Struck Gold

Spicy North Austin restaurant sets opening date for all-day Mexican fare

Struck Gold

Spicy North Austin restaurant sets opening date for all-day Mexican fare

El Dorado Cafe opens August 8.Photo couresy of Eldorado Cafe
The Mexican-inspired menu includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner.Photo courtesy of Eldorado Cafe
Eldorado also boasts options for vegans and vegetarians.Photo courtesy of Eldorado Cafe

Things are heating up on Anderson Lane. The busy North Austin corridor just welcomed a new location of Jack Allen's Kitchen, and now a Mexican-inspired joint is joining the fray.

Former Tacodeli co-chef Joel Fried is opening Eldorado Cafe on August 8. The family-owned and -operated neighborhood restaurant, announced in April, will serve Latin American comfort food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, seven days a week.

"The idea for this place — a neighborhood spot where regular folks, friends, and families could gather and enjoy good food, drinks, and reconnect with each other — is everything we had in mind in opening this restaurant," Fried says in a release.

Fried, who owns Eldorado along with his wife, Joanna, goes on to say that his new venture "represents what has inspired [him] as a chef." The team is rounded out by chefs Esme Tejeda and Shaunna Mason, general manager Christy Hopper, and bar manager Laura Beck.

Dishes include house-made guisos (think carnitas and salpicon), enchiladas, tacos, salsas, and vegetarian-friendly sides. Fried has also crafted something he calls Shiny Ribs, which features pork ribs with a sweet chile de árbol glaze. For breakfast, the restaurant will turn out classic taqueria options like migas and short-rib machacado.

On the beverage side, expect housemade aguas frescas and horchata, fresh limeade margaritas, and a full bar. The 3,300-square-foot restaurant also includes lounge seating and a separate space for kiddos.

Eldorado launches with full breakfast, lunch, and dinner service. Hours are 7:30 am to 9:30 pm daily.

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First Taste of Fish

New East Austin raw bar gets its sea legs in 3 pre-opening pop-ups

Justin Huffman and Nicole Rossi Le Beef Fish Shop

Justin Huffman and Nicole Rossi, the couple behind Austin's Le Beef pop-up, are introducing locals to their upcoming seafood restaurant, Fish Shop. Photo courtesy of Justin Huffman and Nicole Rossi

Austin is getting a new neighborhood restaurant devoted to seafood soon. Fish Shop is opening at 1401 East 6th St. #201 sometime this summer. But first, there are a few opportunities for taste testing. Pop-ups around town April 12, 19, 20, and 26 give Austinites four chances (at three venues) to preview the restaurant before its full debut.

Husband-and-wife team Chef Justin Huffman and Nicole Rossi are behind the existing Le Beef burger pop-up and now Fish Shop, which has been teasing social media users with artsy ocean imagery and a stock message on nearly every post:

"It’s a neighborhood spot. A place for oysters and clams, for peel-and-eat shrimp and fish crudo. Classic fish & chips, the Le Beef Burger and Guinness on draught. It’s simple food done right, in a space bustling in good company," the repeated caption says.

A press release adds a bit more detail, highlighting the couple's search for "the best seafood in the world in European countries, California, and Austin." Together, they've spent 17 years in Austin's restaurant scene.

Huffman brings experience within one of Austin's most influential institutions for seafood, Uchi, and its more casual spinoff Uchiko. Austinites might also recognize his work from the local French restaurant Justine's, and he maintains fishing contacts in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. That means he'll be getting seafood from the West Coast as well as the Gulf of Mexico.

Pop-ups will be held on the following dates, which are all Saturdays:

April 12, 2 pm at Kitty Cohen's: Menu includes Filet o Fish Shop Sandwich with fried fish, American cheese, tartar sauce, and pickles on a Martin's bun; and the Le Beef Burger, cooked in butter with special tomato-based sauce.
April 19 and 20 — Outdoor supper club Midnight in the Garden pairs eight courses by Fish Shop with wine by Ruth Lewandowski Wines + Ernest Vineyards from California. Tickets ($100 per person, plus tax) are available on Tock for two seatings at 5 pm and 8:30 pm.
April 26 at LoLo: Menu includes a Crab Roll, Filet o Fish, traditional Irish chips (Fish Shop's signature steak fries), and grilled barbecue peel-and-eat shrimp.

So far, no opening date for the brick-and-mortar has been announced. CultureMap will share an update when it is available.

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