Fresa's - 9th & Lamar — Restaurant in Austin

Visited Austin for a day for an interview. It was lunch time and it was pouring down rain. Fresa's seemed like the perfect place because I could drive through and pick up food without getting out of the car. I have been living in Georgia for a while (originally from Houston) so good Tex-Mex or Mexican food is very hard to come by. Everything on Fresa's menu looked amazing and I wanted to try it all. So I got a little bit of everything. Here is what I ordered:

La Fresa taco El Rey taco Crispy brussels sprouts w/ pasilla aioli Queso w/ chorizo Classic guacamole Tea w/ agave nectar

There weren't any other patrons there at this time on a Friday lunch hour, but I attribute that to the rain. It was really bad!! I waited quite a while for my order, but I ordered a lot. And, to be honest, I wasn't bothered by it because that told me they were making it fresh. I'm sure they thought I must be bringing back all this food back to the office or something (I was dressed in my interview attire) but nope, it was alllll for me. They handed me a huge paper bag that contained everything I ordered plus 2 big bags of chips.

Points for completeness of order. Since it was raining so hard, they couldn't exactly go over everything with me, so I just had to drive off trusting everything was in there. However, if your business is all take away orders, I don't know, maybe you should include napkins and plasticware with the order. Or at least ask if I need any. Maybe I was wrong to assume there were already some in the bag. But maybe they were wrong to assume I didn't need any and didn't bother to ask. I had to eat in my car with my bare hands (namely brussels sprouts) and wipe my mouth and hands on the paper bag like a homeless person. I looked like a ravaging raccoon going through the dumpster!!

Anyhoo, on to the quality of the food... the guacamole was fine. Just your typical guac. It could've used just a smidge more salt for my taste. But I don't blame them. You dont want to add too much and offend everyone. Best to add just enough and people can adjust to suit their needs. I didn't have any salt packets in my car though.

The queso with chorizo was really lacking chorizo. It barely had any all, but the flavor was really amazing.

The crispy brussels sprouts with pasilla aioli were anything but crispy. And I get it, they've become soggy because they've been sitting in a paper box for a while. But, that's your business model, right? Everything is take away and can't be eaten immediately. So, how would they be crispy? And the pasilla aioli was just bland and didn't add much to the already soggy sprouts.

The El Rey taco was supremely disappointing. For a chicken place, I thought this would be their shining star. It was so dry, I had to drench it in sauce to choke down the first couple of bites. The corn tortillas did not help. I couldn't even finish this taco. And this is something a lot of folks don't get about corn tortillas when it comes to tacos. You can't just warm them up, you have to heat them up in a little bit of oil just to get them to that almost crispy stage, then stop. Because you do not want it crispy. You want it pliable. Sure it adds more calories. But it works and it's not bone dry anymore. My mexican grandmother does this when she makes tacos. I've never seen anyone else do that.

The El Rey taco, on the other hand... OMG!! This taco was AMAZING!! I ate every single bite. There are no other words but yum!!

Tea is tea.

All in all, it was convenient, it has better food than other drive thru places so I'm probably being a smidge unfair in my critique. But on the whole, it's not an all around bad place. I would definitely...

My brother took me here for the first time for a quick bite. I was surprised I had never been nor heard of this place.

It is walk-up window order or drive thru, but there is a little bar w/stools to sit at in front of the window where you order.

Very hipster, GF, Vege/Vegan friendly menu and the prices reflect that.

They are known for their tacos, but I wasn't feeling any of their options, so I got a weird combo of things and maybe that was my fault. We got brussel sprouts, chips w/the poblano ranch, and street corn. The b-sprouts were pretty tasty and the chips and ranch were awesome (the chips actually hold up, had a bunch left to snack on the next day). The street corn was a bit disappointing, however. It had a weird flavor to it and was a bit over-charred. I used to love the street corn we'd get in Nogales, but have not found the real deal here in ATX yet.

Might come back if I'm in the vicinity and actually try some of their tacos...

Visited this place for the first time today, and it was okay. I went because I wanted the convenience of a drive thru, but wasn't in the mood for the greasy fast food options around me. Overall, this place is just okay. I might come here again if I'm in the right mood, but I definitely won't seek it out if I'm not already nearby. The food tasted fine, but it was definitely overpriced. I don't mind paying more for good quality food, but I was disappointed in what I got. The taste was pretty bland and the food wasn't hot! As far as the experience goes, the wait was too long for a quick lunch run. I probably waited 15 minutes before I ordered and another 10 to get my food. Also, the menu doesn't give much option for smaller portions. For example, I wanted street corn, but my only option was a "shareable size." I got it anyway, but I would have loved for an option to just add one piece as a side - and the same for queso...