Vic and Al's — Restaurant in Austin

I'm here to let you folks know that Vic & Al's absolutely hits the restaurant trifecta of food: quality, service, and ambience.

My wife and I could feel the warm vibes as soon as we walked through the door. That vibe only grew stronger during our meal.

Lee met us at the door, welcomed us and showed us the menu board. There were 4 items the day we went: Shrimp Po'Boy, Salmon served on a bed of greens, Fried Chicken on a bed of rice, and due to advancing age I do not remember the 4th selection.

My wife, who is an extremely picky eater, enjoyed her salmon very much. The bed of greens was cold and crisp with a very tasty salad dressing. I ordered the fried chicken on a bed of rice. The chicken was fried to perfection and the rice was also cooked perfectly.

We ordered Boudin Balls as an appetizer and they were very tasty and served with an excellent sauce that was spicy without being too hot.

For dessert we ordered beignets sprinkled with powdered sugar and bread pudding with a strawberry/passion fruit sauce. They were both delicious. During our meal we met 2 servers, Lee and Sean, who were both friendly and attentive. We also met Ashlynn, the bartender, who made a terrific drink for my wife and I had a non-alcoholic Karbach IPA beer. They are a full-liquor bar. It was amazingly good.

At the end of the meal we met Rob, the manager. He was delightful and told us a bit of the history of the restaurant. Vic & Al's is very community minded and gives back to the community. Rob was very proud, as were all the employees, of providing us with us a great meal, great service, and a warm good vibe filled dining experience!

On a side note, we were there during shift change. It went very smoothly and it was great to see all the employees getting along, conversing, and enjoying each other's company. It was like a breath of fresh air...

I would have hoped to do this review with the restaurant directly, however there was no link on their website to send an email. My husband and I have been to Vic and Al's a few times, and always had a great time, however at our last visit we had a very disruptive and uncomfortable experience. We came in for lunch on April 5th with both of my sisters in law. Placed an order, the gentlemen behind the register was wonderful, our bad experience started when we went to the bar. My husband and I placed a coffee order, and my sisters in law were placing orders for drinks- the bartender that took their order, offered some free samples to make their drink choice easy, but when my oldest sister in law was told the ingredients she declined the sample, as she knows that she wont like the sample and would hate to waste something. However the bartender kept pushing, and stated "You come to Vic and Al's, you need to experience Vic and Al's" in a very harsh tone, he would not take no as an answer to the samples. I stepped in and took the samples hoping to save the experience, but the at this point my family was uncomfortable that we were being asked to do something that we didn't want. This did not end here, once we were done eating, the same bartender came over to "pick up" our plates, only picked up one plate when all four of us were done, and was pushing for my sisters in law to order more drinks to try more items on the menu, and kept bringing up the samples that they didn't like. I have loved Vic and Al's their food is fantastic, and previous to this experience I looked forward to visiting, now I dont feel comfortable brining in my family visiting in fear that we will encounter the same bartender and be made to feel...

I needed a special place for a special anniversary for my special fiancée. I had reservation options, but I had heard great things about Vic and Al’s, and decided to roll the dice on getting in.

Holy &$@*, am I glad we did.

We pulled up, and thought it looked packed inside. Girlfriend went in to check, and the look was deceiving - they were definitely busy, but you can sit and order at the bar, as well. When it’s not too cold, there’s patio seating, too.

We had catfish atchafalaya smothered in crawfish and shrimp étouffée, and a wood-fired oven-roasted mahi mahi with charred fennel, mashed sweet potatoes and sweet chili glaze. And, of course, the danged corn dogs.

An Old Fashioned is a simple thing that is often wrong, somehow, but their corn old fashioned was solid as could be. My fiancée , who doesn’t usually love martinis, declared Winnie Martini one of the best martinis she’s ever had. The Orange Drink (tequila, ginger cayenne simple syrup, carrot and orange juice, with a citrus salt on the rim) was fantastic.

But yay, fantastic food and drinks and a cozy, lively atmosphere. What really got us was the service. When everything is so fantastic, they could get away with good or “great” service. It could be super-efficient and servile, or it could have personality but just OK. The staff here gave you the kind of touches and personal attention you’d expect in a more expensive and potentially stuffy restaurant, but with a personality and sense of genuine care.

We’ll definitely be back, and we’re bringing friends. I’ve lived in Austin all my life, over 50 years, and this is the sort of restaurant we all want to see survive and thrive. So, go do your part for that - you’ll...