but apparently they had 3 or 4 locations.

Where else can I take my parents in 1998?

51 minutes ago, zman13 said:

Where else can I take my parents in 1998?

Louie's on the Lake?

Yeah Post-Covid it was a shell of itself. But it begat some damn good restaurants. Jack Allen's, Salt Trader, Day Maker, Odd Duck, Barley Swine, and Sour Duck. And related Turf n Surf. For those of us who arrived in Austin the 80s, ZTejas was the tits+.

  • 5 months later...
On 7/1/2025 at 11:12 AM, Deej said:

Louie's on the Lake?

The stories I could tell from that place 

First comment is a banger!

What was The One Knite?

1 hour ago, gsoda3 said:

What was The One Knite?

Dive bar where Stubb's is on Red River.

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