Recommendations for Maudie's?
I've been searching for a place that serves Migas during weekday lunch hours for Friday trips home when I'm craving Migas (or breakfast in general) and haven't eaten since 5am if at all.
There are precious few places who serve Migas during weekday lunch hours. I think the list on my PDA is up to seven. The reason as Don Luis explained to me -- the griddle / stove must be kept at a different (lower) temperature for eggs than for everything else on their lunch menu. They can't do dual temps with only 8 feet of griddle space.
Someone recommended a local? chain called Maudie's.
I called and they do seem to have Migas (and other breakfast options) available during lunch!
I searched here and found these favorable recs:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/488227
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/385546
What are your favorites at Maudies?
Here are their locations from their website:
Maudie's Café off Lake Austin Blvd.
2608 W. 7th
Austin, TX 78703
512-473-3740
Maudie's Too
1212 S. Lamar
Austin, TX 78704
512-440-8088
Maudie's North Lamar
10205 N. Lamar
Austin, TX 78753
512-832-0900
Maudie's Hacienda
9911 Brodie Lane
Austin, TX 78748
512-280-8700
Maudie's Milagro
Davenport Village
3801 N. Capital of TX Hwy.
Austin, TX 78746
512-306-8080
sweet100s
Mar 02, 2008 10:44PM
Maudie's food is pretty mediocre. On top of that that charge extra for rice and beans with your meal.
When I want something really unhealthy, I'll order the Strait Plate which is three beef enchiladas topped with chile con carne sauce and two fried eggs.
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I've never understand why people rave about this place. I think the food is fair at best and the service is usuallly poor and rude. I tried 3 different locations and won't go back. Too many other alternatives.
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I wouldn't say that I love Maudie's, but I do like it somewhat. I've been to the one on So. Lamar and the one off Lake Austin Blvd. I preferred the Lake Austin one.
The thing about Maudie's is that it's an old-fashioned, slacker-ish Austin place. It's a place to go when you are just too tired to cook and want something filling and familiar, and maybe to have a margarita too. The food is never going to be excellent, but you know that going in. It's lazy Tex-Mex food, served cheaply, and I think such restaurants have a place in life--it's the kind of place you might want to go if you are with non-chowhound-y friends from work, people who don't have a lot of money to spend, and who just want to hang out with friends in a friendly, comfortable place and have a good time. I've never found the service to be rude, though, just lazy (not saying it didn't happen elsewhere, just reporting my own experience). If I experience rude service at Maudie's, it would be an easy place to cross off my list. There are too many similar places (Trudy's, and Little Mexico, Polvo's, and several others, at least to some degree) to put up with rude service.
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Can't comment on Maudie's migas (but I was not a fan of their cheese enchiladas the one time I went), but I have had migas for weekday lunch at another local chain, Trudy's. The one time I had them there, they were quite tasty.
Another option for good cheap migas is the Tamale House on Airport. They are only open until 2 or 3, and there are only a couple of tables there, so it's best to plan on taking your food to go, but their migas are good and cheap and available any time.
I also like the migas at Cisco's, but don't know their weekday serving hours.
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When we lived far south, we were regulars at Maudie's Hacienda. We always liked it. The service used to be great, then slacked off (the bartenders were always awesome), but this is about 2 years ago. I didn't usually indulge in their migas. I preferred the huevos borrachos.
Anyway, we moved far north, so Jardin Corona is now our sorta-local Tex-Mex joint of preference.
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Serrano's offers their migas and fajitas plate at all times. If I end up with a group of people who want to eat at Serrano's, it is what I typically order. Not nearly as good as some other places, but it is one of the best options on their menu. Most of the time I would say they are "average" but a couple of times the refried beans have been extra salty and the right amount of cheddar was on the migas. At that point, I would call them "good".
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I frequent the N. Lamar Maudie's location. I enjoy it's divish atmosphere, the proximity to my job and the fact that I can get breakfast all day long. My favorites for breakfat are the Pete's Tacos (country sausage, potatoes, serranos, onions, eggs and cheese) and Tatiana's Tacos (crumbled tamales, eggs and cheese). There are several of us in my office that have a thing for their Chilaquiles with the verde sauce and two friend eggs over easy. Their verde sauce has a nice tang to it. I have never tried or even seen their Migas so I can offer no advice there. I would like to add that Maudie's uses yellow American cheese in their dishes (not the Chilaquiles though). So if you don't dig that, you might not dig Maudie's.
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I really only go to Maudie's when someone else suggests it. It's definitely not my favorite, but it's not offensive either. I usually get either the chalupas compuestos or the Miada's salad.
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Habanero's offers their full breakfast menu all day. Enchiladas y Mas used to do so at one time also.
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Maudies is seriously the worst mexican food I've ever had. Actually, no, I had mexican in central Pennsylvania once and it might be on par with that.
I think it is an inside joke with the local mexican community-- lets see how bad we can make the gringo food before they notice.
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Thanks for all your feedback!
If I end out at Maudies I won't have high expectations.
My best single-experience w/ lunchtime Migas was at Sazon. However, they are so completely inconsistent - Great one time, bad the next, that I can't recommend them, and haven't been back. And the CP I ordered instead on one visit tasted barely warm, like it had been sitting out unheated all day; very unappetizing.
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I've been to three Maudie's locations.
The Lake Austin one was ok but not great.
The South Lamar location was so bad I won't order food there again if I'm somehow forced to go there. I'd rather eat first somewhere else.
The Davenport location was the best one that I've been to. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food. The beef fajita enchiladas with chipotle sauce which I've gotten at all three locations was much better there. The rice and beans was nothing special though. Its not my favorite place to go for Tex Mex but it'll do. Plus my bf loves their Pura Vida margarita. They're so strong I only drink half before giving him the rest.
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I've only been to one, at Davenport, and that was enough for me. I left half of my plate uneaten-- and I always leave a clean plate (though, I should work on that maybe...). Anyway, I was drawn in by the location, and it is amazing. The margarita was pretty great too. I'm even thinking the salsa was ok. But the food was inexcusable.
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I was just pointing out that the Davenport location had the best enchilada dish of all three I've been too. Personally, I'm not that passionate about Tex Mex but my bf loves it. He usually picks the restaurant when we do have Tex Mex and I think we've all been to restaurants we'd rather not go to for the sake of our SOs. I'm just glad he no longer insists that we go to La Feria. We went there all the time when we first started dating because it was his favorite at the time. Ugh.
I've since turned him on to Sazon. We both love the conchita pibil there. But then I'm all for any pork dish when its done right.
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I used to go to the Davenport one relatively frequently for lunch. I thought the food there was good, but not memorable, except for their tortilla soup - I really liked that because it didn't have tomatoes. It's a great place to go when the weather is nice though since you can sit outside.
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At one time I was a Maudie's fan, particularly of the location on North Lamar, but I frequented all of the locations. They made pretty decent cheese enchiladas, and good, industrial strength margaritas. In my opinion, though, there was a steep drop-off in quality a couple of years ago, and I haven't noticed any improvement. I've never been impressed with the restaurant's overall cleanliness - the Maudie's "Hacienda" location on South Lamar is particularly nasty at times. The relatively upscale Davenport location has lousy service, and uncaring staff who appear to be UT students that would rather be doing something else. For food and service, the aforementioned North Lamar site is the best of a very mediocre bunch, but Maudie's is no longer in my ever-shrinking circle of Austin dining oprtions.
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Do you have Joe's Bakery on East 7th on your list?
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newme, yes!
The only thing I didn't like about Joe's was that the salsa seemed 5 times as hot as any I've had any other place; barely edible for me. That might have been just that day though. But everything else was good. I should definitely give them another try.
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Not the best Tex - Mex in this town, but they do some things really well, like the Guac and the Queso. When I go there, I almost always order the burger. It's really good!! Get Grilled Onions and Guac on it.
Sounds crazy to go to a Tex-Mex place and order a burger, but if you aren't a fan of Maudie's Tex-Mex and you find yourself there, trust me. Order the burger!!
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