Readers Poll: Food & Drink [ Arts & Entertainment | Architecture & Lodging | Food & Drink | High-Tech | Kids | Media | Outdoors & Recreation | Politics | Services | Shopping ] Critics' Picks | Readers Poll Winners sorted alphabetically

All You Can Eat

Buffet Palace

You want what? Thai, Szechuan, Korean, Chinese, a sneeze-guarded wonderland of oriental edibles and plenty of them? The Buffet Palace, retaining its position as Reader's Poll winner, is stocked and steaming with more mouthwatering far-Eastern dishes than you can shake a chopstick at. The really cool Sushi bar has closed, however, as has their Brodie Lane location.

1012 W. Anderson, 458-2999

Bakery

TIE: Sweetish Hill; Upper Crust

These two heavyweight (yet decidedly light & flaky) contenders have been duking it out for years, only to tie in this year's poll. Whether you're looking for simple yet satisfying breakfast munchies or grandiose eventide desserts adrip with flavor and health, we're sure you'll be able to fill your plate at both of these local favorites. Which side is your bread buttered on?

Sweetish Hill: 1120 W. Sixth, 472-1347, 922 Congress, 477-2441, 98 San Jacinto, 472-2411; Upper Crust: 4508 Burnet, 467-0102

Bar Snacks

Dog & Duck

From nachos to the ever-popular fish & chips, from their multipartite "poo-poo" Platter to the somewhat simpler yet rather elusive Scotch eggs, this English Pub, influenced neighborhood watering hole (which "just happens" to sponsor the Silver Thistle Pipe & Drum band!), has righteous food to vanquish the most whetted of appetites.

406 W. 17th, 479-0598

Barbecue

Ruby's

This top-notch & convenient north campus joint, a veritable Classics library of barbeque-ery where the word "vegetarian" is no slur, usurps perennial best Salt Lick as our readers' Chaucer of Chickens and Brontë of Brisket. Indoors, outdoors, take-it-home, Ruby's is a place you can always make book on.

512 W. 29th, 477-1652

Street Vendor

Jim-Jim's Water Ice

photograph by John Anderson

Jim-Jim's Water Ice is a golden cone of frozen fruity heaven, and nothing tastes better on a hot day. Jim Moy was a systems analyst in Philly until that fateful afternoon when he took a friend from Austin out for an Italian ice. The Austinite ranted and raved and wished he had this rare Yankee treat back home. That's all Jim needed to hear. He packed up, headed south, and now he's cranking out a dozen gourmet real-fruit flavors of smooth 'n' tasty Philly style Italian ice, including mango, black raspberry, passionfruit, and guava, from his shop on Old Pecan Street. Welcome, Yankee!

615 E. Sixth, 708-8285

Bartenders

Club DeVille

The postmodern alchemists in this downtown den of eclectic swank (Montgomery Conner, David Dart, Mendy Frohlich, and Sam Sighold), ably assisted by barbacks John Nordstrom and Davis Comeau, will put to rest any worries you may have about the mixological brilliance of the chocolate martini, as well as providing some killer margaritas. Not sure what to order? Let them provide divine inspiration in vessels of glass.

900 Red River, 457-0900

Beer Selection (retail)

Central Market

What Guinness is to World's Records, Central Market is to beer: a vast, chilled repository of it, with sufficient amounts of enough different kinds to float an international armada of parties. And, yes, they do have Guinness itself.

4001 N. Lamar, 206-1000

Breakfast

Kerbey Lane Cafe

This is the one where the emcee introduces someone "who needs no introduction." Kerbey Lane's popular mix of good and good-for-you creates a paradoxical mystery: "How can I like these apple whole-wheat pancakes better than I like either apples or whole-wheat pancakes separately?" And it's precisely this kind of synergistic combination of excellent early-morning victuals and service and atmosphere that has Kerbey Lane triumphant in this category year after year.

3704 Kerbey, 451-1436; 2700 S. Lamar, 445-4451; 12602 Research, 258-7757

Brew Pub

Waterloo Brewing Co.

Is it the brewski itself, or the tasty grub from the kitchen, or the pool table, shuffleboard, foosball, and air hockey upstairs? Or is it the unpretentiousness of the mixed & mingling crowd that makes this place such a favorite in the downtown beertank scene? Stop in to quench your thirst and figure it out yourself over a few cold ones.

401 Guadalupe, 477-1836

Cake Decorators

Lucy's

Picasso's dead, Michelangelo's even more dead, Claes Oldenburg would probably need to create a cake the size of Moby Dick, and Julie Doucet's off in Canada somewhere. And besides, we're talkin' cakes here. Best to call Lucy's, Austin's Old Master in the art of confection decoration and the readers' fave again this year - for a frosted treat modeled after your pet, a spaceship, or the UT Tower - and let its artists handle this sweetest of mediums.

2803 San Jacinto, 472-6612

Caterer

TIE: Prairie Rock; Word of Mouth

Two fine catering companies, ready to handle all your on-site culinary needs - from sorority soirees to corporate confabs - with food so good it seems out-of-this-world instead of out-of-their-ovens. Can you imagine both of these businesses having company parties on the same night? Who would they call? Having shown up often in this category, Word of Mouth's Rebecca Wallace and Leslie Moon and Prairie Rock chef Deborah DeWitt obviously have many loyal fans among our readership.

Prairie Rock: 815-A Brazos, #332, 441-0111; Word of Mouth, 919 W. 12th, 472-9500

CoffeeHouse

TIE: Spider House; Flipnotics

Second-time Best choice Flipnotics, fueled not only by a wide variety of tasty caffeinated beverages but by the smorgasbord of live music featured on many nights, ties with cool & campusy/arty upstart Spider House this year as leader of the laid-back java pack. You can't go wrong either place, whether you're looking to slam liquid wakefulness or angst-ridden poetry or both.

2908 Fruth, 480-9562; 1601 Barton Springs, 322-9750

Diner

Star Seeds

Once again, the virtually uncontested champ in this category. To change the ranking, we'd have to change the label: Star Seeds seems custom-ordered from central casting, as if a set designer had bellowed "Yo, Murray! We need a diner, totally laid-back & low-rent, thick with an ambience of grunge & funk, college kids & townies, really great food and 24/7 right next to the highway!" (You want to order the breakfast tacos: Yes, you do.)

3107 N. I-35, 478-7107

Drink Specials

Trudy's

It's the $2.50 frozen margaritas that put this place on top with Austinites, especially the mango margaritas on Sundays, and the sangria-based specialty o' the house, the Sangfrita.

409 W. 30th, 477-2935; 8820 Burnet, 454-1474; 4141 Capital of Texas Hwy., 326-9899

Fastest Waitstaff

Chuy's

When you get the kind of frequently-packed-to-the-gills patronage that Chuy's gets, you need a fast waitstaff. And the efficient men and women dealing from the arm in this way popular Tex-Mex restaurant & Elvis shrine are even faster than the speed of Lite.

1728 Barton Springs Rd., 474-4452; 10520 N. Lamar, 836-3218; 11680 Research, 342-0011

Grocery Store

Central Market

This is the place, definitely. If good shoppers want to get a preview of what grocery-store heaven will be like, in whatever afterlife they may imagine, they need to come here. Central Market is a food store, cooking school, restaurant, live music venue, and local tourist attraction, all in one. That's an Austin take on heaven, if there ever was one.

4001 N. Lamar, 206-1000

Happy Hour

Trudy's

"Happy Hour" is usually a misnomer, since they tend to last at least two hours and sometimes more, right? Well, Trudy's Happy Hour lasts all day on Mondays. Nuff said.

409 W. 30th, 477-2935; 8820 Burnet, 454-1474; 4141 Capital of Texas Hwy., 326-9899; Cherry Creek, 5712 Manchaca, 440-8810

Lunch Under $5

Thundercloud Subs

If you're trying to save for a rainy day but are reluctant to ingest less than bodacious noontime provender, this local chain is the silver lining between the cloudhorns of your fiduciary/culinary dilemma. These are submarine sandwiches that'll help raise you from the depths of debt and hunger, especially in the middle of the workweek grind.

various locations, 452-5010

Nicest Waitstaff

Trudy's

Loyal patrons of Austin's Texas Star and her satellite locations all know how far a kind word and a friendly smile go - especially on a Friday night, when the lime-strawberry swirls are swirling out of the waitstaff's hands at the speed of sound, or on Sunday morning, as crowds swell for a swell plate of Trudy's popular migas. Just about anytime, readers can count on the genial staff at Trudy's to make sure there's an extra place at the table.

Trudy's: 409 W. 30th, 477-2935; 8820 Burnet, 454-1474; 4141 Capital of Texas Hwy., 326-9899

Open-Air Market

Westlake Farmer's Market

photograph by John Anderson

Here's where you'll find a vegetable cornucopia ready to spill off the trucks of local growers and into your thankful pantry & fridge every Saturday from 10am - 2pm. A perfect weekend combo of great outdoors & grocery shopping, with a wide variety of produce fresh from the earth. There are often as many as 30 vendors selling fresh, local organic produce and flowers, tamales, natural beef and chicken, salsas, goat cheese, gelato, breads, pastries, and other assorted culinary treats like gourmet tamales and award-winning farrmstead cheeses. This year, they'll be open every Saturday night through the winter.

4100 Westbank, 280-1976

Place to Eavesdrop

Kerbey Lane Cafe

You could keep the bestseller lists and tabloid racks full for decades by transliterating only half of the dishing you can get an earful of among the tables & booths at any Kerbey Lane Cafe. It's their diverse clientele representing both the high and the low, the tech and the granola, the current media celebrities and the as-yet-undiscovered virtuosi, and all the range and overlappings of that vast spectrum of Austinites & passers-through, that make this Breakfast Best nonpareil when it comes to the word "indiscreet."

3704 Kerby, 451-1436; 2700 S. Lamar, 445-4451; 12602 Research, 258-7757

Wine Selection (retail)

Central Market

Looking for basic good wine, or perhaps some vintage beyond the ordinary? Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, some grape-based delight known by a name you've never even seen before but which will soon become your favorite? Our readers know you'll find it among the racks & shelves of the Central Market, along with many other continually scrutinized-and-improved selections from around the world.

4001 N. Lamar, 206-1000