erik "the Mango" w.'s Profile

1/2 off plus $.50 on all apps, $2.50 beers, and $2 off all martinis for happy hour until 9pm every week day! How does it get any better then that?  Umm...only if you have one of the most kick ass cover bands ever to rock your face off on a Wednesday night.  Yes, these two musicians play everything from Kanye and TI to White Snake.  These guys know what they're doing and were being fed drinks all night.  In case you were wondering, the pianist is more of a red wine guy and was pounding em down with tenacity.  That made it all the better.

The Chipotle Mac & Cheese was delicious and went quite well with my two, post-Yelp Elite event at the Highball, Hendricks Martinis (pretty sure the gf was trying to get me drunk so that she could take advantage of me).  

Only downside was the service was super busy it seemed like and they would actually get up and leave while we were in the middle of an order to deliver something and then come back.  Also, better forget about socializing as it was impossible to hear yourself think or talk because of how loud it is in there.

After fighting traffic on MoPac for 70 minutes to get to the Highball, I finally made it.  Unfortunately, I was a full hour of drinking behind my date.  Fortunately, free Maker's Mark Old Fashioneds made it very easy to catch up in a matter of minutes.  

The Highball was pretty flipping awesome.  After getting my drank on, we went for a tour.  First stop, photos.  Figured we should get those out of the way before we got too sloppy (maybe it's best to do it the other way though).  I took some "fierce" photos.  The bowling alleys were pretty nifty, but were they not as wide as a normal alley or was I hallucinating?  The little karaoke rooms upstairs were hysterical, but gave off a bit of a creepy vibe as they were private with a window for viewing and VERY very dimly lit.  I'd imagine it would be a perfect place for other activities.

Okay, so I admit it - I've never watched Mad Men.  I looked up the show and saw that it was 60's themed so I grabbed my sassy seersucker suit and paisley tie and said ef it I'm going.  Also helped that I have a full-on moustache that I have been growing for Movember (Cough *Donate* Cough: http://us.movember.com...)  Probably looked like a huge tool on stage because I'm fairly certain that only the four people who I came with cheered for me, boo!

Not much food for vegetarians (only dessert), but Kevin gave us the heads up and I appreciate that.  Stellar event.  Can't wait for the next one!

It's fastfood - and for fastfood, I'd like to think that FireBowl is pretty tasty.  If you'd like, you can make your own stir-fry.  There is a big bar with a bunch of veggies, just load up a bowl and tell em what you'd like in it and go.  Not too shabby for $7 or so and wayyyy better then Mickey D's or some other fastfood garbage.

Not too shabby.   Decided to check out Los Portales for lunch with a bunch of co-workers.  I ordered the cheese enchiladas, which were quite tasty, but nothing extraordinary.  Unfortunately, being a vegetarian, my menu was quite limited here.  The peeps I was with bought the La Bamba and according to them, it was the bomb-ba.  

The chips and salsa were quite tasty and considering the location - it is most certainly worth the trip to check it out for a quick lunch.

Flipping amazing.

The ladyfriend and I rolled into Maria's Taco Xpress at around 9am on the day after Halloween.  There was already a line and the witch in front of us was complaining that they had been waiting for over half an hour.  Anyways, once it officially opened at 9, the line moved fast and by 9:10 or so we had placed our order.  

I ordered the Migas taco, the veggie taco, and one other one.  The migas taco was by far and away the BEST breakfast taco I have EVER tasted. Honestly, it was amazing -  everything about it.  

On the other hand, the Bloody Mary here is weaksauce.  Don't be confused with that meaning that it was "weak", she put at least 2 shots in it, but it was crappy vodka and over-priced for the quantity.  Plastic cups, boo.  Not serving alcohol until after 10am - boo.  If I want to get my drink on at 9:30, I should be allowed to.  Big ass fly that landed and died instantly in my Bloody Mary - boo.

The fact that half the customers were drunk from the night before and still in their costumes - pretty awesome!  Word to the wise, Gospel Hippie Church doesn't start until noon on Sundays, so plan accordingly.

Hot damn! This place is the tasties.  Casa De Luz is a completely vegan restaurant. Having been a vegetarian for over 15 years it's refreshing to be able to go into a place and not have to worry about what you're eating.  Everything that is there is vegan and extremely healthy.  

We were en route to go see "Where the Wild Things Are" in IMAX, but gave up because the traffic was so terrible.  So, my first thought was let's go to Chuys as we were driving by it, but the parking was terrible and I somehow ended up on a side street behind Chuys when I found Casa De Luz.  Then it struck me, my Dad who lives in Boston had heard about this place and recommended it to me.

At first I was a little worried that Casa De Luz was not a restaurant as they have books on health, yoga, etc lining the walkway, which is lit using Xmas lights.  There is also a yoga studio and some other stuff back there.  Anyhoo, we finally made it to the door to find the place absolutely packed!

Apparently it was Guatemalan night (every Thursday), which is everyone's favorite night because they have tacos.  You pay for the dinner before you sit down and then they give you a "token".  You need the token to get your entree, but it seemed foolish because you can go back up and just ask for seconds after you redeem your "token".  

The food was phenomenal - taco, salad, kale, beans, rice, a bunch of teas, etc.  It was a smorgasbord of goodness.  They had this green goo that was phenomenal - some sort of spicy avocado stuff that went well on EVERYTHING.

The people were a little weird, but so am I.  The dining is communal, so you have to eat with random peeps.  Fairly certain a few of them were high, definitely quite a few hippies and hipsters, haha.  Didn't bother me any - it was actually pretty fun. There was one weird lady that decided to sit at the kids table by herself.  She was no fun.  

Anyways, I am most certainly going to make this place a regular hangout - everything was so tasty and healthy.  5+ for this bad larry.

Cover 3 is by far the nicest "Sports Bar" I have ever been to.  Yesterday I managed to escape from a conference for a nice long lunch and a little football watching.  It was Sunday and they have brunch on the weekends until 3pm, so they did have some vegetarian items on the menu.  I bought some migas ($8) and a bloody mary ($4).  The food was tasty, but the drinks were amazing.

The Bloody Mary was effing awesome.  Instead of your typical bloody mary experience, they have an actual Bloody Mary bar.  You make it yourself! The waitress came back with a shot of Smirnoff and a glass with a spicy salted rim.  I saddled up next to the Bloody Mary bar and started pouring random spices and dropping peppers and olives into my drink.  I tasted it a couple of times while I was making it before putting the vodka in it as you can make mistakes and just start over with a fresh glass of ice, but they will not replace the vodka for free haha.  Anyways, it was the most superb Bloody Mary experience I've ever had. Felt like a science experiment as I was really shooting from this hip and it came out pretty damn good.  

TVs in front of the urinals is clutch - didn't have to miss that MJD touchdown.  This place was crawling with attractive women (at a sports bar - crazy!).

I knocked off one star because it is pretty damn pricey - my meal wasn't too expensive, but a burger is $12 or so, which seems pretty damn spensy.  The place was also like 60 flipping degrees in there - absolutely freezing - make sure you bring a coat.

I don't know what it is about Little Woodrows, but every Woody's I've been too is awesome.  My guess is it's the awesome wood paneling and the photos of almost naked women posted on the walls of the men's bathroom.

I checked out this Woody's location on Sunday to catch some football.  When we first got there, there was literally 3 other people in the bar.  2 were Patriots fans, which makes this place automatically awesome.  One of them had a horrendous Boston accent that took me back to high school.

The beer prices here are pretty incredible.  Pretty sure everything they had on tap was $2.50.  Gotta say one thing, although the website says otherwise, I was NOT impressed with the micheladas - they were not too tasty.  Probably just depends on whose making em.  

I bitched about a stale/grody St. Arnie's Lawnmower and after testing it, they replaced it with a Newcastle..for free!  Woop!

The tv screens at this place are kind of awkwardly placed, but it's still a fantastic place to watch a game and veg out.

The ambiance of this place gets 5 stars.  Tons of places to veg out at while you wait and bars.  I think they intentionally make you wait, because there were quite a few tables that were empty outside when we arrived.

The tasty bloody mary's also get 5 stars in my opinion. The crowd was an interesting mix; lots of people from all of the hotels downtown.  I think there was even a bachelorette party getting started (the right way too - with a carafe of mimosa and some bloody marys).

Unfortunately, the food was not really all that spectacular.  There were not a ton of options for vegetarians.  And, although I was a huge fan of the pesto egg thing, the migas were subpar in comparison to Magnolia, Kerby, or a slew of other brunch spots.  

It also wasn't the cheapest meal either ($16 brunch buffet + $3.50 bloody marys).  For your money, there are definitely better places out there with fantastic bloody marys (Z Tejas and Trudys come to mind).

I can finally review this place and not feel guilty about it because I have now officially been here while sober and before the witching hour.  

Gotta say, I was debating between giving this place 4 or 5 stars because nothing in general realllly knocks my socks off.  But I decided on 5 because this place is always solid.  The service is always great, no matter what time it is, the food is consistently good.  Magnolia mud is definitely one of the best things you could ever put in your mouth.  And shoot, it's one of a handful of places that is open "24 x 8".  They never close.  

Couple of small downsides to this place - it doesn't appear to have been dusted since it first opened.  Yes, the film that coats all of the neon signs in the dining area is a little grody.  Also the parking lot there is atrocious.  They really should consider doing something about that.

But, you come to this place for some late-night munchies (drunchies if you will) at a reasonable price.  The menu is fairly large and the food is pretty kick ass.  

5/5 for my favorite late night dining spot.