Austin's Restaurant

[EatinAintCheatin]

I've never been to Austin's. But will be going tonight for dinner. I've heard that their signature appetizer is Crabmeat Austin and should be ordered. The Sea Scallops also look interesting.

For entree I'm looking at the Osso Bucco or Veal Austin unless one of the daily specials sounds too good to pass up.

The wine list looks overly California. I was hoping for an Oregon Pinot but didn't see one. The Sartori Amarone looks like a good candidate for the price and depending on what we order.

Here's their link (warning, contains music)
http://www.austinsno.com/

Does anyone have any recommendations or comments on this restaurant?

TIA

[BTG]

Their meats are always pretty solid. My favorite thing from there was a duck and andouillie gumbo. Dark and spicy.

[edible complex]

warning, there's live music at the restaurant as well. it can get loud, so adjust your seating accordingly.
my last time was a disaster for both food and service. I hope that was an exception, and Ed has apologized profusely. I plan to go back and give it another try, as that had not been my previous experience.
for white, the Caymus Conundrum is a winner, as is the Franciscan Cab for red.
please report back. enjoy!

[Yvette]

Since its in my neighborhood, we eat there quite often. I have had almost everything on the menu. We hardly ever go on the weekends though, they are always packed. I agree with the music thing, although she is very good, after a while its way too loud. Ask to sit in the farthest away room. See if you can ask for Snider or Nemo as a waiter, or Megan if she is not working the front door.

All their soups are good except the French Onion, so you can't go wrong with your choice.

Appetizers: My recs are as follows, the tomato topped with lump crabmeat and balsamic (sometimes they run it as a special), the eggplant napoleon, paneed oysters, and of course their special Crabmeat Austin.

Salad: Artichoke and Asparagus, when Creole's are in, I get that with mozarella, but I would not order it now.

If he has it, the ahi tuna salad is excellent. Seared perfectly then laid ontop lettuce.

Entree: The bone in rib eye (sometimes run as a special),rib eye, and the strip all good. Duck, the cherry one is better than the orange one, Pasta Orleans is very rich, but excellent. A good splitter cause of the richness and size. My 29 and 26 year old always get crabmeat au gratin. Ahi Tuna is good. Veal Austin very good, but again, very large. He does a very good job with the Chicken Marsala. Double cut pork chop, now butterflied...ahem, my suggestion, is very good.

Don't do dessert, can't help ya there.

I hope you enjoy yourself, but remember....weekends are very busy there. Please report back.

[EatinAintCheatin]

Thanks all, for the responses. Though I love beef, it's what's for dinner Sunday evening. So I was trying to stay away from the steaks. My normal MO is to order something that I don't normally cook at home. That's why I mentioned Osso Bucco and the Veal dish. But you know how it is, impulse ordering is sometimes unstoppable. So we'll see what happens.

It will only be me and my wife, so one bottle of wine is about all we can do and drive. I would love to order a white with the apps (and the Caymus Conundrum is a great suggestion) then have a nice red with my main meal. But if I have to choose only one I will probably stick with the red (and it doesn't hurt that the weather is ideal for a nice red, IMHO).

I do appreciate the info and will let you know how it goes.

And if anyone is planning on being there tonight and looking for DC's PM me.

EAC

[edible complex]

the Caymus is sold by the glass, then you could have your bottle of red.
Metry Cab is 835-4242

[EatinAintCheatin]

Our reservation was for 7:30 but I called and asked if they could push it up to 7. No problem.

The place was packed, just as Yvette suggested it would be, but we were seated within 5 minutes. Megan was working the door and we really couldn't ask get a specific waiter since we had one of the only tables open. Our waiter was Mat, and he was very good.

Atmosphere - very busy but still comfortable. We sat in the room next to the piano. I didn't hear any singing but did hear the piano. It wasn't intrusive, but then the noise level from all the tables probably drowned out the piano. I really did not have a problem with the atmosphere considering that they were at full capacity. I must say that the waiters were FLYING around, hustling the a$$es off. I was impressed with the level of service for every table with the crowd. We spoke briefly with the owner (a friend of his sent us to the restaurant). A very nice, very busy man, genuinly concerned with satisfying his customers.

Hot bread was put on the table immediately as was water glasses. The bread was OK, but seemed to have been in the oven just a tad too long because the crust was a little burned. Not bad, just a hint of burned. Good

Apps: Two glasses of Conundrum to go with

Crabmeat Austin - This was brought out first. A huge portion loaded with crab. I highly recommend splitting this with the table as it was very good and enough for 4 to easily get a taste. Excellent

Sea Scallops - Timed just right, about 5 minutes after the crabmeat. So we didn't have both dishes on our small table for very long. Another winner. How could scallops wrapped in bacon not be good. And both apps went well with our wine. Excellent

So now my expectations were very high for the entrees.

Since my wife really wanted another glass of Conundrum I decided to order my red wine by the glass. I ordered the Claret.

Entrees:

Veal Austin - Two pieces of veal paneed, breaded and fried, topped with crabmeat. The crabmeat seemed like it was different from the app. It seemed like it was a step down from lump. The dish came with a medley of veggies (yellow squash, asparagus, carrots, and zucchini). The veal was good but everything seemed dry (maybe they over fried the veal). Good

Crawfish Crabcakes - Two huge patties. Again, this was good but nothing really special about it. If I had this for a lunch plate special I would be satisfied, but as the main course for dinner it wasn't my thing. The cakes were dark and a little bready, my wife says mushy...like they pureed the crawfish. Fair

We skipped desert.

Overall I think there are many things on teh menu that could make for a very nice dinner meal. We just picked poorly and they may have had an off night. My wife and I decided that we would like to go back on a weeknight and order a variety of apps and bottle of wine. And maybe some soup. I would recommend this place but with different entrees. So my final grade would be Good.

[edible complex]

thanks EAC.
my recent experience with the food was similar, not awful but edible. (I'm a huge fan of Mr. Ed's and have had good food at Austin's on one occasion)
for soup, I've had great turtle soup at Austin's and even better crab and corn at Mr. Ed's.

[Yvette]

Thanks for your report. Do go back during the week. As stated, I find if they get too busy the fried food will get a little dry. You really could have sent it back, as they are very willing to please.

I have never ordered the crab or crawfish cakes, its not my thing, so I can't comment on that one.

[edible complex]

Tried Austin's again last week on a weeknight. Still the same service problems, even though it was not crowded.

Ordered a bottle of champagne at bar before being seated. Tried to order another bottle of same to have with apps, fresh out. Ordered a different champagne. Tried to order another bottle of second choice champagne with dessert, sorry fresh out. At least they had the one bottle of red we had with dinner.

While seated, we waited 45 minutes for the drink order to not arrive, and again had to go to the bar myself to get the drinks...and found the waiter never put in the order even after several inquiries as to "where's the drinks".

Food was fair, and again the side veggies were cold. Very disappointed.