It started as a bakery with an after hours underground dining club. Now open to more than just close family and friends, dinner at Texas French Bread is an ever-changing joyous experience.
With a menu that rotates weekly, it's printed, popped up on the chalkboard, and uploaded online in a surprisingly timely manner.
Dinner options change based on ingredients sourced from nearby farms, but don't worry they keep it nice and simple. There's usually a beef, a pork, a chicken, a pasta, and loads upon loads of veggies - plenty to please all.
Here was the menu for the week of January 25th:
Always a good idea to start with the mussels and order up a side of the frites!
This week's market salad featured a pickled watermelon radish, ever so refreshing.
The Ravioli of the Season remains a staple on the menu that customers just can't live without. To many a dismay, it is served as an appetizer, but order up two and make it an entree! Here we have spinach with ricotta, chèvre, and peashoots.
The beef short rib of course fell right off the bone. It was perfect. I just wish it were Kosher to order two!
The drum is a usual suspect, this is Texas after all. The fish is simply prepared and accompanied by roasted vegetables of the season.
The pork milanese is a repeat offender, pounded thin and crusted perfectly. It's a light and delicious dish done right. A favorite go to for many.
Like the Ravioli, one can never go wrong with the in-house pasta. This week the pasta featured sweet potato, marjoram, a touch of cream, and guanciale - a fancy sort of pancetta.
With roots in the bakery business, dessert is a must and the options are endless.
The Butterscoth Budino is amazing. It always gets my vote. A creamy, thick pudding topped with salted caramel and a dollop of whipped cream. Mmmm - Heaven just thinking about it.
The coconut meringue cake is fabulously fluffy. Hand-whipped and well worth it.
Hyde Park Fudge cake was an original at Texas French Bread back in the '80s, hence the name for the Austin neighborhood. The cake itself is famous. Patrons delight in the light and spongy bunt cake topped with just a drizzle of fudge frosting.
And there's always a plethora of tarts and pies. So rich and tart, I'm a real sucker for the Key Lime pie.
The restaurant has just seen a major facelift with it's eagerly anticipated 2014 renovation, both front and back. I'm most looking forward to the wood-fired grill in the new kitchen!
Texas French Bread
2900 Rio Grande Street
Austin, Texas 78705
(512) 499-0544
Hours of Operation:
Sunday 8am - 5pm
Monday 7am - 5pm
Tuesday - Thursday 7am - 9:30pm
Friday - Saturday 7am - 10pm
Dinner menu starts at 5:30pm
Reservations via OpenTable
WiFi Available
BYOB with beer and wine sales coming soon
*** UPDATE: Texas French Bread is now serving Wine and Beer, but you can still BYOB ***