Recent Eats

So here are a couple places that I've eaten recently, and clearly haven't made the time to write full posts!  

Had lunch at the Whip In, the combo Indian food/bar/convenience store spot on the southbound frontage road of IH-35 between Woodland and Oltorf. I seem to remember it from years ago when it was still mostly convenience store. Now, when you walk in, you're immediately faced with a somewhat jumbled chalkboard menu. As you keep walking straight back, you have some bar stools at the counter, and the store merchandise and refrigerated cases behind you when sitting.

After studying the board, and hearing they were out of samosas (problem with the fryer, I think), I picked the Travis Heights sandwich -- samosa-style potatoes, peas, carrots, cilantro chutney, and provolone cheese grilled in naan bread, and my friend had the curried ratatouille.

All in all, not bad. Mine could have used more of the chutney, or something to jazz it up a bit. Would be interested to try some of their meat dishes. They do get creativity points for their menu, a fusion of Indian and American cuisines, with things from biryanis to South Asian Frito Pie. And they source locally! 

A last minute meet-up with a friend found us at Red House Pizzeria on a Friday night. We walked in through the bar area, which was packed, but across the covered patio and into the restaurant portion found no waiting. GREAT happy hour specials, which were available in the restaurant -- a few different drinks at half or reduced price, and the appetizers were half price. 


We both started with the house punch cocktail, and then shared the garlic bread, meatballs, Greek salad, and Gorgonzola and bacon pizza. The meatball description says they have a touch of truffle oil, which I couldn't taste at all.

The pizza was a little underdone for my liking. I had one leftover piece that I ate for lunch the next day, which I heated it in the toaster oven, and the crust did get nice and crispy.

Certainly decent food, great happy hour prices, and a very friendly, efficient waiter, named Ross. Would I go back though? 


And then brunch this weekend at the very popular 24 Diner. Fortunately, it was only about a 15 minute wait (after being told 45 min), and we were seated in the back room, which was a hair quieter than the main room. 

Three of us split the heirloom tomato salad, which was delicious.

I had the French toast with vanilla cream and blueberries, with sides of egg and sausage. Yum! 

One friend had the ham and Gruyere frittata, and the other the hash, all very tasty. We had wanted to split a milkshake for dessert, but were too full! 

24 Diner

"Chef-inspired comfort food whenever you want it." Now who's to argue with that concept? That is the tag line on 24 Diner's website, as well as just a darn good plan. A more upscale entry into Austin's 24 hour a day eateries, it's been open in the former spot of Waterloo Icehouse at 6th & Lamar for about a year.

The interior has a modern yet "still a diner" feel; there are booths, some tall tables as if you were at a counter, and then the counter/open kitchen. My back was to the kitchen, so I couldn't really read the boards they have posted above with specials & desserts.  There are also a couple booths in the back, on the way to the restroom, and some tables outside, along the north side of the building.

Scanning the menu, I couldn't decide what I was in the mood for.... breakfast? Dinner? Salad? Okay, we ruled out the salad option pretty quick with all this REAL comfort food to pick from, but they sounded decent. I was leaning towards the chicken & waffles, and then one of my dining companions spotted a half-order of it that's available on their Monday thru Friday only menu. So I got that and a side of their homemade sausage patties. I also like how they state on their menu they are sourcing local products as much as possible.

Definitely glad I had the half order! The waffle was extremely yeasty, in a very fermented way. The chicken was well-fried, no grease whatsoever, but a little on the dry side, so I wonder if it got fried earlier in the day and was sitting in the hot box. Didn't really get a taste of the brown sugar butter (not much on there), but the real maple syrup certainly helped things out. The sausage patties were fat & delicious! A smidge spicy, and all around just very flavorful. 

One friend had the 24 Hash, a concoction of skillet fries, sausage, jalapenos, cheese... I didn't try it, but it sure looks good, and he practically licked the plate clean. My other friend had the Caesar salad with chicken, which she liked, but said the croutons were too spicy.

Side note(s): The silverware was of nice design & weight. My chicken & waffles were a little hard to cut because the plate was sliding around on the slick melamine tabletop. Such is life.  Saw several other diners with burgers, which on a nice big (and shiny) Challah bun, they looked good... and large. Our waitress was attentive & polite, the hostess very friendly. Did comfort food ever really go out of style? I think not.