Bits and Bites 2012

Opening....

22 Trattoria and Wine Bar  on West 6th near West Lynn

Closing....

La Sombra

El Greco -- reports that they've gone AWOL, but I have not confirmed

McCormick and Schmick -- really, M and S couldn't make it? Their happy hour was WAY too affordable, and it will be missed! That leaves a large vacancy in the Frost Bank Building.

Shoreline Grill

Newsy Stuff/Events.....

This week's food section in the Austin Chronicle has some GREAT lists, from 2011 food/restaurant success stories to savory and sweet favorites. All in all, 9 top ten lists to keep you well fed!

And, for more lists to keep handy, check out Eater Austin's quarterly list of 38 top places in town.

Chef Tyler Johnson out at Bacon...

A Torrid Affair's next event is January 16th at Springdale Farms, a six course offering from Barley Swine's Bryce Gilmore, and the drinks of Dwayne Allen Clark from Peche. Tickets are $100, and benefit the Dell Children's Medical Center and the Sustainable Food Center.

J Mueller's BBQ

Pepper. Lots of pepper.

That's certainly how I would sum up the new J Mueller BBQ trailer on South First. As expected, the meats were delicious, and for a BBQ joint, the sides were okay. Fortunately, on a wettish Tuesday, we didn't have to wait in line, as we were the only ones there! At times though, they see big lines, and when they're out of food for the day, they're out! 

They gave us a big bite of nice charred brisket as they were putting our order together. Tender, smoky, with a big black pepper bite to it.

Two of us split what you see below, which we brought home to eat: from the left, potato salad, sausage, pork ribs, brisket, squash casserole, and chipotle cole slaw. 

The pork sausage has a nice coarse grind, also pretty peppery. The pork ribs were probably my favorite of the meats; great pink smoke ring, and not as much pepper (though you could see it in the rub on the exterior) as the brisket. Potato salad was my favorite of the three sides, creamy, with a few little chunks in it. The squash really didn't do anything for me (but I am generally not a huge fan of yellow squash), though my friend, who ate it all the time at the previous Mueller locations, was quite pleased with it. And the cole slaw had more of a black pepper taste than a chipotle taste to it... not as advertised.

Mueller's is directly across the street from what will be the new Elizabeth Street Cafe (and just to the south of this building is the lot for Izzoz Tacos), which will serve upscale Vietnamese. Too hard to get a decent photo, with S. 1st Street traffic, and the orange construction markers. When I drove past there last night, they had some Christmas lights up on the awnings. Getting close to opening, I hope!

And this building on the north side of Elizabeth is rumored to be a Thai spot.....

The meats of J Mueller's are a great addition to the trailers along S. 1st, and good BBQ is always a good thing. No offense to the Mexican Mile, but South First is finally turning into a REAL food destination!

Bits and Bites

Now open:

-- Lucy's Fried Chicken, from the folks at Olivia. Mmmmm! Can't wait to try this one!

Make reservations for:

-- Paggi House is having both New Year's Eve dinners ($95 + up) and brunch on New Year's Day.

-- Parkside is having a New Year's Eve dinner ($60 + up) as well as a party upstairs ($100).

-- Contigo is having New Year's Eve cocktail pairing dinner ($115).

-- Sagra having a New Year's Day brunch buffet, $24 per person ($30 with mimosas).

Bacon

It's pretty hard to go wrong with a place named Bacon.

From the door handle....

.....to the merchandise available for purchase....

...to the helpful eye chart on the back of the menu (you must be in good health to eat here!).....

 ... to the food (more on that in a sec), Bacon is a happenin' place.

I pick Sunday morning brunch as my first time to go visit Bacon. Fortunately, we were only a party of two, so it wasn't difficult to sit, because the place was certainly hopping. (Hard to believe this was the old Basil's restaurant, and more recently, the Screaming Goat.) You order at the bar/counter, you get your number so the food runners can find you, and find a seat. Both the gal taking our order and the guys running the food were super-friendly, and they all seemed genuinely nice, not just people working another service job.

I had the biscuits and gravy, which were really outstanding (yes, almost as good as my own!). The biscuits are large, and nice and fluffy, meaning the dough wasn't overworked. Good pieces of bacon in the gravy, and no wimpy chive garnish here!

And the corn fritters with bacon aioli. The fritters were ok. I think it's canned corn, and while they were nice and golden, there wasn't a ton of taste to them by themselves. The aioli was the one real disappointment of the meal. It tastes artificial, and I would almost bet they're using the Bacon Mayo, which I've had before, and hated it because it was entirely artificial. Fritters were better when dipped in gravy!

My friend had the butter lettuce salad with bacon and bleu cheese. (REALLY? I am getting b & g, and she's eating a salad?? Whatever.) Have to say, it was one of the prettiest salads, with what looked like a whole head of butter lettuce. Kind of your basic bleu cheese, but nice big pieces of bacon.

I've been the proud owner of a bacon wallet for about 4 years now; hard to tell in the picture, but it's one of the bacon memorabilia items available for sale. When I was paying for my food, the gal at the register commented "That's what inspired this whole restaurant idea!" A pretty good idea indeed! Now, if only someone can figure out how to make the wallet SMELL like bacon........

Bits and Bites

-- I've been trying to figure out what the old Furr's Cafeteria on South Lamar is going to turn into. On my way to Target in the beginning of November (I think that's when it was), I saw two of the Stubb's BBQ trailers parked on the backside, by the old Lacks, and an inquiry on Twitter came back with one reply of a Stubb's rumor....so..... anyone want to confirm this?

-- Contigo, in east Austin, has winterized both their outdoor seating and their seasonal menu.

-- And speaking of BBQ, the County Line franchise will happily ship you some ribs (or other tasty items) wherever you'd like to send them! They also do gift cards, and even vegetarian options (!). See their website for info.

-- And then speaking of vegetarians, there's a new vegan queso on the market made by Food for Lovers and it's available for shipping! I've heard it's really good, but have not tried it.... I am curious, but I am a non-vegan, die hard Austin Slow Burn Green Chile con Queso kinda gal......

-- The Monument Cafe in Georgetown will be open on Christmas Day from 9 am - 2 pm, serving traditional holiday feasts.

-- Sagra will be holding New Year's Day brunch; reservations recommended.

-- A Torrid Affair is hosting a special holiday six course wild game dinner at Springdale Farm on December 19th. For more info and tickets,  see their website.