The staff at the Panda Express on Parmer Lane was extremely helpful and patient with all my questions about the food. I chose the black pepper chicken with white rice. They were especially nice to give me some broccoli as a side from the broccoli beef entree. Everything tested fresh and cooked just right.

Black Pepper Chicken with broccoli and rice at Panda Express

About Panda Express

http://pandaexpress.com/

Sweet potato fries with honey cream dip are a great way to start a meal at Hill’s.

The chicken fried chicken was very good, but the stars of my meal were the tomato pie (smothered in cheese) and the corn nuggets.

The peach cobbler topped with ice cream was so delicious, I’ll be going back just to order this treat.

Website: http://www.hillscafe.com/
4700 S Congress Ave
Austin, TX 78745

I have been a fan of Dot’s Place for years. When the original restaurant off of Howard Lane in Austin burned down, I cried for a week. I thought I’d never have their chicken with dumplings, catfish or cornbread again. Not so. Dot’s Place is now serving up heaps of comfort in Pflugerville.

Photo: tomato salad (sliced tomatoes marinated in Italian dressing), catfish, cabbage, broccoli cheese rice, yam pie and a dinner roll. Comfort food deluxe!

Old timers will remember that this location used to be Mr. Gatti’s Pizza.

Menu

For one low price, you get one meat and two vegetables. There is also a wide choice of salads and desserts.

Texas Monthly and Dot’s Place

In 2005, Texas Monthly rated comfort around the state. Here’s what they wrote about several items on the menu at Dot’s Place:

• Pie: It’s hard to obey the rule to never eat anything larger than your head when faced with the monumental dessert portions at Dot’s Place, including an irresistible yam pie and a deliriously sweet peach cobbler with a fabulous crust.
• Okra + greens: Greens always have an undercurrent of bitterness—that’s what makes them interesting. The yummy fresh collards at Dot’s Place balance the bitterness with salt. The humble spot’s stewed okra with juicy tomatoes gives that much-maligned vegetable a good name; the seasoning is Southern sweet, and there’s no hint of okra’s dreaded slime.
• Meat loaf: A near-Platonic meat loaf emerges from the to-go window of Dot’s Place; the beefy slices crumble as you cut into them, melding with the tomatoey topping to form a sort of glorious, Southern-style Bolognese sauce.
• Cornbread: The moist cornbread muffins at Dot’s Place walk the line between sweet and unsweet, so as not to offend patriots on either side of the great cornbread divide.
• Chicken and dumplings: Whoa! You don’t get just some stringy bits when you order chicken and dumplings at Dot’s Place; you get whole pieces of baked chicken. The dumplings, somehow fluffy and substantial at once, may be the world’s best use of white flour.

I totally agree with Texas Monthly. I’d add Dot’s catfish and chicken fried steak to this list because they are among my favorite comfort foods at Dot’s Place.

Photo: cucumber salad, beef tips on rice, okra and tomatoes, greens with cabbage and cornbread.

Dot’s Place
15803 Windermere Drive
Pflugerville, TX 78660
(512) 252-9300

Hours:
Monday – Friday 10:30-2:30 Lunch
Thursday and Friday 5:30-8:30 Dinner

Casa Colombia is located in east Austin in a small building that looks like it used to be someone’s residence. There are two small dining rooms inside, which make for an intimate setting. We were seated in the front of the back dining room, next to the live musicians. I felt like we were having our own private concert!

Casa Colombia Ceviche

I spent my teenage and college summers studying in Mexico. One of the dishes I absolutely fell in love with was ceviche, fresh marinated fish.

Casa Colombia serves ceviche on weekends. If I could go there every weekend just to eat their version of this dish, I would. The marinade is tasty and tangy. I’ve tasted other ceviche in Austin and there seemed to be more onions than fish. Not at Casa Colombia where the appetizer is just about all fish. Plaintains are a perfect complement to the dish.

Casa Colombia Entrees

The food at Casa Colombia is innovative, fresh, delicious and beautifully plated.

I chose the Tamal valluno, corn masa stuffed with pork, beef, chicken and vegetables, wrapped in plantains leaves — served with rice, salad and green plantains. It was really delicious. To save room for dessert, I took half of the meal home. It was just as delicious the next day.

The hubster loved his Pechuga Rellena, grilled chicken breast stuffed with cheese, mushrooms, spinach and pico de gallo — served with mash potatoes, salad and black beans. The chicken was tender and the stuffing was fresh and flavorful.

Dessert at Casa Colombia

The creamy caramel flan was scrumptious and beautiful.

The tres leches cake was a perfect end to a perfect meal.

Website: http://www.casa-colombia.com/

1614 E 7th St
Austin, TX 78702
(512) 495-9425

Hours:
Tuesday-Thursday: 11 AM – 9 PM
Friday – Saturday: 11 AM – 10 PM
Sunday: 11 AM – 6 PM

Salad

I ordered the house salad with the house Italian dressing. The lettuce was fresh and had lots of extras — cucumbers, olives, carrots, cherry tomatoes and shredded mozzarella. A great start to a delicious meal.

Main course

There is a wide variety of Italian dishes to choose from. Appetizers include bruschetta, fried ravioli, shrimp scampi, calamari and grilled asparagus. The menu includes pizza with a wide variety of toppings, pasta, chicken, veal, steak and seafood.

My husband ordered the meat lasagna. It also comes without meat or with meatballs and/or sausage.

The veal marsala was divine, with tender mushrooms and a wonderful warm marsala sauce. The fettuccine was coated with a creamy light sauce with a hint of garlic.

Dessert

We were so full that we almost didn’t order dessert. The menu lists creme brulee, chocolate colossal cake and Italian cream cake; however, the owner/chef had made an interesting sounding lemon cake. All I can say is, “WOW.” The cake was soaked in a sweet lemon flavoring and the filling and topping was a creamy sweet lemon sauce. It was topped with a yellow lemon sauce and a dusting of powered sugar, making for a really beautiful dessert.

It’s Italian is vegetarian friendly, with items on the menu such as fettuccini alfredo, eggplant or portabella parmigiana, pasta primavera, or non-meat pizzas.

It’s Italian
14735 Bratton
Austin 78728-4304
(512) 252-1444
Hours: Mon-Sat, 5-9:30pm