el arroyo. its on 4th street if i remember correctly. havent lived there in over 5 years but that place was bomb. had a nice patio area too
wait, when did you move to austin?? did i miss a thread? i used to eat at maudies all the time. i'm still a big fan of gueros.
If you're heading to the Eastside (particularly Manor Rd), El Chile is far better than Vivo. The crowd at the latter is enough to keep me away.
No shortage of Tex-Mex in Austin, but not too many are really fancy enough for a birthday dinner. So I'll echo the Fonda San Miguel suggestions. Not a fan of Manuel's, by the way. If you're talking about Tex-Mex in general, I'd put Maudie's right up there in the mix along with Guero's, Enchiladas Y Mas, Trudy's. El Arroyo, Chuy's, Matt's El Rancho etc. The only places I didn't really like were Serrano's and Baby A's.
Moved to Austin this summer after getting laid off. I figured if I was going to be broke and homeless I should do it some place I've always wanted to be. May have also saved my marriage and now my family is on the rebound. Let me know when you come to town and we'll grab a drink.
Totally agree with the exception of Guero's. Good for a date, but the food is overrated. Manuel's is terrible, IMO.
have you been to curras on oltorf? its more interior style as opposed to tex-mex. shrimp enchilladas are my favorite there. their mole chicken is also good. and since you mentioned margaritas, you have to get an avocado one - sounds like it would be gross, but its really, really good (and im not even a big avacado fan!). polvos on s. 1st is good too. guerros is very trendy, pricey and slightly overrated imo, but i do love their fish tacos! if you just want some tacos there are two really good new places that opened up on south lamar - changos, which is in the same complex that alligator grill is in. very authentic - got a couple tacos al pastor and they did it up just like you would get on a street corner in mexico - lime, onion, cilanto on corn tortilla - great salsa there too! the other that i went to just this week is right next door to that thundercloud on lamar and barton skyway - cant remember the name, but man, it is insanely good! turkey mole tacos, fish and shrimp (surprisingly fresh) chalupa - my mouth is watering just thinking about it! you want to venture into my hood (s. congress/stassney) ill take you to get some menudo or some tripe tacos - we do it hardcore in 78745 chavos!
We almost didn't get to go out because of a job my wife had to finish before we could leave so we got a late start. Since we really live near cedar park and didn't have as much time as we hoped we opted for the closest suggestion to the house... Which was VIVO's, but not the on on the east side but the new location on 620. The chips and salsa were great. Ritas and tequila selection were awesome, the food while a little over priced was excellent and they had a patio so we could sit outside and enjoy the nice weather. All in all I'd give it an A based on last nights meal. I can't wait to try to east side location and all the other places suggested in this thread. Thanks for all the suggestions.
hey man, glad to hear it. nothing's more important than your family. i'll be in town for acl in a couple weeks. hopefully something will work out.
