Showing posts with label Austin Texas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Austin Texas. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Best New South Austin Restaurants

As part of the annual Austin Food Blogger Alliance's City Guide, here are my picks for the best new restaurants in South Austin that have opened in the past year. Also see my post Top Sweet Shops in South Austin

Moreno Barbecue, 5608 Menchaca Road; read my full post here.

Moreno BBQ
Brisket nachos + smoked pork belly

Moreno BBQ
Pork rib, sausage + brisket

Jjim's, 1100 South Lamar Boulevard (Korean)

Jjim's
Bokkeum bap (brisket kimchi fried rice with egg) 
Jjim's
Galbi jjim (braised beef short rib)

1417, 1417 South First Street; read my full post here.  (French-inspired)

1417
Cocktails! 

1417
Duck confit crepes

Neighborhood Sushi, 1716 South Congress Avenue (Japanese)

Neighborhood Sushi
Lunch bento

Neighborhood Sushi
Sashimi selection

Pho MPH, 3715 South First Street (Vietnamese)

Pho MPH
Pork banh mi 
Admittedly not as tender of pork as I like, but thrilled to have this option in this part of town!

Kiin Di, 1901 South Lamar Boulevard (Thai fusion trailer)

Kiin Di
From top left: Thai fried chicken, pork over ginger rice, pad Thai, noodles with pork belly, Malaysian roti

Eat A Pita, 2101 South First Street (Mediterranean trailer)

Eat A Pita
Falafel, veggie combo plate, gyro plate

The Salty Donut,  2000 South Congress Avenue (sweets)

The Salty Donut
Texas sheetcake + brown butter salted donuts

I hear the cocktails are sensational at Tiki Tatsu-ya, but haven't heard about the food. What are your favorite new South Austin dishes? Drop a comment below!

Click here to see the rest of the 2022 AFBA City Guide.

Monday, April 16, 2018

First Look: Lunar Pizza (It's Outta This World!)

Editor's Note: Closed, fall 2019

Lunar Pizza has landed! While established as a mobile lunar rover, this new food trailer has planted it's pizza flag next to its sister Regal Ravioli at 1502 South First Street, across from Elizabeth Street Cafe. Earthlings rejoice!
Lunar Pizza cheese pie
The Lunar, aka cheese pizza
I was invited to try Lunar by owner Zach, who knows I have loved his ravioli trailer for years; previous post here. (Cheese ravioli with pecan pesto? Yes please! But don't overlook the sweet potato gnocchi with bolognese sauce.) So let's get this part out of the way, I was not monetarily compensated for this blog post and all opinions are purely my own.  I *dragged* two friends along with me, and we enjoyed a pleasant spring evening dining al fresco with our adult beverages we brought with us. And independently, we reached the same conclusion about Lunar Pizza: we loved it.

This is New Jersey-style pizza, which is known for a thinner and crispier crust and a little more sauce than its New York cousin. To me, the crust was the best part of the Lunar pizzas, and like a good apple pie, the crust MAKES a (pizza) pie.  Lunar's dough is thin, but not cracker thin, with a little bit of a chew to it, but not a doughy mouthful. It's unique and I dig it.

The deck oven in the trailer heats to 525 degrees. For a classic cheese pie, Zach spreads cheese over the dough and bakes for about 2 minutes, then adds sauce and more cheese before returning to the oven. This process helps the crust to bake to perfection. He recommends not putting too many toppings on the pizzas as it will overload the thin crust.
Zach of Lunar Pizza
Zach, making pizza
There are a couple pies on the specialty menu, and Zach also brought us the Super Moon, a white pizza with garlic, olive oil, cheese, prosciutto, roasted red peppers and broccolini. A few red pepper flakes added a bit of zip, and this pie was outstanding. I always love a white pie, and as the song goes "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore." And for times when you don't want a whole pizza, you can also order by the slice.
Lunar Pizza -- the Super Moon pie
The Super Moon pie
Lunar Pizza logo
1502 S. 1st Street
Pro tips:
  • Go directly to the Regal Ravioli trailer to order. All the orders and pick up is done from Regal and the Lunar trailer does all the prep and cooking.
  • BYOB
  • Order via Favor if you can't make it in person. (Not sure how well the crispness of the crust holds up.)
  • Reheat your leftovers in the oven or toaster oven, don't make a soggy mess of the crust by putting it in the microwave.
  • Monday - Saturday, noon - 10 pm; Sundays 3 - 10 pm