Sawyer & Co — Restaurant in Austin

I’ve been wanting to visit for a while. I love everything mid-century hand enjoy being in restaurants that can take me back to a simpler time. It’s located in an unkept area really. It doesn’t necessarily look safe or cared for. Lots of overgrown grass, weeds, and ignored but there’s some treasure in the area. I was looking forward to the lunch menu as I’ve seen online. Upon entering, I was surprised at how small the restaurant is. We were greeted right away and sat down in a booth. Everything looked dirty. The walls had old splattered food as far down as the eye could see. The table had old water on it from someone’s water glass condensation. If they’re not paying attention to things like this, it makes you wonder how clean the kitchen is. They were still serving brunch at almost 3pm which is very odd. We weren’t in the mood for breakfast and the menu is quite small. Salads and gumbo were an option though. I settled on gumbo but deviled eggs as an app for us. They were great. My brother ordered the chicken and biscuits and my mom ordered a breakfast plate that also included a biscuit. Nothing special. Her plate looked boring and nothing special to make it unique to the restaurant. The potatoes looked like they came from a bag of frozen cubed potatoes. They forgot her biscuit though. My gumbo was decent. My brother said his plate was okay but the biscuits were cold. We grew up around New Orleans so we judge biscuits. These weren’t great. The waiter asked us interesting questions though. “How was everything? Was it to your liking? Is there anything we could have done better?” The three of us agreed that it made us wonder exactly what’s been happening here. There’s even a QR code on the table asking to give suggestions. When we told the waiter that the biscuits were cold, he said, “yeah sorry. We’re in that transition period of going from brunch to lunch”. Okay, so that means they’re going to hand out cold food because they’re going from a very late brunch to lunch at 3pm, this late? This is not traditional brunch times and making an excuse about going into dinner is not how you run a restaurant. Heat the biscuits up. Brunch should not be running this late. The menu is so small too. S&Co should really be making things that make them stand out and make people go to them for that unique twist on a mid-century traditional meal. I’ll admit, Cajun food for a place like this is confusing. It’s not generally what you think of with this style. Maybe more something like The League. I do want to try their dinner menu but I’m on the fence because...

Right after it opened, Sawyer & Co placed as one of our favorite local restaurants. We loved to go there after meetings, bring out of town friends and have long gabby lunches not to forget fun happy hours with friends. But last year they went through a rough patch. Some of our favorite menu items (Sensation salad/red bean & rice, boudin balls) disappeared and well the salad was limp and the food just not up to par. Moreover, they removed the Louisiana dishes and consolidated them over at the new Lil Easy. (We dropped by Lil Easy which is not far, we did not stay because the music was too loud to allow conversation)

We were saddened but resolved to find another local spot. Then not long ago we gave it another try and we're back to loving Sawyer's!

Reminiscing, back to the first time we arrived there I recall being gobsmacked by the aromas. Not only was the decor artfully mid century, the scent emanating from the kitchen was pure 60s! How on earth did they recreate the actual warmth of those wonderful aromas from my childhood? Likewise the decor was just masterful and we could depend on real old hits from across several decades playing in the background. Yet it was easy to converse without yelling. All those elements along with fabulous martinis made it a special place for us.

The last visit reinstated S&C back into our regular haunts. A couple new items highlight the gastronomy. First, they've added a nice tomato basil soup that is just tangy, herby and --mmmm. We're hoping they will add to the soups since Austin is rather a soup desert if you ignore local tortilla, caldos and menudo. This last visit, the smoked meatloaf sliders served on sweet Hawaiian rolls, were a hit, as were the fried pickles--which are as piquant as they are sinful. The salads were fresh too, though we still miss the Sensation Salad of the old days. The good old Arkie Burger (a throwback from when the place was called Arkies) is excellent!

Lunch specials are also available and quite fun. And of course the martinis are just right.

I do wish they'd kept the old mid century wall graphics which were replaced with very green jungle leaves. But the old modernist clock is still on the back wall thank goodness.

All in all we hereby dub thee a...

If you are looking for food pics, Me and the kids came here after running a 5K and just killed everything we ordered. We came in on Sunday, so this review is based off the brunch menu. For starters we had a bowl of Gumbo and deviled eggs. The gumbo was tasty but wasn't dirty tasting enough to me, but maybe that's a trademark of seafood gumbo which is what I prefer, The deviled eggs were small farm fresh eggs with a nice creamy yolk topped with praline bacon bits that was just the right sweetness but added a nice crunch and chew for some additional texture. I got the Creole shrimp and Cheesy grits, the grits were smooth and seasoned well which were separated from the Creole sauce by a line of shrimp that bisects the plate. The shrimp were seasoned well, and cooked to perfection, easily separating from the remaining tail shell. ( I would have liked a slight char to them for added smokiness, but that's just my thought). There was a very short lived Fried Chicken Biscuit dish with potatoes...son ate it in a flash, he said the potatoes were cooked and seasoned well...and the fried chicken was tasty and juicy, it was not a breast patty, rather multiple pieces. He mentioned that the biscuit wasn't too dry either. We also had the Frenchie Breakfast Sandwich, which was in true Po'boy fashion...it's a no nonsense fried eggs + andouille sausage + tomatoes slices + chopped lettuce + secret mayo recipe all stuffed in a fresh bun the sliced into two halves. This does get a little runny and onto the hands..but what juicy sandwich doesn't? And lastly Jorge's Benedict..the biscuit is split in 1/2 with both sides laying on the plate, topped with juicy and tender pork carnitas with some salsa and hollandaise sauce followed by a perfectly poached egg..with a semi firm egg white with a nice runny yolk that oozes out to complete the bite. This is all set in a nice retro dinner experience complete with both, tables, and counter seating with a warm glow from the warm white/ Amber lights. Atmosphere and food really completes the diner experience...and the Bloody Mary was light and refreshing (didn't taste like a premade mix which you...