Green Mesquite to Have Its Moment on National TV
The irrepressible Guy Fieri, host of the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives has completed filming a segment on our own Green Mesquite at Barton Springs and S. Lamar. Owner Tom Davis and his sturdy crew are stoked, and why not? What’s the feisty Fieri going to feature? Don’t know, but the fact that he’s […]
How Many Steakhouses Can the Downtown Area Absorb?
This is an intriguing question. Every time a new steakhouse opens, the pessimists say that this has got to be it. When III Forks opened, they said there was no way the downtown area could absorb another high-end steak joint. Well III Forks is thriving. So are Fleming’s, Sullivan’s, Austin Land and Cattle, Eddie’s V’s, […]
Joe’s Bakery On a Roll
In my humble opinion, there’s no better place in the city for Huevos Rancheros or a steaming bowl of Menudo than Joe’s Bakery on E. 7th street. The place hums like a beehive full of happy diners every weekend from 7am-3pm. And it’s almost as crowded on weekedays. Recession? What recession. There’s no evidence of […]
Ten Things that I Resolve for the New Year: 2009
I will endeavor to consume more Rudy’s BBQ moist brisket. A Texas A&M study has actually determined that the moister the brisket, the more health benefits it affords to the eater. Works for me! Now if only some food science type will reveal similar data for Moonshine’s mac and cheese the circle will be complete. […]
Surge of New Local Restaurant Openings: Do They Know Something Everyone Else Doesn’t?
The national economy is in the doldrums. That’s a given. The stock market is like an out-of-control roller coaster, careening wildly up and down from day to day. Doesn’t seem like the kind of environment that would make people want to risk a substantial amount of money on one of the riskiest propositions of all: […]
Don’t Let Perceptions of Our Economy Turn You Into a “Former Restaurant Patron”
One of the biggest downers in the past month has been to listen to the doom and gloom on the news and cable news networks. Every rise and fall (and mostly falls lately) of the markets is reported in breathless animation. And typically, that kind of news creates a self-fulfilling prophecy: people tend to get […]
Rob Stops Watching Political Coverage
I feel like I am inside the middle of a bad daytime soap opera. Clearly these things I see happening can’t be real and yet I feel helpless to remove myself from this quagmire. The writers obviously don’t understand: they keep coming up with scripts that are mind bogglingly inane. It started with Sarah Palin’s […]
Talk Radio and the Presidential Campaign: Missed Opportunites
As many of you may know, I also have a day job as the head of a market research firm: The Benchmark Company. Benchmark has for years made a living working with spoken word radio formats. We have published three national studies in a series called Talk Radio in America (beginning in 1994) and have […]
One More Analysis of the Candidates: Their Favorite Meals
As you know, this blog is primarily about food but it also transcends food matters as the demands of current events dictate. We’ve analyzed John McCain, Sarah Palin, Barack Obama and Joe Biden from virtually every angle. So why not go beyond their records and their claims, and take a look at what they like […]
What’s Sandra Bullock Up To Now?
I will give Sandra Bullock credit. She has resisted the temptation to be the celebrity restaurant diva owner at Bess on 6th St. She is content at running a restaurant that will give people real value, great food, and an enjoyable evening. Now, across the street from Bess, next to Thai Tara, she’s working on […]
A Tale of Two Malls
The two most recent mall openings in Austin have taken an extremely different approach with regard to restaurants. The Domain at Braker and Mopac hit the ground running with a stable of nationally recognized high-end restaurants. McCormick and Schmick’s, North, Joe DiMaggio’s, Kona Grill and Jaspers’s and California Pizza Kitchen all opened within a few […]
Adieu to Dale Rice
Long-time American Statesman food critic Dale Rice is packing in his fork and knife and heading into a new career. I never got to know Dale very well but the times we did bump into each other at some food event or panel were always cordial. He seemed like a decent chap. I wish him […]
The Never-ending Construction on Cesar Chavez
Every time the city begins a road construction project in an area where restaurants are present, I literally hold my breath. I’ve seen the horror stories of the three-year improvement on Barton Springs that literally destroyed several restaurants. Or how about the debacle on Pecan Park that nearly finished off Freda’s Seafood joint? Or the […]
Sarah Palin Fires Chef. Bad Move
Pretty bold move from the McCain folks to select a complete unknown for the VP spot. But this feisty NRA poster woman showed at the convention that she could deliver a speech from the teleprompter as well as anyone: arguably far better than McCain himself. That being said, there are a number of things about […]
