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 it at Joe’s.
The key to great Huevos Rancheros is the ranchera sauce. And Joe’s has the best. I get Huevos over easy with their amazing flour-battered bacon and sumptuous frijoles along with fresh tortillas. I ladle a little egg, some bacon, and some beans onto a portion of a warm tortilla and voila! You have a taste explosion. There’s no other way I can describe it.
Joe’s dates back to the 1930’s and is one of Austin’s oldest food businesses. It began, quite literally, as a bakery and gradually evolved into a restaurant.
They’ve survived everything from urban sprawl to a truck that was carrying props to the Alamo movie shot out at Hamilton Pool road crashing into the restaurant one night.
I discovered it about fifteen years ago and I’ve been a regular ever since. And as good as the food is, there’s still a predominantly Latin audience with relatively few gringos. Probably just as well or I’d never get a table!
