Yummy SW Restaurants? (Round Rock, Alba, Milano: shopping center, bus, food)

[IDtoTX]

Another option - although it's not necessarily too far south - is Tacodeli. They are only open for breakfast and lunch but the tacos are fabulous! Also, love the salsa! They are off of Mopac - Barton Skyway exit. YUMMY!

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by IDtoTX

We always order takeout/delivery Chinese food from Sesame Hill. They don't have on-site eating (or at least where I would eat) but the food is excellent.

We had them deliver last night. They were fast and the food was very good. We had General T'so's Chicken and Pad Thai with chicken.

The menu is a little more limited then I'm used to, but I can live with that if its all as good. sesamehii.com, asian cuisine

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

I just read in the latest Oak Hill Gazette about a new mom & pop Verona Ristorante Italiano that recently opened at 7101 West Hwy 71. They live in the area. That is the shopping center behind Jim's Diner at the Y in Oak Hill. Verona Ristorante Italiano It definitely sounds worth giving a try. They are even open for breakfast and have much more then the usual breakfast fare. Closed Mondays.

We had breakfast there this morning. It is was smaller then I expected, but has a nicely decorated traditional Italianate interior and a small outdoor patio. It was a little funny to have breakfast with Italian opera music playing in the background, but it was pleasant and enjoyable experience. I appreciated that the restaurant was clean and decorated even though it is located in a strip shopping center. The service was excellent. We both had the Eggs Benidict and it was fantastic, easily the best I have ever had! We will absolutely go back to try out their Italian lunches and dinners. I'm sorry I was not able to try out the bottomless Mimosa, but I had appointments later in they day.

There was a group of regulars there for the breakfast that seemed like a fun crowd, it added to the cheerful atmosphere of the place.

[IDtoTX]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

We had them deliver last night. They were fast and the food was very good. We had General T'so's Chicken and Pad Thai with chicken.

The menu is a little more limited then I'm used to, but I can live with that if its all as good. sesamehii.com, asian cuisine

Glad you enjoyed it. We order from them almost once a week. My kids love it!

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

Azul Tequila is the best interior Mexican in town.

I have heard several people rave about Azul Tequila so I decided to give it a try Monday for lunch.

Apparently they have two locations, one in Round Rock and one at 4211 South Lamar Blvd. Austin, TX 78704. It is in a strip shopping center next to Target.

I was a little disappointed in the facility, it was dark and dinghy with a dirty floor, stains where strips of old tile or linoleum had been peeled off. Random wires and extension cords hanging along the walls. They had a long row of nice looking booths along one side, that were mostly full, the rest of the seating on the floor had only one table seated. We got seated at another table near the bar. The bar was nothing special. Kind of a dive looking place. The atmosphere was disappointing to say the least.

I was pleasantly surprised by the food. The chile con cueso appetizer was a little bland but not bad, and the chips were thick and crunchy, but sturdy for scooping up lots of cueso. I perfer chips that are a little lighter. For the meal we both ordered enchiladas, one beef, one cheese with chile con carne sauce and refried black beans. It was all excellent! I look forward to trying out some of their more exotic dishes. We loved the refried black beans, hard to find. The cheese enchiladas used a cheese with a wonderful chewy texture that I enjoyed, and they tasted great. The beef enchiladas and chili sauce was perfect. We could only eat half of what we ordered and took the rest home in a to go box. We enjoyed it again for dinner.

I will definitly go back to pick up take out orders, but would not go there or the atmosphere. Its looks like a bit of a dive, but has excellent food. In comparison the Flores Mexican Restaurant in Oak Hill has a much nicer atmosphere, with food that is almost as good. The cueso and chips is better.

[TexasHorseLady]

CptnRon, haven't you learned that the best food is found in dives? You just have to learn to appreciate a somewhat different of "atmosphere". When I can, entirely spontaneously, say, "This is as good as anything at Fonda San Miguel" and mean it, and when the service is superb (which it's been every time I've been there), when the check comes it's $14.00 for two for lunch that last you through until bedtime, I can dispense with fancy atmosphere.

For the rest of you, it's nowhere near as bad as he paints it. Just a Mexican food restaurant in a strip center that serves excellent food.

The Round Rock location closed some time back, before I discovered them, darn it! Would cut my drive time in half to go there if it were still open.

[CptnRn]

TexasHorseLady, haven't you learned that the best place to get food poisoning is from eating in dives? I'm glad you had good experiences there. But I disagree on several counts:

1. The best food is not found in dives, frequently that is where the worst food is found. The only part I can agree on is that this place looks like a dive. I can dispense with atmosphere, if the place is clean. This one is questionable. I have eaten in plenty of dives and gotten sick from a enough of them.

2. The food is no where near as good as Fonda San Miguel, but it is good and cheaper. The only way you can get out of there for $14 for lunch for two is if you order off the lunch menu $6 each and don't have anything to drink.

3. The service wasn't that great. It took at least 20 minutes before they took our order and gave us anything to drink. The iced tea had so little ice in it, it melted before I had taken 2 sips. I had to ask for more ice and they only brought a little, again it was gone before I had drunken half a glass. The refried beans were served at room temperature. Fortunately the enchiladas were hot and tasty.

The menu prices on their website are all out of date (dated 3-2008), it is much more expensive then indicated ::::: Azul Tequila - Mexican Rastaurent :::::: (http://www.azultequila.com/lunch.html - broken link) The photos are out of date as well, since they have closed the Round Rock location. The South Austin location is no where near as nice as the photos indicated.

[TexasHorseLady]

Clearly your experiences and mine have differed. I've eaten in lots of restaurants, and in quite a few dives where I wouldn't go without a male companion. The food in many of them has been great (better than I've found in some places where more attention was paid to surroundings) and I've never once gotten sick from eating it. If you consider Azul Tequila to be a "dive" because of the way it looks, though, I have to wonder if you've ever actually been in a real one.

I've eaten at Fonda San Miguel since it first opened, and at Azul Tequila for some years now, so it's not like I'm unfamiliar with the food or the prices. (They both make absolutely GREAT margaritas, though, and I'm a margarita purist.) At Azul Tequila, I eat some of what you called the more "exotic" dishes (read: interior Mexican) because I can get Tex-Mex just about anywhere by throwing a rock, and the food is, indeed, as good as Fonda San Miguel (and I have a high regard for FSM, don't get me wrong). And I'm sorry, but we did, indeed, have an excellent lunch, for two, with something to drink (but not alcoholic at the time), for $14. Without ordering off the lunch menu.

The service we had the first time I was there was comparable to the service I had once at a restaurant on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, where I was just trying to figure out what it was that I wanted to have with my venison with loganberry sauce, couldn't quite think what it was I needed, when an arm came across my shoulder and put the item in front of me (and no waiter had been visible in the room until that moment). It hasn't been that exceptionally wonderful since, but it's usually been quite good, so I don't know why you were having difficulties. Was it particularly crowded? Did they appear to be understaffed that day?

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

2. The food is no where near as good as Fonda San Miguel, but it is good and cheaper.

You ordered from the bad side of the menu. Their interior dishes, in particular their cochinita pibil, is fantastic. Their pibil is superior to Fonda San Miguel's...and that's coming from a FSM homer.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

You ordered from the bad side of the menu. Their interior dishes, in particular their cochinita pibil, is fantastic. Their pibil is superior to Fonda San Miguel's...and that's coming from a FSM homer.

I understand what you are saying. I always start out evaluating a restaurant by ordering what I consider "basics". If the "basics" are good, then I consider it worth while venturing out into more exotic items. They have many that sound wonderful and I am looking forward to trying them.