The weekly Chronicle feature “Second Helpings” offers readers the opportunity to sample tasty, bite-sized restaurant listings compiled from new and previous reviews, guides, and poll results. This week’s entries were compiled by Chronicle Cuisines writer Barbara Chisholm. When you need quick, reliable information about Austin eateries, check here.
34th Street Cafe
1005 W. 34th, 371-3400
Lunch, Mon-Fri, 11am-9:30pm; Sat, 11am-4pm, 6-9:30pm
34th Street Cafe is the perfect setting for a quick, informal lunch in an atmosphere more sophisticated and relaxed than your average deli. The menu features a dozen classic deli sandwiches made with Boar’s Head meats and cheeses, salads, Tuscan pizzas with crusts as thin as water biscuits, homemade soups, and daily blue plate specials. The cafe kitchen offers full-service catering and also prepares sandwich and dessert trays to order.
Chez Zee
5406 Balcones Drive, 454-2666
Mon-Thu, 11am-10:30pm; Fri, 11am-midnight; Sat, 9am-midnight; Sun, 9am-10pm
Just when we think it’s all about the brunch, we reconsider and think it’s all about the late-night dining. And all hours in between. Voluptuous, decadent brunch items are served with the signature croissants with strawberry butter. Dinner options span a wide range of options from pastas, chicken dishes, and a variety of salads. Diners take note: One stroll past the groaning dessert case will challenge all resolve to resist temptation.
Austin Java Co.
1206 Parkway, 476-1829
13376 Research, 219-5388
Mon-Fri, 7am-midnight; Sat-Sun, 8am-midnight
At a glance, Austin Java Co. might strike you as a coffeehouse offering the standard bagel or muffin as sustenance to balance the caffeine. But you’d be underestimating the substantial honest-to-goodness menu that is offered up. Soup and salad combos, bounteous pasta plates, and hearty breakfasts are all available and all skillfully prepared. You can get that good cuppa Joe that is its namesake, too.
Kerbey Lane Cafe
3704 Kerbey Lane, 451-1436
2700 S. Lamar, 445-4451
12602 Research, 258-7757
2602 Guadalupe, 477-5717
24 hours a day, seven days a week
You gotta love this homegrown and well-loved institution. What’s not to like in a restaurant that wears its groovy legacy on its sleeve (the source of the great big salads comes from its own 30-acre farm) without resorting to superior condensation (big juicy burgers are tops, too). Yummy coffee, Frisbee-sized pancakes, pastas, black beans, etc., etc., etc. All of it served ’round the clock and enjoyed at same. The original location is housed in two quaint West Austin cottages and has old-Austin charm.
Magnolia Cafe
1920 S. Congress, 445-0000
2304 Lake Austin Blvd., 478-8645
24 hours a day, seven days a week
Both Magnolia locations pack ’em in at all hours ’round the clock, and weekend brunch hours can easily result in a 45-minute-to-an-hour wait. Why don’t folks throw up their hands and head to Denny’s? ‘Cause speed can’t compete with quality and ambience of a distinctly Austin nature. With monster omelettes and entrées from Tex-Mex to pastas, the menu is wide enough to satisfy all hankerings within a given group of people. Musicians, families, slackers, business types: They’re all there. Check out their cozy patio dining under the oaks at the South Congress location.
Star Seeds Cafe
3105 N. I-35, 478-7107
24 hours a day, seven days a week
This motel-straddling institution has been around since the Armadillo days when hungry cosmic cowboys restored themselves at its booths. But aside from its cultural significance and the skilled fry cook, Star Seeds is one of the only places in town that doesn’t require you to get up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday to avoid an hour wait. Star Seeds’ menu has breakfast selections galore and an a la carte section that appeals to fussbudgets. It’s as close to a real diner as Austin has.
Red River Cafe
2912 Medical Arts, 472-0385
Mon-Fri, 7am-8pm; Sat-Sun 8am-8pm
When driving or walking to the Red River Cafe, it’s best to look for the two eggs, sunny-side-up, hanging outside, or, more accurately, splat against the wall. If nothing else, they’ll give you an idea of what you might want to eat, as it seems that breakfast is the restaurant’s most popular meal. Lunch and dinner are prime time for burgers. Most of the time, you may sit where you like, and it is best to sit outside to eat in the shaded deck that gives diners the feeling of lunching in the 40-acre wood.
Eastside Cafe
2113 Manor, 476-5858
Mon-Thu, 11am-10pm, Fri, 11am-11pm, Sat 10am-11pm, Sun 10am-10pm
What could be more charming than a 1928 bungalow in a bucolic setting? One that houses a delightful restaurant offering fresh, delicious food, that’s what. The backyard gardens provide a peaceful retreat and fresh ingredients for the famously fabulous soups and other menu items. Lots of well-prepared fish and pastas, too, and a generous selection of wines by the glass. A charming gift shop next door offers to-go items and cookbooks featuring favorite items from the menu. The spot has taken the standard-issue Ladies’ Destination and given it an Austin twist.
Hyde Park Bar & Grill
4206 Duval, 458-3168
Daily, 11am-midnight
Gotta have those batter-dipped fries, we know. But don’t let your quest for spuds quell further investigation of the menu, for this Hyde Park spot at the fork in the road does lots of things real well like fish, chicken, and beef. There’s a good selection of wines by the glass; there are usually lots of folks queuing up for this Austin favorite.
This article appears in June 8 • 2001.