Maudie's Too

One time, Maudie's gave my uncle food poisoning. He eats meats and stuff, and has had food poisoning before, but I have never had food poisoning while being a vegan. I'm sure it's happened to some people, like E. Coli Sprouts (yum....), but I seem to hear more meat eaters get sick that vegans. Gross. Anyway, So, one morning, Happy Meal decided to join our Gluten-Freebie buddy for breakfast.

Maudie's Too on South Lamar seemed easy for all three of us. I thought about my uncle, and I wondered to myself, "If I breathe shallow enough, the E. Coli won't get me." That makes no sense, but it worked for the moment. Happy Meal ordered Carne Guisada Burritos. They kind of looked like enchiladas, but with a massive amount of gravy meat. Gluten-Freebie ordered veggie fajitas, with corn tortillas. I ordered Potato Rajas Tacos, minus cheese. We all enjoyed Maudie's Too, and no one got food poisoning. So, that's a plus.

Maudie's has lots of choices for meat eaters, vegans, vegetarians, and gluten-freebies. And just because my uncle got food poisoning, doesn't mean you will. I mean, we didn't. And I even eventually breathed like a normal person. Although, I still have not mastered breathing and taking the trash out. The thought of "Trash Air" getting all up in my face holes really ruins my day.

Pacha

I thought Pacha was a tiny hippie coffee house. Full of patchouli and dreadlocks.

I was wrong. We headed here for breakfast and coffee, and it was wonderful.

I checked the menu and glass case of treats, and just asked the little coffee man for a mocha and a vegan taco. Obliged. Happy Meal found a vegetable pie that was beautiful. What? Happy Meal? No meatstuffs? Nope.

Coffee comes, and god damn, the best mocha in Austin. Hands down, punch my mom, that awesome.

Breakfast comes. Taco with potatoes, beans, tomatoes, and spinach? Rivals the top tacos in Austin.... now in my top five. Happy Meal's little breakfast vegetable pie? He says perfect crust, awesome vegetables (radish?) and just wonderful.

It was pricey. Taco, Veggie Pie slice, cappuccino, mocha. Twenty bucks. Impressive. But fuck that, with now the most awesomest mocha in town, and an amazing vegan breakfast taco, and Happy Meal loving a fat slice of vegetable pie? I would come here every day.

24 Diner

Oh 24 Diner, how I love thee.

Recently, Happy Meal, Diane, and I were talking about breakfast. But with a meat eater, a gluten-free, and a vegan, the choices are slim pickins. That's where 24 Diner comes in.

It was slammed on a Sunday morning, but the hostess said our wait was 15 minutes, and 15 minutes later, we were sat. It was a little loud, and crowded, but the restaurant was adorable, and kitchy, but not in a shitty way.

Our waitress brings drinks and takes our order. Happy Meal orders the Fried Egg Sandwich, I order the Veggie Po'Boy, minus cheese, and Diane orders a Frittata from the handy gluten-free menu she was given. Breakfast comes, and we eat and enjoy.

Happy Meal loved the Fried Egg Sandwich, but said it was impossible to eat "as a sandwich." And even a challenge eating it with a fork. He pulled through though. The Veggie Po'Boy was magical. I hate when places chop up veggies, roast them, and stuff them into bread, because all the shit falls out, and you are left with bread. Awww! Not 24 Diner. Giant chunks of perfectly roasted veggie all jammed into awesome bread. The fries? Crazy Awesome. Diane was a bit taken aback by the massive size of the frittata, but enjoyed it. Seriously, that thing was huge.

I want to go back to try the $12 Veggie Burger. I mean, shit, that things HAS to be good!

Tam's Deli

I love the simplicity of a Vietnamese sandwich. Always great bread, tofu and vegetables - it's hard to fuck it up.

Tam's Deli & Cafe serves up kick ass Banh Mi Vietnamese sandwiches. If you can close your eyes and pretend you are not on North Lamar, so close to Rundburg, and push down that fear of getting shot or stabbed, then & only then can you enjoy lunch at Tam's Deli.

The little ladies that run this place are adorable. They brought Happy Meal and I veggie spring rolls, and damn it, those spring rolls (summer rolls to Happy Meal) were fantastic. The peanut dipping sauce was spicy and sweet. I order the Banh Mi Chay, minus the mayo. It comes with jalapeños!! AND cilantro!!! The bread was wonderful, warm, chewy and flaky, all at the same time. The tofu was perfect, as well as the veggies.

Happy Meal ordered sticky rice (it has meat chunks on top) and a Banh Mi Thit Nuong sandwich (Char-Grilled Pork Sandwich). He reported that the sticky rice was okay, but was hoping it would take him back to the days of living in Chinatown. Not so much. The Porky-Sandwich is another story. He said everything about it was great, and loves Tam's as much as I do.

Win.

FoodHeads

Damn it, if you are going to name your place FOODHEADS, you better be good at... food.

Not this place though, as I am thinking their name was chosen out of irony. And not the good kind.

FoodHeads is a little place in central Austin that serves sandwiches and is highly spoken of. So, Happy Meal and I head there for breakfast. I order a toasted roasted veggie sandwich. It was okay, but did not knock my socks off.

Happy Meal ordered a couple of breakfast tacos, and was not pleased. The eggs were dry, cheese missing, meat lacking. This is Austin, for god's sake. Breakfast tacos are everywhere, and it's what we live on. Apparently, we will be skipping FoodHeads forever, although we had high hopes. It was way overpriced for what it was, the service was "meh," and the food was not worthy of being served by a place called FoodHeads.

Tomo Sushi

It's "way up north," and in a shopping center. It's also a place I'd never heard of. Tomo Sushi. Happy Meal and I decide to try Tomo for lunch.

We walk in, and sit, and start looking through the menu. Who's UR Daddy, Screaming Orgasm, Ex-Girlfriend, Something's Wrong, Say My Name.... Did we walk into an adult video store? Nope, these are names of some of Tomo's specialty rolls. Besides these questionable names, this sushi place has a specials board that changes daily. I can suddenly see a twinkle in Happy Meal's eyes.

I order a vegetable roll. Standard. Then it's his turn: sea urchin, baby grouper, bonito, monkfish liver. He also orders the Screaming Orgasm, because of the name. And live baby octopus. My heart and brain explode.

Happy Meal's Screaming Orgasm (Tuna Tataki) arrives, and he is pleased. I am happy with my veggie roll, with crisp veggies and seaweed salad all rolled into my adorable lunch. His live baby octopus comes next. Honestly, I expected a bowl of the cutest little octopi ever. It was not that at all (see the photo). Happy Meal eats in silence. The rest of his food comes, and he is still silent.

I know that when Happy Meal is not talking about work, or texting work, or reading emails about work AND he is silent - that he is having one amazing meal. I've seen this happen maybe twice. Maybe. He talked about the sushi for hours, well into the night, because it was so delicious. I cannot fathom eating a live baby octopus, but Happy Meal was genuinely happy with this Austin-based sushi joint.

We will definitely be back. Happy Meal wants to try live scallops, eel and lobster. Really? You want to eat a live lobster?

Wow.