Say you’re cruising 71 from Austin to Bastrop and you see these signs. You’re hungry, yes, and you’re in a hurry. You know what you’ll get if you choose McDonald’s, and you know you’ll be back on the road in minutes. If you’re a locavore, though, you opt for Oaxacan Tamaleo. And you are not disappointed.
On our way home from Houston this afternoon, my husband made a u-turn after we failed to make our decision fast enough. And we were not disappointed. The new restaurant, open for nearly a year now in its new location (moved from Anderson Lane, in Austin), is sparsely decorated and unassuming in that way that tends to suggest authentic food. The owners, native Oaxacan Leonor Banos and her south Texan husband, were pleasantly chatty. We drank tamarindo tea and ate a menu-standard black-bean tamale (me) and the daily special of pork in salsa verde (husband). Then merrily we resumed our trip, more than a few minutes behind schedule, but sated far more satisfactorily than McDonald’s could ever leave us. We’re looking forward to enjoying Leonor’s tamales later in the week, too, since we took a half dozen, frozen, to go.
And in case you were wondering: The green BIO-LEO tank identifies this as a filling station for Austin-based DieselGreen Fuels.
Stay tuned for more on tamales tomorrow!
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