Coffee Talk: Pacha

Dearest Pacha,

I love your strong, delicious coffee (Texas Coffee Traders). I also love your fun interior, all your organic offerings, and especially, your scrumptous breakfast tacos with homemade salsa.

I dislike your tiny parking lot and the long, slow lines, in the morning for coffee. These two things prevent me from visiting more often.

Alas, no one is perfect.

Nice Eco Sleeve.

xo,

Cheetah

Pacha

4816 Burnet Road

Austin, TX 78756

512-420-8758

http://www.motherpacha.com/

Trick or Trattoria?

It pains me to write this post, but I feel I have to. Sigh.

So, last Friday, my husband and I decided to have lunch together. I suggested Asti Trattoria (I took him there for his birthday 2 years ago and he loved it). We met there and ordered food and I ordered a glass of wine. The wine ordering part actually went very well. The server brought me two samples to help me decide what to order. The rest, not so much

We were there for and hour and a half and the table looked like the picture above for an hour. My husband ordered a dish that had Monkfish in it and I had the chopped salad with grilled salmon. When our orders finally came out, the server told Ruben that they didn't put enough fish on the plate and that she would bring him some more. Maybe I've been watching too much Hell's Kitchen and Top Chef, but should that have even left the kitchen if it wasn't right? My salad had onions on it, which I had asked to be cut. I sent it back. Normally, I would have just picked the onions out, but we had waited an hour for a salad with onions and a dish with a tiny piece of fish on it. But wait, it gets better. My husband takes a bite of the small piece of fish and makes a face. He said the fish tasted old and definitely overcooked. I take a bite of my salad; bland. I add salt. Yes, I did. Then, finally, one of the staff brings out another plate of fish and apologizes. My husband takes a bite and says that this is what they should have sent out in the first place: fresh, well-cooked fish. We eat quickly so we can get back to work.

Cheetah doesn't like tricks, only treats please.

Asti Trattoria (Tricktoria)

408 C East 43rd Street

Austin, TX 78751

512-451-1218

http://www.astiaustin.com/asti/

SOMEpaio's?

So, I actually began this post almost a month ago, but didn't finish it because something was lacking and I couldn't put my finger on it. First of all, I entered the restaurant STARVING. My co-worker and I arrived at 11:00 am. They must open at that time because there was only one person seated and no host or server in sight. Finally, a server came up to us and asked us where we wanted to sit. I kinda hate this. I want to sit at a damn table with great service and great food. Which table is that? (too harsh?)

We get our menus and talk about what looks good. I ordered the Salada de Frango: Mixed greens salad topped with sliced grilled chicken and baked goat cheese. Served with cilantro vinaigrette. My co-worker order the same, but with beef. It took a long time for us to get our salads. I guess restaurants are slow when they first open for the day? When we finaly get our salads, I devoured mine. I barely remembered to take a picture. I kind of remember it tasting good, but I honestly don't know if it was good or if I was just really hungry. Nevertheless, we never saw our server until we were searching for him to ask for our check.

Overall, it was a pretty disappointing, forgettable lunch experience. I have had happy hour there before and that was good. I also had my birthday dinner there one year and, from what I remember, it was good then. They have also gotten really great reviews (see their website). Isn't it funny how bad/mediocre service can make the food seem the same way?

Sampaio's Brazilian Cuisine 4800 Burnet Road Austin, TX 78756 http://www.sampaiosrestaurant.com/ UPDATE: Sampaio's is closed. 5/27/2010

Best Little Deli in Austin

What makes a bad morning of forgetting your coffee, listening to people re-pave the roof of your office building for three hours, and hearing "your voice mailbox is full better? A Classic Italian sub from Little Deli (a.k.a. Crestview Deli). When I asked my husband where he wanted to meet me for lunch, he immediately said the Little Deli. He loves this sandwich and I can harldy blame him. What's so great about it? Here's the description:

Classic Italian Sub ........................................................... $5.99 Genoa salami, spicy capicola ham, smoked ham, sandwich pepperoni, provolone, onions, tomatoes, lettuce sprinkled with olive oil & red wine vinegar, Italian spices, served on a soft hoagie roll.

Yes, my friends, 4 kinds of meat. Plus, they don't just splash some Italian dressing on it; they pour some oil and vinegar on it and add the herbs on top (see picture). The beauty of this sandwich is, that even though there is plenty of meat on it, the Italian seasoning and all the lettuce balance it out and make it a hearty and refreshing meal.

All their sanwiches are amazing and now they have pizza too! This will be your new favorite lunch spot, Cheetah promise.

Little Deli 7101-A Woodrow Ave. Austin, TX 78757

512-467-7402

http://www.littledeli.com/