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Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Mars restaurant will close
Opened in 1992 as a cozy bungalow on San Antonio Street, Mars turned heads when it moved in 2007 into a modern space in the new 04 complex that includes Cissi’s Market and By George. A group that includes a restaurateur and a nightclub owner plans to open a casual seafood restaurant in the space, a spokesperson for the group said Wednesday.
Mars manager Daniel Myers attributed the closing to a bad economy and said he wasn’t aware of plans to relocate the restaurant.
Mars gained a following with pork tandoori, glazed and grilled baby-back ribs, pot stickers and a dessert called “coffee and doughnuts.” Myers said the restaurant’s business was strong for six months after the move to SoCo, but that “over the past six months, it’s definitely been slower.”
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Where can we eat for Christmas?
(Top: Threadgill’s. Left: Trio at the Four Seasons. Right: Wink. American-Statesman photos)
Welcome to Forklore, the restaurant blog from American-Statesman and austin360.com restaurant critic Mike Sutter.
Let’s start by getting the word out to people who don’t want to cook (or clean up) for the holidays. If you’re a restaurant owner and plan to be open Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, please post a comment here or send me an e-mail at msutter@statesman.com. Please include your holiday hours, plus your restaurant’s address, phone number and Web site, if you have one. Try to keep your information to 100 words so we can squeeze in as many as possible
Last month, a teacher from Killeen asked me where she could eat when she visited her family in Austin on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Here are a few options I found for her. Only fair to let you in on them, too.
OPEN CHRISTMAS EVE AND CHRISTMAS DAY:
Threadgill’s
6416 N. Lamar Blvd. 451-5440
301 W. Riverside Drive. 472-9304.
www.threadgills.com.
Old Austin at its coolest, only cleaner. Music posters, murals, friendly waiters. Home cooking (chicken-fried steak, pecan-crusted chicken, fried catfish, meatloaf), with dozens of vegetable options, including jalapeno cheese grits and San Antonio squash. First-come, first-served. (Reasonable, affordable, reliable.)
Trio at the Four Seasons Hotel
98 San Jacinto Blvd. in the Four Seasons Hotel.
685-8300, www.fourseasons.com.
Reservations accepted.
It’s an upscale steakhouse, with a dizzying array of chops and seafood dishes, many starting in the low $30s and going into the high $40s. One lower-cost avenue is the $27 braised short ribs, which are out of this world. They’re served with softball-sized hot popovers. Appetizers include a good roasted-beet salad. We had a really fun peanut-butter-and-jelly dessert. The place is nice, with dark earth tones, leather seating, lots of waitstaff, who are quite pleasant. Order the iced tea: it’s poured tableside over ice cubes that are made of frozen tea and served with a little carafe of sugar water to sweeten. It’s the least-expensive way to feel fancy. (Expensive, but aren’t you worth it?)
OPEN CHRISTMAS EVE (CLOSED CHRISTMAS DAY)
Wink
1014 North Lamar Blvd., Suite E.
482-8868, www.winkrestaurant.com.
I just spoke to them today, and Wink still has seats available for Christmas Eve. The last seating will be at 8:30 p.m. They say it’s a wonderful night at the restaurant, with multigenerational family groups and some holiday touches on the menu. They change their menu all the time, but you can count on top-quality seafood and American-bistro dishes anytime. (Expensive. But a source I trust told me she had her best restaurant meal EVER at Wink just two weeks ago.)
Ciola’s
1310 RM 620 S., Lakeway.
263-9936, www.ciolas.com.
Reservations accepted.
This reliable Italian restaurant in Lakeway is hosting dinner on Christmas Eve called “The Feast of the Seven Fishes,” with a four-course seafood menu to celebrate the Italian tradition. The cost is $50 per person (a limited version of the regular menu, plus the kids’ menu, will be available as well). Seating begins at 4 p.m., with the last seating at 8 p.m.
