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Feb 16, 2010 08:51 AM

Snack Bar: New Restaurant in the former El Sol y La Luna on South Congress

Who opened up Snack Bar?

Who's been to Snack Bar?

How was the chow? Particularly breakfast?

1224 South Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 445-2626


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  1. On a thread opening roll, Mr. Chef?

    We went for breakfast to Snack Bar. It was ok. They do have Rock Star bagels including the salt & rosemary one which when toasted is amazing.

    1. I went to Snack Bar for lunch the other day and had the steak tacos with chimichurri, so delicious, spicy and flavorful. My husband had the SB Omelet with a side of grits. The omelet came out hot and the grits were creamy and cheesy. Our waitress, Leda, was excellent. She kept the coffee coming. I think they've smoothed out most of the wrinkles, but I can only speak for lunch. Anyone else been there lately?

      1. Bear in mind that we ate there a few months after it opened, i.e. a while ago, but it was awful. We waited forever for drinks and coffee even though the place was empty. S.O. ordered bagel & lox, which usually comes w/ lox, cream cheese, salmon, and capers (from our experience). They were out of capers and the lox lacked flavor. The bagel was ok. So, an overpriced bagel w/ cream cheese was eaten. The waiter did not announce they were out of capers and just brought it out w/ no explanation. Boring.

        I ordered breakfast tacos and they were horrible. The tortillas were stale. The salsa tasted like a can of tomato paste.

        The service was bad, the decor looked like it tried too hard and was theme park atomic party. Oh and the coffee was lukewarm.

        So, this place may have improved but I'm not going back. I should have known better than to expect good breakfast tacos from that strip of s. congress.

          1. re: Helind

            Wow! My new fave breakfast chow! You've gotta try the Tamago Yoko..."cabbage & leek hash cake, 2 eggs any style, choice of applewood smoked bacon, wild alaskan salmon or
            housemade seitan, with wasabi aioli, siracha, nuóc châm"...get it with the Wild Alaskan Salmon. This is world-class, pan-ethnic b'fast cuisine at it's finest. Great staff, great menu, super ingredients...with an interesting, well-chosen, well-priced beverage list, chock full of organic wines. Miss this joint at your peril!

            Snack Bar
            1224 S Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78704

            1. re: stellawine

              it's funny you say that, because i was just looking at that menu item.
              it sounds de-lish.
              i have some restaurant.com credits, and they are on there.

              i think they also have a meal combo that includes this with some other things too.

              1. re: stellawine

                You are much too generous. I just write a terrible review for this place. And it was well deserved.


                1. re: sqwertz

                  really? darn it. the menu items looked interesting/good.

                  1. re: sqwertz

                    wonder what happened to your review?

              2. Checked this place out for the first time on Sunday. They recently got a new Chef (formerly from Mars restaurant) so I'm not sure how different the new menu is. I had scanned the menu online beforehand and was all set to order the PBLT (Porkbelly sliders). So I was disappointed when upon arrival at 9:30 9(they open at 9 AM) that they were out of both pork belly and biscuits.
                But, we ordered the Tamago Yoko$10 ( a large cabbage, leek, shrimp and bacon cake) topped with 2 eggs over medium (came out over easy) garnished with wasabi aoili and sriacha with nori flakes. This was very different from my typical breakfast fare and tasty. We also got the bulgogi sliders$10 (3 to an order). These were tslices of hangar steak on a bun topped with pickled bok choy and hoisin sauce. A small glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee brought our total to $30 for 2 people. Seemed a bit pricey to me, but our entrees were on the exotic side.

                1 Reply
                1. re: amykragan

                  Thanks for the review. I was disappointed in the Snack Bar under their previous chef, and was excited to see that the chef from Mars had landed there. I miss Mars. The dishes you got sound interesting.