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XL Dining Guide 2003

Rounding Out The Top 50

Alpenhof Steak Haus

16018 Hamilton Pool Road, Bee Cave
(512) 263-9875

Operating in the Lake Travis area for three decades, the Kohler family forgoes cutting-edge trends in favor of traditional cuisine.

Serving prime beef, Alpenhof produces tender, highly flavorful steaks that get a big boost from the Kohlers' seasoning blend, which includes salt, pepper and three secret ingredients.

Austin Land & Cattle Co.

1205 N. Lamar Blvd.
(512)472-1813

A solid, reliable place that attracts a faithful following, Austin Land & Cattle continues to make improvements.

From appetizers such as the oysters Rockefeller to a well-charred New York strip steak that remained beautifully medium-rare inside, this steak house demonstrates why it attracts an eclectic crowd.

Photo by Shelley Wood For AA-S

This isn't your mother's pork chop, and it's reason enough to visit Backstage.

Backstage Steakhouse

21814 Texas 71 W., Spicewood
(512) 264-2223

Talented chef Raymond Tatum sure knows how to take a pork chop and potatoes to a higher plane.

The smoked, thick chop is juicy, tender and flavorful, reason alone to visit Kent and Beth Hayner's Texas-ambience restaurant and live-music venue in Spicewood.

Bitter End

311 Colorado St.
(512) 478-2337

With high ceilings, a long bar, brewing tanks and copper-topped tables, a pub ambience dominates this spot in the downtown Warehouse District.

Serving food as varied and good as its beers, the Bitter End plays a variety of roles, including late-night spot.

Carmelo's Italian Restaurant

504 E. Fifth St.
(512) 477-7497

A restaurant with old-world charm, Carmelo's is located in historic buildings near Fifth and Red River streets, with an inviting, romantic ambience.

The menu is dominated by Italian classics, with dishes such as Marsala chicken uniting traditional ingredients of ricotta cheese, prosciutto and wine.

Chez Nous

510 Neches St.
(512) 473-2413

Chez Nous remains as enduring and endearing as it has been for the past two decades.

A classic French bistro just off Sixth Street, it serves dishes overflowing with flavor, from the hearty, country-style p�t�s to a superb garlic vinaigrette dressing to the dark, creamy chocolate mousse.

Photo by Ha Lam For AA-S

Clay Pit's menu of contemporary Indian cuisine includes chicken pakoras.

Clay Pit

1601 Guadalupe St.
(512) 322-5131

The Clay Pit, housed in one of the city's oldest commercial buildings, has an understated elegance well-suited to its international clientele.

As part of its contemporary Indian cuisine, strong flavors come to the fore in items such as yogurt-marinated lamb and badami korma, beef cooked in a slightly sweetened curry sauce with a creamy base of pureed nuts.

Eastside Cafe

2113 Manor Road
(512) 476-5858

A personal favorite virtually since the day it opened, Eastside Cafe can accommodate a disparate group of people; there's something for everyone on the menu.

Tasty options include the sesame catfish with garlic mashed potatoes, wild mushroom crepes, the field green salad with raspberry vinaigrette and warm goat cheese, chocolate silk pie and cherry cobbler. <

Eddie V's Edgewater Grille

301 E. Fifth St.
(512) 472-1860

9400-B Arboretum Blvd.
(512)342-2642

A swanky, popular establishment with a wide variety of seafood and prime steaks, Eddie V's has two major parts of the city covered: downtown and the Arboretum.

The food is well-prepared, with an approach that appreciates the often-subtle flavors of seafood, such as the Gulf snapper with lump crab meat and lemon butter.

The Emerald Restaurant

13614 Texas 71 W.
(512) 263-2147

Located in a converted house built in 1927 on the western side of the Village of Bee Cave, the Emerald experience is marked by good food, welcoming hosts and a cozy setting.

The Irish fare includes the "Dublin Lawyer Special," a lobster dish, and the "Pride of Erin" roast duck.

Photo by Shelley Wood For AA-S

After eating a hearty Eastern European meal, try the crepes at European Bistro.

European Bistro

111 E. Main St., Pflugerville
(512) 835-1919

West hits East -- Eastern Europe, that is -- at this old-time Pflugerville restaurant where Anni Zovek and her sister, Piroska Althouser, are serving delectable Hungarian fare.

Vibrant flavors abound in the hen soup, goulash soup, Russian pierogis and chicken paprikas, with a more delicate finish in the cheese-filled crepes and Austrian dumplings.

Fleming's

320 E. Second St.
(512) 457-1500

Visually appealing, with lots of red cherry wood on the walls, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar has broad appeal.

Crab cakes and barbecue shrimp offer a good start, followed by filet mignon and Australian lamb chops that are moist, tender and cooked as requested, with unusually rich sides.

Granite Cafe

2905 San Gabriel St.
(512) 472-6483

Sam Dickey's "contemporary Texas cuisine" combines nonregional ingredients with flavors of the Southwest in sophisticated fare.

In one daily special, for example, Dickey skewers fish on a stalk of sugar cane and grills it, serving it over a bed of red chile risotto with mussels, clams and a garnish of black bean-pineapple salsa.

Green Pastures

811 W. Live Oak St.
(512) 444-1888

As beautiful today as it was in the late 19th century when it was built, the old Faulk home is now better known as Green Pastures.

While there are some old touches on the table -- the rolls and iced tea of the founder, the legendary Mary Faulk Koock -- executive chef Charles Bloemsma brings a modern touch and an appealing vibrancy to it as well.

Gumbo's

710 Colorado St.
(512) 480-8053

901 Round Rock Ave., Building D, Round Rock
(512) 671-7925

Michael and Yoli Amr are back in the chain they founded, so Michael's Cajun and Creole influence will extend through the two locations currently open as well as the one that is slated to launch soon in the former Jambalaya location on Bratton Lane.

The same good food will be available at all three.

Kenichi

419 Colorado St.
(512) 320-8883

A swank Asian restaurant that is an offspring of the upscale restaurant of the same name in Aspen, Colo., Kenichi is a hit with the sushi crowd.

Wonderful items include the Kenichi roll, with tuna, snow crab, cucumber and avocado rolled inside the rice and topped with bright orange masago (smelt eggs) and the Austin roll, which packs some real heat with cooked beef and jalape�os.

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