Cypress Grill near MoPac and William Cannon Drive in Far South Austin

Well here I am again, just when you figured that I either croaked or said to hell with trying to maintain this blog any further. The truth is I never go anywhere anymore unless someone wants to drive me around and today someone did, so I figured what the heck. I've been to this joint a few times before today and can honestly say I've never had a bad meal there, this trip was no different. Besides having lots of parking and being conveniently located, for me, I had a coupon good for one free entree with purchase of a second one, so my food was gratis. They might have given it to me for free anyway, if they knew I was a world famous blogger but I didn't want to embarrass them by pointing out their ignorance. I had a BM to start with and that sounds pretty nasty until you realise I'm talking about a Bloody Mary. It came with a pickled okra and three green olives on a plastic sword and tasted pretty damn good for $3.25. When the meal arrived I ordered a 16 oz. Mojito that set me back the same amount. It too was excellent. I took a bunch of crummy pictures because I'm out of practice, and I had waited until I had a pretty good jag on, but a few turned out sweet and the rest still tell a story. The video is just slightly better, so give it a view too, if you feel like it.

Destee Nation Roadtrip Rolls into Austin Texas

Before I go any farther, here is the link: http://www.desteenation.com/roadtrip O.K. here's the story: about two weeks ago I was contacted through this blog by a woman in Seattle who works for a company that seeks out, and gets signed licensing agreements from, local iconic landmarks for the purpose of printing and selling T-Shirts world wide. She said their Scout would be in Austin soon and she hoped I could turn her on to the real places and help them avoid the posers. I gave her some suggestions and then she asked me if I would be willing to meet with the Scout at the watering hole of my choice. I said sure, tell him to meet me next Wednesday around five at Deep Eddy Cabaret and I heard nothing more until I showed up with the Men's Club in tow. The first guy I saw, and one of a very few patrons, was Gabe himself. We went our separate ways a few hours later when the place was really crowded. It took a little while to figure out what was happening until they announced Happy One Hour with five dollar full size pitchers of beer. Jackpot, or should I say Bingo! Update: I'm a daytime guy, so I didn't know the Happy Hour Rules but now I do. Monday Tuesday and Wednesday from 7-8pm it is half priced everything. I didn't check to see if the bar cleared out after 8 but for some reason I doubt it.

Polvo's on South First Street in Old South Austin Texas

I've only been to Polvo's a few times in my life but considering there are many places in Austin that I have never been to, that is actually a recommendation of sorts. The food here is pretty good and I usually go where my friends want to go because picky is not a word I would use to describe myself. They have lots of seating, a decent amount of parking space and they are located close to downtown so they do a good bit of business. For the purpose of this blog I'm more concerned with the drinks than I am with the food and I had two margaritas that tasted and looked very dissimilar from each other, but they both went down OK. A few minutes later the waiter told me that the bartender was new and forgot to add water to the tequila and margarita mix when I ordered a second drink. It tasted a little bittersweet and stout but I probably would not have noticed if he hadn't said anything. That is, for the first 30 minutes then I noticed big time when my jaw started flapping and even I realized I was getting a bit rowdy. I'm glad I wasn't driving because that second one put me over the limit, without any question in my mind. Accidents happen, but it sucks when they happen in cars. Luckily there was no crash, until I got dropped off at home and hit the couch.

The Parlor in Hyde Park near UT off of Guadalupe in Austin, Texas

I remember going here with the Men's Club, and a couple of female honorary members, but for some reason it never made it to my blog. I'm sure the reason was a good one, like I was too lazy to be bothered, but I did post a video on YouTube. Well, here it is, in all of it's splendid glory, from about eight months back. Parking is mostly streetish, the pizza is better than average and the beer is cold. It's not cheap though, especially when a half dozen sots all get glug, glug, glugging at the same time. The pinball machine took me back to bygone days and the clientele and employees seemed friendly enough but that one guy was giving me the evil eye, big time. They have an outdoor patio and it's much larger than their North Loop location. It's like the smallest pizza chain in the world.

Maudie's Cafe on South Lamar Boulevard near Alamo Drafthouse

Maudie's is well known for their Tex Mex in Austin and this is only one of several locations around town. It was originally built as a Pizza Hut and operated as such at least through the early 80's if my memory is correct. I know that because I used to occasionally take my son here for the pizza buffet, and a beer or two for dad, when he was about five years old. He's crowding 30 now. Anyway, it's much better as a Mexican Restaurant and Cantina then it ever was as a cheap pizza joint. The margaritas were very tasty on this visit but I was too busy taking pictures and video to pay much attention to how they were made. They passed the "I'll have another" test with ease, and in my particular case they passed it twice. The place itself is comprised of an indoor eating area with a small bar that seats six or seven and an indoor/outdoor second seating area. They also have a skinny deck with a cool view of downtown and the neon signs and rooftops of the strip shopping center next door where Thundercloud Subs and the Alamo Drafthouse are located. I didn't eat here on this visit, except for the chips and salsa they forced on me, but I have eaten here in the past, as well as some of their other locations and I've always been satisfied. This is perhaps Maudie's funkiest location in town and one that I have a real fondness for.

Matt's El Rancho on South Lamar Boulevard in Austin

Matt's has been in business since 1952, a year before I was born. When I first moved to Austin in 1981 I ate at Matt's down on Caesar Chavez in front of where the Four Seasons Hotel is now. A year or two later he built a much larger restaurant on South Lamar Boulevard across the street from where the Sonic Burger now stands. I think they have some of the better true Tex-Mex in Austin and lots of people seem to agree. They have daily Lunch Specials that are currently under six dollars. A couple of House Margaritas, I like them with salt but only for the first one, and you can get away for under $20 including tip. Or, you can drink water and do it for $10. Drink water, in a mexican cantina, yeah sure. I need my frickin' vitamin C man. It's a cool place to get a drink and stand around looking at all of the framed mementos on the walls, or the hallway of garden ornaments, or watching the cooks in the kitchen through a plate glass window. I don't know how the cooks feel about it but I think it is better than the Food Network. The parking lot rivals that of a smaller mall and they are open at 11 a.m everyday but Tuesday. It's weird, Home slice Pizza is closed on Tuesdays too. Must be the slowest day of the week. I like it and their sign is the same one that used to be down on 1st Street, I think.

Nutty Brown Cafe and Amphitheater - About Halfway between Austin and Dripping Springs, Texas

While my barhopping pace has slowed to a crawl it hasn't totally ceased. It soon became obvious to me, and anyone following my blog, that my original plan of documenting 365 beer joints in a year was over ambitious, to say the least. Still, once the bug bit I was pretty much hooked and I haven't abandoned my long term goal of eventually reaching that magic number. I just need more time, maybe an additional year or three. Therefore I will no longer manipulate the posting dates to appear consecutive and all future entries will reflect the actual date that I post it, which could get embarrassing. Please accept my apology for any inconvenience that may arise from my slackerness. This is Austin after all. O.k. on with the show. I have been to the Nutty Brown Cafe a total of four times since they opened. It's not that I don't like the music, the venue or the drinks (except for a terrible Bloody Mary that I had one Saturday morning that was made with Clamato Juice) it's just that there are so many good watering holes in the city that it takes a special event to drag my butt half way to Dripping Springs. Every time I drive out to the Nutty Brown I think that I must have passed it somehow. Then five miles later, there it is. Their food is decent and I especially like the ambiance of the huge outdoor seating area. They have plenty of parking, even when it gets crowded, and the place holds lots and lots of people. They have a big old Parrot out there who jabbers constantly and the largest outdoor stage in the area, at least until the Backyard eventually relocates and opens again. It's worth a stop if you are ever headed out 290W or returning from that direction. Just tell them Wisegeorge sent you and they will look at you like you have two heads. Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQFwq7QC3PU