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 

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/

Hickory Street, Guero's - again, The Oasis, Kerbey Lane - vegan queso, Enoteca, Cafe Medici, Kick Butt Coffee, Jo's, Salt Lick BBQ/Wheatsville Coop, Papa John's

It has been a busy two weeks, with 14 full days of non stop company.  We will do this in bulk format since there was so much eating out.  It has actually been a pretty mediocre 2 weeks of food, the food scene kept amazing our guests with it's quantity, then disappointing with the quality.  Here goes,

Hickory Street
First on the list of disappointments is Hickory Street.  We have tried to go here a couple of times are were met with rude workers telling us, without words, that the restaurant is closing early.  When we finally made it inside with Shannon's family it was pretty lame.  It looked like a crappy pizza buffet place.  The buffets are nowhere near as good as they sound.  Shannon's dad couldn't even eat the soup because it was so gross.  The best things of the night, luckily, was the black bean burger and the vegan wrap.  The olive tapenade on the wrap was delicious and the hummus and veggies were complimentary but scarce.  The server said the wrap came with a salad topped with corn salsa so Shannon did not order fries but the "salad" ended up being 3 spinach leaves and some corn kernels on top.  However when she complained the server heard and brought a bigger salad.  Miguel thought the black bean burger was a little sweet for his liking but the fries and chips were definitely favorites.  Sadly, the rest of the family even complained about the ice cream tasting funny.  Perhaps the cheap prices make more sense now?  Sit outside and don't order a bar and it should be fine, not good.

UPDATE:  We went there again to use our other groupon, we sat outside, which was nice.  It took us 2 hours to get 3 appetizers, some drinks, and the bill.  The service was so slow.  We won't be back.. not that good.

Less Recommendish
http://www.hickorystreet.com/index.php?p=1_2_Menu

Guero's
Just a note, they still did not have vegan queso.  They claim there is not enough interest for them to order more and we wonder how you gauge interest in something we can't even order because it's always sold out.  The guacamole was still old tasting so maybe that's just how it is?  The Chalupas ala Celeste are amazing, renewing our hope in Guero's just enough to try it again.

Still Recommended

The Oasis
We came here as a touristy activity, to watch the sunset and because we had a groupon.  We had to sit inside because of the crowd but the view was really nice outside.  The chips and salsa were great but we were starving so that could be the reason.  Miguel was the only person who liked his food, he ordered the veggie burger.  It was a black bean burger that was for some reason reminiscent of good quality taco bell.  Shannon ordered the soup because it was supposed to be vegan but when it came out light green with white streaks of sour cream on top, she sent it back.  The french fries were bad.  We won't be back, we will head over to Billy's Brew and Que or Soleil for our next touristy visit to this location.

Not Recommended

Kerbey Lane

Just a quick note, the vegan queso is delicious here!  We may have agreed it's better than any we've tried before, even the non-vegans were fooled.  It was more cheesy than any other and came with salsa, so it was a pretty big small.  The vegan pumpkin pancakes are still the bomb.  The veggie burger was not all that great.

Still Recommended

Enoteca

We had been hearing great things about this place so when our party wanted Italian we knew right where to point them.  This place is great for everyone because they have vegan pasta, gluten free pasta, and a huge selection of vegetarian dishes.  The atmosphere was great inside and out and the bar was full of the good stuff.  Miguel ordered the avocado panini and it was not very good, likely because the cheese added something important to the flavor.  Shannon ordered the funghi tagliatelle but with vegan noodles.  They were able to add in the truffle flavor without the creme so that was nice.  However the pasta was lacking in a lot of flavor, there was too much olive oil and not enough garlic or other spices.  It was also a tiny portion, not enough to share.  All the non vegans ordered dishes from vegetarian to gluten free to meaty and loved it.  The ravioli and the vegetarian version of the funghi pasta were reported to be the best.  The french fries were amazingly good and the ketchup was homemade and wonderful.  We may be back if this group wants to go again but probably not on our own.

Recommended
http://www.austinvespaio.com/enoteca/enoteca.html

Cafe Medici

The coffee here is horrible.  The bakery selection is meek and the hours are not convenient.  This is the Guadalupe location so maybe that's why?  Won't be back, although they should get credit for carrying vegan cookies.

Not Recommended

Kick Butt Coffee

The coffee here was OK, not the best as seems to be a trend in Austin.  The atmosphere was really cool and they also had vegan cookies.  They seemed to have veg friendly options.

Recommendish
http://kickbuttcoffee.com/

Jo's

This was the SoCo location, once again OK coffee.  We went twice and got an iced latte one time and hot coffee the next, both times we got the vegan chocolate chip muffin.  For some reason it didn't seem all that great but all the non vegans that tried it said they were surprised it was so good.  They apparently expected vegan food to be gross..  We want to try the bbq seitan sandwich here but the coffee never lures us in.

Recommended
http://www.joscoffee.com/congress/jossouthcongress.htm

Salt Lick BBQ / Wheatsville Coop

Yea this sounds weird but Shannon's work had a function at Salt Lick so we brought in Wheatsville to supplement.  Make sense?  OK.  First off, Salt Lick is not as bad as it has been made out to be.  They have vegetarian and vegan options upon request and they are actually really good.  The vegan option was a vegetable creole on rice, mm.  They accidently have vegan margarine and even the coleslaw and potato salad were made without mayo.  Although the potato salad had bbq sauce in it, which contains anchovies.  We brought along a popcorn tofu platter from the Wheatsville Coop, some dolmas from Tom's, some organic vegan bbq sauce, and 2 premade fruit trays.  It was all just OK.  The popcorn tofu impressed all the non vegans but both times we have tried it now, it tastes like a refrigerator.  The strawberries and blueberries tasted dirty and old.  The melon was great, the bbq sauce tasted funny.  The dolmas were weird, they were sweet and had cinnamon, the other vegetarians liked them though.  Obviously Salt Lick can't be recommended but the Coop is full of other vegan things to try so we;ll be back.

Recommended
http://wheatsville.coop/contacts.html

Papa John's

We had read that Papa John's was vegan when ordered without cheese so when Shannon's work ordered it for lunch she was excited.  They even have the option of ordering a non-cheese pizza from the website.  We ordered light sauce, and all the veggies and fruits except olives and banana peppers.  The pizza was actually surprisingly good.  The office ordered 2 this time since the last time a vegan pizza was ordered the non vegans ate it all.  It would have been the case this time too since all the non-vegans agreed the vegan pizza was the best.  The combination of so many veggies really made up for the lack of sauce.  Good enough to eat again, if it's ordered by someone else.. but it's still a chain.
UPDATE: The office ordered vegan pizza again today and there were cheese sprinkles all over one pizza and we found ham on a couple slices of both pizzas!

Less Recommended
http://order.papajohns.com/index.html

The Dog and Duck

Saturday was spring cleaning day, which included a lot of bleach to clean the grout.  Thus, we needed out of the house by the end of the day.. before our brains melted.  It was a beautiful day, just before sunset so what better atmosphere with which to enjoy the outdoors than The Dog and Duck?  The answer is none by the way.  We have technically quit drinking but Miguel can't resist a pecan porter or black IPA from time to time, that's not called alcoholism though, right?  So we enjoyed a pecan porter and some chips and salsa whilst perusing the menu trying to figure out what would still taste as good now that we are vegans.  Really, we already knew what we were getting.  The crispy, tender, melt in your mouth delicious, homemade spicy black bean burger.  We haven't tried all the vegan options but you just can't beat the burger.  The Dog and Duck seems to be a pub opened by a chef, he just couldn't decide so he decided to open a place that has good beer and good food.  Thank you to him.  We ordered the pineapple mango burger, veganified and were surprised to find that you don't miss the cheese in this burger.  It was swiss cheese, one of the less flavorful, but even the texture wasn't missed.  These cooks have major mods back there, the bun was perfectly crispy but also so soft, the patty was cooked to perfection and the sauce was spot on, there was even the perfect amount of basil.  Their bun is comparable to the wrap at Concious Cravings, crispy and toasy, but how do they do that?  Overall, it was a great night of eating.  We were afraid we were going to stop liking the Dog and Duck after one of their female bartenders ruined our experience 3 times in a row, one of which was with out of town guests and that's not cool.  The bartenders this night were nice and attentive and happy to help us out with our "strange affliction" (veganess).  Yay DnD we will be back!

Still Recommended.
http://www.dogandduckpub.com/

Tiff's Tits

I am very cool because I am blogging right now.  All that aside.. Hello, this is Shannon and Miguel.  We are vegetarian foodies now living in Austin, Texas.  We started this blog to document our food encounters over the next couple of years with a goal of trying EVERY restaurant in Austin!  Our first review EVER is for Tiff's Treats on 18th Street and San Antonio.  We tried this gem for the first time yesterday although at first Miguel thought we were going to Tiff's Tits, hence the name.  This small establishment could be mistaken for someone's grandmother's house if it weren't for the little yard sign and picnic table out front.  Tiff's Treats is a cookie delivery service although if you opt to pick up you get to enjoy the smell of fresh baked treats and the complacent stare of a college kid.  We hate the service you get from places that hire only unseasoned workers, college kids or otherwise.  Thankfully after you pick up these delightful treats you enjoy nothing but bliss to the very last bite.  The best thing we have tried so far is the TiffWich, mmmm, a generous plop of "gourmet" Blue Bell ice cream between two warm cookies of deliciousness.  We make fun of people who try to pass off the Blue Bell Creamery as something special.  Last night Miguel got a peanut butter chocolate chip TiffWich and Shannon got half white chocolate almond and half butterscotch chip, we both thought our own was better.  The peanut butter chocolate chip was very rich and sweet while the half and half was a lighter, more crunchy sweetness.  It must be noted that all of this cost less than $5.  Of course since it is December, we have to have something sweet everyday so we went back again today.  We decided to stop by the store and get our own "gourmet" ice cream, neapolitan flavor, and a dozen cookies.  Half a dozen was the chocolate chip, recommended by the staff, and the other half was white chocolate almond.  Miguel agrees that the chocolate chip is the best cookie so far and we both agree that vanilla is the only way to go for a TiffWich!  While we will be back, we will still be on the look out for Austin's best cookie as the cookie's were not so stupendous that you have never tried anything like them.

Recommended
http://www.cookiedelivery.com/austin/menu.asp

 

A home made TiffWich with neapolitan ice cream and 2 white chocolate almond cookies from Tiff's Treats