This site is dedicated to people who enjoy dining in all sorts of excellent restaurants: from high-end bistros to mom and pop joints. The common denominator is that regardless of ambiance, price points, or the starch in the cloth napkins, the restaurants reviewed here are more than worthy of your attention.

Our philosophy is simple: rather than belaboring the negatives, we prefer to spend our time telling you WHERE to go as opposed to WHERE NOT to go. It’s common knowledge among those in the industry that bad news travels much faster than good. And we’ve seen too many great little central Texas restaurants who unfortunately flew under the radar go out of business. So our mission statement is this: we want our readers to use this site as a guide for finding great dining experiences.

We don’t want you to have to laboriously scroll through 70-80 reviews on some user-generated site. Rather, as our readers have learned, Rob has a great palate. He knows what works. And you can trust his recommendations. As our readers frequently tell us, Rob’s advice is “spot on.” By using Dining out with Rob Balon, you save time, energy, and most importantly, the indignity of having to suffer through a bad meal.

The prevailing wisdom among some food bloggers is that negativity and sarcasm are entertaining. We don’t share that attitude. We write about what Rob enjoys. His reviews are most definitely fun to read, and can be a little edgy sometimes, but they’re not laced with the virtually endless vitriol that one sees on user-generated sites.

Rob comes from a family of restaurant owners. He knows the business inside and out and he knows how precious your time is. So instead of wading through dozens of conflicting user reviews, not to mention the bogus postings from competitors using phony email addresses, read the only review you need to help you make an informed decision. Read Dining Out with Rob Balon.

Rob has thousands of fans from his weekly reviews and his Dining Out Austin podcast (with Don Pryor) on 590 KLBJ. He’s done reviews for FOX 7 and KVUE-TV for 15 years. And he has popular Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. He is a regular columnist for the Texas Restaurant Association magazine Restaurantville. He’s appeared on the Travel Channel and on the Food Network. No one knows the central Texas Restaurant scene better than Rob, Austin’s original roving gourmet!

Like any other news publication, Dining out with Rob Balon sells advertising. We are after all, capitalists. But here’s something you probably didn’t know. Unless Rob can personally endorse the restaurant, he will not accept any advertising from them. And reviews on our site are most definitely NOT for sale.

So if you’re looking for negative “Fearless Critic” type sensationalism, you won’t find it on Dining Out with Rob Balon. Neither will you find pages and pages of user reviews. There’s only one opinion on our site, and it’s been tempered by years of experience and thousands of meals. And, it’s an opinion you can quickly download and read, and most importantly, take action on!