Thunderbird
Coffee (Manor Road, Austin) – March 2015
Tucked away off Manor Road is a building
which looks like it used to be a residence. Considering the area, it probably
once was. The footprint for the area means parking is extremely limited if
you’re coming there to meet friends. If you can park someone else and walk
there, that’s probably better. The interior is quaint and quiet, a perfect
place to unwind. The side lot has picnic tables where you can socialize, but
the busy road makes it noisy.
Service was good, and the staff were very
friendly. The cup of hot chocolate I got came in what I expected would be used
for a soup bowl. It was filled to brim too, so when I was walking to the
outdoor area, I thought sure I was going to spill it. It tasted very
good.
If you’re anywhere within walking distance
of this establishment, it’s a good place to go.
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Taco
Cabana (Mopac & Parmer)
I generally avoid national chains, but
when my friend said she wanted to take me there, I’ll go. For being a Friday
evening, it wasn’t that busy, which I found surprising. The parking lot seemed
full, but that could’ve been because some of those vehicles were parked for the
nearby businesses which shared the lot. We sat on the outside patio for a short
time, until the intensity of the wind sent us inside.
I wasn’t overly hungry, so I ordered the
chicken fajita bowl. It was a fried tortilla shell molded into a bowl shape,
but it was still served in a plastic counterpart. There wasn’t much meat on it,
when comparing it to the ratio of the rice, but it was still filling. My friend
ordered the steak fajita dinner, and received a huge amount of food. Needless
to say, she ended up getting a take-home box.
I found the food average, but my friend
liked it. And at the end of the evening, that was what was
important.
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Fuddrucker’s
(IH-35, Round Rock)
My friend wanted to take me out for a
burger, and this was his destination of choice. I’ve found better burgers from
local establishments in the area, but today it was his choice. I ordered a
grill chicken BBQ sandwich on wheat bun, and a side of chili cheese fries. The
piece of meat I received was respectable size, although the sauce wasn’t very
“bold” in flavor. The fries had a generous helping of chili on it, although
there could’ve been a little more cheese on it. Overall, it ended up being a
not bad meal.
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Zoe’s Kitchen
(University Blvd, Round Rock)
We were looking for a relatively quick
place for a sit-down dinner, and since we were in the area, we opted for
something we hadn’t tried yet. The menu has selections of soups, sandwiches,
and some entrees. We ended up both getting the chicken kabobs, which came with
rice and a Greek salad. I was worried about getting too much food, and she was
worried about not getting enough.
Each entrée had two skewers with chicken
chunks, tomatoes, and peppers for the kabobs. After pulling everything off the
skewers, it turned out to be a rather small amount of meat. The bed of rice was
decent sized, but the salad portion took half the plate. Thought everything was
prepared well, although the salad wasn’t I wasn’t too crazy about it. My friend
thought hers was okay.
In the end, we had a satisfying dinner,
but we were still hungry afterwards. For a lunch destination, I think this
would be good (especially for the businesses in the area), but it’s not as
impressive as a dinner locale.
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Verts Kebap
(Anderson Lane)
I’d never been to this location before,
but I’d had a good experience at a companion location, so when my friend
couldn’t figure out where to have lunch, I was able to suggest this with
confidence. One of the high marks for this was that we didn’t have to wait in
line for an hour in order to be even be seated (unlike a so-so burger place
nearby). The interior here was neat, there was a nice mural on the wall to give
it a “uniquely Austin” feel, and a small patio for
outside.
I got the chicken salad, which was a great
option for me as I try not to have bready-things in my diet. The mix of meat
and veggies in a bowl could be eaten with a fork, in order to keep my hands
clean. My friend wasn’t as hungry, and just went for the fries. He really
liked the atmosphere. Even when the place was filled with people later on, it
didn’t get that noisy.
There’s a lot of parking in the plaza, but
with so many businesses sharing it, it can be tough to find a space. The
selection for dining choices are numerous on Anderson Lane, and a few here.
This is one of the ones you should go, especially if you’ve never been here
before.
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Game Plan
(Freidrich Ln, Austin)
When the management team was looking for a
place to do a team-builder function, this came up as a good suggestion. Located
in an office park, the building doesn’t look like much from the outside, but the
interior was want counts here. Dozens of arcade games (many from the classic
1980’s period) were available to play, along with a pool table, air hockey, ping
pong, and shuffleboard. A couple of additional side rooms contain various
console systems each connected to their own monitor in order to provide a
different style of gaming.
All the games were set for “free-play,” so
there was no need to carry a pocket-full of quarters. The entrance fee paid
allows for the continuous use of the games. The version of Gauntlet was on, but
not set in playable mode. That, and the water fountains not working, were my
only quibbles.
We were there in the early afternoon, so
the team had the entire place to ourselves. I can see how this would fill up on
the evenings, as the location was very accessible and there was plenty of
parking. No refreshments were available on site, but arrangements could be made
for large groups for items to be brought in. It was a good venue, and one which
is worth returning to.
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