Mash

This has been an eventful and productive fall season for me, as I am trying to move forward after the tragedy that happened this summer. I’m trying new places and new things for my meals and free time. My first stop was to try Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden. I have not been on Rainey Street too much, but it is a nice change from the usual downtown experience. I had a reunion with and was accompanied by Dino and Linda. It was a nice place, and I would like to go back to try something else sometime. I went with the simple Banger’s and Mash with a beer. It was good, but I wasn’t blown away. I do think it was because I ordered a plain combination. I really enjoyed the House-Made chili cheese fries though. Still, I will go back to this place someday.



During my time back in Dallas in August, I found a Chicago-style deep dish pizza place by Gloria’s apartment called Classic Chicago Gourmet Pizza. Chicago-style deep dish is my favorite, and Gloria and Abby requested extra sauce for the deep dish pepperoni. The service was nice, but the pizza was just okay. It was very salty to me. I’m not sure if it was because of the extra sauce or that’s just how it is, but I will give it one more chance or keep trying to find another good spot.

I got to see Abby before she went off to college. She has a good sister in Gloria to look after her, and shares some of the weirdness haha.

Old friends from high school Max and Tim happened to come to Austin one weekend to visit, and it was nice to catch up with them. It was another trip to Rainey Street, this time to Craft Pride that I have been hearing about. I didn’t get to try much, as I came to catch up with them, but it was a nice place. I had some heavy IPAs there. Those beers are always tough for me to get down.
Sweaty.

In my visits to Houston over the last few months, I have gotten to enjoy some very good Vietnamese sandwiches. I was hoping to find something comparable in Austin. I got to catch up with Patrick, who I had not seen in a while, over lunch. I was a good chat, and helped me to further get back on my feet mentally after the funeral. He told me that the Houston food scene for what I was looking for would be better than what I would find in Austin. We ended up at a little place next to Together. It would be hard to live up to the places I got to try in Houston, but I did enjoy this place. I will update when I get the name. I actually ended up ordering two sandwiches.

I was happy that Gloria came back in town mid-August, and we along with Evelyn went to see Dave Chappelle at the Amphitheater in Austin. They were insanely strict about cameras, so I didn’t really get many photos. We were very happy to see him back though!

My coworker recommended a place called Delaware Sub Shop to try for lunch. I got the daily special that day, which happened to be a meatball sub. It was enjoyable but very greasy, and I ended up going back the following week for the Philly Cheese Steak, which was tremendous. I don’t think it is very filling for the price, but the daily specials are pretty good deals.

Philly Cheese Steak with Sweet and Hot peppers

Anita in her never ending quest to try and show cool new places, invited me to Black Sheep Lodge. The place was loud and crowded, as it was a Friday night shortly after work. Apparently there were alcoholic snow cones outside, but unfortunately I rarely carry cash and the ATM was broken. Breaking away from my default burger choice (and though this place prides itself on being the number 1 burger in South Austin), I ordered a Chicago Dog and fries combo with a Live Oak Pilz. I was not disappointed, and will need to try one of these as well as a deep dish pizza whenever I visit Chicago.

The following week, she and I went to Easy Tiger for the Real Ale Iron Swan Ale Party. The beer was good, and I finally ordered the sausage/pretzel at Easy Tiger.

Cathy decided to go to Spain for a year to teach. After a lot of schedule conflicts and her usual disappearing, I was able to see her off before she left when she and Karynne stopped by to watch TV and watch me play The Last of Us (which is one of the greatest games I have ever played).

The Last of Us TV spot:

Funny enough, I went home at the end of August, and got to see Cathy again with Gloria before she left. The 3 of us spent some time at goofing off at Galleria mall in Dallas.

Back in Austin, it was a nice birthday dinner for Christina’s 25th!

Sheina was in town this September for a wedding, and I realized I hadn’t really hung out with her much outside of in a group setting, we decided to get some drinks at Dulce Vita near my apartment. Brittnay was kind enough to bring Sheina’s ID, and I had a really good time.

Since Anita is from the same hometown as me, she kindly offered to give me a ride back home. The Redbull Flugtag event happened in Irving this year, and the event was actually held at Gloria’s apartment. Minus a hit and run incident, it was an alright experience. A large group of loud and drunk people is always the start of trouble though.

TK

Nicholas and Gloria

Us

With Anita, I finally got to try Home Slice Pizza. I see what all the hype is about! I really enjoyed my meal, and ate way too much.

Shortly after that was the popsicle party that she won. It was fun, and I got to see some familiar and new faces. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera, nor did I take many shots on my phone.


Much better shots can be found in Linda’s Flickr set.

I try to go back home at least once a month to see Gloria, family, and friends. I’m getting used to making this trip as frequently as I used to in college. It is always wonderful to see mom and Gloria 🙂

I also got to attend a Halloween party. It was great to see the good friends that I grew up with again. I went as Akuma from Street Fighter. I didn’t wear the wig though. I didn’t have my camera here either, but was still able to get some pictures.
Amber and Seth

Me and Amber

Me and Khanh

Random group shots

Overall, things have gotten a lot better lately. I’m trying new places, got a raise and promotion at work, and have an idea of my next step in life. I’ve been using my Olympus camera more, and need to keep working at getting better with it. Next post will come after Thanksgiving, including my first trip to Hopdoddy, Lucy’s, my first work company outing to Top Golf and any other big events. I’m really looking forward to the upcoming Janelle Monae concert, trip to Nigeria with family, trip to Seattle with Gloria, and whatever else the fall and winter bring.

I forgot just how relaxing this song is. J Dilla – Mash.
“and now, you are going to dance….like you’ve never danced before.”

3 Comments:

  1. “He wants to get his girlfriend; Go get your girlfriend.”

    So much goodness. Eats and drinks and friendshipery.

  2. I’m living through you right now. Thanks for sharing 🙂

  3. yay! My stomach is living through your blog! 😀

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