Gourdough

Yes, we’ve been a little inactive on this blog due to some recent travel and an even busier return.  But with Besh gone to Camp Nonni over the weekend, it was quite fortunate that a Facebook friend informed Sara of a new doughnut trailer in Austin that served, among other things, bacon doughnuts.

Oh sweetness.

Let’s say I’m fond of bacon and leave it at that.  No, let’s put it up one notch: Bacon is the single greatest food on the planet.  Okay, one more: Bacon is proof of the divine.  There.  And the only thing better than bacon in regular food is bacon in dessert.  Which is why I’m a huge fan of the Man Bait lollipops from Das Foods–the fantastic sweet/salty combination of maple syrup and bacon.  So to find out a doughnut is using these flavors–let’s just say we managed to get there about five minutes after it opened the very next day.

The cart has a great location–across the street and a bit south from the South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse.  It’s in a small lot with Brevita, a coffee trailer/drive-thru (sadly, closed on Sundays when we were there).  In addition to the typical South Austin food trailer they have some tables and chairs and umbrellas, fairly bare bones typical of the food trailer scene.

But the menu.  Oh the menu.  You’ll stand in amazement, reading for far too long.  Fantastic combinations.  And, to top it all off, you can make your own from literally everything on the menu.  And I have the feeling you could just walk up with anything and say, “Make me a doughnut with this!” and they would.  And it would be good.

Since we hadn’t eaten that day, we each picked two doughnuts.  I, of course, went with the Flying Pig and the Black Out.  Sara went with Naughty & Nice and Miss Shortcake.

Let me cut right to the chase: the Flying Pig doughnut is, hands down, the best dessert I have ever had.  It’s sheer awesomeness and relatively close proximity to my house is very, very dangerous to my waistline.  The maple syrup is not overly sweet or overly thick, just perfect.  And the bacon–well, it’s bacon, of course.  But combined with the thick cake of the doughnut the three flavors and textures combine to be the greatest dessert you’ve ever eaten.  It’s a sweet/salty/savory flavor explosion set to syrupy/crunchy/chewy textures that just sends it all over the top.  I’d like to say more, but I’m scared of what my stomach my do, so let’s just say I’ll be back and you really need to go try it.

The overall doughnut from Gourdough is a fantastic mix of slightly flaky but mostly caky–but a light cake, not incredibly (overly, in my opinion) dense like a Dunkin Doughnut.  But substantial enough to handle the various toppings, fillings, and glazes.  And I do mean various, but you can see from the menu.

I wasn’t fond of my other doughnut, the Black Out.  Not that it was bad–it was just a bit too sweet.  Too much chocolate on chocolate.  And the neutral cake of the doughnut took on all the chocolate flavor so it turned into one of those chocolate cakes that are far too rich to finish after a bite or two.  But I pulled a doughnut-Kanye and insisted that Imma finish this doughnut but the Flying Pig was the best dessert I’ve ever had.  Probably a mistake to eat the Black Out after the Flying Pig.

Sara’s doughnuts were also great.  The best was the Naughty & Nice–it really showed off the overall doughnut with just a simple topping of cinnamon and sugar.  The Miss Shortcake was good, but the cream cheese icing was incredibly sweet, which combined with the sweet strawberries to make it a bit too sweet, similar to the Black Out.  Probably makes sense to avoid the doughnuts that put sweet on top of sweet there–plenty of other options and I’m sure we’ll be back.

Gourdough is also open daily from noon to 2am and has an incredibly nice bunch of folks working there.  Turned out that Sunday was their third day open, so you’ve got a great chance to get in early with this place–word of mouth is sure to get around.

And if you go and do not get a Flying Pig you are a fool.

Austin FroYo Smackdown II: Mambo Berry and Yogurt Planet

Prompted by Peter from Foodingblog, who did a similar Austin FroYo review, we managed to take in the other two main Austin FroYo locations this past week and now happily present the results.

First, I’m not going to include Mambo Berry in a true smackdown.  Why?  Because Mambo Berry automatically wins and loses.  It wins in terms of yogurt quality–awesome stuff.  And it has incredibly nice people working there, they had a nice promotion on Twitter for 2 free toppings yesterday when we tried them, and they have some creative toppings (I had chocolate chips and Cap’n Crunch on mine–and it included Crunch Berries, which all Cap’n Crunch connoisseurs will agree is necessary).  And to top it all off, it’s quintessential Austin foodie by virtue of its S. Congress food trailer park location (1600 S. Congress, if you don’t know).  So in one ways it’s a complete winner.

But here’s the thing–I’m not a frozen yogurt snob, I’m more of a junkie.  Meaning I prefer variety over quality, especially when it’s all about the same price.  So Mambo Berry just can’t compete with only two flavors and about 20 toppings, even though the flavors rock (basic tart and green tea were on last night) and the toppings were fun.  Other players have 6 or more times the yogurts and 2 or more times as many toppings.  So it just isn’t fair to compare.  Mambo Berry is quintessential Austin FroYo and in a class of its own.  The other places are more likely to meet a particular craving, so we’ll continue the smackdown to pick a winner.

So for this second true Smackdown, we’ll put our current champ, The Yogurt Spot, against the newcomer, Yogurt Planet.  Gentlemen, to your corners.

Location: Yogurt Planet

The rookie comes out swinging by easily taking the location category.  YP is a bit north of campus in the Triangle, but it takes about the same to get there from Mopac (because no true Austinite takes I-35).  But YP wins hands down because of the ample parking.  And not just in a nearby garage like Swirll, I’m talking actual parking right outside the door.  So YP takes the first category, but we’ll see if it’s a repeat of the first Smackdown where the losing shop only won the first category (oh, am I foreshadowing?).

Yogurt: The Yogurt Spot

Like I’ve said, these places are about variety and TYS wins this one.  In raw numbers of flavors, the two are close.  YP has 12, TYS has slightly more (I believe 16, but it’s usually 14 when I’m there).  And YP does some excellent placement so you get some great true swirl combinations like Chocolate Mint with Cake Batter or Cookies ‘and Cream with Pomengranate.  But YP loses overall because of an almost total lack of tart flavors.  They had plenty of sweet fruit flavors and some good savory ones like chocolate and cheesecake.  But no tart.  Unacceptable, especially in this record heat–tart was made for frozen desserts, duh!

Toppings: The Yogurt Spot

This one was easy.  TYS has more toppings hands-down.  And the granola at YP was really weird.  It was like the took a big bag of the really good granola then picked out all the good stuff, leaving just the granola-ish flakes in a bin with a spoon.  Blech.

Decor/Ambience: The Yogurt Spot

Another easy one.  YP is closer to Swirll in total package–loud trendy music, trendier tables and chairs.  But by trendy, I mean bad.  The tables are cool–smooth white stones encased in lucite.  But on each table is a really uncomfortable chair.  Or a long row of what looks like comfortable 50′s-style booth benches–but the moment you sit down you find out the seat part of the bench is about 6 inches too short, a situation made even worse by the overstuffed, non-flexible back that forces you to impersonate the number 7 in calligraphy in order to remain seated and eat your yogurt.

Besh Factor: Unknown

Besher has been kidnapped by his grandparents and I’m unsure of his return date, but given that TYS is already up 3-1, this one’s moot.

Overall Winner: The Yogurt Spot 3-1

Congrats to the reigning champ!  But watch your back if Mambo Berry ever expands.

La Condesa: Attitude, Great Drinks, and Corn Mold

Saturday night Sara and I were able to take in La Condesa with two of our cooler Austin couple friends.  After seeing their menu online, I was looking forward to it–not only do they have a separate drinks/cocktails menu on the web site, but they also have a Ceviche category in their main menu.  Not a single dish, a category.  Cocktails and ceviche–I’m in.  While I enjoyed the food, it did come with an unhealthy serving of attitude that may make it unlikely we return, at least during the weekend.

Six people dining can be a tricky experience.  Most restaurants are equipped for four-tops (that’s fancy restaurant talk for four people) so anything beyond that requires some creative table arranging.  Totally understandable and not an easy accomplishment when a place is busy.  So I wasn’t too surprised that their online reservation system only took reservations for 4.  Made the reservation, but the only time available was 6:30pm.  Our group was meeting at 7pm, but I figured if Sara and I sat down early and started ordering appetizers (did I mention they had ceviche?) then we’d be fine.  But when the restaurant called to confirm the reservation, I asked if we could bump it to 6 people.  The woman looked at the book and said since we were coming in at 6:30 she could manage.  Gulp.  I said thanks, then hung up.

Then I had Sara call a few hours later to see if we could get our 6:30 reservation changed to 7.  She did her best bat-her-eyelash-working-the-mojo voice and the (different) person on the phone said he could do it–but they were really busy so we would have to leave the table by 8:30.  Okay, that’s a bit weird asking people to leave by a certain time, but I gave them some slack since we’d changed a 4-top at 6:30 to a 6-top at 7.  I also figured once they saw the amount of food and drinks we were consuming, they wouldn’t kick us out.

When we arrived at the restaurant we were the first couple, so we checked in.  The hostess said we could only be seated when the party was complete, which we thought was an odd policy given the tables weren’t full.  But we waited and a few minutes later the entire group was there so we could be seated.  But right in front of us, two people were taken to their table of 4 where the other 2 had already been seated.  Ummm…ok.  We’re all led to our table and it’s a 6 person table.  So now I’m confused on their inconsistent policy and that they don’t technically allow 6-person reservations when they have 6-people tables.

But enough of the attitude issues, let’s talk food/drink.  First, drinks were outstanding.  I had a passion fruit and mango margarita on the waiter’s recommendation.  The other two guys had the classic margarita.  The two pregnant ladies (Sara and one other woman) had non-alcoholic beer and one of their many fruit-laden fizzy waters which looked pretty good.  Everyone seemed to enjoy their drinks enough to have a second and possibly third or fourth rounds (seriously, who keeps track after 2?).

We ordered a number of appetizers to share.  We went with the trout ceviche on the waiter’s recommendation–it was one of the newer style ceviches as he explained, which means it looks like sashimi with some other chopped ingredients on top.  But it was awesome.  We also had the crab tostados–three small crispy corn circles piled (seriously, PILED) high with super sweet and not fishy crab.  We had an order of the toasted almond and chipotle guacamole (they have four kinds of guac, another plus) and it had a really nice kick to it.  It was also served with four types of salsa, none of them your traditional red salsa, that ranged from non-spicy vinagrette to a pleasantly hot green mixture and two in between.

One of the special appetizers was a large oval of crispy tortilla with beans and what was described as “mushrooms that grow on corn.”  I’m pretty sure that’s fancy talk for corn mold–but we’d already had a few drinks so of course we were ordering the corn mold.  Either the beans overpowered the corn mold or corn mold tastes a lot like black beans.  Either way, not horrible.

And after seeing some others order it the three men at the table partook of the roasted bone marrow taquitos.  Three bone segments were served with a narrow spoon to put the marrow on a small floppy tortilla along with an incredible spiced bacon mixture.  First time I’ve had marrow–the texture was like a slightly more gelatenous foie gras, but not as flavorful.  Worth trying, but not my thing–although the bacon mixture was pretty awesome.

After all the appetizers and a few more drinks, we pressed on for main courses.  Sara had the chile relleno, the others had a carnitas plate (pork belly and bacon).  I was tempted by the carnitas as well as another ceviche (or three–did I mention how much I love ceviche?) but ultimately went with one of the specials since I wasn’t sure if it would be on the menu if we ever came back.  The special: veal tongue salad with greens and a quail egg.  It was actually pretty awesome–mild flavor and the texture of a good sausage.  Not tough like you would expect and went really well with the greens and egg.  There was also a very salty cracker or three to accompany the dish and putting all four tastes together was outstanding.

By the time the check rolled around it was getting close to 9.  Yes, I took a perverse pleasure in each minute we were there past 8:30.  But it was a small happiness given there were several open tables.  So either they had a lot of last minute cancellations or all the reservation attitude was entirely uncalled for.  Either way, we didn’t do dessert there but instead had some more drinks at another restaurant a block away.

Looking back, I’m glad we went.  Not sure if the attitude we experienced came from it being a Saturday night or if that’s the norm for trendy Austin restaurants these days.  There certainly were enough trendy people in the restaurant, including one woman at the table directly behind me who had…a certain look…and a miniskirt so short it caused us to wonder after she left if her chair now had chlamydia.

One thing very much in La Condesa’s favor is their broad menu.  When I go to a new resturant I may see one or two other items beyond what I order that I would be interested in trying.  This menu easily had 5 or 6 items I’d still like to try, including one award winner I forgot to read about before going on Saturday (their Pulpo Tostados won Best Octopus Dish so it remains uncrossed on The List).  But if we do go again we’ll likely try during the week just to see if the attitude was a weekend-only special.

Austin FroYo Smackdown: The Yogurt Spot vs. Swirll

Besh, Sara and I have been going to The Yogurt Spot for many months and last month we tried the new Swirll.  Given our appreciation of all things forzen yogurt, although it’s technically not on the Best of Austin list I still thought it’d be worthwhile to record and share our thoughts.

In case you aren’t familiar with either of these locations they are part of the growing trend of serve your own frozen yogurt stores.  You pick up a cup, put in as much frozen yogurt and toppings as you want, then pay by the ounce.  Prices are typically in the 40-50 cent per ounce range.

So we present the first Austin FroYo Smackdown: The Yogurt Spot vs. Swirll.  Five categories, one winner, no brain freeze allowed.  Let’s get it on!

Location: Swirll

The new entrant comes out swinging by taking the location category.  Both are very close to campus, with Swirll on the main part of the Drag and TYS on Guad near 29th.  Mostly to bring in the student foot traffic.  Getting to either one from north or south Austin is probably a bit of a wash.  Since they’re so close to campus, parking is bad.  TYS has a few spots in the garage around the corner, but they’re difficult to use and usually full.  The few spots on the nearby road can be hard to find–best bet is a few spots next to the gas station.  Swirll has no parking itself, but the road behind the Drag has a lot of metered spots and the garage for the Coop bookstore is close.  So just on the slight increase in available parking, Swirll edges out TYS.

Yogurt: The Yogurt Spot

Sure, you can get to and park at Swirll a bit easier, but you came for the yogurt, right?  TYS takes this category, although this win is as narrow as its defeat in Location.  Both places have your typical chocolate and vanillas, but they also have more savory fare like cheesecake and plenty of sweet and tart fruit options.  Each machine has two independent flavors and a swirl option in the middle, so flavor placement is key.  Put two weird flavors next to each other and the swirl option is wasted.  I slightly preferred the flavors TYS offered but thought they way they organized the flavors made a lot more sense, so TYS takes this category.

Toppings: The Yogurt Spot

When it comes to toppings, the more you have the better.  The Yogurt Spot wins this hands down.  I didn’t do a raw count, but it wasn’t necessary.  TYS feels like it has twice as many options–perhaps due to the smaller toppings containers they use (which doesn’t matter since they’re always full) or the increased number of fruit and syrup toppings.  TYS also spends a bit more time selecting yogurt-appropriate toppings while Swirll may be showing some of its new-business roots by using mostly bulk-purchased foods from Costco like Vanilla Wafers or their bags of granola or full size M&Ms while TYS uses the more yogurt-appropriate mini M&Ms.

Decor/Ambience: The Yogurt Spot

Both locations try to be comfortable yet trendy, but The Yogut Spot strikes the right balance.  TYS has couches, tables, and a single high bar for staring out the window at all the people melting in the summer heat without enough sense to come in and get some delicious frozen yogurt.  They also have a large flat screen TV typically on USA  or TNT or whichever network is showing Law & Order or House or some cable movie.  Simple, yet comfortable.  Swirll, on the other hand, has the single most awkward stool and table combination I’ve ever sat in.  They’re incredibly high, incredibly awkward, and incredibly ugly.  And they have maybe 3 tables.  Their TVs were showing music videos while we were there–that may be something the college crowd likes (I didn’t know they made music videos anymore) but I shouldn’t feel like I’m not cool enough for frozen yogurt.

Besh Factor: The Yogurt Spot

Besh has been to both.  He has asked to go back to TYS, but never back to Swirll.  Three year olds are the epitome of honesty.  ’Nuff said.

Overall Winner: The Yogurt Spot 4-1

So congrats to The Yogurt Spot for easily winning this first smackdown 4-1!  See you soon.

leaf

Sara and I finally made it to leaf this past weekend.  Tricky to get there since they’re only open for lunch and the initial web reading indicated it wouldn’t be a great place to take Besh.  So while Besh was playing with his grandparents this past weekend, we hit the still-has-that-new-neighborhood-smell 2nd street district to partake of Best Salad/Dressing winner leaf.  BTW, I’m spelling the name correctly.  leaf is too cool to capitalize.

leaf is all about salads.  This makes vegetarians like Sara extremely happy, and even carnivores like myself have some viable options.  The concept is simple enough–you pick your lettuce, toppings, dressing, and optional protein and the heavily tattooed staff tosses everything together into a substantial lunch bowl.  There are also a dozen or so salads written on a large board as you walk in so you don’t have to pick out your own combination.

Sara immediately created her own salad, I went with the Strawberry Fields but added chicken.  The resulting salads were very large, and not inexpensive.  Our two salads and two waters (hers Pelegrino, mine whatever plastic bottled water) ran $27.  That’s a pretty penny, but we both came away thinking the salads were so good that it was ultimately worth it.  We may not go back often, since finding time in the middle of the day is difficult with a 3 year old, but I’d take leaf over Soup Peddler any day of the week.

UPDATE: Can’t believe I left this out–apologies.  The one standout item here, for me anyway, was the bacon topping.  This is not your typical fake bacon bits you find at super cheap salad bars.  It isn’t even the real bacon bits you find at slightly better salad bars.  These were big one inch squares of thick-cut bacon and they were AWESOME.  Plus, since they’re in a salad, it’s totally healthy.  Definitely the best salad topping ever, in its best form, and while not exactly making the salad totally worth its price, it certainly doesn’t hurt.

Veggie Heaven

File this under “How seriously committed Ryan is to crossing names off the list.”

For Father’s Day yesterday Sara asked where I wanted to go for lunch.  My plan–hit Veggie Heaven downtown.  She seemed skeptical.  Me, picking a vegetarian restaurant?  On Father’s Day no less?  But yes, I’m dedicated to finishing the list.  Plus, the place is at the end of the Drag which is usually hard to find parking around, so I figured a Sunday afternoon might be an easier time to park and eat.

So off we went.  Got a great parking place in their very tiny parking lot, then proceeded in to an empty table.  First impression: the place is really, really quiet.  Which is odd because it’s small and a bit crowded.  Maybe 20 tables in a place designed more for 10.  And we got the only empty table.  But it was still pindrop quiet.  Maybe they’re all being respectful of the vegetable’s life energy that was given for our meal, or maybe they’re all really tired because, you know, most of the people are vegetarians.  Whatever the reason, we sit down.

We order a number of things to sample.  Besh got Golden Fried Rice (rice with corn, cabbage, beans, onions), Sara got a bowl of tofu and rice, and I asked the waitress what was the best item on the menu’s first page (which conveniently lists their five most popular items).  We also got some edamame, pot stickers, and a sweet bun so we could make it a big sample.

The food came almost immediately.  It reminded me of the diner scene in Defending Your Life–order goes in and almost immediately comes out, almost as if it was made for someone else.  Amazing service.  And every dish was a hit.  Besh loved his rice, which was awesome since any of the individual items he may not have liked but he loved the combination.  He finished half the dish by himself, a pretty big dish.  Sara really liked her tofu bowl as the sauce wasn’t overpowering like other places will do with anything tofu.  Edamame was, well, edamame–you can’t really screw it up, but I did find it curious that they didn’t salt theirs.  Pot stickers were pretty good too, hard to tell the difference in taste between non-vegan alternatives.  The sweet bun was a bit on the heavy side, but not bad.

My own dish ended up being Tropical Rainforest (I think that’s the name).  It looks like beef and broccoli, but instead of beef you have these small golden brown, lightly fried tofu things.  And they’re good.  Really good.  The texture isn’t that different from any other fried beef chunks in any asian dish, but the sauce was nowhere near as greasy as other places.  Really, really good, as I find most asian places in Texas pile on the grease like they get a prize for seeing how much they can slosh on a plate.  But this plate was pretty awesome, which is saying something coming from a dedicated carnivore like myself.

Overall, a great experience since we got to cross off another name and, as Sara pointed out, I went to a restaurant that if not for the list I might have avoided like the plague.  Veggie Heaven clearly caters to the university crowd with almost no parking and delivery only in the campus area, but if we have the chance to visit campus again and there isn’t too much traffic, you never know…

ASTI and Quack’s

Finally have a moment to record another few items on the list. 

Sara and I made it to ASTI the other weekend.  We had initially planned on trying out leaf downtown, but we didn’t know they’re a lunch-only place.  So we continued north and made it to ASTI.  We had actually planned on trying FINO, the other restaurant with the same owners, but Googling FINO gave us the ASTI address and we were already there by the time we realized.  But they’re on the list, so in we went.

Turns out we’d been to the restaurant before, just hadn’t remembered (me, anyway).  And not just the actual location, although we recall the Manga-themed noodle place back in law school.  The restaurant is an odd hybrid–decor of higher-end Italian, but the small size and neighborhood makes it more of a family-friendly place.  Saw plenty of strollers and toddlers with parents in shorts sitting at tables next to older couples in dresses/suits and ties.

Unfortunately, soft palenta bowls are only available for lunch (our waiter did check for us, though–he was awesome).  So we couldn’t cross that item off the list, but the overall restaurant was on the reader’s choice list so at least some progress was made.

We did try an appetizer, since the sister FINO restaurant won for appetizers.  Hopefully they’re better at FINO.  We tried the white bean paste and it was incredibly salty.  Vespaio is another highly-rated Italian restaurant in Austin, I’ve always had mixed luck with their entrees but one thing they get right is their white bean paste they serve with the bread.  ASTI’s white bean paste was way, way, way too salty.

Sara had a salad that she liked but thought was a bit on the teeny side.  I had a chilled almond soup which sounds better in theory than it was in practice.  Sara had a margherita pizza and I had a scallop with gnocchi dish.  Both were fine, but nothing to rave about.  A decent experience, but not one worth repeating in my book unless we really want to cross the soft polenta item off the list.  I think ASTI benefits from being one of just a couple of restaurants in the Hyde Park area–an area whose population fits right in with those who would respond to the Chronicle’s annual survey.

After dinner we walked across the street to Quack’s Bakery.  In the print version of the list they show up under Best Latte Art.  Having no idea what this meant, I got a latte.  My overfull cup had a foam swirl on the top which I guess is kind of cool.  But the merest touch of the cup caused coffee to spill onto the saucer, pretty much ruining any effect the foam art had.  And the coffee itself wasn’t that great.  But they did have a nice selection of cookies and cupcakes (although their cupcakes suffered from Way Too Much Icing Syndrome).

Since we’ve been to Hyde Park Bar & Grill a number of times, looks like we can cross Hyde Park off the list of places to visit to complete the mission.

Torchy’s Tacos

So they can’t all be winners. 

Saturday evening Besh, Sara and I took the tip into the center of town (well, the new center, which is around 30th) to go to The Yogurt Spot, a favorite for all three of us.  On the walk in, I realized there was a Torchy’s Tacos sign just south of our favorite dessert place.  Recognizing the name from the list, we ventured over (after yogurt, of course, we have priorities after all).

Smallish place on Guadalupe, but wasn’t too bad for a Saturday evening and we were able to get a table without too much fuss.  Still a bit packed, as the buy to the table next to me decided he liked having his chair fight might chair more than he liked just sitting still and eating.

Sara had a Fried Avocado Taco, I ordered a Green Chili Pork Taco for me and a Chicken Fajita Taco for Besh.  Order to counter was quick, price was very reasonable and they support the Austin Local Card so 10% off if you get the card (which, really, you should). 

Tacos were small in size but a good value.  Lots of toppings, and they came with two soft tortillas underneath.  Not sure if you’re supposed to divide the toppings into two tacos or just eat the taco double wrapped.  Didn’t matter much.

None of us really liked our tacos.   Maybe we’re just not taco people, or at least not Torchy’s Tacos people.  Sara didn’t like the taste, Besh just spit most of his out (there’s very little culinary subtelty with a three-year-old), and while I did finish mine I regretted it later.  Too much spice added after cooking gives me heartburn, as this did–all the spice seemed to be just in the topping.

So we did cross another place off the list, but I don’t think we’ll return.

Cookie Lounge

Went to the Cookie Lounge today both because we could cross it off the list and they were doing a kids class.  Great place, and although I’m technically crossing it off the list I feel like we need to go back to get the whole experience.

The class for kids is great.  Kids come in and there are plenty of snacks. Little muffin-shaped cookies and cups of milk.  The kids get to color their paper hats while everyone gets ready.  Then the staff shows them how to mix the dough and mix-ins before the kids pick their dough then head over to the giant trays of mix-ins.

Besh picked the chocolate dough (Belgian chocolate, because plain chocolate isn’t good enough for the Cookie Lounge).  For mix-ins he picked M&Ms and blueberry raisins.  There were about 20 mix-ins to choose from.  Mixing in the steel bowl was easy enough, but the dough was a bit strong for him especially with the latex gloves not exactly fitting his tiny hands.  Even with the gloves off it was a bit difficult, so I helped him mix and shape.

He was more than able to put the dough balls on the tray and squish them down, which he loved.  While the cookies baked the staff brought out cardboard boxes for the cookies that the kids could decorate with stickers and plastic figures and cardboard and glue.  Definitely kept the kids occupied for the few minutes before cookie-time.  Besh ate two cookies, minus a couple of bites for Mommy, Gamaw, and me.  He made 6 cookies total, the whole experience was $20 and a fun way to spend an hour.

On the way out, I got our parking ticket validated (once validated, it lasts for 15 minutes, so you do it on the way out for the large parking structure next door).  While at the cash register I got a black and white cookie (awesome, the sugar cookie dough has a hint of lemon) and a Go Austin card which gives you 10% off at Cookie Lounge (and a lot of other benefits which you can check here–for only $10 this thing will pay for itself after just a couple visits to the Drafthouse).

The true Cookie Lounge experience is a bit different, since they’ll make the cookie for you.  The menu is amazing–I think 8 or 9 different doughs and easily a couple dozen mix-ins.  You pick up to 3 mix-ins and they make your cookie.  Some games and a flat-screen TV (with a Wii remote sensor built into the wall, I noticed) to occupy you while the cookies bake.  Great staff, fun place, and for a mini-mall tucked in the middle of a campus residential area, easy parking in the garage.  Looking forward to going back for the true Cookie Lounge experience.

Phil’s Ice House

With Gamaw in town and a holiday weekend half-done, we decided to try out the winner for Best Place to take Kids: Phil’s Ice House.

Awesome place.

Great playscape outside for the kids with, and here’s why they won the award I’m sure, LOTS of seating for the adults.  Almost every Waterloo has a playscape but almost no nearby seating.  Good thinking here.

Food is nicely done, nothing fancy.  Sara and Gamaw had veggie burgers.  Besh had chicken fingers (not served too hot, which was excellent as most places send kid’s food out scalding hot).  I had the burger sampler plate which has three mini burgers, one each of three specialty burgers.  Specialty burgers make the bulk of the menu, and while there aren’t as many options as Hut’s, I loved the variety.  Really enjoyed 2 of my 3 mini-burgers, enough that I’d get the same thing again even if I wasn’t wild about one (the bleu cheese one, if you were wondering).  The two I did like were their chili cheeseburger and their BBQ cheeseburger.  Both very nice.

Fries at Phil’s are awesome, a mix of regular and sweet potato fries.  Nice seating area, a bit crowded but even at noon on Sunday with a lot of people it was no trouble finding a booth for the four of us.

Oh, and it’s right next door to an Amy’s Ice Cream (Amy’s husband started this place, and his name isn’t Phil–you can read about the story at their website, a touching tale).  We were stuffed after the food, otherwise that’d be a great option.  Hmmm, maybe next time just one mini-burger and some Amy’s…it would be wrong to go back there for dinner, wouldn’t it?