Shoal Creek Saloon — Restaurant in Austin

I don't usually write reviews, but now is as good a time as any to start. I've visited Shoal Creek Saloon for years. They have TV's in front of you when you sit at the bar, but they're not too obtrusive or close together, and at least they're all on sports - you never have to watch CNN or something like that. They always seem to have golf on, which is visually relaxing. They play music, of course, but never too loud. I always sit at the bar. All the prior times I have been there over the years I would describe the music as a kind of elevated and diverse classic rock - but with often surprising depth and variety, plus, I'd like to add, a fair amount of black music mixed in. I'd actually like to hear them play Cajun and Creole music - it would enhance the atmosphere and be a refreshing change.

This past Saturday, 05/18/2019, I went there and they were playing nothing but black music. Now I've purchased black music in the past, but enjoy it more if it's part of a diverse play list - but the only qualification for the music I heard while I was there seemed to be that it be black. Some interesting, some quite familiar, but some just screamy and wailing, blackety blackety blackety black kind of music. Overdone Sunday church soul and rappy junk that seemed on the verge of breaking out in profanity. Now I lived in downtown Chicago for years and used to visit Buddy Guy's place, so I didn't just fall off the turnip truck. But I think I know what's going on here - they appear to have a black manager, and it was obvious he was playing this music for his own personal enjoyment. I can imagine if a white manager took a job managing a restaurant in Detroit or the south side of Chicago and started playing country music because that's what he liked. A few whites there might enjoy it, but I imagine he'd get a flood of strenuously vocal complaints. You might say he would be exhibiting a kind of cultural insensitivity, and probably would not last long in his position. But it's different at Shoal Creek Saloon - the customers, and probably employees as well, were too "polite" to complain. Well obviously, I'm not too polite to complain. The Chocolate City Saloon - has a nice ring to it!

As far as the food, the catfish is usually hit or miss. That's the first thing I ever tried and did not try it again for a long time. The reason is sometimes it tends to be a bit overcooked, and, I'm not sure if you would call it over-breaded, or just under-fished. It was like that this time. Also, they forgot the shrimp, which has never happened before. When the shrimp did come, they were fresh and excellent, but smaller than I could ever remember them being. Forgot to bring butter for the bread. Brought one of those huge long tablespoons for the Cajun gumbo, instead of the round soup spoons. The Cajun gumbo is a bit one-dimensional, and this time seemed to be on the watery side, as if there wasn't enough roux in it. I would actually prefer to get two kinds of soup at once (crawfish and Cajun gumbo), but while the soup bowls are a good size, the cups are tiny and overpriced. Top-shelf margaritas are now $11.00, but made with and tasting heavily of ordinary sweet-and-sour mix, which overwhelms everything in the margarita. And maybe it was just me, but it just seemed hard to get attentive, welcoming service, compared to how I remember it. I don't know, the total experience this time sort of made me decide not to come...

We went here for brunch on the day of The University of Texas at Austin’s graduation ceremony at DKS. Shoal Creek Saloon doesn't take reservations, but there's a call-ahead waitlist that we utilized.

GETTING SEATED: even though we gave the # of people in our party when we called to be put on the waitlist, they were unprepared to seat us together. The manager who'd just come on duty was willing to rearrange tables to get us seated on the porch/patio, but we'd found the picnic benches to the left of the large, covered porch. It was shady, gave us room to move around to talk with each other, & enabled the children the ability to run down to the creek & explore. It was nice & breezy & the perfect setup for our crew

DINING: unfortunately, by the time we were situated, brunch was over, & I missed out on the mimosas at brunch prices.

We had an assortment of appetizers like crawfish queso & loaded queso fries, & IDK what else. Almost everyone was pleased with their delicious Cajun/Creole entrees, especially the boiled crawfish, which is rarely duplicated outside of NOLA.

I requested a combination of 2 of the cups & bowls items, jambalaya & gumbo, but asked to omit the gumbo's white rice & dump the gumbo over the jambalaya instead. I was more than willing to pay for each cup to make what we call jumbo gumbo, & it's the best of both worlds! The poor waiter looked at me like I was crazy. Even though I was willing to pay for each cup, he was still a bit skeptical about my order. I get it because it's an unusual request. After all, this is my hometown cooking in a state known for amazing brisket & Tex-Mex. (We lived in NTX for a total of 10 yrs & loved it there.) I was willing to pay for each dish/cup, but maybe, this is the start of a new menu item? The kitchen must have been skeptical, too, because each item was brought out separately, but the gumbo's white skipped was omitted as requested. I had to ask for a larger bowl IOT pour the gumbo over the jambalaya. We skipped dessert because we had to get ready for graduation, & I think that I'd remember eating fruit cobbler & bread pudding.

CRITIQUE: I was disappointed that the seafood batter was fish fry instead of flour-based which is what's used in NOLA; so, no fried seafood or shrimp po'boy for me.

SERVICE & STAFF: it was BUSY. The wait staff was friendly but busy; therefore, the manager who'd just gotten there jumped in to get us started. He was polite, apologetic, etc, a total pro. It was refreshing to see someone willing to do a job that was clearly beneath his managerial role just to help a group of patrons. There were a few glitches with getting the right dish or drink to the right person, but we were flexible given that we had more than 10 people & were moving around to catch up with family.

Overall, I'd love to go back the next time that I'm down there & enjoy the atmosphere & food in a smaller group without having a deadline to be...

April 2024

On our way to visit Pease Park we stopped at Shoal Creek Saloon to enjoy some tasty catfish. I was worried about parking since it was lunchtime and only a few spots available. Otherwise would have to park behind it on the street next to the park and walk here, but luckily there was one available in front. It was a dangerous spot where would have to back out directly on to Lamar with poor sight of traffic. Luckily there was a traffic light nearby and turned my car on, waited for the light to turn red and no car coming and jumped into my vehicle and backed out quickly.

But before this vehicle challenge my wife and I walked inside and sat at a table on the deck facing Shoal Creek with a nice view of downtown. We both ordered fried catfish but my wife got sides and I just got hushpuppies (basket). The catfish was excellent. The breading had great flavor. My wife ordered mashed potatoes and fried okra. I tasted both but they gave her a lot of okra, so we shared it. The sides were great too where the mashed potatoes had a nice buttery taste. She was admiring what others ordered like big salad and crawfish.

This place has great atmosphere and delicious food along with a nice friendly staff.

January 2023

Needed to get out and explore eateries I have not been to in a long while, so on this day it was Shoal Creek Saloon. Parking might be tough here but luckily found a spot. At first I did not see a door in front but just walked to the back where there was a large patio and was seated there with a great view of Shoal Creek. I spotted a few turtles and have a nice partial view of downtown. After going inside to explore I did notice people leaving from the front.

The service here is very friendly and has that Louisiana atmosphere. I ordered the Catfish Plate with Hushpuppies, Cole Slaw, and Red Beans with Andouille.

This place celebrates the cajun culture mixed with an Austin vibe.

Soon my order arrived and tried my catfish. It was just fantastic and perfect with the dipping sauces. It had great tasty flavor and very warm. The sides were just as good and enjoyed the red beans along with the hushpuppies.

With all the entanglements with flooding and fire this place seems to rebound quickly to keep serving great cajun food feeding...