Shoreline Grill

We had a restaurant.com coupon for this place and Shannon's boss took us here.  Same thing both times, the mofo gnocchi.  First off, vegan gnocchi helllo, second, the veggies and light seasoning were really good.  We also shared the seared tofu and it was delicious.  Very simple, not overly spiced, on a bed of fresh veggies lined with a parsnip puree for fanciness.  They do not have a good beer selection :(  It is nice that their vegetarian selection is so incredibly cheaper than the meat selection, and that they have a whole separate menu to showcase this.  The second round of gnocchi had wild mushrooms instead of corn and it was really good.  They also have a bunch of other tasty sounding food.  Get the fresh berries with cacao nibs on top for a yummy, healthy dessert while the non-vegan fatso's eat that stupid lemon curd thing.  That was not resentment. 

Recommended
http://www.shorelinegrill.com

Seared tofu topped with sundried tomato relish

Gnocchi with fresh veggies

Dr. Wok, Get Sum

We just moved from Austin to Cardiff, CA.  On our way out we had to use up all our groupons, the last one was for the road.. Dr. Wok.  Yummmm.  You have to drive waaaay out to hick town (not really) to get this stuff, almost 20 minutes from downtown.  Totally worth it for a bunch of vegan food you never get to eat.  We had the tofu soup that was yumalicious, so good one of our cats clawed his way into it without us noticing and ate some.. then we ate it anyways :)  The freaking red bean bananas were not fresh when we ate them so the texture was extra mushy but soooo good.  They are like that kind of dessert that is so sugary it doesn't even taste overly sweet, it just revs your body like you downed 5 red bulls in one sitting.  General Tso's tofu, nothing special considering we've had some of the best but still good.  Vegetables in garlic sauce, weird, not so good.  Important to note is that none of this was fresh, it was eaten at a rest stop in New Mexico so that is many hours of driving before eating.  The guy is really nice and the teeny shop is almost homey, we'd go back if we still lived there, drive and all.

Recommended
http://www.drwokcatering.com/

We also had some more Get Sum Dim Sum on the way out and it was delicious.  We had the mouth watering tofu, the mouth watering, melt in your mouth, nom-nom-alicious sesame balls, the bok choy, the chinese broccoli which were good but a bit too salty with the veggie fish sauce and the bao which was regular old good.

Still Recommended

Green Vegetarian Cuisine - San Antonio

Almost everything we have been missing in an Austin restaurant is embodied in this little place.  We went to San Antonio for the 4th of July weekend since it's our first one without family :(  It was so much fun, Riverwalk is very cool, the Alamo is kind of lame (in the summer only is what we were told) and even the buildings are so old and reminded us of Tampa.  So we ate at Green 3 times in order to give it a quality test.  That being said it is expensive, not more expensive than it's worth though.  The first time we ordered to go because we were really lost and weren't going to make it before they closed at 9pm.  We got the neatball sub, the mushroom stroganoff and some buffalo fingers with poblano ranch and chipotle mayo.  We really liked how they called most things by a regular name but it was implied vegan if there was no # next to the name, like the aioli's and such.  The stroganoff was ordered against the suggestion of the server on the phone and she was right, it was good but not great, just a creamy pasta.  The neatball sub was so amazingly delicious it was almost unbelievable.  Each bite was a consistently delicious Italian meatball covered in marinara and cheese on a toasty hoagie.  The wings were also delicious and it was a huge order, there were more than 10 wings and the poblano ranch just made them so authentic and tasty.  We were shorted the garden salad that comes with the pasta and they just guessed that the side we wanted was kale salad, which is the last thing we would ever order but wow was it amazing.  We came so close to buying the zine from them so we could get the kale salad recipe, alas we kinda supported them enough for one weekend.  The super nice server that helped us felt bad that we weren't able to get the points for our expensive order so she gave us free cupcakes, cookies and cream and peanut butter chocolate.  They were pretty good but we are no longer sweets fiends and aren't really into cupcakes, especially super sweet kinda stale ones.  The next day we went for lunch and excitedly ordered the chicken fried steak and the po' boy with poblano ranch.  We got the chili cheese fries for an appetizer, man were they good.  It is a black bean chili and home made fries, they are generous with the chili and the daiya and it's so fresh and hot the daiya actually melts.  The chicken fried steak was pretty good and we both agreed it would fool any meat eater at a Denny's, the mashed potatoes had too much spice to pair with the gravy, the gravy was great and of course, so was the kale salad.  The po' boy was very disappointing, there was some intense deliberation over this option and it was really just a huge piece of bread with fried, unseasoned tofu, and a few veggie scraps.  The coconut cilantro rice made it even worse because it was not coconutty and it was pretty dried out so it just brought down the whole meal.  With loads of poblano ranch it tasted like a yummy poblano ranch sandwich but that's not how it should be, consuming all those calories and all.  The place was really busy and the server was not all that patient and seemed pretty upset that we wouldn't just order something and leave already so this just kept adding until we thought the night before was surely a fluke and it wasn't as great as we thought.  Luckily we got some exercise in walking the Riverwalk for hours and worked up enough of an appetite for dinner.. at Green :)  We decided to go with our gut and get the darn meatball sub again because we know its good and this time it will be fresh.  We also got the 4th of July special which was supposed to be a chili cheese hotdog although the hotdog had no chili or cheese, just purple stuff that may have been cabbage.  Nevertheless, it was delicious, the bun was fluffy and the hotdog was cooked to perfection.  The special came with a side of chili cheese fries and beet potato salad, both were so tasty, very authentic.  The meat ball sub was better than we remembered, such perfect spices, texture, taste, yum.  The kale salad did not get old, for reals, so good.  Also, very commendable, we had read something about them being kosher but had not really known/cared what it meant.  We brought our own beers in and mixed it with our lemonade in their cups, they checked our beers and they were not kosher so they said the cups would be destroyed!  We felt so bad but they said it's no big deal just make sure we give them all of the contaminated items, we kinda felt like they probably threw our whole set in the burners lol.  That is cool of them though, people who are strictly kosher should appreciate it because we would appreciate vegan restaurants not putting meat on their dishes right?  Well, needless to say we will be back the next time we are in San Antonio, although next time we are going to order of the healthy menu because it sounded good, they have their own garden, and we have been fatties all weekend!

RECOMMENDED!
http://www.greensanantonio.com/

Molcas Mexican Restaurant

Finally, good Mexican!  It has been so long.  We had 2 Molcas deals about to expire so we had to stuff them in this week.  At first it sucked because we have to drive all the way to Anderson Lane and you can't use them on Fridays and at first glance they don't seem extremely vegan friendly, even with the vegetarian menu.  Then you walk in and the atmosphere is almost as bad as yelpers suggest with dirty floors and barren walls.  They are currently under construction in one of the dining rooms though so maybe they will look better afterwards.  If you sit in a corner table and/or a table by the window the look of the place is not all that significant.  They have pleasant hispanic music playing and TV's in one of the rooms.  Most importantly, they have really good food.  We feel like there are some places in town that get horrible reviews maybe just because the meat is bad but the veggies are awesome.  On Wednesdays they have a special on the fajitas for 2, so we got that and some guacamole.  The guacamole was a little over salted but still pretty good, the complimentary chips and salsa were also really good and when you mixed the two the saltiness evened out.  The fajitas were awesome, we each got our own little plate of black beans, white rice, pico de gallo, lettuce and guacamole.  We got 8-10 corn tortillas and a medley of veggies.  There were mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, yellow and green squash, broccoli, and supposed asparagus, not sure about that.  Each vegetable was obviously freshly cut and cooked, it even came out sizzling, not like some places where it seems like the veggies are frozen.  The rice and beans are really good too, it is white rice cooked to perfection and black beans with a little spice.  Today we went for lunch and got the chile rellenos, veggie tacos, and a fried avocado taco.  As expected, the veggie tacos were like the fajitas but in 2 tortillas and with lettuce, very good and filling.  Plus we got a side of mole sauce and a side of pipian sauce and they were delicious individually and mixed.  The mole sauce is the delicious, creamy sauce we would expect, just slightly subordinate to Miguel's mom's mole sauce.  We had never tried pipian sauce but it sounded good and it was, a blend of cinnamon and lime flavors with pumpkin seeds.  The fried avocado taco was way better than torchy's and was actually more filling than it sounded, be sure to ask for no cheese or cream.  The meal of the hour was the mushroom and spinach chile relleno, mmm.  The texture was reminiscent of chicken parmesan with the mix of breading and salsa but the taste was out of this world.  First off it's huge, it is plentifully stuffed with spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes and onions and smothered with a complimentary salsa.  We felt like these are the types of places where the groupon was a good idea because we never would have tried it otherwise but we will definitely be back.  One thing Florida didn't have was good Mexican and now we have found it!  It is really rare to order something vegan in a Mexican restaurant and not feel like it would be way better with the cheese but this food didn't taste like it should have been made any other way.

Recommeded
http://molcasmexicanrestaurant.com/menu_08_veg.html 

Biscuits and Groovy - after groupons

We bought 3 groupons for Biscuits and Groovy when it came out because the first time we were pretty impressed with at least one of our orders.  Now we have used all three and it is safe to say that their biscuits and gravy are not that great.  The people working there are really nice and they did try, but no.  We ordered the Johnny Hash, the Gloria Gaynor, the Donna Summer and the burrito.  We usually had the problem of the biscuits being undercooked, to the point of being doughy and one time eating a bit of flour.  We always had the problem of the cheese not being melted, even when we said we were in no hurry and could wait as long as it took for the cheese to melt, ps they were using Veggie Shreds instead of Daiya today, not sure if that's permanent.  We usually had the problem of not enough gravy and sometimes not enough ingredients, just a small strip down the middle.  We often had the problem of missing ingredients, they would charge us the $9 for the Gloria Gaynor but leave off the tofu scramble, the second cheese, the bacon and the chives.. well then you don't even quite have the $7 Village biscuit.  Then they would tell us you have to specify that you still want them to put the vegan version on rather than just taking the meat version off, but today we specified each thing and they looked at us like we're crazy and still no second cheese.  The first time we specified that we want the biscuits extra cooked they actually made them brown and they were perfect, today when we asked we just got the regular undercooked kind.  We did actually get a decent amount of gravy today though, enough where you could actually taste the bootlegger ale.  Now, for the only reason we may ever be back, the burrito!  You still run into the same problem of them just leaving off ingredients, maybe they think you won't notice?  It is darn good though.  It is a reasonable $4 for any ingredient you want, wrapped in a tortilla.  We ordered every vegan ingredient on the menu except jam both times but the first time one of the ingredients they left off was the soyrizo so it was a different flavor.  The first one was more like the biscuits but with way less carbs and the cheese was able to melt completely, plus we didn't add salsa.  The second one we did add salsa to kick it up but didn't realize what the soyrizo would add so it was spicy a very yummy.  They had obviously left out the gravy and a bunch of other stuff because with 10 ingredients it was still skinny, but it was more of a mexican breakfast burrito and the first one was American?  Either way it was good and you feel like you are actually getting what you want for a smaller price than the most popular items.  So we may be back, especially since we have some %50 off coupons from Scoutmob and they are adding some new items soon.

Still Recommended
 

Orlando Restaurants

This was a side not from the Counter Culture post but too long so now it gets it's own post: we have grown a greater appreciation for Orlando because while their options were scant, they were delicious.  They have a coffee shop called the Drunken Monkey where they make an amazing philly cheesesteak with firm, chopped seitan,  loads of peppers and onions and nayonaise is mixed with the cheese to more accurately mock the real thing.  We had one vegan brunch place, Ethos, but it had everything, think snack bar from before, then subtract the meat.  Vegan biscuits and gravy, rotating flavored pancakes, sausage, canadian bacon, tofu scramble, unlimited coffee refills with all the organic fixins, etc.  It was packed every Sunday but it was always worth the wait.  Then we had the vegan hot dog dude (probably homeless) in a broken down hot dog cart in downtown, Neveah, they were the freaking best hot dogs even the meat eaters had ever had.  We would travel to the city especially to eat these puppies, he would keep the ingredients hot so the cheese was already melted and he just poured it on, generously.  He wasn't official so he had no hours or a specific location (or twitter) but just showed up downtown around 10pm most nights and you hoped he would be there after your long drive.  The chinese was insanely better and you could get great tofu at any chinese restaurant in any strip mall on every corner.  We had this one chinese restaurant, Garden Cafe, where the vegan chef had traveled all over the world and studied under different chefs and learned how to make everything vegan.  They warn you when you sit down that's it's all vegetarian because apparently some people didn't even know it wasn't meat and they don't have a special name for each meat they are immitating.  They have many types of vegan fish, vegan lamb, vegan chickens, vegan oysters.  He would use a different type of homemade "meat" depending on the dish, so the almond chicken would have wheat meat and the sweet and sour chicken would have a tofu blend, the oysters were made of mushrooms, whatever suited the flavors.  Then there was the "vegan lady" as we called her, although her trailer was called Food For Smile.  It was an Indian food trailer that was only open for lunch.  Trailers don't work the same way in Florida though because you have to have a home base or main restaurant for sanitary purposes.  So each day she would make a different meal and that was what you had, no choices.  She would come up with a menu for the week and post it on facebook so that you at least got some advance notice, plus she would add whether it was gluten or nut free.  For $6 you got a main dish, a side item, a halwa for dessert and a homemade chutney.  Oh how we took it all for granted.
As a side note, since this is off topic anyway.  We are at 60 posts since this blog was started!  That represents more than 60 restaurants because while there is this post and some repeats, we don't even remember to post some, and some include more than one restaurant and the first post has more than 20, hey zues.  We really are making our way through Austin, perhaps underestimating how many restaurants this place actually holds.  Imagine how many thousands that represents in eating out, nevermind, bad thoughts.

Counter Culture

It's pretty sad to admit but we really just don't like Austin's favorite vegan trailer all that much.  It's not that it's bad, it's just that it's missing that special something.  We had not given this place a legitimate shot yet since we only ever came here for special events so today we did and even paid full price.  We got the philly seitan and it was alright but pretty disappointing.  Compared to the one we could get in Orlando or for that matter make at home, was unimpressive.  The seitan seemed to be an implementation of the most basic seitan recipe on the web, the cashew cheese just added to the mushiness of the seitan and didn't add anything good to the flavor.  The onions and peppers were barely there, skinny, and burnt.  The bread was pretty but really didn't do much to enhance the flavor.  Overall, the effort was there but it all needs some refining to make it worth the money.  On a lighter note, we also got the fourth of July tart and it was delicious.  It was a tasty, coconutty, chewy disk topped with cashew creme, blueberries and strawberries.  We will continue to try to like this place but no promises, perhaps the other desserts will prove more appealing than the entrees.

Recommended
http://www.countercultureaustin.com/Counter_Culture/Counter_Culture_Austin_Vegan_and_Raw_Foods_Trailer.html

Blue Dahlia Bistro

Yes, this is another "why on earth have we not been here yet?!" moment.  So our $10 off coupon expires today so we went for happy hour yesterday, they have a really good happy hour.  We got the vegan plate for 2 which included a heaping pile of grainy tabbouleh, a big scoop of hummus, a ramekin of sun dried tomatoes, a ramekin of olives, 2 slices of baguette, 2 slices of cranberry raisin bread and 2 slices of olive bread all atop mesclun greens.  It was much larger than we expected  and very filling.  Plus we got a bottle of merlot for $10 which was nothing special but not bad at all.  Out of pure curiosity, not hunger, we ordered one of their $4 happy hour sandwiches, the brie with walnuts and apricot preserves, sub tofu for brie.  It was pretty bland since they just put a raw slab of tofu but we definitely appreciated how nothing in the meal tasted overly sweet or salty so a couple shakes of black pepper and a dip in the delicious red wine vinegar and it was all good.  We can't wait to go back and try their vegan ravioli!  They have vegan pesto, vegan bread, vegan dessert and they are very knowledgeable about the vegan substitution secrets.  It doesn't seem like the atmosphere could be all that great from the front since it's on a boring, semi-busy road and the inside is like a coffee shop but the back patio is completely fenced in and has a fountain and garden and they even have a noise machine making birdy and bug noises which really does set the mood.  The misters and fans made it feel perfect outside.

Recommended   
http://www.bluedahliabistro.com/

Ancho's

We took a staycation at the Omni downtown for Shannon's birthday and our monthiversary combined.  We chose the omni because of the roof top pool but will likely be back for the mofo breakfast.  Although it's not included so maybe we can just eat there and stay at our own house..  Anyway, at first glance the breakfast seems expensive since the continental breakfast is $11 and it's $16 if you want everything.  Of course the extra $5 is for the breakfast meats, eggs, french toast, special omelet maker, steel cut oats and potatoes.  So we asked if we could just pay for the continental breakfast and still have potatoes and oatmeal and our anonymous server obliged.  The potatoes were so good and there was a choice of quartered new potatoes or hashbrowns, both cooked with peppers and onions.  Plus they had 3 homemade salsas and we snuck some of the omelet toppings into our potatoes so we had spinach and jalapenos too.  If you think about what a regular restaurant charges for a side of potatoes, and most of them aren't as good or all you can eat, you really start to appreciate the value.  Then the so called continental breakfast turned out to be this amazing array of healthy, fresh and delicious foods that we most definitely squeezed $11 out of.  This section included 3 types of Kashi cereal, every other cereal in the mini boxes, soymilk, 6 types of fancy jellies, almond butter, cashew butter, home made french baguette, sourdough, wheat, and a seedy wheat.  They had 6 different fresh fruits all separated into their own display, including raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, honey dew, cantaloupe, and pineapple.  Then they had dried apricots, cranberries and yellow raisins and to top it all off they had gluten free cereal, granola, english muffins, rolls and bread.  Keep in mind this is just the vegan stuff, not including the goat butter and other vegetarian delights, oh and also remember this is all you can eat!  We usually get our money's worth at buffets and we succeeded here eating so many fresh berries and plates full of taters.  It was really so good and goes along with the ultra courteous staff you would usually find at a nice hotel so it was that much better.  They told us that since everything is cooked in house they will accommodate any vegan to the best of their abilities but they are able to do this even more so at lunch and dinner.  So we will be back, especially since restaurant.com has a certificate for their dinner.  Also, the next time we are wondering where to go for a big, amazing brunch, we have our answer.

RECOMMENDED!
http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/AustinDowntown/Dining.aspx 

Austin Java

This is probably the first vegan version of Austin Java since the last time wasn't all that impressive.  We realized that in Vero Beach, where we're from, if a restaurant isn't really really good you will probably still go to it just because there are only a few choices.  In Austin, there are so many choices that if you don't stand out in taste or quality then you go to the back burner, behind 50 other restaurants.  So that is what happened to Austin Java.  We actually only went there at someone else's request.  We ordered the steel cut oats with fresh fruit and that new Honduras coffee that has blown up their twitter feed.  Their coffee is probably the biggest disappointment since it's a coffee place, but it's really just because the workers don't refresh the coffee often enough.  We like to test all of the different types before choosing and 2 of the samples were cold, although the Honduras did end up being the best.  They also had soy milk, always a plus.  The steel cut oats took a while to make but were pleasantly surprising.  The fresh fruit is a delicious and generous mix of strawberries and blueberries.  A ramekin of brown sugar and one of raisins is included as well as a slice of wheat toast and some jelly and butter.  We didn't even eat the toast because it was so filling so no word on whether vegan butter was even an option.  It was quite good and really impressed our guest.  We also noticed all of the vegan options on the menu now that we were looking.

Still Recommended

Kebabalicious

We went here during lunch today so we could catch them during their 3 hour window of openness.  We joined the line of many wrapping around the little trailer.  Even Chi'lantro was there and this place had the longest line.  The hummus of the day was tomato basil although it pretty much tasted like hummus, fresh hummus, we went for the spinach artichoke hummus but they had none :(  Anyway, to be healthy and all, we ordered the Turkish salad with one falafel ball and extra hummus rather than tzatziki and spicy sauce that has only "a little bit of dairy."  The salad was described as having romaine lettuce but was littered with arugula and other lettuci.  The falafel was pretty good although, don't listen to people telling you it's the best they've ever had because it just sets your expectations too high.  The jalapeno hummus was good and the flavor was apparent.  Mixed with the veggies, the hummus made the salad really good and with an occasional bite of falafel there were a lot of yums.  The olives were unusually yummy, maybe because the last 10 times we've had kalamata olives was via Panera..  Overall, we probably won't be back.  It is sad when you pay more for a vegan salad than an 8 inch gyro and it may very well be the non-vegan sauces that are taking this place up a notch in others eyes.  Also, for the picky vegan, it doesn't seem like it's possible that there is no contact with the meat unless the workers are careful, which they may be.  For the gluten free vegans, they have Zucchini Tuesdays where they offer gluten free zucchini fries for $4-$5, you get less than 10.

Recommendish
http://www.austinkebab.com/contact/

That's right, an actual picture!  The Turkish Salad at Kebabalicious.

Thai Passion - Downtown

Just a quick note.  The coconut mango rice is bigger and better at this location.  The dishes are a bit more salty but so delicious.  This time we had the Panang Curry and the Gang Jeudwoonsen soup.  Both were really good and the curry tasted similar to the last curry but with different vegetables.  We added pea pods, carrots, bell peppers and a few others but only ended up getting a few a piece so not really worth it.  The Chang beer was pretty good and went well with the food. 
Still Recommended

Second Bar + Kitchen

Yes we are now snobby upscale people.  As it turns out, all of this wanting for some good vegan food in Austin can be answered for the right price.  The staff at Second Bar + Kitchen was given a few days advance notice and a list of likes/dislikes and they used their time wisely.  This meal was stupendous.  Unfortunately their special was a beef tartare so the truffle fries weren't technically vegan but at least they said so.  The corn gazpacho was just OK, it was like a pico de gallo turned soup and was slightly oversalted.  The entree consisted of a vegan "steak" made of beets, grilled tomtatoes, mushrooms and a sweet and spicy sauce that was a little sticky so that it all held together, wow.  The side "salad" was a grilled and sauteed brussel sprout medley, the leaves were torn so that it was in a pile and the distinct and delectable flavors were toasted almonds and pureed apple.  The icing on the cake was the side of black truffled grits.  Wow, wow, wow.  This was heaven.  The chef came out to ask how it turned out and everyone seemed to care whether or not the vegan food was up to par.  Oh how it was.  The vegan dessert was an arrangement of sliced Texas grapefruits covered in poprocks with 2 scoops of grapefruit sorbet balancing on top.  The poprocks actually crackled the whole time and they added a really important sweetness that mellowed out any sour that would come from the juicy grapefuit.  The sorbet was good but it was not as notable as the rest.  Of course this is said with a certain snobbery that develops when one is spoiled with amazing food.  Oh boy will we be back, perhaps going out to eat once a week and paying top dollar for amazing food is better than going out more frequently but settling for less.  Time to go play polo and starch the knickers then, cheers.

Recommended
http://congressaustin.com/second/ 

La Condesa

Yesterday was Shannon's birthday, just a short time after the La Condesa groupon so we called the day before and headed on over.  The atmosphere is very clean, comfortable and chic.  It was more casual than we were expecting but still a classy place.  Just as Shannon was saying how much she hated arugula, out came the vegan platter.. littered with arugula.  We had fried corn masa, topped with creamed sweet corn, tomatoes, onions, green beans and arugula.  An arugula salad that was described as similar to one offered on their regular menu with toasted pumpkin seeds, a bit of couscous, fresh peaches and oranges, and a delicious lemon dressing.  Grilled eggplant (the only thing Shannon hates more than arugula) atop sliced peaches, mint and cooked lemons.  Then a delightful pile of grilled asparagus topped with shaved jicama, mango and chile powder.  Let us just say, this was all outrageously good.  Any thought of hating arugula was out the window because this was the best arugula ever, it perfectly added to the fresh, sweet lemon flavor and the ripe and juicy peaches, this was by far Miguel's favorite.  The way the arugula added to the fried masa was another feat because it had no dressing at all but the apparent pepper flavor paired with the slightly pickled onions and crispy corn flavor like magic.  Another trick they performed last night was the eggplant, we have never liked eggplant after giving it many chances but out of left field this was Shannon's favorite (tied with the masa).  It acted like tofu by soaking up the grilled flavor but with a new texture that was tough but so smooth.  The asparagus couldn't even compete with these titans of flavor so it was just a great side dish, plain and simple.  We called ahead of time to ensure Shannon got a birthday dessert and boy howdy did she, that's fancy talk for "it was really good."  Anyway, we each got a small glass of 3 scoops of the best sorbet ever.  2 scoops of dark chocolate and 1 scoop of coconut, yum.  As if we weren't already on cloud nine at this point, we get the bill and we have $6 left to spend before using up our $50 groupon.  We go with the $6 guacamole with chipotle and toasted almonds.  When you frequent as many restaurants as we do you come to expect some dishes to taste pretty much the same no matter where you go, guacamole being one of them.  Thank you La Condesa for throwing that out the window with this almost tex mex inspired, after dinner appetizer.  The avocados were perfect to the normal standards but the spicy, smoky flavor of the chipotle sauce and the added smoke and crunch of the almonds just sent this guac over the edge.  It was literally finger licking good, fortunately we took this to go so we were licking our fingers in the comfort of our own home!  Overall, this was a culinary experience not to be missed by vegan or meat eater.  That being said, we would have to limit this type of dining to a yearly, or perhaps a semi-annual event.  The cheapest cocktail was $8 and the cocktails we wanted were $12, and it just kept going up from there.  The wine was moderately priced, we managed to get a bottle of red wine for $28 which is not bad and it tasted great.  One of their "things" is their tequila selection but the prices were too high to even look at the menu.  Each vegan plank was $18 and was too light to share.  We have seen other vegans get tofu on their planks though so perhaps it could be possible with a hearty request.  It may also be worth mentioning that their coffee smelled delicious and almost compelled us to order it but we had bellies full of wine and couldn't possibly pour more liquid on top.    

Recommended
http://www.lacondesaaustin.com/

Satay, Thai Passion, Bananarchy

So this is quite a trio, it made for a delicious weekend. 

Bananarchy

We had Bananarchy coupons that were about to expire so we went twice in a row.  It sucks to be forced to have dessert but it was pretty darn good so we won't complain.  OK so there is some complaining, but not much.  So first off the hype of this place wasn't quite met so it was a bit disappointing in that sense.  It is just a normal banana, covered in sugary chocolate and there is nothing above average from there.  We agreed that we prefer our frozen bananas to be a little more squishy on the inside but that is probably hard to keep up with in a trailer.  Also, we prefer simpler bananas and these were a bit over the top.  You couldn't even taste the banana because of the mound of chocolate it was covered in and because we had to spend $10 for our coupon we had to pile toppings on top of that.  Now for the good stuff, you get that really nice sugar buzz afterwards and no bad taste so they must use good quality ingredients.  The GOB is delicious, we added coffee to it and it counteracts that sugary chocolate perfectly.  They sort of messed up the order so we apparently got more toppings than most and man was it good.  The salty peanuts counteract the sweetness as well.  Then we had the custom order of oreos, peanuts, and coconut but they accidentally added cinnamon.  The cinnamon ruined it but we had already said it was OK so oh well.  If you are like us and don't like your sweets overly sweet, don't add anything sweet to your banana.  Then the Joe Banana with coconut instead of toffee since it's not vegan.  This banana was really good, the crunchy coffee with the cinnamon, yum.  You could not taste the coconut and there was a lot of chocolate.  Overall, they were fun to eat and in the future we would probably get the half and keep it simple for more enjoyment :)

Recommended
http://bananarchy.net/blog/

Thai Passion

Oops this is going backwards from the title but let's just say we're saving the best for last ;)  So we were in the mood for "chinese" food, which with our lack of experience in the Asian world means all Asian food so we dug through the groupons and picked Thai Passion.  Of course we are sauntering along through the 100 degree whether and got half way to 6th Street before Shannon checked the address and saw the coupon was only good at the South IH-35 location, grr.  So we sweat our way back home and get in the car because you can't stop us now.  We really have never legitimately eaten Thai food before, one time in Orlando we ate at Royal Thai and the flavors were so sour and gross we wrote it off.  Well Thai Passion rekindled the faith.  Hey-zues.  We started the meal off with rice balls and fried tofu, yum and yum.  For our entrees we got a bowl of Tom Yum and the Tofu Mus Mun curry, insert singing angels.  The Tom Yum was a little weird, the sour was literal sour but once we got used to it it was all good from there.  The Mus Mun curry was outstanding, everything we love from curry but not too thick and stuffed with the perfect vegetables.  We also got a thai tea with coconut milk and it was the best one we've ever had, even though it was only like number 3, trust us, very good.  Then it was dessert time and Miguel was apprehensive about ordering rice for dessert but he had no choice because Shannon ordered the sticky coconut rice with mango before he could object.  We were in heaven at this point.  Who would have thought that hot rice with fruit could be good?  Well it's more than good, this meal was just an overall taste sensation.  We will most definitely back, next time to the much closer downtown location but hey the Southern one was near a lot of shopping so that was fun.

RECOMMENDED!
http://www.thaipassion.com/?p=index

Satay

So you may be wondering how it could get better after that glowing review.  Well it just can so there.  Apparently Thai food is just out of this world and we've been missing out.  What really caused us to enjoy Satay so thoroughly was a combination of atmosphere, service and food pairings!  We were greeted inside by 2 very friendly looking women, one being the hostess.  We asked if we could sit outside and they said of course, they would prefer if we did since they have a garden out there.  So we sat down and our server came and she just about ruined the beginning for us.  She was not very knowledgeable, very insincere and seemed slow.  We were starving so we ordered the Miang Khum for an appetizer, it was extremely light, as in a few spinach leaves with some toppings, but it was really good.  We had just about decided on what to order when the owner, Foo, came out and offered her help.  We told her what we were thinking about and she steered us in the right direction, even suggesting added vegetables and an extra pepper, to really refine the taste.  Apparently, her and her family are all vegans so we felt safe ordering with her.  One of her specialties is her ability to pair food with wine so before she left we got a suggestion.  She suggested a pinot noir that was the best we've had on it's own, but paired with the food made magic.  Miguel ordered one of "Foo's Recommendations" the Laksa Noodle Soup which was amazing.  The perfect curry with vermicelli, tofu, veggies and soupy, definitely Miguel's favorite combination of food.  Shannon ordered the Bataan Delight with an extra chili to add heat.  It was delicious on it's own but the wine really ignited the flavor for this entree, it was really amazing.  Then we finished off the meal with some black, sticky coconut rice and it was really good.  They have more vegan desserts that we will try next time, including a black silk pie, yum.  We talked some more with Foo when she came out to ask how it was, she told us of her travels in Paris and through France and how her world was opened up when she learned what wine could do for food.  Well, we agree and we are glad it happened!  The best thing about Foo's role in all this is she really limited how much time we had to spend ordering from and talking to our server so that was nice and the hostess even came out to check that everything was great so we really felt welcome.  Overall, it was a perfect night and we eat here every night if restaurant.com didn't limit the use to once a month, ha!  Satay has been added to the list of the few restaurants in Austin we would go to daily if we were rich :)

RECOMMENDED!
http://www.satayusa.com/index.htm    

The Snack Bar - Last time

Since the credit card was maxed out for the weekend the options were limited to available groupons and gift certificates.  We had really wanted to try the ricemilk french toast with ice cream last time so the Snack Bar it was.  This is the last time we will visit the Snack Bar.  We have been there 3-4 times and each time we have a different server and each time it is a bad experience.  The server is always spacey and forgetful and not all that helpful.  This time the server suggested the lavender scone and brought out a cranberry scone that may or may not have had lavender but if she said it had cranberries, it would have been a different story.  Once again they don't ask about customization so out came french toast with ice cream on Italian bread.. with sesame seeds.  Weird.  Then even though we had originally ordered the crepes and the ice cream on the french toast, she could swear she heard we wanted ice cream on the scone?  You may be wondering what is so bad about all these little things?  Well first of all it is way too expensive to be having to deal with things we don't want, next it is increasingly annoying to get this kind of service consistently.  Lastly, after watching the server dance outside for 10 minutes, forgetting drink refills, menu requests, etc. she promptly returned with the bill and said "I don't want to rush you but can you cash out now because I need to get to my next job?" yea it happens, but then she proceeded to wait to grab the receipt with the tip on it so she could leave.  It just felt very rude and it seemed like if she would have dropped the receipt off before leaving to dance it would have taken the rush out of paying out.  Overall, the end of the Snack Bar run.  They have vegan food, some of it's good, but we won't be doling anymore cash out to them.

The Woodland

In an attempt to try a new Austin restaurant we went to the restaurant we have been hearing about, hearing that it has a tree inside, but hearing none the less.  Well before you get too excited about the tree, it's fake.  Lame.  Anyway, things started off a little rocky because the place was dead, the tree was fake, they had half price bottles of wine but were out of the first 2 bottles we ordered.. Then we ordered the french white wine and it was soo good it made everything seem brighter.  The menu was diverse and interesting and had everything our group was craving.  Grits for the deprived Californian, chicken for the anti-fish person, pot pie for the Southerner and veganizeable food yay.  So the vegan dish of the night was a stuffed tomato filled with orzo, spinach, mushrooms and fresh basil.  It was accompanied by a side of tarragon jus which sent it over the edge.  The tomato was perfectly cooked so that you could cut into it and eat it in bites with the stuffing.  The wine also paired well with this savory dish.  Then the trickers pretended the top of the keylime pie was vegan and just before setting it on the table remembered it has gelatin :P  All of their crust has butter in it so they have nothing for the vegans.  They did send a request to start some vegan pies though so let's cross our fingers.  Overall we will be back, the food was gourmet delicious and literally everyone of us cleaned our plates.  We were a difficult bunch that customized everything and they didn't get anything wrong.  Best of all even though the tomato usually comes with cheeses stuffed in, it was not missing any flavor without the cheese and it was still really filling.  Overall, we will definitely be back and of course as is often the case, we are kicking ourselves for not trying this before!  Note: they also have a vegan, house made burger.

Recommended
http://woodlandaustin.com/

Zandunga Bistro

Happy Anniversary to us!  We are celebrating our 2 year anniversary, although it is a bit early.. Shannon is going to France for our anniversary so we have to celebrate a week ahead :(/:)  So we decided on Zandunga Bistro because, for one, the owner said we could have a free guava agave margarita.  For two, the vegan entrees sounded mouth watering.  It was a little sketchy at first because the last time we went (for 50 cent margaritas) the service was hardly friendly and the drinks were teeny, then when Shannon called to make reservations the woman was pretentious and borderline rude.  Regardless, we went during happy hour and got half off our guacamole appetizer, which came with delicious pickled onions, orange and lime slices, mangoes, tomatoes and jalapenos.  Chips and salsa are complimentary so that always wins us over too.  After our huge guac appetizer we order the Vegetable Mixiote and the vegan Aguacate Relleno.  Mostly just because we wanted to try them both because geez was the guacamole filling.  The mixiote was a mix of gourmet veggies with an exceedingly gourmet sauce dotted beside the banana leaves that held the veggies.  The mixiote also came with a salad, consisting of the most delicate of greens and topped with pickled onions and cherry tomato slices.  The vegan version of the Aguacate Relleno was a dream come true as far as getting to try a stuffed avocado.  The white rice was a much better version of the kind we make at home and the black bean puree was a perfect compliment.  The avocados were thick and ripe but a little overkill after the guacamole, so get one or the other.. can't decide which one!  They were stuffed with corn and what looked like the house salsa.  We were hoping for the mushrooms and sweet peppers the meat eaters got, and maybe we got them, but it didn't seem so.  Still a great dish, very filling and tasty.  The drinks that accompanied this fine meal included our complimentary guava agave margarita, which Miguel loved and ordered again, and the frozen Mojito.  The frozen mojito is better than it sounds because it is delicious and the mint sprigs are still apparent in the taste and the texture.  Our server came and offered us dessert and we cried a little after she told us there were no vegan options but we were overwhelmingly surprised when she came back and told us to expect a special treat for dessert.  She brought us out an amazingly delicious mango, strawberry ravioli with coconut creme, topped with mexican coconut.  It consists of two, square mango slices sandwiching chopped strawberries, topped with basil and sprinkled with coconut.  It was both visually appealing and palate pleasing, and amazingly we remembered to take a picture before devouring it!  We sat outside, which was nice until the sun was in our eyes but after 7pm (end of happy hour) the sun went down and the atmosphere ignited.  The hole-y tables outside were inconvenient because when the salsa drips it is right in your lap, so be a proper diner and put the napkin in your lap.  Overall it was a great experience, great food, great service and free stuff, which always keeps us coming back.  We will be back!

Recommended!
http://www.zandungamexicanbistro.com/

Mango-strawberry ravioli topped with basil and mexican coconut with coconut creme on the sides

Maggiano's, Gypsy Lounge, Copa Bar and Grill

Yes, it was an expensive weekend, but it was our 7 year 4 month dating monthiversary or 1 year 11 month wedding monthiversary.  Plus it was Easter, which turned out to be the most expensive day ever.  

Copa Bar and Grill
So for our monthiversary we decided to use a groupon to Copa Bar and Grill.  The dinner menu did not seem that veg friendly, but the lunch one did so we figured they could accommodate.  While they can accommodate they do not offer items from the lunch menu at dinner.  So we had to make something up.  Well we made up the most stupendous dish you could imagine.  Our initial reaction was, how sad this place is empty on a Saturday night.  Then we got out free chips and salsa and they were not good, then we ordered guacamole and it consisted of a few small scoops on a bed of iceberg lettuce.  It tasted old and flavorless and so we were a little worried.  The drinks were OK to start off with but really expensive.  We tried paradise, pisco smash, and a long island, blech.  The fact that we were the only people in the restaurant was pretty awkward since everyone took turns checking up on us every 5 minutes.  Then magic happened.  Miguel ordered the best drink on the face of the Earth, the Spicy Manguito.  It was soooo good, it has fresh mint, a lot of limes, mango rum and mango juice with a spicy/sweet rim.  Then dinner came out and more magic ensued.  We ordered the veggie mole enchiladas, which are not on the menu but we just asked for them with rice and beans and got it.  Even better, they did not charge us $13 for the chicken enchiladas and just subtract the chicken, they actually brought down the price to less than $9.  Anyway, they were stuffed with sauteed spinach and the corn tortillas were thick and durable and so delectable.  The sauce was perfect and even the vegetable filled rice was amazing.  We were so happy with our meal we almost got another.  Overall, we will be back not only because we have more groupons but because we thoroughly enjoyed the food and would even put it up there with some of the "bests" in Austin, best latin food.  They seemed to be Brazilian or something.  Next time we will have mods though and order just the spicy manguito and 2 entrees, yum!

Recommended
http://www.copabarandgrill.com/

Gypsy Lounge

This was our first Easter without our families so we were a little lost.  Shannon did a google search to find out what Austin vegan's do on Easter and the only thing that came up was a Sunday brunch at the Gypsy Lounge.  It was called biscuits and beer, so obviously we thought it was perfect.  It was cash only, and $8 bought you 2 vegan biscuits, a vegan sausage patty, loads of vegan gravy, all you can squeeze strawberry preserves and a lone star tall boy.  It was an amazing Easter morning, even if we did have to wait until 11AM to eat.  The biscuits were fluffy and delicious, they tasted like kfc biscuits but were double the size.  Shannon got some bloody mary mix and made a Michelada out of the lone star which was delish.  Then we had some poinsettia's, champagne and cranberry to top off the perfect morning.  We will definitely be doing this again soon, the cook, Kitty, was so nice, she even gave us more biscuits when we left.

Recommended
http://do512.com/event/2011/04/24/happy-easter-biscuits-n-beer-brunch

Maggiano's

After the perfect brunch we went to meet up with Shannon's aunt and uncle at Maggiano's for an Easter lunch.  The place is gorgeous, the decor is intricate and authentic.  The service was great, very upscale.  The choices for vegans were pretty limited and confusing and this does not seem to be a place that "gets it."  Miguel ordered spaghetti with vegetables, they don't have a vegetable medley so you have to choose which veggies you want and they will charge you a couple dollars per vegetable.  Shannon tried to order the same thing with white wine sauce, but the server came back and said it had butter in it.  So then she switched to stuffed mushrooms and here is where the server went south.  He decided, forget what you want to order, the  executive chef decided he will prepare a delicious meal.  We assumed he would be making some form of the stuffed mushrooms Shannon had ordered but he did not.  He literally made the exact same thing Miguel ordered but without any sauce.  It was just dry noodles with a few veggies.. what?  Obviously that was already an option but not an appealing one, hence we did not order it, so he decides he will "make us something special" and this is it?  The best (worst) part is he still charged us for each individual vegetable even though we didn't order it.  So even though the base price for spaghetti included meat they would not replace the meat with veggies, we just paid for both.  It was insane, 2 plates of spaghetti ended up being $40 and they were not even good.  Come on, dry noodles and vegetables? we could make that at home.  It was not a good lunch.. very disappointing.  Will definitely not be back.

Not recommended

Garrido's - Restaurant Week, Sagra - reopening

Garrido's
So restaurant week just ended, we are probably some of the rarer vegans that still bother socializing with the meat eaters.  Not really, but we do still participate in their events and force them to accommodate.  We chose Garrido's as our victim since they already had a vegetarian friendly spread, calling ahead to confirm substitution options.  Our meal actually seemed to turn out better than the meat eaters.  The guacamole was pretty good, the rice is not vegan but the server knew this and served up 2 sides of beans instead.  She even remembered to hold the cheese on everything.  The enchiladas were really good, stuffed with really fresh veggie spears and topped with a vegan tomato sauce.  Even the complimentary chips and salsa were good, the chips were a bit stale but no one seemed to notice.  Then out came dessert, Shannon prepared as her favorite dish was served to our company (creme brulee, with mangoes!).  The server brought us some frites (fries) for our dessert so we would not be left out.  The fries were really good, the creme brulee was small and not the traditional kind that comes in a ceramic dish but rather a plop of custard.  Overall the vegan selection is pretty good, the staff is knowledgeable, and the outside patio is amazing.. you would think you were in a jungle rather than the city.  All of this for the price fixe of $12, yay.

Recommended
http://www.garridosaustin.com/kitchen/

Sagra
We have always loved Sagra but since becoming vegan it was getting a little hard.  A couple weeks ago Sagra had a fire and were closed for a bit but just reopened on Wednesday.  We are both on the e-mail list so we got an invitation to free celebratory champagne, we're in!  If you ever find yourself going to Sagra, please sit outside!  The back patio has the best atmosphere and your server is the bartender, both of which are the best servers ever.  So we sat and had some free champagne and delicious, home made (and vegan) bread with white bean spread.  As though Sagra wasn't awesome enough, they now have a Vegetarian menu, and Vegan menu, AND a Gluten Free menu!  We like to think we had some influence on that since we would send the servers into the back 5 times before ordering a meal, but for whatever reason they should be applauded.  The owner even brings you the vegan menu on her nifty IPad.  So we ordered a pizza with all of the vegetables and added truffle oil, mmmm it was good.  Plus it was happy hour so the pizzas were half price.  We left full and happy since our glass of champagne became 6 glasses and our bread basket became plural and our bill stayed at half a pizza.  We will definitely go back to Sagra again, and more often, not only because it is better spelled out which of their hand made delicacies we can indulge but because they really are friendly and willingly to make you whatever you want to the best of their ability. 

Still Recommended
http://sagraaustin.net/page3.html