Douglas "Where the hell am i today...." O.'s Profile

Where is Foghorn Leghorn at a time of this place? It was such an extreme, you have one person dancing by themselves by a table, a 60 year old picking up an 18 year old that met on an iPhone App (hmmm.... any guesses) - The 20 pack a day smokers playing pool, and horrible music. Luckily, I did recognize two songs, unfortunately the last one was playing next door which was my "exit stage left" - that I needed to do.

It was empty on a Thursday, at all times, bad music, and just overall blah. I would say 1 star, but eh, let's give em a chance. If in Austin, I would seriously pass on this brain drain.

Welcome to a basement that was a bar, pre prohibition days. Learnings from our experience as stop #1 on our trip - "What is that odor?" to the bar tender as you enter. The response you get is..."It's a basement!?!?!". Luckily, the bartender that helped us, being the only 4 patrons in the place at 4:30 on a Tuesday, admitted that it normally does smell and they are used to it. Lit up some candles and all was good.

The beer selection was good, and very eclectic in feel on the inside. Our bartender made great drinks, and I think my final drink included 1/10 part Coke Zero and 9 and 9/10th Jack. It was a great place to start our day off - word of caution, the smell accompanies a sticky counter that I think could be leveraged in a brazilian waxing joint - amazing sticking powers.

Again, what was that odor? and why was the counter so sticky? Bleach would do wonders here. Show owner comment »

I'd like my coffee to go, and a line that gets me through quickly. This place by far was the definition of efficient. The entire group of baristas was smiling, friendly, and remembered me after just visiting one day. Unlike many other Starbucks, they had the morning food items at 10am still, which was nice to grab something small to nibble on.

Across the street, easily accessible, crazy demand being inside of a building - but not a bad place!

Look at all these reviews, and look at the ratings? Why would that be, because this place was a slice of heaven! I am in Austin on a Thursday night, plenty of places to go, colleagues opted to visit Rain and the bar next door. After that bar appeared to be trolls versus 10 year olds we ventured into Rain, around 10:15. The music was awesome, great variety - and not all remixes?

Gasp - a gay bar that is not all remixes, say it isn't so! It was great, the inside bar, covered bar by the bungalows (yes, bungalows) and then outside on the deck. It was packed full of people but oddly never felt crowded. Our bar tender was the sentiment of Texas hospitality. He was friendly and just a cool guy. My water with lemon were fantastic, as I watched others drink the night away.

Ding, Ding, Ding - What time could it be - nothing more .... then time for amateur strippers? That cannot be the case, but oh wait, it was. Beside the creepy guy on stage trying to forcefully get them to strip, #1 and #4 that night were stellar. it was fun watching random people who signed up, walk on up, climb a pole, play on a cage and then compete.

Returned back outside, under the outdoor deck with some of the buildings to enjoy around us. Cool outdoor lights, reminding me of a very small boardwalk feel. Great place and probably one of the best times in a bar I've had in years.

SALE! SALE! SALE! - Who doesn't enjoy saving some green! It's amazing how we save money to spend money!

I was at the outlet mall to look for clothes with a fellow yelper, but my guilt of not going into this store slowly hit. It is one that normally get's my pocket book in trouble. I don't like it, AMEX hearts them.

What was the find this time? They have very cool (no pun intended) wine fridge with two zones. Glass face, built like a microwave in terms of glass, a beautiful blue lamp inside. I wasn't quite sure about it, based on the cost even with the 20% off. The sales associate wheeled out the box and offerred for us to open it up and look at the manual. Sadly, 6 pages in English, and then every other language around the world. Not quite sold on it, we wondered how it cooled - plugged it in, and told we could come back in an hour. Returned back, fridge was down 25 degrees with a bottle of mixer in it to test how it chilled it. You have 30 days to return it, even if you just decide, "eh, I don't like it". Picked up in the back of the store and was easy breezy.

Now why did I pick to hold off drinking after Austin, this week? If that's not a big #fail - a nice cold bottle of white wine sounds fantastic write about now.

View, View, View - what a great way to call it a day. Stop #3 on our enjoying the food (and drink - okay maybe a few) of Austin. After what appeared to be a street entrance, we began climbing our stairway to Heaven. We continued until I thought we would see pearly gates, but low and behold, a roof top bar.

The place was not busy, we sat outside, and ordered at the bar. They had good music playing, and we sported a spot along the outside. The breeze blowing, fans blowing, comfy seats, good drinks - it's a great place to relax and unwind. Or do some bicycle and straddling exercises for some.

Luckily, they do incorporate a sobriety check point every time you go to the restroom, it's the long walk down - not to be confused with a walk of shame, unless you trip and fall. Sit down, relax and enjoy a drink at Terrace 59.

Viva Texas, Hola Margarita! When traveling to Austin, what better things to seek are Mexican and a cold margarita. This place had good reviews on yelp along with the concierge thought highly of the place. A colleague turned 41 years old and we thought it would be a great second stop, on our night out in Austin.

We were quickly seated, the ambiance was nice, not a lot of noise, and spacious. We never felt like the person next to us was sitting on us, nor talking into our ears. The queso was queso-licious, thick white cheese, served with warm tortillas or chips. It was the kind of queso that grew thicker as it cooled, unlike things out of a bottle or melted monterrey cheese.

The food was very good, I ordered the steak enchiladas with the mild sauce. It was served piping hot and delivered quickly. The drinks were refreshing, sadly it wasn't a margarita but it was a drink that was red in color, in a martini glass and fantastic. Note, this was stop two of the day, so it's possible to not remember.

The dessert, we didn't have any. I confirmed with them that they received the open table mention for birthday. After they brought the bill, we paid, we made a reference to it. The waitress noted that "we didn't seem like the kind of people that celebrated birthdays" - I have no clue what it meant but minus one point for this. The second was, my colleague was not able to locate her flip flop under the booth, another colleague was looking for it, boy did she get scolded, and told to sit up. it was slightly humorous, it reminded me of being a kid when someone yelled at your sibling and you got away with it. At least on the bright side, it was great food, great drinks and great company!

I stayed at the InterContinental Austin for a work meeting. The building is older, but the location is fantastic. It is within 2 streets of 6th streets and a very large variety of food options. One can be within a bar with live music in a matter of minutes. I had a suite in the corner where I could see the state capital off in the distance. Location, Location, Location for this place.

The hotel has a second floor restaurant, which was slightly confusing compared to the restaurant downstairs. The outdoor seating on the 2nd floor was welcomed during the warm weather in Austin. The bartender and server were both very friendly, and one was even sporting a Mad Men look.

The rooms are slightly dated but they had all the amenities I could want. They do charge for internet but I knew that before I went there, Holiday Inn's and Hampton's give free wifi. I have grown to expect to pay for it at hotels, but traveling with a 3G card built into my laptop made it a null issue.

Great location, no complaints, had a great time!

How I wish I could bump this up by only one more star for our server, but just no the case. A larger group of 20 went over for dinner, I know what you are thinking, 20 people, that's your own fault. We made reservations the week before, reconfirmed that day. We were seated promptly but then the delay began. It took us 20 minutes to place our order for food, and the drinks were anxiously waiting to be delivered at the kitchen. At one point, the organizer grabbed the drinks and brought them over, when they sat for 10 minutes.

The food came out, and kudos to the expeditor who managed to make sense of what was a very large order. We all received what we ordered, and enjoyed it. The chicken and gravy was very good, best to get the gravy on the side (which the menu highlights as an option). If not, expect a lot of wholesome goodness all over your fried chicken.

Our server that was brought in specifically for our party ended up leaving early, and we had a quick stand in that totally exceeded our expectations. Unfortunately, she was not our dedicated server the entire time. Would not go back for the food, experience, or service.

I was glad that a fellow yelper decided to take me there for a nice, cool treat. After having dinner in Piedmont Park on a warm spring day, this sounded perfect.

The place was busy from the outside, which made me fear the worst on the inside. While many people were there, the line moved quick, service was good and selection wasn't bad. I ordered chocolate in a waffle cone, which I might add was not as heavy as I anticipated and fantastic. A great serving as well. They offerred outdoor seating in front, and also along the street further down. If in the area, I would stop in again, as it was a nice refreshing treat.