Tony C's — Restaurant in Bee Cave

Quite possibly the best dining experience I ever had. I've spent time I restaurants all over the country, and this by far was the friendliest experience I've come across. The waitress was incredibly personable, a total sweetheart, and chatted with me for a good bit after I finished my lunch. She asked if I'd ever been there, and being in town from Minnesota, naturally I hadn't. So she gave me a brief history of the place, which was pretty fascinating. I considered pizza, but instead landed on the Italian Beef Sandwich. I definitely feel like I made the right choice there. The bread was soft, the beef was tender and juicy, the peppers were the right amount of sweet which paired beautifully with the savory meat, and the au jus added the right amount of salty to balance it all out. It came with a side of garlic fries which were fantastic and an excellent complement to the main dish. And the price point wasn't nearly as high as I would expect from something so good. After I (very quickly) finished my meal, the waitress asked what had brought me in. We chatted for a while, discussing the different climates between Texas and Minnesota and it made me feel really valued and appreciated, which is becoming more of a rarity when dining out these days. She was a total joy, and again, an absolute sweetheart. Hopefully she realizes how great it feels to be an out-of-towner and to be treated so nicely. Ma'am, I forgot your name, but you genuinely have my thanks. The moment where I knew this place was top tier was when another waitress brought out a dessert of Zeppole, which I had not requested. I was confused, but she said they were for me. Absolutely delicious, and piping hot, totally worth burning my finger tips and tongue. My only gripe with this experience was that the powdered sugar made me regret wearing a black tee shirt. Which is an issue with the color palette of my fashion choices, not the dessert itself. Totally worth dusting myself. As I got up to leave, I made sure to give the waitress my thanks, and a nice tip to show it. She easily earned it. The cherry on top was her giving me the stereotypical Texas restaurant farewell of "yall come back and see me ok?". That's some hospitality I don't find back home up north, and didn't realize I missed about my trucking days down south. I may have to take her up on that offer and visit this place again. Shoot, I might have to make a special trip back down, just...

On the surface this well laid out restaurant has it all. Large outdoor eating area, two floors of indoor dining and everything with that a-cut-above look to it. Tonight was the third and probably last night I will eat there. I try to have thoughtful things to say when ask the inane questions by the host(esse)s. Tonight was no different. "How are you (she asked)" "Hungry" I responded. She said she was hungry too...great.

Our waiter had a co-pilot trainee and they were both pleasant (as always). I complained that the last two times they got my order wrong and was hoping tonight by putting some attention on it that might change. The waiter managed the order about 99% and I can usually live with that. I asked for an off-the-menu pasta dish and that's where the final straw began to emerge.

Shortly after the order was put in and my wife and I were grazing on the garlic knots (they are ok piping hot but not so much if cooled) when the manager came to our table to chastise me for ordering something off-menu and to explain that they would make it this time but...

Bottom line for me is their Casear dressing is some of the best stuff I've ever eaten and their throw-it-together-if-the-manager-w...-us spinach-marina pasta dish is worth going back for. But the disconnect between the waiters, the cooks and management kind of makes it feel like being at some distant family member's house for thanksgiving (you can't wait to leave and they can't wait for you to leave). One example of the disconnect is that they sell pizza by the slice there but wouldn't sell it to my wife last time because they only sell it at the bar.

If you don't mind a Pizza Nazi reprimanding you for ordering violations and you're cool about people screwing up your order every time - it is a great place to take a date.

(I added this a few days later) They double billed us that night too -...

We have been coming here for years. Unfortunately, under the current manager (not sure what his name is,) attentiveness has dropped off badly.

We came in with 2 kids and nobody offered a high chair or a sling for our baby who was in a car seat. When I went back to the front to ask for one, the manager walked by me twice without asking if I needed anything. He already knew we got a table. Would someone be at the host area if we didn't need something?

Once seated outside, his charisma with other tables and obvious lack of care for ours made it clear he didn't like kids. He had no problem chatting with the table of ladies or couples with no kids around us, but he didn't bother to check up on us once throughout the meal.

Even sillier, him and the other manager had a full on conversation about the plants outside while they had a busy restaurant around them. They're lucky that the wait staff and kitchen were able to keep up with customer needs and orders, otherwise they'd be in big trouble.

The only reason this isn't a 1-star review is the consistency of the food. All the food was as delicious as always. We have been coming here since 2012 and I'm sad to say we would sooner go elsewhere than come back with how things are today. Hopefully the next time it will feel like the front of the house has a little bit of regard for the needs of families...