austin recreation

Copa on Congress – Downtown Austin Restaurant and Dance Club

AG | April 11, 2010 |

Copa Entrance — Copa - 217 Congress Street, 78701

Part-time Salsa dance club, part-time tex-mex dining establishment, Copa (@ 217 Congress Avenue) moves to the beat of many a drummer. Since my dancing skills are reminiscent of Elaine Benes at a company party (“like a fully body dry heave set to music”), I chose to visit Copa at lunch, lest I be tempted by Salsa rhythms, thereby making the other patrons lose their collective appetite.

And it was pretty decent, if I do say so myself. I walked in to a warm, cozy environment where brick walls and arches dominate the scene. There’s three areas downstairs: the front area which seems dedicated to dining, the middle bar area, and a third, large and mirrored room with a small stage that’s dedicated to dancing. There’s also an upstairs and a small patio (of which I did not get any pictures – sorry) Here are some photos:

The architecture is well-done in my opinion, but I’m a sucker for free chips and salsa, and Copa “brings the pain” so to speak, in that department. My waitress was prompt with hot tortilla chips and mild salsa, and the refills didn’t stop throughout the meal. Yum! And, my meal was easy to choose because the menu is only a one-pager of reasonably priced food. I ended up ordering the fish tacos, which my server, Joanna, explained was her favorite item on the menu. At $8.95, they were a pretty good deal – deliciously seasoned and generously portioned:

As I mentioned, Copa also hosts Salsa lessons. Not having taken lessons there, I can’t speak to the quality of them, but the reviews of the lessons from other folks are generally pretty good, though there seems to be a widespread disdain regarding the fact that they do charge a cover for these lessons.

If any of our readers have been, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts!

Overall, I’d recommend giving Copa a try (at least for lunch or dinner)!

217 Congress Ave
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 479-5002
http://www.rania.us/copabarandgrill/index.html
www.copabarandgrill.com

Two Bike Boulevards! Draft Released

Jude Galligan | April 7, 2010 |

“The staff recommends that both Rio Grande Street and Nueces Street together, in the northwest district of the downtown, be designated as the Downtown Bicycle Boulevard with no traffic calming tools implemented on Nueces Street.”

Two streets, rather than one, could receive improvements to facilitate the mobility of bikes and cars. City Staff heard the massive amount of discussion about Rio Grande being a better option. According to the memo to Council (pdf), Rio Grande currently carries 24% less traffic than Nueces.

After the comments by Rob D’amico and the League of Bicycle Voters, it was easy to be discouraged that the eventual proposal would be too watered down. Now, we have the actual proposal – thick with feedback from all stakeholders. As someone that lives and works downtown Austin, and having read through the draft, I’m happy with the recommended improvements. A few highlights:

Rio Grande:

Parking in front of Wahoos would become “back in” angled parking
New hike and bike bridge over Shoal Creek @ 4th Street
Parking along Rio Grande remains largely unchanged
An array of traffic circles, medians with speed cushions, speed cushions, and pedestrian curb-extensions

Nueces:

Great Streets from 3rd to 7th on Nueces.
Install sharrows from 7th to 13th
Replace parking on one side of the street with enhance bicycle lanes.

The recommended speed limit through out the project is 25mph. Slower is better, IMO, and hopefully the proposed round-a-bouts on Rio Grande will help improve traffic flow, compared to the stop signs currently there.

In summary, these recommendations are light touches. This isn’t an expensive project. This will not be a promenade, and it was never intended to be that way.

-Jude

G’Raj Mahal Cafe (Not Garaj Mahal) – MENU, HOURS, and REVIEW: Indian Restaurant Now Open in Downtown Austin

AG | December 13, 2009 |

9/25/2012: Breaking news….G’raj Mahal announces through their Facebook page that they are expanding! 2nd Location will be at 73 Rainey Street, and it looks like they will have live music. Check out our story on the details of G’raj Mahal’s expansion here.

7/3/2012: Updated menu below! Large groups should note that G’raj Mahal now only takes a maximum of 3 credit cards per order – no matter how many people are in the group. I was told by a server that this policy has been around for years, but I’ve been with several large groups there and June 2012 was the first time this happened, so I think it’s actually relatively new. This policy seems particularly odd to me personally because the minimum credit card order there is $10 (last time I checked, unless they’ve changed that, too), so logic would tell me so long as the total bill for each card is larger than $10, there shouldn’t really be an issue from a fees perspective. I guess maybe it has to do with the servers not wanting to take the time to run multiple cards? I’ve asked Sidney Roberts, the owner – but she has yet to give me a response or reason on the issue….will keep you updated!

Incidentally, it’s also worth noting that the gratuity for parties of 5 or more is now 20% (it used to 18%, per their older menu).

7/2/2010: G’Raj Mahal is currently open from 5pm-12am on Weekdays, 5pm-3am Fri-Sat. CLOSED Mondays. Also looks like all delivery will now be going through Longhorn Delivery (contact info on menu). G’Raj Mahal is BYOB!!!

Sidney, the owner also wanted me to let everyone know that the lamb is halal, blessed, and grassfed – for those following strict diets.

REVIEW:

If somebody asked me what I thought about eating Indian food made in a truck, my *go-to* response would be – “less good choice.” At least, that was until I tried G’Raj Mahal Cafe (no website yet, but you can find them on Facebook), located at 91 Red River Street in Downtown Austin. Ummmmm…super yummy!

This gem opened a couple of weeks ago, and when I had the opportunity to try it out the other day, I was very pleasantly surprised. I had the Vegetable Goan Coconut Currie with the Classic Vegetable Samosa, which was all washed down with a Mexican Coke:

Looking at the menu, I initially thought the pricing seemed way super high. After all, this is food made from a trailer. However, the food was made to order, tasted fresh and high-quality, and the portions were generous. While I still think it’s a bit on the pricey side, I also believe that it’s worth it.

**UPDATE 12/14/2009: The owner (Sidney aka Ms. GM) just contacted me to tell me: “FYI…We reduced our prices this week slightly for the entrees as much as we could. However, we use such high grade ingredients, we are somewhat restricted to obey our food costs. We will soon have a late night menu with $5-8 items like naan wraps, lamb burgers, Indian “taco” salad, and spicy goan sausages.” Once I’ve received the updated menu, I will post it.

G’Raj Mahal Cafe does table service and take-out. The table service I experienced was friendly (even deferential) and the overall vibe was good. I would note that there is no indoor seating, but the outdoor seating is covered, and what I would describe as breezy, surrounded by peacefully flowing pieces of gauzy white fabric. Here’s a shot of the typical table:

Overall, I think it’s a good, unique addition to the downtown Austin restaurant landscape, gives the east side of Congress a quality casual dining option, and is a small business that I will support. It’s just a few steps from our residence at The Shore Condos. My only real complaint so far is that it’s only open for dinner (from 5pm-3am everyday). I think a Saturday/Sunday lunch (business permitting) would be awesome.

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New (to me) Farmer's Market for Downtown Austin Residents – HOPE Farmer's Market

AG | December 8, 2009 |

I live on the east edges of Downtown Austin, and one of my very favorite things about my location is that I can walk to East Austin on a whim. It’s like I get the best of both worlds. There’s soooo much happening on the east side of I-35, and many of my favorite retail/restaurant stops are located in East Austin.

One of the best (in my opinion) coffee shops over that way is Cafe Mundi, an earthy, hidden coffee shop with one of the tastiest, but simplest, breakfast sandwiches in Austin. I was dreaming of said breakfast sandwich this past Saturday, so I took a nice and bundled-up walk over. As I was removing the million layers of clothing I had donned for my walk, I noticed a postcard advertisement on the table for a farmer’s market called HOPE (which stands for Helping Other People Everywhere) Farmer’s Market – which is held near 5th and Waller. Cafe Mundi (along with Daily Juice, Moonshine, Big Red Sun, and the Austin Art + Music Partnership, and others) is a sponsor of the HOPE Farmer’s Market, described on their website as “a weekly community gathering space where local farmers, artisans, community groups, families, and urban consumers can find fresh foods, community programs, artistic creations, agricultural education and wellness workshops.”

Now, this has been going on since October 25th, but I’ll be honest, I am generally either working on a project or nursing a hangover on Sunday mornings from 11 am – 3 pm, and have not had the opportunity to attend. I’m planning on changing that this weekend and going out and taking some pics and doing a little recon for all the DAB readers. Stay tuned for updates!

2nd Street Holiday Celebration TONIGHT – 6-9 pm

AG | December 3, 2009 |

From the website (under Events):

Come downtown for holiday shopping in the true spirit of the season.

Trunk shows
Special Holiday discounts
Music
Bites and bevs

Plan your night, and shop all six blocks:

Begin your evening as early as 4pm. That’s when Soco Designs begins serving up the fun, including 20 percent off all non-sale rugs purchased off the floor.
Then moved on to gallery d and Finch for 15 percent off storewide, trunk shows by Studio 3 and Stephanie Nance Studio PLUS live music from Austin’s own OHN.
Enjoy wine and hors d’oeuvres at Minx during the Jodi Arnold trunk show and get 25 percent off all purchases.
Sip & save at Wee with 20 percent off all in-store merchandise, plus wine and snacks.
Don’t miss the Branch jewelry trunk show & cocktail party at Eliza Page.
Celebrate some of our favorite Austin designers at Beyond Tradition. Meet the designers in-store and let them help you select the perfect gift for anyone on you list while you enjoy hors d’oeuvres from III Forks and cocktails by Paula’s Texas Spirits.
From 9 to 11 pm celebrate the opening of “Directions in Light,” a series of contemporary shadow boxes with sculptural interiors lit from within, created by artist Brooke Gassiot at milk + honey Spa.

And if you’re near Blu Cafe, Bar and Lounge catch the Peyton’s Place fashion show at 7 pm. See fabulous new holiday arrivals and give-away gift bags and certificates.