BFF Dinner: Tortuga Flats

My birthday was over a month ago, but my BFFs (Laura and Ashley) and I weren't able to get together to go eat dinner. We were finally able to go have dinner together last Friday. I wanted to find a place we had never been to before that wasn't too far from home (all three of us had a really exhausting week). The last thing I wanted to do after a long week was to drive in traffic to eat somewhere downtown.

A little background story on how I met Laura and Ashley. It's pretty funny actually. A year ago around the time of my birthday I decided to venture out of my comfort zone and find a new job. This was a really hard decision for me since I had been working at my then current job for 3 years and they were pretty much my family. I wanted to find a job that was relevant to what I went to college for, which was HR. I found a job and it was at a place that Laura and Ashley were working at. I was actually going to be Laura's replacement! Long story short -- none of us work there anymore... But I was lucky enough to gain two amazing friends out of the whole experience. Everything happens for a reason and the universe has a crazy way of working things out!

Fast forward to present day... I told the girls I wanted to try Tortuga Flats. I've heard about it and stalked their Facebook for yummy photos, but have never been. Tortuga Flats is in a really unexpected shopping center. It's located off of IH-35 in Round Rock by Target, Best Buy, and Third Base. I say that it's in an unexpected place because it looks like a restaurant that I would see downtown. The decor was cute & modern, they had live music blasting, and the food & drinks were legit. Definitely a worthy restaurant to try if you live in Round Rock/Pflugerville... Or if you're just in the neighborhood! They even have happy hour Mon - Fri 3pm-7pm. Yummy! 

Yummy drinks. I got the bottom left drink and it was a Pineapple Spritzer... It tasted just like juice!
That's dangerous....

Tacos Al Carbon
(Sirloin, caramelized onions, queso fundido, crispy onions, molcajete, and cilantro aioli)
The black refried beans and Mexican rice were spot on as well!

Happy eatings!! :)

Tortuga Flats

3107 S. IH-35 

Round Rock, TX 78664

Date Night: The Peached Tortilla

If you haven't heard about The Peached Tortilla and you live in Austin, you must be living under a rock! The Peached Tortilla is the love child of Asian classics and Southern comfort food. I first heard about Peached back in 2011 when my Twitter game was real strong (hah!). I was really eager about trying the place out!

When Peached first started, they were a food truck stationed at Star Bar (West 6th Street) on the weekends. I remember being greeted by a kind, charming face. That face was Mr. Eric Silverstein himself. He asked me how I heard about Peached and I said "TWITTER!!" Lol thank god for social media!

Four or so years later, Eric opened his brick and mortar and I couldn't be happier for him. I didn't know how hard it was for him to start out until I read this article on Business Insider (click). I knew it was difficult, but I didn't think it was that difficult! Eric even talks about wanting to give up. Boy am I glad that he kept up the fight! I can't imagine life without The Peached Tortilla.

I just turned twenty six and what better way than to celebrate with good food? The honey is all about Peached too! I'm so glad that they accept reservations. That was probably the only way for us to get in to eat. When we arrived, the place was flooded with hungry folks. And luckily, the businesses across the street allow for customers to park there after hours. The parking would be horrendous without that option.

We ordered five dishes, one being the famous JapaJam burger, for two people... We asked our waiter if that was enough to fill us up. He said oh definitely and that the JapaJam burger is a meal in and of itself. I told him, "we can eat!" Oh yes we can!

Margarita de Peached
(habanero infused tequila, thai basil, cointreau, lime juice)

Charred Brussels
(bacon jam, Parmesan, lemon oil)
this photo does not do these brussels justice... just sayin'!

Mom's Toast
(chopped shrimp. ground pork, gochujang chili sauce, fresh herbs)
**WOW! I felt like I was eating upscale dim sum!**

Crispy Umami Chicken Wings
(fish sauce vinaigrette, herbs, shallots)

JapaJam Burger w/ Fries
(tomato jam, 6 oz all beef patty, pepper-jack cheese, fried egg, tempura onion rings, chinese bbq sauce)
**Possibly mine and honey's favorite dish!**

Lush Pork Belly Bowl
(five spice pork belly, house kimchi **TO DIE FOR!!!! RIGHT ON THE MONEY!!!!**,
pickled daikon carrots, 45 minute egg)
**This dish was so rich and packed with flavor! Wowzaaaaaaaa**

The food was amazing, the service was great, and I got to celebrate another year with the honey. But one of my highlights was getting to see Eric! It was so great seeing an old friend and it makes me so happy to see him become so successful. It warms my heart to see people who work hard and strive to succeed, do exactly that... Succeed. I cannot say enough good things about Eric and his delicious creations! Thank you for a splendid evening!

Birthday girl gets to have dessert right???
I was thrilled to hear that Lick had a food truck at their future location.
We were INCREDIBLY stuffed to the MAX MAX MAX.... but who could say no to Lick?!?!??!!

My current favorite flavors from Lick are the Texas au Lait and the Caramel Salt Lick... OOOHH TO DIE FOR!!!!

The future home of the new Lick Ice Creams!
CAN'T WAIT!
6555 Burnet Road   |   Austin, TX 78757

The Peached Tortilla
(Food truck changes location daily... Check website & Twitter for updates!)
Brick and Mortar:
5520 Burnet Rd.
Ste. 100
Austin, TX 78756


Lick Ice Creams
2032 South Lamar Blvd.
Austin, TX 78704
*Burnet location to come!


Til next time my friends....

Happy Eatings!!!!

Good Eats for a Good Cause

If you live in Texas, you are aware of the floods we had a few weeks ago. It is such a devastating and helpless feeling watching these floods take people's lives and homes. When I heard that Hopdoddy was going to be donating 100% of ALL SALES (not just profit!!!!) all day on June 4th, I knew that I had to join in for the cause.

Of course the lines for June 4th would be massive, as if the lines weren't already massive..... LOL! I asked my boss and co-worker to tag along for the deliciousness. We have it all figured out. We leave the office by 10:30 and get to Hopdoddy around 10:45 then stand in line for a little bit. When we pulled up to Hopdoddy that day around 10:45, there were already about 20 people in line ahead of us. Hopdoddy has such a huge following! (I already knew that... but just WOW!)

I decided on getting the Continental Club: turkey patty with provolone cheese, apple-smoked bacon (because BACON), arugula, mayo, and basil pesto on a wheat bun. Let me tell you... The wheat bun at Hopdoddy is just a thing of beauty, along with the spicy arugula, fatty bacon, and salty cheese. You have one amazing burger. You don't even miss the mooooo! And you feel just a little bit healthier because you got arugula and the wheat bun.

We also got the chili cheese fries with ground bison and the truffle fries to share among the three of us. I have never had the truffle fries before, but I quickly fell in love after trying the truffle aioli. YUM!

Kennebec Fries with Chili Cheese + Ground Bison

Truffle Fries with Parmesan + Truffle Aioli

Continental Club

Look at that marvelous burger!!!!!

AMAZING Hopdoddy + Austin!!!

I love my city!!

Happy eatings!

Hopdoddy Burger Bar

(Multiple Locations Throughout Texas, One in Arizona, and One in Colorado)

I went to the one on Anderson Lane:

2438A W. Anderson Lane

Austin, TX 78757

(In the same parking lot as Precision Camera)