Snooze, an A.M. Eatery — Restaurant in Austin

Note To Owner

In response to your comment on my rating: I'm not quite sure why you replied how you did considering I never wrote a review & never said I had a bad experience. My best guess is because I gave you a 3 star rating. I think that maybe your version of 3 stars differs from my version of 3 stars. If 5 is the ABSOLUTE BEST experience any business listed on Google Maps can bestow on a customer (in this case a Professional Chef with 17 years in the industry, seasoned Google Local Guide, & Trusted Google Maps Contributer who is dedicated to taking time & care to be as honest & fair with every contribution no matter the business type or its location) & 1 star is the absolute worst experience (there really should be a 0 star rating in my opinion because some businesses don't deserve a star at all because they were so terrible), that would make 3 right in the middle somewhere which, considering you're being compared to every other business similar to your own, listed on Google Maps, who's platform blankets the planet we exist on (minus a hand full of small countries), I'd say a 3 isnt as bad as the average Google Maps user intends for it to be. Your restaurant is fine, my experience was pleasant, the food was good. My 5 star is Noma, the French Laundry, El Bullí, Mugaritz. I rarely give restaurants 5 stars. If I can cook the dish I order at a restaurant that I review better than the restaurant did then im generally not going to give more than a 3 unless there is something else about the place that made the experience a 4. I'm not saying your FOH or BOH did anything wrong. I'm not saying your establishment is bad, by my standards. What I am saying is that for a lot of Chefs, or anyone in the industry for that matter, breakfast food is our favorite to eat because alot can be made in short amount of time, it's hearty, protein packed, & quite frankly steeped in nostalgia & rich tradition. It reminds us of cooking & eating with our family's, both blood & professional. The darker, less spoken side to this however is that industry workers also despise warm, nurturing breakfast's horrid, waspy weekend StepMother. . .BRUNCH. . .We've worked a million of them, we hated them all. Eggs Benny hell, Croque Madame nightmares, drowning in fresh squeezed Mimosas, House Micheladas, & Titos Bloody Mary's w/CYO House Pickles bar...just give me a bottle of Sazerac and your 14 top of stepford wives will get their food faster.

All of this was an embellishment, of course. I just wanted the point I was making...

We had a good experience here for the one breakfast we had while visiting Austin. Snooze has an extensive menu with lots of options for any breakfast palette and plenty for vegetarians.

My one sticking point was the coffee...it was serviceable...not "send-back-able"...but not particularly strong. One of my missions in life is to make breakfast places understand that their coffee, which is often the first point of contact for visitors, needs to be strong. It really wasn't here...not quite browned water you can get at some places...but really not the bold taste I'm looking for in a drip coffee.

Besides that the food was great, My wife has the Smashed Avocado Benny which she really liked. It was served with a round hashbrowns puck which was one of the most delicious representations of hashbrowns I've ever had. Cooked PERFECTLY. I want to travel back to Austin to have it again. (or actually, they have locations all over so maybe I'll just go to a local one.) REALLY GOOD HASHBROWNS! (And I'm not the type to put things in upper case for no reason.)

I had, mainly because I was in Austin, the breakfast tacos. It was a generous portion of three tacos that looked and tasted good, and which were suitable for my vegetarian diet.

There is a lot of seating inside and out, but even with that on a Sunday morning we still had to wait to be seated...but not for too long. I recommend adding yourself to the wait list before you arrive. (Though I don't think that was working when I tried to do so on the website that morning.)

Snooze is a nice, upscale breakfast spot with plenty to eat and we'll definitely come again. (But please up the...

A Mixed Brunch Experience with Highs and Lows

Our recent brunch visit presented a mixed bag of delightful surprises and disappointing misses.

On the positive side, the green juice was a standout, earning raves from everyone at our table. My Bloody Mary was also quite good. A highlight was our server's attentiveness; her proactive inquiry about food allergies and intolerances immediately put me at ease, especially as someone with a severe shellfish allergy. This thoughtful approach truly showed their commitment to diner safety.

However, the food quality was inconsistent. My Benny with poached egg and tomato was a letdown. One egg was overcooked and jammy, while the other was runny with undercooked white, and the anticipated cheese sauce arrived unpleasantly cold, significantly detracting from the dish. The dish had potential, but the inconsistent execution marred the experience.

While the hash browns were a universal hit—perfectly seasoned and delicious—we'd recommend skipping the bacon appetizer, as it was unremarkable. The most significant disappointment was the strawberry pancake ordered by my daughter's girlfriend. It was truly off-putting, with an unappetizing grayish-beige sauce and an overwhelmingly, shockingly sweet flavor.

Overall, while the service and some drink options shined, the inconsistent food quality, particularly with the Benny and strawberry pancake, left us with mixed feelings about our brunch experience.

I think I'd like to try them again when they aren't so busy. I also think that sticking to the simpler options on the menu might be necessary in order to get a higher...