Gourdough's Public House

Donuts and......beer? What's not to like? Well, that's what the folks behind the Gourdough's Donut trailer have come up with in their new brick and mortar venture, Gourdough's Public House, in the old Kerbey Lane spot on South Lamar. But don't fret, the big, fat, donut trailer is still alive and well on South First Street and Monroe!

Some friends and I met for happy hour on a recent weeknight. Public House has daily specials, which so far, they seem to be very good at publicizing on their Facebook page. Drinks in hand, we sampled a number of items from the menu, most of which have highly entertaining names.

The Big Cheese -- mozzarella wrapped in donut dough and fried. They were good, but a bit too doughy for my taste, but the garlic sauce with it was yummy!

Dizzy Porker -- fried pork ribs with a hard cider bbq sauce that I really liked. On the greasy side (shocking, I know), but decent flavor, and fairly tender. Good reheated (and blotted) the following day.

Popeye's Roids -- a spinach salad with cranberries, walnuts, roasted red peppers, blue cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette. With a garlic donut, that was delicious! You know the (faux) butter dipping sauce that comes (or used to) with Papa John's pizzas? The donuts taste like that! AND, the donut was great the next day reheated in the toaster oven, because it got kind of crispy on the outside.

Even the Public House Salad, at $5 is a great deal! (This is probably the one item on the menu that does not have a catchy name!)

Three Little Guidos -- think caprese salad with balsamic on a donut, topped with potato chips. I did not try this one, but the person who ordered it was quite pleased.

The Country Clucker -- not for the faint of heart! Bring your appetite! A donut, topped with a potato pancake, fried chicken breast, cream corn, and candied jalapenos. As gorgeous as it was tasty! I had a couple bites of this, and it was FINE! The potato pancake kind of gets lost in the mix, but at $11, it's a great value, because it's pretty much two meals. And probably a hangover cure for some.

Salty Balls -- donut holes with cream cheese frosting, salted caramel sauce and peanuts. I had heard about these from someone else, and finally got a chance to try! I love sweet and salty mixes, so this was perfect, and the ideal dish to share with others. Generous on the peanuts, love it!

The Southern Belle -- a donut topped with pecan pie filling, cream cheese frosting, and candied pecans. While I originally cringed at the thought, this was actually quite tasty! Most of the donuts even from the Gourdough's trailer are waaay too much, especially for one person to handle. This belle wasn't too sweet, though it was a sticky mess.

The interior of Public House is fairly rustic, and not long after we got there, they dimmed the lights even more. It's sort of a contrast to the restroom, which was very modern and light-filled. Our waiter was very attentive, good at answering questions, and the food came out fast. Overall, I thought prices were quite reasonable, and again, a variety of happy hour specials each night, both on drinks and some food picks. While I don't know if I would dine here frequently, I would certainly go back. Actually the Popeye's Roids had me fairly excited! They didn't skimp on the salad toppings. But apart from the salads, Public House is a place to go to have a drink and SHARE some food!

Bits and Bites

-- Lots of our local beer gardens/pubs/breweries are having October Beer Month/Halloween specials:
   -- Bangers is holding "Beer College" now through October 28 and it will teach you about the craft beer community and different beer varieties each day.
   -- Hops and Grain will have different daily beer specials and tastings.
   -- drink.well will have special Halloween night drinks

And two beer-related openings:
   -- October 25 -- Pinthouse Pizza, at 4729 Burnet. Beer + pizza.
   -- October 31 -- Public House, from the Gourdough's trailer folks, in the old South Lamar Kerbey Lane spot. Beer + donuts!


-- Olivia will host a dinner October 25, $75/person that matches Eric Texier French wines with James Holmes' "haute Texan" cuisine.  Five courses, each with a wine.

-- The Sustainable Food Center will hold their Haunted Ball at the Mansion at Judges Hill, October 28, 6:30 pm, $60/person, costumes encouraged!


 Re-Openings:
-- Zen, the Japanese fast food spot on South Congress is closing and reopening as Lucky Robot, which will be a full-service restaurant.

-- Odd Duck Farm to Trailer, Bryce Gilmore's precursor to Barley Swine that closed last year, will reopen as a 120-seat brick and mortar restaurant in the same location as the previous trailer -- 1219 S. Lamar, in the still-being-built mixed use building, Gibson Flats.

Moving:
-- The trailers on South Lamar next to Red's Porch, as we make way for yet another apartment/condo project (boo!). Honky Tonk Hot Dogs and Collie's Burgers will be at 415 Jessie Street, and Trai Mai Thai will be at Manchaca and Prather.

Closing:
 -- Though temporarily, The Highball, November 17th, as the Lamar Plaza complex redevelops.

Gourdough's

In Spanish, gordo means fat. In South Austin, Gourdough's means big, fat, freakin' doughnuts!!! And you will not stay flaca by eating these masterpieces! Welcome to the newest Airstream trailer to hit South Austin. Does it get any better than hot doughnuts??

It's just before 3 pm on Thursday. I am with 3 work colleagues, and we are supposed to be someplace at 3 pm. We heard rumors of a new doughnut trailer on South Lamar. Near Mary St? Near Treadwell? And it happens, that Lamar coincidentally is the road we need to travel on to get to our destination. And there it is. Just north of Genie Car Wash, before the light at Treadwell (when going north). I believe the trio of yard signs say "BIG", "FAT", "DOUGHNUTS." Screw the work appointment, we need fried dough!

The menu board is extensive and overwhelming on the first visit, to say the least. Almost every combination you can think of, OR you can design your own. Click on their website link and look. Try not to drool. Or pee in your pants. We placed our orders, even getting extras to make up for our tardiness (like the Whataburger commercial where they guy stops and gets breakfast for his office), and told the guy we were sort of in a hurry. And politely he says that everything is made to order. And that's fine. We learn the wait pays off. (And they've only been open for 6 days.)

We pile back into the air conditioned car, as it's one of those hot & humid October days. And we wait. It took almost 20 minutes. But, the results were so damn worth it. Being the sucker for bacon, AND for salty sweet things, I got the Flying Pig -- a hot doughnut with maple syrup icing and bacon on it. And I mean a crap-ton of bacon. There were probably 8 pieces of crispy goodness on my doughnut. Look at the picture with the box of four, from the top left going clockwise we have: Naughty & Nice (sugar & cinnamon), Sara's Joy (coconut filling w/ fudge frosting & coconut), Mama's Cake (yellow cake batter filling & chocolate frosting), and Black Out (death by chocolate). These pictures were taking in a moving vehicle as we were trying to figure out how to eat them. I don't recommend eating in the car, but some milk (which they sell) would have been great! It's a sugar-high experience, not to be missed! Get extra napkins too.

So we arrive late to our work function, but fortunately, there's no punishment for those who bring doughnuts! Our event goes late, and at the end, the boss man wants to take us out for drinks. Who are we to argue! We meet at Justine's, the new cottage house French bistro in East Austin. Arriving around 10:30pm, the place is packed. There are several little tables outside, all of which are filled. We get some cocktails, and nibbles. Pomme frites, escargot, and house-made charcuterie, which included an incredible pork rillette, a mousse of duck and don't remember what, and a compagne, or country-style pate, that I think was also pork-based. The pate was lacking in flavor, but the rest of the appetizers certainly make me want to go back for a meal. Obviously this area was majorly lacking in a bar/bistro, and at just a month old, they seem well on track for success.