34th Street Cafe

I just paid $15 for a sandwich with hardly anything meat and fries. I can't believe this. Very disappointed to say the least. Pros: nice space Cons: food more

My husband and i are done with giving this place a shot. The service is excellent if you are the ""right people"". It is very bad if you don't seem to personally know them. For example, the waitress put off taking our orders twice and then literally stopped in the middle of taking our order to get another table a refill of water. After that order, our food took an inordinate amount of time. Two hours time for 2 courses is too long. The food is extremely over seasoned. It isn't even that good. Neither was the wine. The cheese plate with honey is a joke. It comes with a handful of colored raisins dumped on the plate with a thin streak of honey drawn across the plate in what i assume is meant to be ""presentation"". There's barely enough honey to get on one spread of the table knife. (No cheese knife is offered). The hard crustini that comes with it is not elegant and already encrusted in parmasan cheese. The crust has to be biten off on the sides of your teeth which is embarrasing. It was also very overspiced with salt, pepper, and a spicy seasoning. The duck confit on ceasar was also so oversalted that it was almost inedible. I could go on about the food and service, but won't. Unfortunatly, we have wasted time and money at this place two other times. I don't know how on earth this place is getting good reviews. It's been a major disappointment for us 3/3 times. Needless to say, we are done with this place. Pros: only if you are a regular Cons: food, service, size more

I had lunch here yesterday and had the turkey and swiss sandwich and french fries. I didn't have any problems with the sandwich, it was average but the french fries i got were so over seasoned with a nasty mix of salt and bbq flavoring, they were inedible. I would probublly give the cafe a 2nd try, but i would not ever order the fries again. more

We used to be regulars at 34th Street, but after 1 very bad experience and two mediocre ones, I won?t be going back. About six months ago we had a very average meal, as opposed to the excellent ones we?d enjoyed over the years. Nothing was horrible, but nothing was exceptional either. We decided to give it another try about a month ago, to disastrous results. We started with the raw oysters, which basically ruined the entire meal. They were foul ? bad smelling and even worse tasting. They were rubbery and tasted ancient, maybe even spoiled. The waitress was gracious when we sent them back, but I wasn?t sure she or the chef understood how inedible they were. We eat oysters out a lot and after having some great ones recently (in Las Vegas at Bouchon and here at Parkside), these were just terrible. The awful taste stuck with us through the entire meal. I had the vegetable plate, which had good and bad spots. The couscous wasn?t as good as what I make at my house. It was dry and flavorless. The roasted beets, however, were very good. Another vegetable (which escapes me) was tough and dry. The kitchen was kind enough to make the chicken enchiladas for my husband even though they are no longer on the menu, but he said they were a little hard around the edges and not as good as they?d been previously. I also had a disappointing lunch there this week. I took my sister for her birthday. She liked her chicken quesadillas, but I did not enjoy my lunch. The gazpacho was like eating pico de gallo in flavorless tomato broth. It was unreasonably chunky yet flavorless. I had the mandarin orange salad with goat cheese and toasted pecans. The dressing was bitter and it was difficult to find the infinitesimal amount of goat cheese in the salad. The pecans were flavorless as well. I am disappointed in the decline of a restaurant that I used to enjoy so much. more

Easy, always great food and good service! Why fight downtown people, parking and overpriced food, when you can go to a locally owned restaurant with good food and nice people! The new night menu is FABULOUS! I am always surprised. We eat out quite a bit, and always like to try the new hot spot, but we always come back to 34th! Pros: good food Cons: pricey more

I would like to begin by saying I have never bothered taking the time to write a review of anything until now. Hopefully, I will be able to save others the absolutely misery of the meal I just experienced. Clearly those who wrote the rave reviews about this restaurant must own the place. Contrary to some other comments, we had a pretty good experience with our waitstaff. She was really nice when my very polite boyfriend mentioned that his pork was overcooked - which was probably the understatement of the year. I would have sent it back - which I have never done, even when finding hair in my food. It was the most grossly overcooked pork I had ever seen, in fact difficult for him to cut with a steak knife. Unfortunately, that was the best part of his meal. The potatoes were equally as dry with no seasoning, and he had some vegetable that neither of us could identify which was truly disgusting. Pros: Sort of close to my house Cons: Awful more

The food was really salty - by the time I left the restaurant, I was really full from the water. Pros: service Cons: food was too salty more

Can't go wrong here. Great Central Austin place to meet friends for lunch. Try the Chinese Chicken Salad. Awesome! Pros: conveniently located in Central Austin Cons: parking can be tough more

Don't be fooled by what some of the others have said. This restaurant is equal to the best in Austin. The chef Justin Raiford has a flair for food with great dishes. We eat there as often as we can. My wife loves the Chicken Picatta on Saffron Rice for dinner. They have some great Tuscan pizzas also. We have been there for lunch too. Always great food. Park in the back cause there is a back entrance. Pros: Seriously good food Cons: It's not a larger restaurant more

Long wait. YOU MUST MAKE RESERVATIONS. No joke 2.5 hr wait. Elegant but funky vibe, if you have reservations and can get a table. Hidden find because it is tiny. Pros: cool decor Cons: getting a table more

First, the service is not fantastic by any means. The tables are way too clode together making the waitstaff bump you every time in order to sqeeze between your chair and the person behind you. The food was not nearly as impressive as it should have been for the price. You can find much better in Austin! more

Their menu was a good one that didn't try to do too much. The portion size was good as were the prices. We came with a large party (this is a smaller place) and had fine service. The restaurant accomodates fine wine lovers (hint, hint). Pros: Good Food Cons: Tough Parking more

I have been to this restaurant twice, once for dinner and for lunch, and I have been pleased both times. The food is splendid with rich textures and elegant flavors. Although the place is small, you should try this one out atleast once. Overall, the food was good and the service was below average. Pros: Food Cons: Size, service, parking more

My boyfriend and I were seated immediately on a Saturday night. The server was very knowledgeable about the wine list and encouraged us to sample three selections. She was very personable and, even though we were wearing jeans and t-shirts, she treated us as very important guests. The food was unique and delicious. Serving sizes were perfect (we chose from the ""small plates"" section of the menu), and the wines were exceptional and complimentary to our meals. Since the food portions were just right, we had room for amazing chocolate espresso cake with ice cream.We paid $56 for two of us to have entrees, wine, dessert, and coffee, and we had an amazing experience. We highly recommend this place. Pros: Food, Service, Wine more

Nice ambience and helpful service improved lackluster food. Everything sounded better on the menu than it tasted in execution, unfortunately. The fried oyster appetizer tasted like its cooking oil ---no oyster flavor whatsoever. Old or overused oil is the cause. The smoked salmon appetizer dish claimed to have aioli with it, but instead, it arrived with a whipped herb butter (so, yukon potato chip, smoked salmon and butter are supposed to be good together?) without any mention by the wait staff. Do they think guests don't know the difference between butter and mayonnaise? Pros: location is central, variety, desserts! Cons: execution, NOISE more

I graduated from UT without ever going to this place, but on a recent trip to Austin with my family, we went there for dinner. Such a charming place - the food was fabulous, the service was impeccable... couldn't have asked for anything to be better!! This is definitely one of my new favorite Austin restaurants. I wish I had known about it while I was living there in college! Pros: food, service, value more

Went for dinner on a Friday night with my boyfriend and two friends. No wait. We were the first seated in the section. Other tables that were seated thirty minutes after received their salads and appetizers before we did (a few tables received their dinner before we got our salads). There was some excuse from the waitress about serving things in courses. However, watching all the tables around us receive all ""courses"" before we did was upsetting. How long does it really take to make a Caesar salad?? The food was ok. It certainly wasn't worth the $150 bill we received at the end of the night and the tip we shouldn't have left. Cons: , Slow service, Rude service more

We have been to 34th Street often, mostly for dinner lately but for lunch, too. Saavy insiders (or those capable of reading) know that you can park behind the rug store just west of the block the restaurant is on or in the back. The well-selected and inexpensive wine selection is a delight. The food is fresh and the ambiance is of a neighborhood place. Laura Bush used to come here with her girlfriends on weekends, a lot of people know each other. Lunches are ordered at the counter but table service is the rule in the evening. Fries here are my favorite in town. Pros: inexpensive, friendly, fresh food Cons: parking can be hard more

This restaurant does not deserve customers. I went with two guests and two of us ordered the special, beef tenderloin with carmelized onions and our guest ordered a cheeseburger. 30 minutes later we were told they were out of the special. Why can't they tell you when you order it??? We were told we could order something else, but they were out of most things and whatever we ordered ""Had better not cost more than the special!"" ??? They should have given us a refund but they would not. We asked for the owner's phone number and he never answered. We left 3 messages explaining our experience and he never even had the courtesy to reply!!! Owners like this do not deserve customers!!! If you are thinking about eating here, skip it! If you are craving a nice lunch nearby I recommend going to Foodheads, NeWorlDeli or Central Market instead!!! Cons: Bad service, Ran out of food, No parking more