The Best, the Worst & the Most Curious Moments of the 2003 Food Scene in Central Texas
by Rob Balon

The burning question on virtually every restaurateur’s lips last year was “how’s your business?” And, in truth, for many restaurants, the much-predicted Austin economic recovery failed to materialize for them in 2003. On many nights, particularly Monday through Thursday, you could hear a pin drop in quite a few quality, owner-operated restaurants across the city. Corporate spending was still down and the continued tech slump cut deeply into the hospitality budgets of many previously high-spending households. We saw some of that in our Gonzo Gourmet Club last year. Some of our die-hard techie members had to pass on dinners for which they normally would have been the first to sign up.

Still, among the owner-operated restaurants, openings outnumbered closings. And upscale restaurants like Eddie V’s, Cool River Café, and Trulucks all reported significant increases over 2002. It’s not that regulars weren’t out dining, they were just being more selective about where and when they went.

Openings

There were a number of high-profile restaurant openings in 2003. Freda Cheng, sister of Ronald Cheng, opened Freda’s Seafood Grille on Pecan Park off 183 and 620. It’s a Cajun-styled seafood and steak house and it’s quite good. They had some early prep issues that resulted in spotty service and inconsistent meals, but that is in the past.

Phoenix Pai dealt her Peony restaurant to Lilly Chu and opened the tepanyaki-styled Tokyo Steakhouse in Round Rock at the La Frontera Mall. She moved her excellent Dragongate [Chinese] Restaurant to the Davenport Village off 360 in Westlake. Also opening in Davenport was the Salt Lick BBQ and their white tablecloth experiment. They opened in the building next to Susan Dell’s dress shop that had housed the failed Baron’s, Vincent’s, and Pacifica. So far, from what we can see, so good.

Across Highway 360 from Davenport, the light Mexican Berryhill Baja Grill opened. I like this place. Great place for a drink and snacks after work.

The Sushi craze continued unabated with the opening of Tyson Cole’s Uchi on South Lamar at the site of the former Si Bon. An alumnus of Musashino, Cole has been nothing short of brilliant out of the box. The maguro sashimi with goat cheese is amazing! Also opening in Pflugerville was Hakata Sushi, Chris Doti’s bold attempt to bring culture to the burbs. And the elegant Tanohsii Sushi opened in Round Rock, only to close months after the opening because of extremely slow nighttime business. Henry Wong’s Mikado on Research continues to impress. This is one of my favorite spots for lunch.

And Suzi Yi, the mercurial owner of Suzi’s China Grill and China Kitchen opened a sushi wing in her restaurant on Anderson. We had a Gonzo dinner there and the gang loved her sushi.

On the Asian side, the Iron Chef opened at Burnet and Research. Yeah, we thought it sounded like a Japanese restaurant as well. But it’s Chinese, and it’s wonderful. And at the site of the former Collin B’s at 38th and Jefferson, Pacific Blue opened. This is a fusion of Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Thai from the owners of Koreana. And it’s quite good. And Cathy’s Steakhouse at Spicewood and Mesa is a neat, little place with Chinese, Vietnamese, and American cuisine. Cathy’s love of dancing is reflected in her dance floor which is adjacent to the dining room. You can also catch the Balons there occasionally.

The Veloz sisters, Didi and Sylvia, opened TG Jorge’s on Hancock at Burnet. They are one of the few restaurants where fans of New Mexican and West Texas style Mexican chow can find satisfaction. And Roger Diaz opened Vivo Cocina Texicana on Manor Road across from Hoover’s Cooking. Vivo is nothing short of spectacular with wonderful corn masa puffy tacos and enchiladas to die for. And, you will find no use of lard in this restaurant.

When former Gilligan’s chef Fred Geesin opened Zin last year, at Jefferson Plaza (really neat restaurant, by the way) that left an opening at 907 Colorado. It was filled by Crimson, a really cool restaurant fusing southern food stylings with those of other cultures (can you say Thai Jambalaya?). It’s good. I love the sweet potato French fries.

Downtown, in the space formerly occupied by Star Canyon at 7th and Congress, The Roaring Fork, Chef Robert McGrath’s paen to Western cooking, opened in the Spring of 2003. The idea is anything that could be cooked in a frying pan over the campfire. This is another stellar restaurant from the owners of Eddie V’s and Z-Tejas. You have got to try the Fondue with mini lamb chops and the amazing Pan de Campo.

And not far away on 6th St., Susan Hartmier and her husband opened the downtown version of the popular Davenport eatery, The Thistle Café. Try the sea bass there. It’s terrific. And not much farther down 6th St., Rounders Pizza opened in the spot vacated by the unfortunate Robbie’s Cajun Kitchen. Rounders may have the best garlic rolls in the city. Pizza’s not bad either.

Speaking of Cajun, head out to Brodie Lane and check out the recently opened Café Evangeline. It’s neat to see some decent restaurants opening in south Austin.

Another bold opening (from the owners of Saba and Malaga) was Moonshine Patio Bar and Grill, in the site of the former Emilia’s at 3rd and Red River. This is all about comfort food and Larry Perdido is having a blast in the kitchen dishing up everything from macaroni and cheese to a tasty flat iron steak.

Several other takeovers were equally interesting. An individual restaurant owner, Guido Duria, bought the former Canyon Café (which was a chain out of Dallas) and turned it into the Four Corners Grill. The food is southwestern and it’s very good. Love their chile relleno and the garlic and lime salad.

And Calame’s, on Highway 620 near Lakeway, was sold to a couple who reopened it as the Canyonside Café. They are doing original family recipes and are putting their hearts and souls into the place. Please go support them.

Another neat opening was the Mansion at Judge’s Hill. Owner Bill Gurasich and his team have crafted a delightful small hotel and restaurant at Rio Grande and MLK. Chef John Maxwell [formerly of Zoot] is doing wonders in the kitchen. My suggestion: check in on Saturday, have dinner Saturday night, stay in one of their wonderfully comfortable and beautifully appointed rooms, sleep in, have breakfast in bed and check out early Sunday afternoon!

And let’s hope the lingering curse of the Dam View, Jakes on the Lake, and El Dorado, will not impact the new Boatyard Grill which opened in that space in the fall of 2003. Had a cobb-styled salad there recent that was delicious, as were the popcorn shrimp. And, the owners are the guys from Comida Deluxe (Chuy’s, Hula Hut, Shady Grove): Mike Young, Andy Norton and that whole cast of stellar operators. This one should fly!

Out in the territories, The Backstage Steakhouse opened on Highway 71 in Spicewood. Chef Raymond Tatum is rocking this kitchen with wonderful Talapia and killer steaks. The owners are former caterers to rock and country bands, hence the name. And up in Georgetown, Jim McKinney, owner of the Main Street Grill in Round Rock, opened Monica’s 701. This is Georgetown’s first really upscale restaurant and it’s wonderful. Music on the weekends.

Finally, the closing of long-time Italian favorite Basils brought about the opening of Café Caprice on 10th St.. Former chefs from Barton Creek resort are at work here and the fusion fare is quite good. And the folks from Trudy’s took a shot at the booming South Congress area with their new S. Congress Café.

Whew! That’s a lot of openings. Imagine if we’d had a good economy.

Closings

Mentioned earlier that the openings outnumbered the closings. But there were some sad losses. I hated to see the demise of Demi Epicurious on 6th St. at the site of the former Sardin Rouge. Chef Robert Barker had it going, but they ran out of financial steam in March of 2003.

Equally sad was the loss of Collin B’s, Collin Trainor’s classically understated gem at 38th and Jefferson.

And a huge shocker to its many fans was the closing of Ray’s Steakhouses on Guadalupe and on 183. The lease had expired and Ray Lemay told his friends he just wanted to take a break. Too bad. They had the best chicken fried chicken in town. And those pork chops. And where am I going to get my Little Ray’s cheeseburger sliders now?

Long-time Westlake favorite, the Belgian Restaurant went down in December of 2003. In my opinion, after they lost chef Christian Ebersole, the place was never the same. Nonetheless, a great loss. Also, equally sad, was the closing of my absolute favorite breakfast joint, C-5 Steakhouse, up Bee Caves Road. Gary Johnson put everything he had into that place and I adored it. C-5 will be missed.

Another casualty was Foo Swasdee’s Thai Noodle House in Round Rock. This was as good, in its own right, as her anchor restaurant, Satay. And the strange saga of the building across from Siena at 2222 and 360 continued. It had begun as the upscale 22. Then, it transitioned into the Alligator Grill North. Finally, it became Huya’s Mexican. Nothing worked and Huya’s declared bankruptcy in the summer of 2003. It has now become a Waterloo Ice House. We’ll see.

While not a fan of the concept myself, a lot of people told me they were very saddened by the closing of UR Cooks. There’s a substantial segment of the market that enjoys the idea of replicating the experience of grilling on our deck and letting someone else clean up. Too bad. Heard they were doing OK but ran afoul of a bad investment in Chelsea Street Pubs.

El Arroyo on Research also closed. This was as much about the ongoing road construction mess on 183 than anything else. And when owner Clay McPhail learned he was going to be about 100 yards behind the planned exit, that was the last straw. Que lastima. I liked that one.

And Café Siazzo off of Parkcrest bit the dust late in 2003. Nice little family-style Italian place that had formerly had a second location in Westlake (which became Dragongate and is now Ginga).

Also, please take a moment and say a prayer for Marge Kinsella. The heart and soul of the Emerald Restaurant died of cancer late in 2003. She was a sweetheart: one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, in or out of the food business.

Rob Balon can be heard weekly on KLBJ 590 AM radio (Friday, 6:12am and 8:51am. Saturday, 8:06am, 10:06am and 3:06pm plus last Friday of each month FOOD FRIDAY 8-9am) and FOX7 NEWS cable channel 2 (Friday 6:45am & 12:20pm). You can also visit his website: www.DiningOutWithRob Balon.com.

–From the April 2004 Austin Review