Banger's - Austin TX

Went to Austin last week for work and decided to see if they knew about fries yet.  Our very first stop on Rainey Street (which is cool) was this joint called Banger's.

Let's see, tons of great beers on tap...check.

Lots of sausage.  Check.

Obligatory outdoor live music beer garden.  Check.

"American Fries"?  Hmm.  And why are the fries grouped on the menu with salad?

Yowzer's!  Maybe we should have ordered the "not as large".

Very good.  Six bucks is kinda steep for fries, but when you factor in the amount it's still pretty impressive.  9 out of 10.  I also want to note that all the servers and bartenders at Banger's are apparently REQUIRED to be Cicerone-certified beer servers, which is a big deal.

P.S.  This is the brat.  It was really good.

P.P.S.  Saw this cool EVH "Jambulance" on Rainey street as we were leaving.

Scholz Beer Garten - Austin TX

Scholz Beer Garten (yes it's spelled that way) is a bar, live music club, restaurant, beer garden, bowling alley, and event center.  It's also one of the oldest joints in Texas, in operation since 1866.  While we were in Austin, my buddy Jack and I had to schlep it 2.6 miles every day from where we were staying to the convention center cause the cabs wouldn't come pick us up.  SBG was almost exactly at the halfway point between downtown and where we were staying, so we stopped in for a rest.

Let me start off by saying that this place is amazing.  You really should go to the website and read all the stuff about it.  It's like Chuck E Cheese for adults.  The front bar is cozy.

With tables made out of old bowling alley floor.

And a really great selection of awesome German beers.

 There's a great beer garden (duh).

And THIS GUY will bring you beers and food until you say "uncle".  His name is Jamey and he is just about the most perfect beer/food host I have ever had.  Go figure that he has family in AR and when we walked in he immediately commented on my Ozark Beer Company shirt and we became like peas and carrots in 2 minutes.  Shoot.  He was even in a band with one of my buddies in Florida for many years.  Small country.

Anyhoo, Jamey was like: "Try this bratwurst!"

And then he was like: "Try this BBQ sausage!"

And then he was like: "Palate cleanser pretzel with German mustard, queso, and horseradish sauce!"

We were pretty full, but Jamey insisted we try Scholtz' trademark "Texas" schnitzel.  It's a classic schnitzel WITH QUESO and PICO on it!  Sooooo good.

After all this, I was like: "Hey..*burp...I need some fries to do a review."  Here is the basket of fries.

To be honest, I was physically/mentally incapable of conducting a proper review at this point, but I know even if I was I would still give them a 10 out of 10.  Scholz Beer Garten is so unbelievably over the top awesome in every way, that Jamey could have brought me a basket of phlegm-injected grubworms cooked in poopy toilet water and I would have been happy.

If you are ever in Austin, go to Scholz.   And do it Sun-Wed cause that's when Jamey works.  And tell him I sent ya.

Southside Flying Pizza - Austin TX

This is a public service announcement.

If you're ever in Austin, go to my buddy Andy's joint Southside Flying Pizza in the SOCO district.  The pizza is super good, and the staff if super cool.  They don't have fries, but sometimes you need a palate cleanser...

Oh, and they also have beer.

The pizza is so good you'll eat them two at a time.

And also...

Grunion and Z vs. the Model Train Swap Meet

Last week the Grunion and Z went to (what was billed as) a model train festival.  What it really was (a bunch of grumpy model train collectors trading/selling stuff) did not exactly meet their expectations.   After being scolded by a few of the "enthusiasts" for touching stuff, the Grunion and Z finally found the one guy in the whole convention center who seemed to actually like kids.

GRUNION:  So, whatcha got here gramps? 
TRAIN DUDE:  It's the smallest scale model train in the world!

GRUNION:  Yo, Z!  Check this out! 
Z:  Whoa!  I've eaten hard candies bigger than that.

GRUNION:  Hey train dude!  Are we allowed to touch this train?  Cause those guys over there got pretty grumpy when I touched their stuff.
TRAIN DUDE:  Why don't you touch the trains behind me on our train tower instead?

Z:  Train tower, dude!
GRUNION:  Sweeeeeet!

GRUNION:  This is the most beautiful sight these eyes have ever seen.

Victory: The one nice dude at the model train grump-fest.