| Address | 750 E St., Washington, DC 20002 |
|---|---|
| Phone | (202) 393-3776 |
| Fax | (202) 393-3550 |
The salsa was pretty good, but everything else about our meal was rotten. I had the pesto grilled chicken entre which was served with mashed potatoes and chopped grilled vegetables. Everything had too much salt which was probably used to hide the absence of other flavors, such as pesto, that I would have expected to find. The mashed potatoes were more on the pasty rather than fluffy side. The grilled vegetables were also bland and probably overcooked. The chips served with the salsa were very ordinary which is disappointing for a restaurant that bills itself as "Tex-Mex."
One of my guilty pleasures. Competent, cheap, and utterly devoid of hipness. Service is not so hot but after all day huevos and two nice strong margaritas who cares?
Austin Grill is where you go when you want a good meal without the fuss and they have to take you in, it is new America. It is the new changing America. No longer can we fall back on meat and two vegetables with the growing tide of Spanish and Tex-Mex places, this restaurant is right there fanning the flames which burn through meat and two vegetable; and I like it. It is what home will be like.
They restaurant is done up as any right thinking non-Texan would expect or demand a Tex-Mex restaurant to look. Fake lizard on the wall a half dozen Texas license plates, adobe and plaster showing through and painted on to look like it is showing through where it does not. The seating is in booths with a rough-hewn look and feel to it.
The service is fast and very capable. We have been there many times sometimes even with a looming time deadline of rushing to the MCI center or the Shakespeare Theatre--which is in the same buildin--and the wait staff have always guided us to the quicker items on the menu and made sure we got out of there in time to make our performances. Bear in mind they cannot work miracles (for that they need a Supreme Court Bench - only kidding) and on nights when the MCI center, the Shakespeare and Woolly Mammoth are all in full swing, reservations are the only way to go. Allow yourself time and you can enjoy anything on the menu.
The chili is a regular favorite and the burgers are tried and tested. The salsa is very good, the chips a bit greasy. The tortillas are reliable. Vegetarians will have bit of a struggle but if they are not too fussy will find a salad with dressing. Not for vegetarians or those on a diet. But if you want good hearty new-American fare this is the place to go.
I have never had a bad experience at an Austin Grill. For started we shared the wings. So good. They are dry rubbed and chilled for a day and then grilled to order. They are not greast since they are not fried.
For my entree, I had shrimp tacos. I was very pleased with them. I would have the same meal again. The chips and salsa were also plentiful and tasty. When our waitress noticed that the bus boy brought mostly crumbs, she apologized and got us fresh chips. We didn't even seem to notice. That is good service!
we were crammed on one long row, with tables on both sides of us close enough to disturb each others conversations. the food was good, nothing spectacular but tasty. we ordered off their brunch menu and told them we were in a bit of a hurry, and our food and check came out pretty quickly. i don't know how i feel about their brunch...but their usual tex-mex menu is dependable. they have blended, watery salsa.
I accidentally walked into a late night happy hour, after 10pm on Friday night, where margaritas were $3. Chips and Salsa were excellent, service was quick and friendly. There was a small crowd there, which kept the atmosphere alive, but not so big that service was impeded.
Rudest waiter ever! He laughed when we asked for coffee--he'd just dumped the pot, he sneered. Yes, it was late, and yes, we were the last eating customers of the day. But he'd served us, and the bar was still open--and he made neither an apology nor an offer to make us a fresh pot.
The food's OK, though--beats most chains by a long way.
Happy hour 5-7 features 1/2 price appetizers (except for chicken sampler) and drink prices. A few appetizers are good for 2 for a meal. Excellent margaritas. When we sit at the bar (which gets crowded VERY fast), we get excellent service, when we could not sit at the bar, we had lousy service with the waiter seemingly forgetting us. Around the corner from the Shakespeare Landsburgh Theatre, its a good quick meal before a show. Be sure to watch out for the grilled jalapeno peppers with the soft tacos platter. You can add a taco (or 2 or more) for $1 each to your platters, which is a nice idea.
I go to Austin Grill 2 or 3 times a month for lunch. It's very popular because it's fun and accessible, and the food comes out really fast, so sometimes there's a 20-30 minute wait. However, tables at the bar are first-come first served so you can get lucky there. They have great salsa. They have both regular limeade and strawberry limeade; both are extremely refreshing alternatives to lemonade or ice tea. Myself and most of my friends are vegetarians, so we do the black bean burrito, a salad, and (for those of us that eat fish) fish tacos or the chili-rubbed tuna sandwich. My meat-eating friends swear by the Roadside burrito. Their margaritas are also pretty darn good whenever we swing in for happy hour after work. The prices are very reasonable for a good amount of food: anywhere from $6 to $12. The service is very friendly and the food is *really* fast.
Austin Grill is not a restaurant in which I would return. In the midst of Chinatown and so much competition around the area, its a restaurant that would be at the very bottom of my list, i.e. if everything else was closed. Granted lunch is a very busy time but the staff were not very pleasant and the time it took to receive our order was quite long. As for the food, it was bland. So if in Chinatown checking out the sights and needing a bite, move this spot to the bottom, unless of course you enjoy the delicacy of bland.
Was impressed with the originality of their brunch offerings. Very tasty and a uniquely good culinary experience.
I grew up in Texas, so I'm a Tex-Mex snob if there ever were such a thing. Austin Grill comes pretty dern close to Austin-style Tex-Mex, in a festive, casual setting with good music. The fajitas were perfect - flank steak seared nice and dark on the outside (but not chewy or crunchy) and warm pink on the inside. Very flavorful. One of my friends had a special, a crabmeat quesadilla - the meat was fresh, the meat to cheese ratio was perfect, and the seasoning was subtle but flavorful. The refried beans, rice, and guacamole are up to exacting Tex-Mex standards, though the beans could definitely be a little soupier. Austin Grill is proud of its sauces, and they are indeed quite good, especially the tomatillo sauce. However, you can't have a true Tex-Mex restaurant if you don't have chile con carne. Nothing beats chile con carne poured liberally over a cheese and onion enchilada - but alas, I have yet to find this holy grail in the DC Metro Area. The search continues...
Great after work place. The food is really good. The dry rub wings are my new favorite thing.
Austin Grill's brunch is my new favorite thing. Their applewood smoked bacon is very good. Everything was excellent. The only thing was that the chipotle grits were spicy, the waiter called them zesty, but when I tried them I had to correct him because they were Spicy.
This place was fair.. not really good, just fair. Living in DC, I'm spoiled by eating in restuarants that have great flair for design and some food choices that not only look good, but taste good as well... but the ambiance at this place was just cheesy, and our food was just blah. Their vegetarian selection was surprisingly slim. I ordered nachos that looked plentiful, but tasted like crap... and that pretty much sums up the rest of the meal as well.
A cheap brunch spot in downtown DC, thank God for Austin Grill! A new waitress wasn't as attentive as the usual crowd, but we made up the time between drink refills with the specialty salsa of the month (served along with the delicious traditional red stuff), a cucumber and radish concoction that was quite lovely.
The experience yesterday at this Austin Grill was great. Sometimes Austin Grill's food and service can be inconsistent, but the marinated steak on both the fajitas and tacos were enjoyed by all in the party. Also, it was remarked how great our server was in refilling our glasses...he was stealth, and super fast. Please AG keep it up!
