Bouldin Acres — Restaurant in Austin

I was excited to check out this place and at first walking in realized this would be a different experience, but was still hopeful.

Person at the front gift shop didn’t not smile or greet in anyway which I found odd since this is the first impression someone receives.

We found a seat next to pickle ball court and realized we needed to scan a QR code which that’s cool using technology. However, no service or person comes by that you can ask questions to about what’s good or food or ingredients.

Took 10 mins just to navigate the ordering as it’s not fluid and clunky. Once drinks came out which I ordered first and the blonde haired guy brought out I tried to ask him about the menu and his response was did you download the app and walked away!

We ordered and after 20 mins the food came out. The pick of the drinks are served in lil fair cups and the lemonade is have lemonade and half water. The food looked nice however the taste is another story. The queso has no taste period and the chips we’re stale.

The burgers were so greasy and I mean worse than Jack n the box greasy. The Barbacoa taco is half the size of my hand and I have smaller medium hands and was so dry and greasy it was I editable.

We had no way to call for a server of any kind and it wasn’t until we flagged down someone serving drinks to another table that we were able to get the guy to bring us boxes. He came back no lid and two boxes not three and I asked about him taking the taco off the tab as it was not and would not be eaten due to quality.

Finally our blonde headed guy came back and I refer to him as that because no name tag or branded shirt to identify him any other way than blonde guy.

He took the taco off the order and when we tabbed out the tip options started at 20% than jumped to 30%? For what? No server helped us in ordering or gave any service. I think this place could have a concept if they focused on service and food vs outdoor pickle ball with flies which you don’t see until food lands on table and the flies bomb you like mechanical drones. The flies are more of the food than we did 😳 This place has a lot of work to do if they even want to be considered an ATX iconic eatery.

We originally wanted Snooze down the street but they were so slammed because they have amazing food and service. I guess this is what we get for being impatient and not wanting to...

UPDATED: I have lived in Austin, TX for 18 years and have been to a lot of restaurants, bars, clubs/lounges and event spaces. I have never had any place charge me a surcharge of 2.5% to use my credit or debit card. When I asked the bartender she said the owner charges them too. I believe by Texas state law this is still illegal.

Shortly after my review on Google the owner replied with this snark remark.

"Steven, in the 18 years that you have lived in Austin, TX, how many of the restaurants, bars, clubs/lounges and event spaces were trying to survive a worldwide pandemic? The bartender that you spoke with was mistaken, they do not pay credit card fees on transactions, though it is not illegal for the business to pass the fees associated with the transaction of a tip on to the staff, so you too are mistaken. We very much apologize for the inconvenience of your credit card surcharge and have refunded the $0.56 back to your credit card. Please spend it wisely as it clearly is important enough to you for the one star review that will likely cost our staff far more than the credit card fees incurred on your $5 tip."

Apparently the owner likes to belittle its staff and guest. Your business is surviving quite well charging $25 for 2 cocktails and a beer. Is there something wrong with me tipping 20%?!?! Obviously it needs to not only be pointed out and said that the issue was not the money, but rather the principal of the matter! Pandemic or not, it is an establishment's duty to clearly state and communicate all fees associated with the products and services they offer to their customers. Indeed, I, as a customer will ensure that I tip my bartender according to the service I received hence the 20% i.e. $5. However, on the same token, I will also make a point to accurately call out an establishment for its deceptive & misleading practices i.e. the one...

UPDATE after response from owners. I appreciate the respectful response as it shows they genuinely care about their restaurant which says a lot, so I wanted to revise this as follows:

If it wasn't for me being among great company of good friends this experience at Bouldin Acres missed the mark. I was uncomfortable with how many people were at adjacent tables as there was 1 table with about 10-12 people, some with masks some without. When we walked up to be let into the restaurant, there are no social distancing markers so the person in back of me was well within 6 feet. Perhaps that is something that could be considered in the future?

When we arrived, the waitress was prompt and took our drink order. Shortly after she came out for our food order. Excellent! As the minutes turned into a hour, sadly my food never arrived. The waitress was no where to be seen and had zero check ins with us. When she did come by, she was apologetic and comped our food. We did get chips and queso and it was flavorless and didn't taste fresh. A friend of mine got the chicken sandwich and she said it was decent. The onion rings were on point.

I recognize during this time many businesses are doing the best they can and some places are short handed. Perhaps they could reduce the amount of people they let in to ensure that guests have a better experience. I know it's a fine balance between running a successful business and keeping the lights on, but the guest experience may be much more enhanced if less people were allowed in at...