Scott T.'s Profile

Damn that bread is good.  Damn that puccia's good.  Call it in for lunch, because you can't rush the magic, baby.  Try the salted riccotta from the Prima Vera on the Lucky, which is damn good on it's own and the right one to try first.  This place is a lesson on how to be a top trailer jockey in this town - specialize and knock that shit out of the park.  School 'em, Lucky!

The Devils on Horseback will melt your face, collapsing the cosmos into a single bite and slaying all who came before them.  They are "I don't remember anything else on the menu because they blew my mind" kind of good.  Just go there and get them.  And some wine.  You can thank me later.

Wow. Last night I had the best meal I've had in port a here. Snapper en pappiote was perfect, but my wife's u-10 shrimp in aqua pazza was the real star. Given the amazing food we had, this place is a masterpiece of understatement. The simply described menu belies the depth of talent behind it. Our plates were full of thought, care and more complexity than meets the eye. Everything was delicious. Intimate setting, byob tells you the focus is on the food. I don't know the chef, but I sure wish I did, because this is my new favorite place to eat here.

Reservations are a must, as is the coconut cream pie.

Best and possibly only sandwich shop for miles around.  Try the cinnamon rolls.  We had the hot ham sandwich, but the burgers seemed a hit among the patrons.  Fresh buns, baby, fresh buns.

Break out the bubbly, neighborhoodies, because there may be a reason to celebrate.  Will the closest restaurant to my house become a totally awesome burger joint with quality food and good service?  The one we've all longed for, driving by every day on the way home from work?  The way our food tasted today, I'd say we're well on the way.

The food:

Bevo's Revenge:  Fried chicken breast on a wheat bun.  Hard to fuck that up, but even harder to provoke a grumbling "that's a damn good sandwich" to no one in particular while enjoying it.  The bun - sweet wheat roll style, imported from Houston.  The chicken - their breading recipe is worthy of it's own review (I take my fried chicken seriously - see my Willie Mae's Scotch House review). Perfect pepper level with a crispy, home-cooked taste.  If they had a fried chicken special every now and then, I'd make a special trip to get it.  Herbed mayo - Who thought that was a good idea on fried chicken? A god damn genius, that's who.   Lettuce and pickles - Ah, the pickles. Not quite kosher dills, they had a slight bread and butter spice to them and tasted great with the chicken. Coincidence?  I think not.  Somebody around here put some thought into the pickles.  And that's why I think we may have a winner, ladies and gentlemen, because this sandwich was way better than it was supposed to be.    

Onion Strings: Medium thickness with a lighter variation on the chicken breading (might even be the same one - I hope so, because it's on the fried pickles and they are delicious).  

Fries:  Seemed hand made, tasted good.

My wife's burger:  She said it was delicious and a huge step up from the previous establishment here.  It was also huge and it was the smaller of the two patty sizes.

Service was attentive and fast.  The manager or owner asked every table about their meal.  They care about their customers, it seems, and when the waiter told me they have two well trained chefs behind the wheel now, it all fell into place.  Somebody who gives a shit about the pickles, about the condiments, about the bun, about the fried chicken breading and about their customers has finally risen to the challenge here at the reborn Cat Mountain Grill.  And I couldn't be more stoked.

The place is about as Austin as it gets. Everything you've read about it here is true, so I'll cut to the chase:

Spicy Reuben is their most popular, and for good reason (it won best in Austin)
Roast beef seemed popular with the ladies, Italian with the gents.
You can't go wrong on the menu, period.  Try something you never would, and it will probably be great.  I did, with the curry chicken salad sandwich.
The Ainsworth - an immediate Austin classic.  The owner politely told an interested patron "No, they could not choose what was on it".  Leave it to the master and be schooled in the ways of sandwich, grasshopper.

I also had a "dude, you're young" moment when a student asked for one of the black and white cookies on the counter.  The owner ships them in from Brooklyn (high standards around here). She referenced the Sienfeld episode and got absolutely no reaction.  Maybe it's more like "dude, I'm old".  Either way this place is awesome and embodies what makes Austin such a cool place to live and eat.

Sweet Jesus! New ownership! To echo another reviewer, we really, really want this place to succeed. Here's a few hard-nosed suggestions from someone who hopes to avoid more of the same.

It's been under new ownership 3 times since opening just a couple of years ago. None of them seemed to be pros. For a short, pricey burgers-and-fries menu, it was always food cooked by high school kids and served by high school kids.

First, you need to rethink the Flatty and Fatty branding for your burgers. Why? Waitstaff spends too much time making sexist jokes about the orders? Makes food sound undersized or unhealthy?  Nope.  Basic statistics.  

Just because the first guys liked to call the burgers that, doesn't make it right.  Nor is it right for over half of the world's population, or the 1/3 of the United States who are obese (per CDC 1/13/11).  My wife will never order a fatty, even if it's the best burger EVER.  As the name for a novelty burger, sure.  But as your signature dish? Why not just call the place "Fatty's" and let them know you mean it?  There's only one "Dirty's" in town for a reason, amigos. Considering your customers and location, just let it go and focus on good service and good food.  It's good food that makes a place, not the name of the food.  

Speaking of good food, I hear that the burgers have improved, all natural beef, etc. so good on you guys for that. More than half of your patrons won't order a fatty on principle, so how about a few decent alternatives as well?  Again, consider your market.  You had a Cobb that had just turned the corner into something really good.  It's like the cook saw Gordon's Nightmares and had a moment of clarity the next day at work after school.  That salad was at least on par with any Cobb in town.  Now it's back to sub par, and here's why ...

Shredded lettuce is a topping, not an ingredient. NO ONE will continue to order any salad that's got the look and taste of wilted boogers. Seriously, that's why no place but Tex-mex restaurants uses it for salads.  We all know the shredded lettuce and tomato salad is just a garnish on a plate of cheesy enchiladas (except one of the other reviewers of this place, apparently.  Oops.)  Same goes for the bacon - it's an ingredient, not a shredded topping.  Please don't spend money on good beef and ruin another quality menu item in return.  If you're calling yourself "Fatty's", then by all means go for it.  I'm not going to Fatty's for the salad.  Salads are scorned at Fatty's. But not in Northwest Hills.

You've got a great patio, very kid friendly.  Parents and pets like it, too.  But parents can't wait 20-30 mins for a burger with the kids in tow.  Nor can they wait 20-30 mins for a call in order, as in the past. Faster service & good food =  happy customers = more $$$.  You have a high traffic location, enviable demographics and the prices to match.  Get some quality control and some quality food and and you've got a quality burger joint on your hands.

My wife and I had our first date here.  On Valentine's Day, but romantic Lala's is not. It is a great place to have a drink, though, particularly if you live around here.  A few years later, we were fortunate enough to witness the invasion of the clowns here, but that's a story for another time.  Renowned for their Bloody Mary.  May the toilet elves entertain you while nursing a glass of Christmas Cheer all year long!

These folks really helped us hit our daughter's 3rd B-day out of the park.  February means little or no outdoor birthday fun, so we found this company who does an indoor/outdoor petting zoo.  Chicks, bunnies, chinchillas, even a hedgehog.  Well prepared, they came with the animals in baskets, set up a tarp and pen, then each round of kids (4-6 at a time) sit on stools with a piece of carpet on their laps for the animals.  Kids of all ages couldn't get enough of it.  

Two people were constantly monitoring the kids & animals to make sure everybody was cool.  Watching the kids reactions was the best part, of course:  
"Would you like to see a bunny?"
"Yes."
"Then look under your seat."
(big grin)
Lots of smiles, no freak outs or escapees (kids or animals - again, well monitored), and lots to talk about afterward.  We have concrete floors, so inside worked great, but with carpet, I'd perhaps think twice about setting up in the living room.  That being said, no animal accidents hit our floor.  

Great service, nice folks, showed up on time, well run operation.  I'd recommend them to anyone, as our experience was really great.

So we ended up for a romantic dinner here Saturday night by accident (see my Fino review), but I have learned never to underestimate the mighty benevolence of the food gods. For a meal to achieve true greatness, my highest honor, EVERYTHING has to be great - everything you put in your mouth from start to finish, service, ambiance, the sum total of your experience with the meal. They don't happen very often, and the more you eat out, the higher the bar is set. Out of the blue, we had a truly great meal here.

To start, best shrimp & grits I've had outside of Clancy's in NOLA. So delicious, we cleaned the plate. Two breads were brought out - white sourdough (my wife's preference) and multigrain (mine - I generally avoid the white bread, so full of tasty deceit). Yummy with a little sea salt on the crust. Greatness is all about yummy little details, isn't it?

We split the candied beet salad. Not candied in a syrupy sense, candied in that the slices looked like sashimi. It made for a food-porn-worthy presentation next to stems of cress, sprinkled with goat cheese & mustard dressing. Beautiful to the eyes and on the tongue.

My main was the grilled salmon on a bed of kale and risotto. Sounds ordinary, right? As expected, the salmon was perfectly cooked, fresh & delicious, but the best thing I had all night was the kale and risotto it sat on. No, I was not drunk, nor am I a closet kale hound. It was amazing, transcending for me all that by which kale was previously known. Who has a high standard for kale, anyway? I don't know that I've every had such a dramatic swing in a flavor benchmark, but Christ, it was really good. The manager, who came over twice to check on our meal, said he hears about the kale twice a week. I think I would have gladly eaten tilapia, a fish I have no fondness for, if it came with this kale of the gods. (There is no tilapia on the menu, thank you) My wife had the picatta, another fairly ordinary dish that turned out perfect, great lemon - savory balance, thin chicken cutlet perfectly cooked. Better than expected would be an understatement for both dishes.

My rule for fine dining dessert menus is to always try the one that seems too crazy, too ordinary, or genuinely out of place. Anyone can make a chocoholic bomb or a creme brulee, so get what the pastry chef was putting some creativity into that day and it will either tank or soar. Almond Pear Torte, the menu said. No other description, very non-descript. It would never evoke "Damn! I've got to have that!" from a patron, now would it? I had visualized a tart kind of thing, with sliced almonds & fresh pears on top, but what came out was anything but. It was a small pastry pie, with a top like a meat pie, but flat and filled with almond paste like marzipan and thin layers of pear that almost disappear to match the overall consistency. Just a bit less than sweet, rich but not sugary. As just three words on the menu, it exceeded any expectations I had left in me.

The service was impeccable, catering to our every need without intrusion, hard to do in a small place like this. Wine list was limited, but the server's recommendation knocked it out of the park. We also really liked some of the artwork on the walls, completely subjective yet a detail nonetheless. As I said, it takes a lot of little details in a lot of different places to make a great meal, and they did it. So thank you, 34th St Cafe, for giving us such a rare treat.