Around Town

Restaurants, Food Trailers, and Pubs, Oh My!

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The Flying Saucer at the Triangle : Austin TX

They have over 200 different beers here!  No matter what you’re looking for they will have something that will satisfy your taste buds.  I prefer the IPA’s which are distinctly hoppy.  They also serve food which is decent for bar food.  You can order meat and cheese plates to pair with your beer which is a great snack.  I like their goat cheese salad with grilled chicken.  There are also plenty of sandwiches and even brats, soft pretzels, and beer cheese soup!  They have several locations throughout the states (14 I believe).  Evan and I joined the UFO club and became BEERKNURDS^SM by paying $18.00 at the Flying Saucer. We received a free BEERKNURD^SM t-shirt and a personal magnetic card.  We swipe our cards to keep track of the beers we consume to be immortalized in the Ring of Honor….. Plus we win prizes along the way.  I think I have tried 77 different beers thus far, so I have a ways to go.  The membership pays for itself, when you enroll about once a month you get a free beer (worth $5-7 off the tab), free beer at 50 and 100 beers, a free birthday beer, and free entrance to events and tastings.  Plan on spending about $60 for two with food on a weekend.  They also allow dogs on the patio where they will bring your doggie a bowl of ice water.

MAX’S WINE DIVE

So last night we decided to go out to celebrate Evan’s new job!  I just purchased a “Groupon” for this place, $15 for $30 worth of food.  It was AMAZING!!!  We had great food and great wine, probably too much wine 🙂 We made reservations for 8 pm, when we got there, there were about 3 tables available (20 min later the place was slammed).

This place is definitely a “guilty pleasure” kind of joint.  We started off with some wine, I had the

’08 Petite Petit  | Lodi, California 12.95 a glass and $39 a bottle

Evan had the ’04 Rutherford Hill Cabernet | Napa $ 10.95 a glass $49 bottle.

Then we decided to have an appetizer, we ordered the Max N Cheese for $9 it was FANCY pants mac n cheese: Cavatappi pasta tossed in truffle cream with fresh mozzarella, white cheddar,Gruyere, and Grana Padano cheeses!  Best Mac & Cheese ever!!!

Then we had some more vino that was highly recommended by our awesome waiter (Thomas?? wine makes you really good with remembering names…).

We both had the ’05 Two Hand’s Charlie’s Patch | Napa| 92ptsTanzer $22 a glass /159 bottle  – I know it was pricey but probably the BEST wine I have ever had in my life so far!!!  It was a major splurge but well worth it considering the wine we buy at home is usually never over $10 for the whole bottle!!! 🙂

We then decided to have some dinner, we split the  Southern Fried Chicken $15 it consisted of House-made jalapeño and buttermilk-marinated chicken, deep fried slow and low and served with chipotle honey, mashed potatoes, collard greens and Texas toast we, added additional piece for $3.  So this little dish was  freakin’ AWESOME!!!  The chicken was super crispy and had such a good flavor!  I don’t usually eat fried chicken ever but this dish will be lingering in my mind for quite some time I’m sure!

With our dinner we decided to do what your supposed to do and have some Champagne  with our chicken, why the hell not (as they say)???  We had Bollinger Special Cuvee  | Champagne $17 a glass/ 99 bottle, it was fantastic with the chicken the bubbly was a nice contrast to the red wines we were having before.  This was the first champagne we have ever had that was actually from Champagne France, move over Cooks 🙂

Dessert was not going to happen, we were completely satisfied!  We tried several other samples of wine our fantastic waiter buoyantly delivered to us.

Overall we had a great night and tried some great new things!  We don’t often spend money like this so it was a treat (and a celebration)!  We spent about $100 not including tip and that was with the Groupon (which paid for $30 worth of food, so pretty much all of the food we ordered).

MORE MAX’S

FARM TO TRAILER

When I’m not cooking I like to try new things around town!

If you’re ever in Austin and want a unique treat check out Odd Duck, bring a 6 pack the wait will be around 30 min at least (on a Saturday).

We split:

• Soft boiled farm egg with slow cooked pork shoulder, grits and grilled zucchini $6
• Grilled brisket on toasted baguette with cheddar and roasted corn $6
• Slider with spiced pork belly, sauerkraut, mustard and pickled jalapenos $6

These are tapas sized so we probably could have eaten twice as much (and felt like doing nothing afterward).  This was a perfect amount.  All I can say is, place is AWESOME, the food was comparable to a 5 star restaurant @ 1/2 the price.  They only buy local, seasonal, and they use the whole animal.  Each day the menu changes, you can look on their website to check out what they will be cooking up.  Also, if you’re a dessert person, next door is Gourdough’s (an awesome looking doughnut trailer). We will be back, SOON!!!!