Final Results of Our Restaurant Wildfire Fundraiser Are In. What a Great Story!
The restaurant fundraiser that Ronald Cheng and I organized last Tuesday night for the Central Texas wildfire victims has concluded and all the checks have been sent to the Red Cross. We had a great list of restaurants and a great response from all of you restaurant patrons as well. The restaurants donated 20% of […]
Mighty Fine Burgers Opens New Cedar Park Location
The folks at Mighty Fine are pretty sophisticated when it comes to opening up new locations. They have won the prestigious Baldridge award for their ability to run a quality business. And one of those components is the key to understanding new markets and potential service areas. So this is a big plum for Cedar […]
El Arbol Closes
Just about everyone I talked to lately loved El Arbol. But alas, the popular Mexican restaurant recently closed its doors for good. We’ll try to get more of the story for you as news becomes available.
The Belmont Closes
The Belmont has closed. The Belmont hit the ground running fast and came out of the box as a cool, hip kind of place with a Vegas lounge vibe. But lately, after Matt Lucky sold the place, and chef Ben Nathan departed, the pace and the quality slowed dramatically. That all resulted in the recent […]
Best Pork Belly, Best Dim Sum, and More: Part 3 of Rob’s Best in Austin
Our continuing series on our best dishes in Austin has drawn unprecedented traffic and has generated lots of positive agreements: okay, not all, but most have agreed with us. And that’s diversity for you. So here is Part 3 on Rob’s Best Dishes in Austin. We hope you will sample all of these and share […]
Billy Rieger, Co-Founder of Kenichi, Passes Away
Billy Rieger, co-founder of the popular downtown restaurant Kenichi, has passed away. Rieger was a larger-than-life kind of guy who lived life to the fullest. His Harley was always parked outside the restaurant when he was not in Colorado. And I honestly never heard him speak badly about anyone. He had an élan about him […]
Carmela’s Pizzeria, Café and Deli Opens Near Dripping Springs
For the restaurant-starved and downright anemic dining area at Highway 12 and Hamilton Pool Rd., Carmela’s Pizzeria, Café and Deli is like an injection of B12! As the name implies, this is mostly Italian-style fare with some appetizer and burger concessions as well to Central Texas. They do a variety of pasta dishes with several […]
Phoenicia Bakery & Deli
4701A Burnet Rd.
Austin, TX 78756
(512) 323-6770
&
2912 S. Lamar Blvd.
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 447-4444
Join Rob Tuesday Night and Dine Out to Raise Money for the Wildfire Victims
Rob and Ronald Cheng of Chinatown have enlisted the support of a number of fine Austin restaurants to raise money for the victims of the recent wildfires. We hope that the readers of Dining Out with Rob Balon will help us. On Tuesday night, September 20th, visit any of the establishments on this list and […]
Five Things that Annoy the Hell Out of Rob
1. Waiters who can’t pronounce the items on the menu You’d be amazed at how often this happens. There’s no reason for it but I encounter it weekly. One egregious mispro is the continued insistence by the uninformed that bruschetta is pronounced “Brew-shetta” when the correct pronunciation is “Brew-sketta”. The ch in Italian takes a […]
Bacon Opens at 10th and Lamar
In our city’s current dining infatuation with all things pork and pork related (Barley Swine, The Noble Pig, Three Little Pigs just to name a few) a new restaurant called “Bacon” opened over the weekend at the former site of The Screaming Goat at 10th and North Lamar. As you would expect from the name, […]
Restaurants of Yore: How Quickly we Forget!
I was actually cleaning out my office the other day (a rare event for someone with ADHD) and I came across some memorabilia from the early part of the last decade. I was amazed at how many restaurants that I had either reviewed or was making tasting notes on had not survived the daily struggle […]
Aquarelle to Close its Doors on September 3rd
I cannot count the number of lovely and intimate dinners we’ve enjoyed over the years at the lovely little French bistro Aquarelle on West behind Opal Divine’s. But owner Teresa Wilson has decided to go in a different direction and Aquarelle will close for good on September 3rd. I first tried Aquarelle when Robert Brady […]
Paul Peterson Returns to Austin at VIVO on 620
One of my very favorite chefs and people (can’t always say that in the same breath), Paul Petersen, has returned from the territories and landed at VIVO on 620 in Lake Creek Center. Petersen had the amazing Little Bistro in Buda for three years and then went out to West Texas near Big Bend. But […]
