Ate Days a Week
How much more food and music can you ask for in this town around this time and after?
Fri., March 18, 2005
Dig This Menu, Please: Fine Dining, Surf and Turf
Reed's Jazz and Supper Club
9901 Capital of TX Hwy. #150, 342-7977
Monday-Thursday, 5:30-10pm; Friday-Saturday, 5:30-11pm
Designed to evoke the glamour of a modish New York supper club, it's not surprising that this Gateway night spot is popular with the middle-aged divorced set. Reed's boasts live jazz, swing, and torch music just about every night of the week, but weekend nights are when the singles scene really shines. The downstairs' dimly lit, wood-trimmed bar is usually packed for happy hour. An elegant curved and cantilevered staircase stretches to the upstairs dining room, where a fairly classic surf-and-turf-style menu dominates. Beyond the aged steaks, the shrimp cocktail, and the London broil, however, the kitchen also turns out a fairly creative selection of fish entrées. These include miso-marinated Chilean sea bass, thyme- and truffle-scented salmon, and changing daily specials. Prices for entrées range between $18 and $30. But don't make reservations for the dining room expecting to be able to see or even hear live music. Instead, show up and vie for a table in the lively bar area. All food can be served in the bar, and this is definitely the place to be. – R.F.
Eddie V's Edgewater Grille Downtown
301 E. Fifth, 472-1860
Monday-Saturday, 5-11pm; Sunday, 5-10pm
"Seafood, steaks, and rhythm" is the motto of Eddie V's, and it kind of says it all. This is downtown Austin's 21st-century answer to an old-fashioned supper club: a bit dressy, a bit sophisticated, a solid bar in a music lounge, and lashings of fresh seafood and prime beef. Think cool live music to accompany your drinks, oysters, crab, and lobster, followed by a sizzling steak. Think Holly Golightly, and don't forget your little black dress and pearls. The fun begins at happy hour (4:30-7pm daily) with half-price appetizers, 35-cent oysters, and a dollar off all drinks. Then, beginning at 7 every night, there is live music in the V Lounge. Alternate weekday evenings showcase Bobby Doyle and Mac Bynum on the center-stage baby grand piano, playing show tunes, bar favorites, and light classical selections. On weekends, a variety of acoustic jazz groups perform. March's schedule includes the Marc Devine Trio, Abra Moore, the Jack Dubal Quartet, Lucky Strikes, the Kim Kimura Quartet, and the Mark Goodwin Trio. For the economy-minded, the best deals of all are on Sunday and Monday nights for the all-night happy hour in the V Lounge. – MM Pack
