i really enjoy reading about local restaurants in this newsgroup and figured i would spill out a few of my own thoughts here. first of all i want to say that the thing i miss and ache for more than anything else Austin food-wise is an Ethiopian restaurant. i lived for awhile in Washington, D.C. and became hooked on Ethiopian food. it is my favorite cuisine on earth. anyway, just wanted to say that (i occasionally go to Dallas, or more likely Houston for an Ethiopian food fix, but it's a shame that a big college-state capital-wonderful place like Austin can't have one Ethiopian restaurant). secondly, the local restaurant that i like the utmost would be the Clay Pit downtown. by far the best Indian food i've had in Austin, wonderful food, and a very nice atmosphere as well. none of the other restaurants i'll mention have much at all when it comes to atmosphere, but it's definitely nowhere near as important as the food. i tried Reale's pizza after reading all the recommendations of it on this group; i liked it but had set my expectations perhaps a little too high. i miss the great spinach and garlic pizza of a place in D.C. called Armands and this Greek place there called Atlantis. oh well. i think the recent complaints about Austin restaurants definitely have some merit, but there are some restaurants that are quite good. i'm no expert, my pocketbook and other interests wouldn't let me be, just my 2 cents here. all my other recommendations fall into the category of good, fairly inexpensive food: Thai Kitchen on Guadalupe-very nice Thai food, which apparently is hard to find in Austin Java Noodles on Oltorf-nice, inexpensive Indonesian food (tempeh, mmmn good) Kim Phung-tasty, very inexpensive Vietnamese food Niki's pizza-good cheap pizza Schlotzky's-great sandwiches, great bread Star Seeds Cafe-nice, inexpensive grungy Austin-type food and if all else fails Kerbey Lane on Kerbey Lane, but would always prefer food of the following cuisines: 1. Ethiopian 2. Thai 3. Indian my wife and i are vegetarian so that affects our selection quite a bit. i don't mean to sound too opinionated and hope i don't come across that way. take care, joe
Austin, TX