The Good Dog Hot Dog Visit II

I cannot tell a lie...I actually visited again before the wedding, this time I had the real dog!  It's all Matt's fault!  He said he read something where it had opened with great reviews and he really wanted to go visit...grr...I was trying to be "good"!  I didn't put up much of a fight, though.  I'll tell you, it's not a place you want to go if you're watching your girlish figure.  We ordered a salad to try to balance the meal...the salad...probably worse than the dogs!  We also got the homemade chips, ugh!  Really, I didn't like anything other than the dogs.  The girl who took our order said she loved the new curry dog, I didn't care for it so much.  The guac dog is still my favorite!  You should go visit, it's really the best dogs I've ever had.  In the meantime, I'm going to try to stay away from Studewood.  Happy eating!

Good Dog Hot Dog Open!

I'm excited to report, The Good Dog Hot Dog is finally open!  I don't know about you, but I have been waiting anxiously.  On my first visit, which was before the wedding, I was still trying to be "good", but I really wanted to visit, so I took Jay, his first time, and decided to get a tofu hot dog.  It's actually ok, but I prefer the real dog.  It's one of my favorite guilty pleasures.  I love the guac dog, sooo good.  If you haven't tried TGDHD, you must, must, must!  Look at these delicious dogs! 

Torchy's Tacos Heights

I love it!  I am very happy about this new opening in the Heights!  It's a rather large space, with nice outside seating...and ample parking...unlike some other location, namely Shepherd.  Yum, look at these dishes.  My Fried Avocado taco looks like it's two, but it's really only one.  Love this place!

 

btw, who's that cutie patootie opening the door?  :)

Breakfast at Java Java!

I've heard of Java Java, but never tried.  I don't think I even noticed it until someone mentioned it as a brunch spot.  Finally, I get a chance to go this past weekend!  It's located on 11th street, once you get there you know you've seen it.  Parking is limited, we walk in and atomsphere is ok, I guess.  There's a good number of people, maybe only a handful of tables still open.  The decor/interior is uninspiring but, even at that I'm sure decor selections were intentional.  It almost looks like a Mexican restaurant and describing it as Austin ish is a stretch. 

I'm actually pretty excited after I see the menu.  They have a Breakfast combo that allows me to have eggs and half of a waffle.  Perfect for me!  I got turkey sauage and it also comes with a cantalope.  Matt got the same thing but with bacon instead.  I'm not expecting a whole lot, since, so far my experience has been pretty average.  I take a bite of my eggs, mmm...good actually.  Turkey sausage...mm...good, waffle, mm....good too.  Even the cantalope was good.  I thought everything tasted really good and quite surprised.  Everything was done well and I'm always a fan of just good, tasty food.  A definite go back spot!

Ruffles Green (Heights) Now Opened!

I hear mixed opinions about Ruggles Green Heights location.  I do like Ruggles Green, but had not tried the Heights location.  Going into the building, I like what they've done to the place.  It's bright, decorated well, and good patio space.  On the food, I have noticed they made some changes to my favorite Texas Warm Goat Cheese Salad. The sundried dressing doesn't quite seem the same, but it's still good, I liked it and would probably go back again.  Matt had the Chicken Tacos and said they were good, I tried and they were tasty.  I love corn tortillas!  Ethan had a burger and said it was good too...I'll have to take his word on it since I didn't try his.  We all did nibble on his fries which were fine.  I would definitely put it on my list of places to go to in the Heights.

Ruggles Green Heights - Now Open!

Grand Opening Today!

Crisp (New!)

I went for lunch with Jodie and ordered the chickpea sandwich since I'm trying to do more of aplant based diet.  Jodie ordered the lunch special of the day which was a chicken parmesean and alfredo sauce.  She said her was good, mine was ok.  Crisp seems like a cool place to hang out in the evenings, maybe I'll try it again during the evening.  The atmosphere was nice, food was ok, overall experience was decent.

Sale Sucre

Sale sucre a French bakery by Philippe Harel next to Tacos a Go Go.  It's been on my list of places to go, turns out it's not a bakery but a bistro.  Finally, I make plans, Ty joins me and walking in, it's one of those places that makes me want to immediately walk out.  I hesitantly sit, skim the menu and now I really want to leave.  What is this a crepes place?  We decide to stay and ask our server, who is the son of the owner, and tells us the owner used to own a valet company (I'm really not being sold on this restaurant), what to order.  He recommends for me the spinach and mushroom crepe and for Ty the beef tenderloin crepe.  He also recommended a soup to accompany each crepe, but the prices are so high ($12 & 14 respectively), we decide to just skip the soup.  Our food comes out and we both take a bite and both think, mm...good.  After our meal, we order the strawberries, chocolate and whip cream crepe at our server's recommendation and that was good too!  So...as the old adage says, don't judge a book by it's cover.  I was pleasantly surprised and happy with our food!  Yeah, I'd definitely go back, if in the mood for crepes.

Asia Market

Asia market used to be owned by one of my closest friend's family for over 20 years. They sold it in the last few years and by word of mouth I've been hearing so many good things about it. Even knew it was ranked within the top 5 of 256 restaurants for casual dining. I used to visit the store frequently, though never really ate anything there and haven't been back there for a very long time. So finally, I am here to try the food. We get the flat rice noodles with chicken, green curry and 2 Thai teas and 2 coconut waters and take it to Whole Foods Market and eat outside near the skyline and coincidentally WFM is having outdoor movie night, so there was quite a crowd. We dig in and I am pleasantly surprised. The flat rice noodles are delicious! The green curry is ok. So, I'm happy to report back, the rumors are true! The food is good, like from mama's kitchen, authentic. If you're apprehensive and late like me, don't be, go try that flat rice noodles with chicken, yummheee!

Shade

This is the Chicken Tostada from Shade.  I think this is the only item my sales manager eats from Shade.  I finally get a chance to try it and it's delish!  It standardly comes with pulled pork, but order it with Chicken and it's great.  We also had the coconut pie and that was just divine.  They are both must trys!

Happy Fatz

I thought I just discovered something new, but Happy Fatz in the Heights has been in this location for a year! I only first saw and heard of in the last week.  Looking at the current sign, I realized why I had never noticed it or even knew what it was.  They need a big nice or clever sign that says "Happy Fatz" with "Gourmet Hot Dogs" underneath in big visible-off-the-street print.

At the clerk's recommendation, I got the Clucker (hash browns, bacon, grilled onion, fried egg cooked over easy, secret Clucker sauce), $8. Jay got the next highly recommended Texas Chili (Homemade Shiner Bock Chili, onions, cheddar, fritos), $8. I have to agree the Clucker was good, better than the Texas Chili, but it's so heavy it's not something I'd typically pick. But, it was a good recommendation. The dog was really good, a nicely charbroiled dog with good snappy skin. The coleslaw she said we should get, it's homemade and different. It wasn't a super wower, but it was different and good. I think I might still like the Good Dog Food truck slightly better. I might have to go visit to compare...to be continued...

The Vietnam Restaurant on 20th St

oh my, that was delish!

Oh my, I really liked this restaurant called "The Vietnam Restaurant".  Probably not authentic, but dang good Chinese/Vietnamese food.  I had actually heard the food was good here, but I dismissed it because of it's location.  I went with Jay and we both thought the food was really good and they have brown rice too!  You don't have many good asian restaurant options in the Heights.  This is definitely going on my list of restaurants to frequent in the Heights. 

I love these old school place mats.  My year is Tiger, pretty accurate I would say...except not sure about the sensitive part.