Category Archives: Restaurants

I make my way around to a few different coffee shops here in Austin; typically, they are where I prefer to do creative work and borrow an internet connection when my neighbor’s isn’t working properly.  I’m also a bit of a people watcher, and enjoy occupying an afternoon in such a capacity.  As I mentioned a while ago, Clementine is one of my favorites in Austin, mostly because it’s just so conveniently close to my place, with a great atmosphere and good coffee.

In particular, I’m especially fond of the “cubano”, which as you may have guessed from the name, is how Cubans traditionally take their coffee.

“Cuban-style espresso is made by adding sugar to the container where the espresso will be collected after brewing in the espresso machine. This enables the resulting drink to have the strength of espresso, but with a smooth, sweet flavor that is unobtainable by simply mixing sugar into a regular espresso.”

The practice of brewing espresso in this way is also common in number of other Latin/South American countries; I remember the last one I had was at Sao Paulo’s, a Brazilian restaurant here in Austin.  Unfortunately, I have yet to find the cubano in any other Austin coffee establishments.  The cubano itself is deliciously drinkable, especially if you find yourself unable to take espresso straight-up.  If made with a proper machine, it will have a slightly thicker crema on the surface than a standard espresso shot.

So, the next time you need to be wired – quickly – do it how the Cubans do it, at Clementine Coffee.

I’m going to start doing some restaurant/bar reviews for the places I frequent or newly encounter here in Austin. I’ve always enjoyed good food and drink; believing that I have somewhat good taste on this particular subject…

First on the list is the Flying Saucer, a fairly new pub/bar, only being open here in Austin for four months or so. I believe it’s part of a Dallas-centered chain. Their new Austin location is at The Triangle – a mega-development of epic proportions, with an extravagant amount of overpriced apartments and glitzy looking restaurants on the street level. The location, and the fact that they’re part of a chain (albeit small and Texas based) knocks a few points off the total for me, but lets try to not let this distract us from the important stuff – food and beer.

The place was a little busier than usual, as Tuesday nights are pub trivia nights, which typically attracts a decent sized crowd here in Austin. Being an unmotivated college student with a decent sized alcohol budget, I have a hard time finding better ways to spend my Tuesday evenings, although my trivia team usually frequents Mother Egan’s on 6th instead of the Flying Saucer.

I was hungry when I arrived, and my default choice was the “saucer burger” – a plain old hamburger with the typical condiment, served on great looking and tasting wheat bun. Unfortunately, the meat was a little overcooked, dry and tough. Oh well.

The real magic of the place, and one of the primary reasons I was there was the beer, an area where the Flying Saucer definitely excels. They have a four page beer list, featuring some great micro-brews on tap from around the world, with most at a decent price ($3-7 per pint). I was in the mood for beer with kick, so my first selection was the Third Eye Pale Ale from Colorado’s Steamworks Brewery. I think there are better Pale Ales coming out of Colorado (Boulder’s Mountain Sun Brewery comes to mind first), but the flavor was good, and it was nice to have some local Colorado beer sitting in Central Texas. Also to my delight, the Flying Saucer features a number of Belgian beers, and my next choice was the Chimay Tripel, served from the tap in a pretty Chimay chalice. I love the spiciness of most Tripel style beers, and this was no exception. It’s definitely a sipper though, packing quite the 8.0% abv punch. Last, I went for the old favorite Sierra Nevada Pale Ale – always a favorite of mine, and a beer that brings back some good memories.

If it wasn’t a Tuesday night, the expansive beer choice would have kept me entertained for much longer, but unfortunately I had to call it early. Despite the lovely list, however, there are a few reasons that I think will prevent me from becoming a Flying Saucer regular:

• The mega-development and mass-produced feel
• The underwhelming food
• Crappy trivia

For me, the Crown & Anchor will remain my #1 beer spot in Austin, with my top choice for Tuesday trivia going to Mother Egan’s. I’ll throw together some reviews for these places later on.