Detour in Oak Hill near Austin at William Cannon and 290/71

The location of this bar used to be the front checkout area for Walgreen's Drug Store. Goodwill took over the rest of the space. There is a liquor store within steps and you can drop off your dry cleaning and laundry at the cheap laundry place. There's a Subway and a Coffeeshop in the same Shopping Center at the corner of William Cannon Drive and Hwy 290/71, before you reach the Y in the road in Oak Hill, Texas.The parking lot is plenty big and sometimes you would think the bar is really crowded when it is actually the Goodwill Store that is full of customers. I like this place because it has a big oval bar that goes all the way around, they have a good selection of decent beers, I had a Newcastle Ale, and they make free popcorn for anyone who wants it, as much as you want, serve yourself. From my house it is halfway to The Natural Gardener where John Dromgroole has a magnificent garden disguised as a garden store. My wife sends me over there often for Mulch and Dirt. The way I look at it is, one hand washes the other and now a trip to the Natural Garden means a detour into Detour's on the way home. I once was in there when a Budweiser guy came in and gave everybody a free weird Dry test beer, and a ball cap. I put the hat on and drank the beer. It's the last time I had a Bud, now that I think of it. http://youtube.com/watch?v=atxU45GdDU0

Sago at the Triangle on North Lamar near Guadalupe in Austin

I wanted to show my wife the new bar called Flying Saucer that is in the Triangle, a sort of self contained residential and shopping village in the heart of Austin. Since we were already there it seemed like a good time for lunch and so we decided to check out Sago, featuring Modern Mexican Cuisine. At first I didn't recognize the significance of the name but before long the Sago Palm trees on the patio caught my attention and it all made sense. The parking is hit and miss at the Triangle but they do have a parking garage if surface parking is overly troublesome. On this particular day it wasn't too problematic and only took one circle around the lot before someone pulled out and we grabbed the spot. Sago is clean, sleek, open and modern. It's also very new but quite comfortable. The dress code in Austin is pretty much non-existent outside of some of the pretension that downtown generates, and T-shirts were pretty common. The food was reasonably priced as were the drinks. The service was quick and friendly and the chips and salsa were some of the best I have ever had, anywhere. The nasty looking picture of my greasy fingers and blackened shrimp still makes my mouth water three weeks later. Mmmm cholesterol. You could see the kitchen from the main dining area but there were several spaces that provided more privacy if that is what suits you. Considering how many different Mexican Restaurants there are in Austin it says a lot that I wouldn't hesitate to return here whenever I'm in the neighborhood. Of course, being just a few short strides from The Flying Saucer doesn't hurt either. http://youtube.com/watch?v=1-v3jP4vzhg

Romeo's on Barton Springs Road in Austin

I guess I should have made this clear earlier but the dates of my blog posts have nothing to do with when I actually went to a bar. The dates on my videos are slightly more accurate, only because I usually post them soon after taking them. Romeo's is cool. I ate there once with my wife and don't remember it being anything at all like it is. The ambiance is dark red and black and shiny. It made me want to drink a five dollar bottle of high potency micro brewed beer so I did, and it was good, but they only charged me three dollars because it was happy hour. Now, the moral of that story was: go during happy hour. The guys and gals at the bar were what I would call Austin inside people, I'm kinda one of them myself. The people outside were the type who love cell phones, blue tooth ear pieces, lap top computers and dirty martinis. They will send a dirty martini back if it isn't dirty enough and the bartender will make it so damn dirty you'll gag drinking it, but they'll drink it and act like it is just what they wanted. Who knows, maybe it was. This would be my number one destination for a cheap date if I wasn't too old to find one. I could bring my wife and her buddies but it would be anything but cheap, happy hour or not. Romeo's for some drinky winkies, The Green Mesquite for some meat and beans then it's home for some of that good old hanky mixed with an equal amount of panky. That's the way it used to work anyway. Hahaha, check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfmjZlP40ME

Angel's Icehouse on Hwy 71 in Spicewood Texas near Austin

This is an Austin Area Hill Country Bar out on 71W about eight miles past 620 and the Arboretum at Bee Caves. It is on a hilltop on the left, just look for the towering red sign that says Angel's. It is an open air Ice House with a full bar and lots of seating inside and out. I would guess they can handle three to four hundred people, or more, at once. There is a great breeze out there in the wide open, and it is a bit of a country bar, but it is no further than driving from South Austin to Round Rock, only without the traffic. They have wi fi, hand formed burgers, cold beer, a plasma screen TV and lots of room. The waitress was friendly and is the only person I have ever heard, beside myself, call my wife baby. They never do that in Austin. I'm lucky to get a sweetie here and that's only after a big tip. Hahaha. It's a fun place and the menu is decidedly bar food but who cares? Splurge on the calories contained within deep fried battered macaroni and cheese triangles. They go great with the mini corn dogs. Check out their website for live music listings and precise directions. Just remember, it is about a mile or so before you get to Poodie's Hilltop Roadhouse, if you know where that is, and it is on the left. You can see the sign from a long way off, so don't overshoot the drive. But if you do, go check out Poodie's and stop here on the way back. If you overshoot Poodie's too, you're wasted, just go home. http://www.angelsicehouse.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2P24lEE7-s

Texas Land and Cattle Company I-35 at Clayton Lane in Austin

I've fallen woefully behind on my 365 day quest and I can make all kinds of excuses and rationalizations as to why, but my brother nailed it most truthfully when he admonished me for getting bored and being lazy. I'm sad to say that he knows me as well as I know myself and therefore I have no rebuttal to his painfully blunt assessment of the situation. So how can I remedy the unfortunate condition of being a slacking slug? I can't, but I can throw him a bone every day or two and it will look as if I am getting my act together. I'm not, of course, but appearances are everthing. So here goes: Texas Land and Cattle Company has two things that all of the men in my family crave constantly, beer and meat. Now, I could stop writing right here if they were my only readers. To continue would provide needlessly superfluous information to Tom and Sam but Ray is one of those intellectual types, who reads, so I'll go on. This joint was a lot cooler, albeit messier, when they had that big barrel full of free peanuts by the front door. I'd just rip them open and throw the shells on the floor, so did everyone else, and we liked it that way. My guess is either peanuts went up or someone slipped on a shell and busted their ass, so the peanuts are no more. It's still a pretty cool place that looks like Ben, Hoss and Little Joe might have lived there once upon a time, at least for an episode or two, and they have a full bar and a large parking lot. The food was o.k. but medium rare isn't the same thing as rare and the cook didn't know that. He also thought medium well was the same as well. They are not and it could easily be chalked up as a slightly off night even though they weren't that busy. I've gone before and I'll go again but I feel like if they are going to serve meat almost raw I shouldn't have to ask for some horseradish, they should just bring it to me as a show of empathy. However, the lobster was great and the tortilla soup made me do a little hat dance and say oo la la. So, watch the video and see what I mean. Even though I don't know what I mean. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF7IWIOfM-E