Damien Watel's norhtern venture brings excellent, affordable French cuisine in a sophisticated setting to Stone Oak, with the usual outstanding fish entrees and excellent service. -- Richard Teitz (02/09)
; Intense, loud, sexy, and as dark as its chocolate, Coco scores as a salsa club, a dessert haven, and as a place to get wasted on chocolate-based drinks.
L’Etoile is dead; long live Thierry Burkle’s new star, which serves updated, casual, continental fare (with Asian accents) in a classy country kitchen. Check the website for live music.
Damien Watel's Southtown homage to Belgian food and cafe life feels and tastes deliciously European, from the creamy shrimp fritters to the succulent moules and crispy frites. The fresh fish is usually excellent, too, and a top-notch selection of Belgian beers complements the wine list. -- 01/09
Beer bottlecaps crunch under your feet under the city’s best tree canopy. Such is the atmosphere at La Tuna, a Southtown fixture where bikers and artists peacefully coexist over cheap beers in the shadow of one of SA’s coolest industrial backdrops.;;
; Madhatters woos early risers and late hangover-nursers with pitchers of mimosas and salmon, sausage, or traditional Eggs Benedict on the weekends. Enjoy homey sandwiches and desserts all week long in the Alice-in-Wonderland-like Southtown house.
Oloroso brings a taste of the Mediterranean to Southtown, with house-made cheese and charcuterie plates, duck confit with a frisée salad, grilled hanger steak with roasted cippolini onions. Menu changes with the seasons. Excellent beer and wine.
Jason Dady of the Lodge and Bin 555 serves contemporary, upscale, rustic Italian family-style in this attractive parkside setting. But it’s just as enticing for a chic happy hour as it is for a large-group feast.
The Dady brothers have produced a family-friendly joint with a quasi-purist Q. The hand of the chef is just apparent enough in plates such as cabrito and cherry-glazed baby backs, and a delicious blueberry cobbler. -- Ron Bechtol (04/09)
This polished but lively temple of richly sauced fish dishes serves a mean happy hour, too, and the flirty professional crowd shows up for it. -- Richard Teitz (04/09)