Dinner night 3 was at Threadgill's in Austin. Having successfully managed to spend large amounts of money at Waterloo downtown, we made our way up to Threadgill's to meet one of Liz's friends. Threadgill's is an unassuming former gas station with lots of neon and old gas signs. Park out back and you see a large neon sign that reads, "Howdy, Stranger... Come on in."


Threadgill's is known for large portions, and at one point in the past had to cut them because they were too large. Now the staff ask if you want "seconds" on any of the sides. I can't imagine too many people take them up on it as you still are given a fairly large plate of food. This was, of course, another Roadfood find. I had also been here once before, when I was in San Antonio last year for ALA Midwinter. That time I had the five vegetable plate. The word "vegetable" is used here rather loosely and basically includes all the sides. The side list is a litany of Southern cooking: red beans and rice, black eyed peas, macaroni and cheese, fried okra, mashed potatoes, etc. The five vegetable plate was so much food that I had to take my dessert back to San Antonio with me. This time I opted for the Sunday special: turkey with dressing. That was a more sane amount of food and I left the place full rather than overstuffed. The turkey was good, mashed potatoes were good, the broccoli cheese casserole was even better than I remembered it being. Good stuff. A worthwhile stop in any Austin trip (note: though not an overwhelming list, vegan options are noted on the menu).

I didn't get much in the way of pictures, unfortunately. There are plenty, however, in the Threadgill's Cookbook, which I highly recommend. I bought a copy when last in Austin and it is an excellent source for Southern recipes.