by Virginia B. Wood
Hang Town Grill
2828 Rio Grande, 476-8696
Open daily 11am-10pm Have you ever noticed that there are certain restaurant locations that just
seem to be doomed, as if some force in the cosmos had marked them with an “X”
to ensure that no restaurateur ever made a living in that particular space? The
old McKedricks Treehouse location on Barton Springs Road comes immediately to
mind, but the southwest corner of Rio Grande at 29th Street has certainly seen
its share of failures as well. Until now. That corner has been redeemed and is
now the proud home of the Hang Town Grill. Hang Town is the newest venture from
the man who brought you Granite Cafe, Mezzaluna, and The Bitter End: Reed
Clemons. The new restaurant is a real departure for Clemons; it represents his first
foray into family dining and take-out food. Hang Town is a comfortable,
no-frills sort of place where you can take the kids without fear of damage to
carpeting or fancy fixtures, and where overhead doors lift up to reveal a
pleasant, fenced patio. You can just as easily call ahead and pick up dinner at
the take-out window if your kids are beyond behaving in a restaurant of any
description. In addition to accessibility and kid-friendliness, Hang Town also
rates well in the category of affordability. Kids under 12 can get a small
pizza, burger, or chicken tenders with fries or salad, a small drink, and
either a cookie or a small serving of frozen yogurt for $3.50. A family of 4
could easily eat for $20.
Hang Town’s menu is fairly simple. As in Clemons’ other restaurants, you’ll
find a selection of wood oven pizzas. At Hang Town, the eight-inch pies ($5.50)
are made on fresh, rolled sourdough bread and can be topped with grilled,
roasted, or barbecued chicken, fresh basil, and four cheeses, Italian sausage,
or grilled veggies, depending on your tastes. We enjoyed the Bistro Chicken
Pizza with tender, succulent pieces of rosemary-roasted chicken, grilled
onions, and wild mushrooms atop mellow mozzarella and provolone cheeses.
The burger section of the menu offers six different certified,
mesquite-grilled, Angus beef burgers served on a good multi-grain bun. The
Hangburger ($3.75) with mustard, lettuce, tomato, onions, and pickles is a good
all-purpose burger. I tried the Rowdy Burger ($4.25) with jack cheese,
jalape�os, grilled onions, lettuce, and hickory sauce. While the meat
was tasty and perfectly cooked, the hickory sauce was so subtle as to be
nonexistent and the jalape�os were plentiful to the point of
overpowering. The burgers are good with generous portions of the crisp Twister
Fries ($1.25), Wedge Fries ($1.25), or onion rings ($1.75).
I was particularly impressed with the sandwiches and salads at Hang Town. The
Green Chile Chicken Sandwich ($5.25) is wonderful: a juicy mesquite-grilled
marinated chicken breast with grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, and jack cheese,
with just enough green chile to give it a little zing. The Grilled Veggie
Sandwich ($4.75) is also excellent, with a melange of grilled mixed vegetables,
pesto, feta cheese, and calamata olives. One of the sandwiches with a small
Reed’s Salad ($2.50) – mixed greens, tomatoes, caramelized pecans, feta cheese,
balsamic vinaigrette, and red onions – makes a delightful meal.
If you are a milkshake lover, the main attraction at Hang Town will be the
vanilla, chocolate, mocha, and strawberry shakes ($2.25). These rich, elegant
delectables are made with Haagen-Dazs Lowfat Frozen Yogurt, so you can enjoy
both their virtue and their taste. The mocha shake is my new favorite thing.
I’m also partial to the Stewart’s Root Beer, Cream Ale, and Orange Cream Soda
they have on tap.
If all of this seems like a perfect franchise concept, you guessed correctly.
Clemons developed Hang Town with franchising in mind, and he intends to export
the Hang Town concept in the future. Clemons is ably assisted in this venture
by longtime Austin restaurateur Mike Dyer. Dyer’s fine- dining experience
includes the fondly remembered Sixth Street restaurant, Alana’s, and he learned
the franchise business in the Schlotsky’s organization. Judging by the quality
of the prototype restaurant, my guess would be that the Hang Town concept will
make for a successful chain.
Out of curiosity, I compared Hang Town to the similar EZ’s (the local outlet of the San Antonio-based
Cheers, Inc., chain) at 3918 North Lamar. EZ’s is doing a brisk family business
in the old 2-J’s location across from Central Market. Comparison of the two
menus reveals that Hang Town’s prices are a little higher for some items and a
little lower on others, but both restaurants would qualify as “popularly
priced.” The truth is, however, that there is no comparison where the food is
concerned; the food at Hang Town is just better. It’s fast and affordable, but
doesn’t seem like fast food. Seems that a former bad location has been redeemed
by what could be called righteous fast food. n
This article appears in June 9 • 1995 and June 9 • 1995 (Cover).