Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Two Hot Mama's Grill

I have always enjoyed the Two Hot Mama's product line: salsas (rojo, verde, and a combo one called mambo combo), the creamy cilantro dip, and particularly the roasted almond chimichurri -- great for chip & dip, as a salad dressing, in tacos, on fish...you get the idea! They have always won awards at the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival, amongst others. Now one of the Hot Mamas has branched out to her own eatery, the Two Hot Mama's Grill in Lakeway. (Geeez, wasn't I just in Lakeway right before Christmas?!)

So it's really only about 15 miles from my 'hood in South Austin, and on this warm, cloudy January day, it was actually an easy drive.....but I wouldn't want to do it in rush hour! Located at 620 at Lohmann's Crossing, it's just behind the Compass Bank building, which is easily visible from 620 when headed northbound. The place is painted with nice bright colors, a couple of flat screen tv's, and free wifi.

From the menu, you choose whether you want a burrito, tacos, tostado, etc. and on what type of tortilla. Then you pick your meat and 4 toppings, plus salsa. It's a lot of picking! I settled on a beef fajita burrito on a whole wheat tortilla with black beans, rice, cheese, black bean & corn salsa (okay, I got a little redundant with the black beans), and my favorite roasted almond chimichurri sauce. Everything tasted very fresh, the meat was nice & tender, and I ate all of it, except a bit of the tortilla. My friend got the soup of the day (which they post on their Facebook page; so far no website), which was chilled avocado & cilantro, and soft tacos, one with pulled pork and the other with veggies. All of it was delicious! The soup was VERY thick & creamy, but had a great flavor -- you could taste the cilantro, but it wasn't overpowering, like cilantro can be. It was thick enough that I think it would be great on grilled chicken or fish, or even as a cole slaw dressing.
I wish it was closer to Austin, as I would certainly go back with regularity. It's a family run business, and owner Genevieve was refilling customer's glasses with tea, and chatting with people as they came in. It's in a great location, right on the edge of the shopping center's driveway, so it has great visibility. Screw the national chain restaurants, and give some good local businesses your business!