Dining: EZ's
Simple food, made fresh and served fast at EZ's
By Dale Rice
American-Statesman Restaurant Critic
Web posted: May 11, 2005
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EZ's on North Lamar Boulevard serves favorites such as pizza and burgers with a twist. Try the Thai chicken pizza, left, or the bean burger, below, topped with guacamole, refried beans, salsa and cheese, served with onion rings.
Photos by Brian K. Diggs/AA-S |
 EZ's. 3918 N. Lamar Blvd., 302-1800. Rating: Forks up. Price: Cheap. EZ's. 2745 Bee Cave Road, 329-0003. Rating: Forks down. Price: Cheap. |
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Everything at EZ's, the San Antonio-based, order-at-the-counter chain with two locations in Austin, is made to order -- from scooping Blue Bell ice cream for milkshakes to baking pizza in a wood-fired oven.
Consequently, the food at EZ's is a major leap above fast food.
The bacon-and-cheese burger ($5.50), for instance, featured a thick patty of lean ground chuck that had been cooked over an open flame, giving it a distinct charbroiled taste. It came with the classic fixings -- tomato, lettuce and onions -- and a side of onion rings ($1.25).
The chocolate and strawberry shakes ($3.29 each), topped with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry, were thick and flavorful (although my sidekick and I wished they had been served with the meal rather than several minutes ahead of the food -- when we couldn't resist devouring them).
With a golden, lightly crisp crust, the 11-inch pizza ($8.25) was topped generously with ground Italian sausage, green olives, red onions, tomato sauce and cheese.
We finished with a humongous banana split ($5.25) that featured three mammoth scoops of vanilla ice cream covered with strawberries, pineapple, hot fudge, chopped nuts and whipped cream.
With the Formica tables and soda-fountain counter, EZ's also delivered a helping of nostalgia for those of us old enough to remember the days of burger joints before fast food. Forks up for this decade-old spot across from Central Market on North Lamar Boulevard.
GOOD FOOD, BAD BEHAVIOR
The next night I went to check out the food at the new EZ's on Bee Cave Road just a short distance from MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1).
While the food was equally tasty and well-prepared, I observed a misdeed: One of the staff, after delivering food to a table, dropped an empty tray on his return. He quickly scooped it up after it slid across the floor and placed it back on the counter, where another staffer placed it on a stack of trays above the food, ready to be used again without washing.
While that's not a technical violation of the health code, it violates my sense of appropriate behavior from restaurant staff.
Forks down to this EZ's for bad perceptions.
drice@statesman.com; 445-3859
