August/September 2013 The Woodland

Tonight we went to The Woodland which was back on South Congress.  The place was really neat on the inside, painted green and had a forest theme.  One of the first things you notice inside is the glass case with pies, pies and more pies! 

We had a reservation and they had a table for 6 ready for us!  It was not very crowded on Tuesday night.  One minor thing that was wrong was I ordered the house made sangria (red) and they were out of the red and forgot to take it off our bill.  I noticed it on the bill though and he promptly took it off.

Other than that, this place was very, very good and a great place to sit and visit without feeling rushed.  Teresa and I ordered the chicken pot pie which was very good and very reasonable at just $9.  Fran had the pork empanadas, Linda had the patty melt and Gina ordered shrimp quesadillas and caprese salad.  Everyone raved about how good the food was and there was a great selection too.

Since we had seen the pies going in, everyone wanted to try some pie for dessert.  The two we tried were the coconut cream and the chocolate peanut butter.  Our favorite was the coconut cream but the chocolate peanut butter was good too and very rich like a giant peanut butter cup.  The service was good and as stated above, we stayed and talked quite a while after dinner and were not rushed at all.

We agreed we would all go back again!  I really enjoyed dinner here tonight.

 

Gourdough's - July 2013

In July, the group decided to venture off of South Congress and go eat on South Lamar at a restaurant called Gourdoughs.  This restaurant started in Ireland as a beer pub selling doughnuts.  On the poster there just shows to be the one in Dublin and the one in Austin, TX.  This place started as food trailer  selling just the specialty doughnuts here in Austin but then expanded into this restaurant. 

I really like the place and have been 3 times now.  All the food is based upon fried doughnut dough.  The sandwiches and hamburgers are all on plain doughnuts.   

I have had the kolaches (again made with doughnut batter).  I have tasted the chicken dumplings which were made with doughnut dumplings and had several sandwiches.  Everyone in our group agreed that the best food entre is the BLT sandwich. 

The fun part about this is the specialty doughnuts for dessert!  You have to save room for them and they are fun to split.  We ordered the southern maid (like a pecan pie doughnut), one made with chocolate syrup and one called "salty balls" which was doughnut holes with caramel, icing and peanuts.

This place is one of those places you love to take others!!  The wait staff is excellent and helpful with the menu.  Try it if you haven't.  I always leave very full after tasting the doughnut desserts.

They even have a salad with chicken fried bacon!!  This place is not your low fat or healthy food eatery.  My favorite dessert is the "salty balls".

Robyn's comments on Gourdough's were that is was clean and rustic and there was no issue with waiting for a table at 6 PM.  She states the waitress took great care of us and offered suggestions and was very friendly.  She tried the "mother clucker" which was southern fried chicken on top of a doughnut.  She said "it was very tasty.  For dessert she had "The Puddin" which was like banana pudding on top of a doughnut.  She said it was "sinfully good" and that she is going back again.

Debi had the greek salad and said it was very good and there was plenty of it.  She said the garlic doughnut which came with it was great!  She thought the place was very fun and is going back again for sure.

Also my sister, Fran has moved back to Austin and will be joining out group for dinner!  I am so excited.  This was her first night to join us. 

June 2013 - Guero's Taco Bar

In June we all met at Guero's taco bar which is an old Austin favorite.  It started out as an old mill and feed store before it was turned into a restaurant.  It has very good Mexican food which we all enjoyed.
At Guero's I had the fish tacos for my meal and they were so good!  A few people had enchiladas with various sauces which they said were very good too.
We had a group of about 6.  I ordered the sangria here thinking it would be the red wine drink but it was actually a frosty margarita with red wine and was very good.
Before eating at Guero's I did a little shopping at the Tesora(sp) store next door where I bought a purse!  That is one fun thing about eating on South Congress, there is always a little shopping to be done as well.
All in all this was another fun dinner on South Congress with great friends doing a lot of chatting!! 

May 2013 - The Snack Bar

I am going to do some catch up on this blog finally.  My apologies to the faithful group of friends that have been going out to dinner on Tuesday nights.  I have not spent the time to update our blog with our outings so tonight I have 4 updates to do.

This place is a really fun, lively spot and we sat out on the patio which is right on the South Congress sidewalk which made for some really good "people watching".

Tonight we had a new person come to dinner which was Roberta Vasek.  We really enjoyed catching up with her.  She has been with Progressive a number of years.

Also joining us was Debi Bruns-Lake's daughter, granddaughter and son-n-law.  It was so nice to meet them and fun having a little one at the table.  She is 3 and so well behaved!

The service was very good here.  They were especially accommodating for all of us arriving at different times, I know I was there early and waiting at the table (with a sangria I might add) for about 15 minutes watching people walk by.  Some places we have eaten at wanted the whole party there before they would give you a table.

The food was very good and everyone there agreed they would definitely be going back again!