Wednesday, November 13

A Warm, Well-Lit Place

When I'm feeling blue, there are two places that can always snap me out of it: Camden Yards, and the Austin Grill. The Austin Grill has an edge, since it's open year-round and you don't have to buy a ticket. (Plus I already wrote about food-and-baseball; see June 12.)

My first Austin Grill was actually the south Austin Grill, in Alexandria, Virginia. That was about a million years ago. Back then, you could only go to the Alexandria location or the original DC one, located in Glover Park and completely inconvenient to public transport. We walked the five miles from the closest Metro station more than once.

Now, my favorite branch of this small locally-owned chain is in a renovated warehouse in Baltimore. Walk in, and you can't help but relax. To your right is a long concrete bar where the stools' legs look like oil derricks; to your left, and ahead, are two separately-defined but completely open dining areas and one busy kitchen.

At this point, I have literally eaten almost everything they serve and most things more than once, so I consider myself well-able to guide a newcomer through the big menu. When you sit down, don't hesitate to order a cup of the unctuously spicy chile con queso made with Dos Equis beer. It'll go well with the free freshly-fried tortilla chips and moderately hot salsa your server will slap down first thing. I can't recommend the guacamole with the same vigor, as it can sometimes be stringy and often seems to contain more tomato and onion than avocado.

You could also order the Longhorn nachos: chips piled with refried beans, cheese, jalapenos, and fajita-style beef or chicken or both. They're quite tasty, if not quite the equal of the much-mourned East Austin nachos that featured grilled jalapenos and homemade chili. Sometimes if you're nice to your server, they'll sub the chili in for the fajita meat, and then you are in for a treat. (The chili, cubed beef cooked with ancho and chipotle chiles, is well worth considering on its own. A bowl makes a perfect rainy-day meal, and it will clear up any congestion you might be suffering.)

Personally, I don't usually try to cram in a salad or bowl of soup here unless that combination is going to be my meal. I can, however, attest to the sparkling freshness of the homemade salad dressings, several of which are heavy on the lime. The house salad is a good serving of crisp greens, shreds of carrot, and cherry tomatoes, all topped with the dressing of your choice and salty crunchy pepitas (fresh-roasted pumpkin seeds). The Mexican corn soup is like a thick chile-spiked corn chowder.

Now, to the entrees: in the past couple of years, the restaurant has added combo plates like any good Tex-Mex joint should, and you can choose one of those if you would like to sample several of the items on the menu. (I like the Joe Ely After-the-Show combo the best: meat, meat and meat.) Or, you can order from the categories of classic Tex-Mex laid forth on the menu. Fajitas are good here, abundant and tender. Enchiladas are also delicious, served in meaty and vegetarian variations with your choice of no fewer than six sauces.

My favorites? The carnitas, which consist of long-braised pork flavored with garlic and a little bit of orange, and which are served like fajitas with all the fixings. The Roadhouse Burrito, which the menu describes as "a heart attack on a plate." And the migas, which are eggs scrambled with peppers and onions, great folded into a warm tortilla with some fresh salsa.

Dessert here means flan, Key lime pie, or ice cream made from the recipe of a little shop called Amy's in Austin. The coconut ice cream is divine. I never stray from it. It is sweet and creamy, filled with flecks of coconut and absolutely perfect when covered in dark hot fudge.

What else can I tell you? This is such a rave review that I'm not sure you won't think I work at the Austin Grill, but I really don't. I just love the vibe there. It is one of the few restaurants I know where the feeling of the restaurant is so close to the feeling of the place it is trying to evoke. It's not just that the bathroom sinks are made of pink granite (just like Austin's capitol!), or the pictures on the walls of various quirky Austin landmarks, or the delicious margaritas both rocks and frozen. It's not even that Texas is invoked in a million ways in the design of the restaurant, from the light fixtures and staff t-shirts to the stencils of spurs and cowboys on the wall.

The thing is, it's friendly – or, as an Austinite might say, "FREN-ly." And if you can't make it to the Grill, try the queso recipe to the right of your screen. It might be, um, downhome, but it sure is delicious. Y'all eat up now, y' hear?