Hyde Park Bar & Grill Review

We decided to visit the Hyde Park Bar & Grill restaurant in Austin on Saturday night. The restaurant is a locally-owned store that has two locations. We went to the South Austin site at West Gate Blvd. We had heard and read some really good things about the restaurant, especially about their french fries and mac & cheese. We were actually really disappointed in our meals.

James got the Kobe Beef Chopped Steak entree. His meal came with a Kobe beef chopped steak topped with cheese and mushrooms, a side of green chili cheese mashers, and a choice of one side. James picked corn and cheese tamales for his side. The steak was tender and had good flavor, but it was nothing special. He said the mashed potatoes tasted like regular mashed potatoes...he didn't really even taste the additions. The corn and cheese tamales were the best part of both our our meals. They had an awesome flavor and were actually really moist. James' meal was priced at $12.95.

I ordered the chicken fried steak with the gravy on the side. My entree came with the Hyde Park french fries and my choice of a side. I picked the macaroni and cheese for my other side. The fries are fresh cut potatoes dipped in buttermilk, fried and seasoned. I couldn't decide if I liked them or not. They were crispy and flavored okay, but they left a weird after taste/texture in my mouth. It's hard to explain. The mac & cheese had great flavor and was my favorite part of the meal, but it was served cold which was a big downer. I HATED the chicken fried steak. There was a weird coating on the steak. It was not a cracker breading or a batter coating, but more of a doughy thing surrounding a really gristley (I don't even know if that is a word, but I'm going with it) piece of meat. The breading was thick and doughy and disgusting. I ended up scraping it all off and just eating the beef. I actually enjoyed the tamales from James' plate more than anything on mine. My entree was priced at $9.95.

Another downer to our visit was our waiter. Either he was new or just having a bad day, but we spent a lot of time without water even though things weren't very busy. He also did not welcome us or show any personality at all. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and forgive him, but it is always a negative when your server doesn't help make the dining experience pleasant.

I'm pretty sure we won't ever visit the restaurant again. As usual, I'll leave you with a quote from James, "It tastes like cafeteria food, but made fresh."