Birthday Feed

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It's my birthday in Austin. We are often travelling somewhere when it's my birthday. In the summer we tend to hang around home for Kate's birthday, but here we are in Austin for mine. Cindy has gone home so there's just the two of us. And I can have anything I want for lunch -- so let's have some Texas BBQ! Bring on the beef! Time for some brisket!

This is a bit of a sufferance for Kate as she's a piscatarian.

We often end up driving out to the Salt Lick BBQ near Driftwood and sample some wines along the way. They have very good brisket but today we stay in town.

The best BBQ in town, without argument, is the Franklin BBQ on 11th in East Austin but we have no desire to stand in the long lines for that and often they're sold out by early afternoon anyways! Another good one in town is Terry Black's on Barton Springs. We're reading a review of BBQ joints on Tripadvisor (I occassionally post reviews there) and bump into a story where someone had tried to get into Terry Black's, found it very busy and happily ended up down the road at the Green Mesquite BBQ. We end up there for a late lunch and it's not too busy at all.

The Green Mesquite is down homey kind of place that looks a little tired and worn even from the outside. Inside it's worn too, but that's a good indication that people come here pretty often. Staff are cheery, friendly and helpful. There is a large outdoor patio area but it's a cool day and no one is out there. There are a few other lunch stragglers tucking into their meals but it's not very busy. I end up with a 3-meat plate -- it's a special on Wednesday where, for the price of a 2-meat plate, you get a third meat. I was just looking for some brisket but this is too good a deal to pass. I have some tender brisket (that was my objective anyways), with chicken wings and BBQ roast chicken. Sides of pinto beans and mashed potatoes with a beer to wash it down. Kate has some catfish, fries and salads. It's served in huge Texas style portions -- enough that we have leftovers for dinner. We enjoyed our meals but couldn't finish them -- not for lack of trying.

I like the old posters on the wall of shows from places like La Zona Rosa (which we had been to) and the Armadillo World Headquarters (long before our days in Austin).

For those who get shirty about who should be using which bathrooms you can forget about that here. The un-sexed washroom had a sign with symbols for a man, woman, a trans-person and an alien. Underneath it say, "Whatever, just wash your hands". I'm all for that.

I quite like Texas BBQ and the offerings at the Green Mesquite -- we will return again.