78703, 78701, 78731: These were the Austin zip codes of my college years. Campus, Hyde Park, Enfield, Fourth Street at Trinity, and 360 near 2222 to live with a boyfriend who had an obsession with nature I didn’t understand at the time.
I moved away in 2005, but I maintained a strict schedule of annual visits – tightly scheduled days trying to fit in all the restaurants my mouth missed. When I veered out of my tight Central Austin comfort zone, it was only ever to venture south, east, and maybe up Burnet Road a little.
For a decade, I dreamed of moving back to Austin, but always to a numbered street or one with a cute girl’s name within walking distance from First Thursdays. And last year, when we were freezing in the Midwest, my husband told me he was offered a job in Pflugerville. He asked me where it was, and I answered honestly: “North of Austin somewhere. And I think it sucks.”
That was the word on the street, at least. But even streets can be wrong. Pflugerville is full of culinary standouts that don’t offer unlimited salad and breadsticks. Do I shudder when Master Pancake makes their obligatory “Meanwhile, somewhere in Pflugerville” joke? Nah, my belly’s far too happy.
JD’s Market
14300 Dessau, 512/670-0990www.jdmarkets.com
JD’s little kitchen churns out soft, juicy tacos and absolutely perfect carnitas by the pound in the back of a Texaco. You can’t throw an ironic T-shirt in Austin without hitting a taco truck, but in my world, carnitas and barbacoa are plagued by fatty bits. Fatty chunks. Fatty mouthfuls of slimy yuck. At JD’s, this has never been a problem, and as a go-to for the last trimester of a pregnancy, it’s been regularly tested. I always ask “no grasa, por favor,” but I ask that everywhere, and I usually get a bite that gags me, so this place gets gold stars.
You won’t find fancy schmancy salmon tacos or fried-chicken tacos here, but sometimes I want food that reminds me of Mexico. Also, sometimes I want to buy WD-40 and a guayaba. Here, all of these needs are met. It’s sort of like a mini Fiesta.
Pro Tip: Order at the window, then take your ticket to the cashier, pay, then wait for your order back at the kitchen window. It’s not a perfect system, but you’re getting food in a gas station, so stop whining. Be sure to ask for “cebolla, cilantro, y lima” if you want to amp up the freshness.
Southern’s at PBK
111 E. Main, 512/520-5337www.southernsofpflugerville.com
Chef Steve Southern – formerly of Iron Cactus, a gaggle of other respected restaurants, and a popular Austin catering business – just gave ol’ Pflugerville a facelift with Southern’s at PBK.
A mac and cheese flight? Roasted garlic tater tots with Parmesan and black truffle aïoli? Lone Star beer-brined smoked-brisket egg rolls? Shut the front door.
And those are just the appetizers!
The most popular dishes are the shrimp and grits with tasso cream sauce and the grilled bacon-wrapped meatloaf with mushroom demi-glace, two stellar examples of Southern’s upscale comfort food.
Some dishes are a little pricier than anything else in Pflugerville, but only by a couple of dollars. And the outside patio is the prettiest seat in town, especially at night, and a cool mist can take away the sun’s sting even on the hottest days. More importantly, it’s great food – juicy, expertly seasoned meat is cooked to perfection and the sides will have you licking your fingers after every bite.
As for drinks, there’s a thoughtful wine and beer selection, a full bar, and signature cocktails like the Pflugerville Lemonade: Deep Eddy lemon vodka, rum, gin, triple sec, and just a splash of lemonade and spritzer. Apparently Pflugerville parties pretty hard.
Southern’s is also getting a lot of attention for their Sunday brunch buffet – and the brisket alone makes it an incredible deal – but some standout menu items were missing. To get a carefully executed sample of what Southern’s has to offer, try half-priced appetizers during their happy hour, Tue.-Fri. 4-6:30pm.
Pro Tip: They pride themselves on being a chef-owned, chef-operated, chef-themed restaurant. To prove it, they welcome calls for special requests. Want a yummy meal totally off-menu? Just give them a call and they’ll be happy to set it up. That’s a pretty bold offer.
Dazzle Coffee
100 N. Second at FM 1825, 512/670-1100www.dazzlecoffee.com
This one almost didn’t make the list because I don’t actually like coffee. I got steered into their drive-through without consent, but I was surprised to see lots of appealing options. 100% fruit smoothies with no added sugar, Italian sodas, Red Bull blended with fruit, and a whole mess of drinks made with Ghirardelli chocolate syrup, which is a great litmus test for determining my level of friendliness with an establishment. A high ratio of Ghirardelli indicates a solid future together. Hershey’s can suck it.
But, I digress.
This isn’t just a list for me, it’s a list for you, and multiple people 24 inches from my face – the actual distance between two heads in a Mini Cooper – have clearly relished their Dazzle coffees. So the coffee seems to be a big hit. To my knowledge, Dazzle is the only coffee shop in the greater Austin area that operates exclusively as a drive-through, and it’s almost as small as my old Manhattan apartment. It’s adorable.
They have local baked goods too, perfect for impulse buying, then regretting as you pull away, then appreciating when you start chewing that first delicious bite.
They’re definitely doing something right: After celebrating their nine-year anniversary in Pflugerville, Dazzle just opened their second location in Round Rock.
Pro Tip: They’ll give you a free treat for your dog. Awwwww.
Johnny T’s BBQ
1202 FM 685, 512/852-1535www.johnnytsbbq.com
During my first visit to Johnny T’s, I placed my order and wondered how good the food would be. Over the next 10 minutes – from the time I sat down to the moment my world was forever changed – I noticed folks running in, grabbing to-go bags, and jetting away.
After going around the Texas barbecue block a time or 20, it’s hard to experience a cherry-popping moment, but when a nice lady at Johnny T’s brought out three very different warmed-up sauces along with the food, my head almost exploded.
Warmed-up barbecue sauce.
The Pig in a Prom Dress sandwich with a warm Carolina vinegar sauce is one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever eaten, and it was the muse for this article. Frankly, my only problem with Johnny T’s is that they put so much deliciousness in that one sandwich, I want to pull it apart to appreciate everything individually (especially the perfectly crispy burnt edges of the pork chop).
But it would also be a crime not to mention their big-as-my-toddler’s-face Butterfinger-and-chocolate chip cookies. They’re on the crunchy side, just how I like both my cookies and my cities, and they taste like butter and brown sugar had a baby.
Pro Tip: Just around the corner is Scott Mentzer Pool, which is right up there with the best pools in Austin. And just beside the pool is Green Red Barn at Heritage Park, which hosts the small but nice Pflugerville Pfarmers Market on Tuesdays, 3-7pm.
Taste of Ethiopia
1100 Grand Ave. Pkwy., 512/251-4053www.tasteofethiopiaaustin.com
If this was an article reviewing signage, Taste of Ethiopia would get slammed. Despite driving by this restaurant dozens of times, I only learned of it because it has more positive reviews than any other restaurant in Pflugerville. But its top line of light italic font is almost illegible, so peel your eyes and listen to your GPS when you head over.
But oh how they redeem themselves. Ethiopian food has a reputation for looking like slop, but not only does Taste of Ethiopia come through on flavor – fresh and bright – it looks great, too. Colorful plates and garnishes add pop, and traditional, woven straw mesobs on every table are a lovely touch.
It’s difficult to inspire me to write about lentils, but the azifa did just that. It had citrus and garlic, and the texture was excellent. Injera bread can go rubbery, but theirs was hearty enough to be used as a food-scooper, but tender enough to be enjoyable to eat. The lamb tibs were also a delight, and eating the spot of injera the lamb rested on, which had soaked up all of its delicious juice, is often the tastiest bite of my week.
Pro Tip: Their vegetarian lunch buffet Mon.-Fri., 11am-2pm is popular, but you won’t get a swoon-worthy lamb juice moment.
Hay Elotes
1200 W. Howard, 512/990-7045, www.fb.com/hayelotesaustinThe wildly popular East Austin Mexican street food joint just opened its second location on Howard Lane and I-35, and it’s a spot-hitter. Its address is technically Austin because of some wiggly city borderlines, but if you spit a chile seed out the back of its building, it would land in Pflugerville.
The elotes are superb, thanks to imported white corn, mayonnaise, cream, butter, chile sauce, and a generous amount of queso fresco. But namesake aside, the desserts are the real star. With a line snaking to the back wall, there were audible “oohs” and “ahhhs” each time a dessert emerged from the back. Every minute there was a new tower of fruit, ice cream, shaved ice, candy, large Japanese peanuts, and chile sauce. Jumbo straws and dripping neon.
They’re known for their mangonadas, and for good reason. It’s like a mango slushie with spicy chamoy chile sauce swirled through, served with a tamarind-chile straw for ladylike gnawing. That spicy-sweet-sour straw will be the death of 1,000 diets.
Hay Elotes also takes Frito pie to the next level. The highly Instagrammable Tostilocos are an open bag of tortilla chips topped with fried pork rind, cucumber, lime juice, hot sauce, chamoy, Tajín chile powder, salt, and Japanese peanuts. A wary customer ahead of me in line was now chowing down at a steady pace.
The only slight critique is that I didn’t actually find the elotes or mangonada to be very spicy. A strong chile flavor came through, but my lips remained burn-free.
Pro Tip: Despite their travel trays, these desserts are a nightmare to take on the road without digging in first. Also, they give out free snow cones for kids Tue.-Thu., noon-5pm.
For more great suburban dining, see “Dining Beyond the Chains,” July 18, 2014.
This article appears in August 7 • 2015.