How to Get the Best Experience from Visiting DiningOutWithRobBalon.com

Our newly redesigned site has a number of features designed to make things easier for our readers to find the information they want, quickly and efficiently. The content that you’ve all come to know over the years is still the same: it’s just better laid out and easier to access.

The Navigation Bar

Reviews and Menus

The pull down options for both all our posted Reviews and Menus are simple and highly accessible. All Reviews are broken out by the cuisine of the restaurant reviewed as well as location. It’s the same for all MENU postings as well. Looking for BBQ? Simply click on the MENU link and hit Cuisine. Then move the cursor to the second column which displays cuisine categories. Highlight Barbecue and the scroll to the third column and choose from either Barbecue, Ribs or Wings! Then click on the one that interests you. It’s that simple!

It’s the same process for Reviews. Start by dragging the cursor down to Cuisine. And say you are looking for Reviews of Chinese restaurants. Then move the cursor to the second column which designates cuisine. Highlight Asian and then move the cursor to the third column and highlight Chinese. Click on Chinese and all the reviews we’ve done on Chinese restaurants will be at your fingertips.

You can also search by location. Highlight location and then move the cursor to the next column and click on the area that interests you. All Reviews that we’ve written for that area will be displayed.

Restaurant Events

Any upcoming event that’s going on at a local restaurant will be posted in this section. Wine dinners, fund raisers, special events, parties: all will be posted here.

Openings

A hugely important link for foodies. All recent restaurant openings that we are aware of are posted here, often accompanied by the occasional pithy comment from Rob. This will keep you up to date on what’s new on the always changing Austin restaurant scene. Just click on the Openings link and away you go. Openings will be posted with the most recent being first.

Closings

Sadly, this is also an indispensable link and can save you a lot of time and hassle. Case in point: we received an email from a couple who had driven from San Marcos to Georgetown to dine at Silver and Stone. Alas, they found the place closed. A simple click on our Closings link would have saved them gas, time, and disappointment. We always use contact with the owners as the primary confirmation that a restaurant has closed. So if we’ve posted it, you can count on the accuracy.

News

For all current news about the local and national restaurant scene, just click on the News link. There are many interesting stories displayed here (one of my recent favorites is Annoying Trends in the Restaurant Industry).

Pull the cursor down and you’ll come to Celebrity Sightings. We’re sure that you’re all dying to know that Vince Vaugh and Robert DeNiro were seen at Zen on S. Congress! But come on, you have to admit that it’s fun.

The second link on the pull down menu under News is Heard on the Street. This is pure and unadulterated gossip about the local food scene. But you’d be amazed how many hits this link gets!

Cuisine

There are two pull down links here. The first is Rob on Cuisine and covers all recent articles on general topics of dining and cooking. Some very interesting reads here.
The second link is Wine and Spirits. Rob loves wine and enjoys writing about it. He will occasionally cover the Wine Spectator’s “Grand Tour” in Las Vegas and this is a must read for all wine fans. He’s also the host of Cool River’s annual ‘Vodka Fest’. He writes about vodkas and tequilas, his two favorite spirits.

And you can usually count on coverage of the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival. And look for an upcoming piece on Ed and Susan Auler, founders of Fall Creek.

The Top 20

The traffic on this page continues to be astonishing. These restaurants are Rob’s absolute favorites in the mostly high-end dining spectrum. And we’ve received emails from readers who tell us they’ve had a ball working their way through the entire list. The Top 20 is not set in stone and we update it every four months or so.

Rob’s criteria for inclusion include innovation, excellence of cuisine, consistency, and critically, value.

And coming soon will be our Top 20 for more casual restaurants (by popular request).

About Us

This is worth a read, particularly for those who seem perplexed by the fact that Rob tends to concentrate on telling people WHERE to go as opposed to telling them WHERE NOT to go.

Search Engine

Want to find any restaurant, menu, review, news etc. quickly? Use our powerful Search Engine. Just type in a name or a category and then hit the return key on your keyboard. It’s simple and instantaneous. More readers have reported using this as they have become familiar with our new site. It is really efficient!

Recent Reviews–the Hot Plate!

The four most recent reviews are always posted on the front page of the site. They’re easy to access and always interesting to read.

Rob’s Blog

Located under the Recent Reviews section, Rob’s blog is a free-wheeling commentary on both food and non food related stories. His recent take on Donald Trump’s favorite meals is hysterical. There are three years of content archived since Rob first began his blog. This is a fun read.

Contact Information

Under the Site Sponsors section on the right of the front page are links to Rob’s email, his page of video reviews on KVUE-TV, and a link to Rob’s radio partner, 590 KLBJ-AM.

Recent Menus

These are the most recent menu posting of restaurants who have joined us on DiningOutWithRobBalon.com.

Mystery Contest

One of our most popular features, this weekly contest posts a picture that readers must correctly identify to be eligible win restaurant gift cards. It’s fun. Why not give it a try!