Rhonda M. wrote: >Glad to know you have one in Austin because we're moving there. Of course >what we're *really* looking forward to is some real Mexican food (here in >Central Illinois they don't know what good Mexican food is!). Any Austin >Mexican restaurant recommendations? Any? There are tons of good places, depending on what you want. I'll give some recommendations, but if you have net access after moving here, you may want to ask in austin.general for a wider selection. In no particular order: Tex-Mex: Chuys - good plain tex-mex, nothing really fancy Cafe Serranos - if you like hot food, try something with chipotle sauce (yum!) El Arroyo - pretty good, but a yuppie/frat boy hangout Pinch-a-Pollo - More authentic, the main thing on the menu is grilled whole chicken (very good) with a choice of 17 or so sauces. Not fancy. Real Mexican: Fonda San Miguel - _Very_ good authentic Mexican food you really should try the Sunday brunch, although it is expensive Other: Granite Cafe - modern southwestern and other mixed styles Z Tejas Grill - pretty good food, half price appitizers on Monday and Tuesday nights, interesting style
Austin, TX
Mexican
How's *that* for a subject line! Rick C. wrote: } New Mexico style food offers dishes with green chiles which are grown }in New Mexico. Try Mexican food in Las Cruses, Albuquerque or Santa It is illegal to eat anything in New Mexico, including ice cream, without New Mexico green chiles on it. I skiied at Taos for a couple of days last winter and you were encouraged to get green chiles on anything that moved or didn't move. I usually declined, since the kind of movement that that many hot green chiles inspires is likely to interfere with skiing. But now on to the serious business of restaurants. I was recently in Orlando on business, and found two worth mentioning: Siam Orchid (near Wet 'n' Wild). Not a Keo's of Honolulu, but very good in its own right. Delicious everything -- vegetarian, whole braised fish, chicken, beef, appetizers. Excellent iced coffee and tea. Hot was quite hot, we were glad we went that hot and glad we didn't go Thai hot. Service was superb. Went there for dinner one night and lunch the next day. This place is directly across from Republic Square. The Bubble Room (somewhere north Orlando). Walk in, look around at the 20s, 30s, and 40s kitsch, order a golden margarita from the girl or boy scout uniform clad waitron (usually with a silly hat or lampshade on), and walk back out again without eating dinner. Worth a visit and a drink for the decor, including the wall of fish tanks in the bar. Not worth a meal -- food wasn't *bad*, just not very good, either. Finally, my mother and stepfather took me to my first Olive Garden in Greensboro, NC. I, too, had read the airline magazine article on the place. The sauce was predictably sweet (that's what NC folks like), but not too bad. Overall I was impressed with the food for a chain (but only for a chain), and the service was first-rate, as was the easy middle-of-the-road decor. And, for a final barb, the spaghetti sauce was infinitely better than the watery vinegar slime that North Carolinians proclaim as the best barbecue sauce in the world. Now that I've angered everyone, I'll go home,