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Fearless Critic restaurant review of the day
Austin
Food
Feel
Price
6.6
8.5
$65
Gumbo’s
A swanky good time that evokes New Orleans, but we “roux” its namesake dish

People love the Capitol-area Gumbo’s, which makes the most of the historic Brown Building it’s in; the décor is ornate, yet the dark, clubby feeling is relaxed—like a faux-century-old bastion of luxury dining for New Orleans’ aristocracy. That’s not to say the food’s terribly convincing—it helps if you’ve never eaten in the Big Easy. If you have, you might find that the eponymous gumbo (and the étouffée), while deeply flavored, lacks that authentic muddy roux. It’s still better than the… [More]

 

From the Super ’Stache The underpriced underdogs
Austin
Food
Feel
Price
8.8
8.0
$15
Smitty’s Market
In a small town with a lot of awesome barbecue, the sausage here’s the best

In the 1990s, the Schmidt family duked it out, and in the end, one side got to keep the name Kreuz Market, while the other side got to keep the original building from 1900. Happily, everyone continued to make top-notch barbecue. Perhaps the loss of the Kreuz name and reputation has kept the crew at Smitty’s working extra hard to maintain quality. Whatever it is, it’s working.

The old red brick building near the town square hasn’t changed a bit, and… [More]