Steven N.'s Profile

Hey Hai Ky - this regular customer will not be returning to your establishment.

I'm a semi-weekly regular at this Hai Ky location - at the time of this writing I'm the "Duke" on Yelp with 21 checkins.

So here's my problem - your Tuesday night crew is costing you business. On two different occasions I came in around 9pm and was told that I could only order for take-out. I find this kinda odd because the posted closing hours are 10pm. I've come in plenty of times around 9pm on other days of the week and been seated, served, eaten and been out the door before closing time at 10pm.

Also - I totally understand that at 9:45 or even 9:30 it would be reasonable not to seat any more customers in the dining room, but ONLY if this is consistent and is posted as restaurant policy.

This last time it was 9:10pm and the same staff person as before said I could only order take out and THEN it would be at least 30 minutes before I would get food. Apparently they were very backed up in the kitchen? The restaurant was barely half-full. If you're crew is that far in the weeds with a half-full house, someone is doing something wrong.

Here's my issue - I go to Hai Ky specifically because they are open until 10pm (these are your posted hours). I drive across town and then arrive well before closing time to be told I can't sit down and have a meal. Not cool.

If there is a standard "take-out only after 9pm" policy - then great - Post that on the front door and I will know. If it's just because the Tuesday night crew can't handle the load - then figure out where the problem is and fix it.

Sadly... no more pinball at the Liberty. :(

But they still have a great patio space and a decent beer selection - with a few local options on draft.

Pricing for a pint of Live Oak Black Lager on Draft was $5.50 on my last visit - which seems a bit steep for a local brew. Maybe I need to check back when they have specials.

Hipsters? Yeah... this is their natural habitat.

Pho Van is my go-to spot for Pho in Austin. They can do no wrong (or should I say nurong? [haha!]).

My regular order is the Pho Ga (chicken soup) - 5 stars for this alone. Great broth, nice slices of white meat chicken and of course the usual Pho garnishes. Tasty+

The beef broth soups are also excellent. (Pho Tai is a good way to go).

I remember why I don't come here often. The food is just OK, but seems kinda expensive for what you get. Maybe the pricing is due to the "all-natural" slant they're doing with ingredients.

$11 for a salad of basic greens and a wee chicken breast on top (the Thai Chicken salad)? That "locally-raised Holmes all-natural chicken" must be pretty freakin' expensive by the pound.

Service on my last visit was spotty at best. A large group table next to me was getting plenty of attention, but I had to flag down a server more than once just to get a water refill.

Sorry, but the tastiness to value to service ratio at Eastside is working for me.

New east riverside bar expansion from the Beauty Bar folks. Apparently geared towards live music events.

Big space, bars on two levels.

Parking in the adjoining lot is pretty limited. Probably a bad idea to park across the street at the bingo hall.

Came out for a special pre-opening night event with the Lady Circus. Awesome space for this kind of performance.

Pinball at this location (for only 2 nickels per play!)

- No Fear (Williams, 1995) http://ipdb.org/machin...
- Tales from the Crypt (Data East, 1993) http://ipdb.org/machin...

I would give them 5 stars if they had more pinball. :)

Playing Smash TV with unlimited lives is pretty fun!

Kinda pricey for my boba habit. $4.52 for a basic large drink (lemon green tea) with boba.

Boba had a good consistency - not too soft/hard.

Staff was very nice and re-made my drink when I thought it was too sweet.

New EastSide burger joint

So.. Let's break it down:

The Burgers are based on 1/4 lb patties - the standard burger being two patties. A jr. Burger is one patty. Obviously flat-top cooked. Patty diameter compares with Mighty Fine, or in other words its a bigger bun and patty than Five Guys or P. Terry's for example. Standard free fixings are lettuce, pickle, tomato, mustard and mayo. Extra for cheese and bacon.

They offer regular beef (corn fed 80/20) and also grass fed beef. Note - the grass fed option is a dollar more expensive, though this was not entirely clear to me on a quick glance at the menu.

Buns are old school - ButterCrust. Very lightly toasted (I think they could use a little extra toasting as the bottom bun kinda fell apart on my burger.)

Fries are fresh cut and tasty! Serving size compares well with P.Terry's but the fries are a bigger cut (a little fatter than five guys).

In all this is a tasty burger. A little bit messy. Texture is a little soft overall, but this is probably a combination of the very soft bun and the skinny burger patties. I tried the grass fed beef, which is supposed to be a little leaner. I'm not sure I'd really be able to tell the difference between the grass vs. corn-fed.

Pricing is in line with similar burger joints (maybe a dollar more?). Basic burger is $5.10 ish ($1 extra for cheese). About $10-11 for a regular (2 patty) cheeseburger, fries and drink.

The shop is a walk up window in an old gas station building (remodled). They have picnic table seating in the station bays.

I visited on the first day they opened so things may take a little time to get into a groove (like not having any ice tea yet).

I nailed some railroad tracks and got a flat near 5th and Waller. Of course whenever this happens, I'm never carrying a spare tube or tools.  Not relishing the thought of walking 3 miles in bike cleats (or barefoot), I remembered there was a cycle shop up on 6th. Fast Folks to the rescue!

The kindly salesdude sold me a new innertube and let me use tools in the shop to change it out. Awesome!

Great service. They got me back on the road when I needed it most.

Hancock H-E-B in a nutshell:

Don't go on a weekend day (way crazy busy)
Store aisles start to get congested with stockers around 11pm
Solid produce section about 95% of the time (except when only 1-2 of the scales are actually working).
Good selection of most everything except for international foods - The I35@Parmer store wins for that.
Very annoying that they sometimes "close" the bulk food section late night.