Cuatros

Sean Ludford, BevX.com

Expectations are a funny thing. At the end of the day, expectations are just an educated guess and sometimes you hit the bull’s-eye, and sometimes you don’t.

Recently I was on the road in Austin, Texas and in serious need of a bar to catch a sporting event. To complicate the issue, and why not, my choices were limited as the game I was seeking is not something that can be found in your typical sports bar. So I was faced with limited choices, in a strange town, and with little intel. As you may suspect, my expectations were a bit low.

I found myself at Cuatros in central Austin near the University of Texas. As luck would have it, we arrived on a perfect day to enjoy one of Cuatros’ obvious attractions – its great outdoor seating. Most of Cuatros’ seating is in the open air. Their largest patio features a giant multi-screen video wall, a clever asset in a sports crazy town.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression and Cuatros seized this opportunity. Within seconds of stepping into Cuatros we were warmly and genuinely greeted and the mood never faltered. At this point I would have been satisfied with cold Beer and adequate tacos but we got much more.

In defiance of stereotypes (and common sense) Cuatros proved to be much more than a local college/sports bar. The menu is centered on burgers and Tex-Mex favorites at first glance along with the Texas delicacy, fried pickles.

When in Rome… and when in Texas go with the Tex-Mex and leave the burgers for home. The guacamole was fresh, zesty, and served with warm flour tortilla chips. It was a perfect starter and at just four and a half bucks it’s a value. Tacos were next and it wasn’t easy to choose from Cuatros’ 10 taco offerings. While it was tempting to ask for them all, we settled on four: tuna, grilled shrimp, chicken chipotle, and Paula’s pork verde tacos. Every choice was a hit. The shrimp were plump and fresh, the chicken was ideally spiced and juicy, the pork verde was perfectly drenched in tomatillo salsa and the seared Ahi tuna was first rate. This tuna was far better than tuna I have been served in “fine dining” restaurants at more than twice the price. The portions were amazingly generous without being ostentatious, especially when you consider the quality of ingredients, skilled preparation, and modest prices.

The drink list is filled with menu appropriate cocktails and plenty of cold Beers that included a reasonably good selection of local Beers. Like the food, drinks at Cuatros are sensibly priced. When it came to dessert… look out! What is described on the menu as simply an ice cream sandwich is actually a softball size ball of local, Mexican vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two six-inch warm homemade chocolate chip cookies. I’m not a big dessert person but this was incredible and could easily satisfy three or four, well worth the $4.50 price tag.

Above all Cuatros excels in creating an experience. The service is tremendous and incredibly friendly. The staff at Cuatros treated me like a regular even though this was my first visit. My only regret is that Cuatros is many, many miles from my home. (By the way, my team won.)