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The Caesar caliente served with homemade croutons accompanied the Capper, an 8-ounce filet served on a portobello cap.

Cool River
4001 Parmer Lane
(512) 835-0010
Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Saturday
Credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Diners, Carte Blanche
Wheelchair access: Yes
Wine: 38 by the glass ($6-$19), 150 by the bottle ($20-$300)
Rating:

Thursday, Nov. 6 Reviews:
• Cool River
• Kerbey Lane Cafe

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Cool River

Bustling Past A Sluggish Economy

By Dale Rice
American-Statesman Restaurant Critic
Thursday, November 6, 2003

The place was hopping. Waiters were pushing small tables aside and carrying banquet tables for eight into the center of the dining room, making way to accommodate the third party of at least 16 in the main area.

Off to the side, a separate banquet room was gradually filling. By 8:30 p.m., the only empty spot in the main dining room was a table for two near the fireplace.

A few dozen steps away, on the other side of the building, there was action at every pool table, patrons lined the long wooden bar and a number of customers were dining there as well.

On the surface, it might be hard to imagine better times for a restaurant.

But what a difference a recession makes.

Three years ago, that bar area was so packed with people in the height of fashion that it took several minutes of close, personal encounters with dozens of them to reach the end of the room.

And while many people were nicely dressed on a recent Saturday night -- a handful could have been clothed at Nordstrom's -- the crowd was much more casually dressed and not nearly as young as when Cool River Cafe opened amid the high-tech boom that drew people in their 20s and 30s in droves.

One of the largest restaurants in Texas, Cool River has successfully bridged the economic times. Now, if only it could eliminate flaws in its food.

The New York strip ($28.95) was moist, tender and cooked medium-rare as ordered, but it was not as flavorful as the beef at several other top steakhouses in town. Perhaps one of the factors was the searing. While browned decently on the bottom, the top was still gray except for a few grill lines, more like something finished in a home oven than a professional kitchen.

The filet on a portobello cap ($25.95 for the 8-ounce), on the other hand, offered a trio of flavors: the aged meat, the grilled mushroom and the brandy peppercorn sauce (one of three options) that accompanied it.

The steaks were served with a salad (choice of field greens or Caesar caliente, both of which had good dressings) and a side. The garlic "smashed" potatoes were far superior to the baked potato.

To begin the meal, the fried calamari ($9.95) was crisp, golden and tender. However, I wish the squid had been tossed with more hot peppers to add a clear second dimension to the large dish.

The mussels ($12.95) were the major downfall of the meal, with a pound of tough, chewy, overcooked shellfish in a fabulous wine-butter-pepper sauce.

When the dessert tray appeared, it was clear that -- given the generous portions in the rest of the meal -- we would tackle only one of the large confections.

The pecan bread pudding ($5.95) turned out to be a good choice. The delicious bread pudding was topped with a bourbon-pecan sauce and cinnamon ice cream for a Southern-style treat. Service at Cool River was friendly and attentive, although our waiter was somewhat off the mark when he described the appetizers as "light."

But it was another aspect of service that diminished the enjoyment of the meal. As waiters repeatedly carried tables -- usually at shoulder level -- in and out of the room, they created a sense of chaos.

While the lighting had been dimmed in the beautiful wood-lined room, it wasn't dark enough to hide the commotion. That, and chewy mussels, were enough to eliminate the warm glow that should follow a meal at Cool River.

You may contact Dale Rice at drice@statesman.com or 445-3859.

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