Post Thanksgiving in Austin - Gourdough's Public House

Over Thanksgiving break, we went down to Austin for one night to visit my fiance's family. We were doing a second Thanksgiving Friday night and had Saturday to go out and about. I already knew what places I wanted to check out. Time is limited, I had to prioritize! :P

I was excited about both eateries we were going to but I think I was slightly more excited about this one than the next. Just slightly...

I first experience Gourdough's AMAZING donut trailer back in 2009, I think? The BEST donut place ever!! Made to order, gigantic, and all sorts of excess toppings we Texans love. hehe. So when I heard they had opened a restaurant, I was stoked!! I mean... they have donut burgers. DONUT BURGERS! How freaking epic does that sound?!?

Gourdough's Public House
2700 S Lamar Blvd.
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 912-9070
http://gourdoughs.com/
Price: $$

We hit it up for brunch on Saturday. They don't take reservations so we showed up fairly early... around 11:30AM. The place was only about 20% full at that point. We decided to sit outside because the weather was awesome! The decor is very casual, wood tables, chairs, picnic benches and tables outside. They also have one of their trailers in the outside area. There's also a bunch of TVs around us, great for a game day!

I was there with my fiance, his two sisters, and his little sister's husband. They started off with some brunchy drinks.

Craft Bloody Mary $5~ My fiance's bro in law asked them to put a piece of bacon in this. Why not, I say. haha. I've never liked bloody mary's but this was actually quite good! He really enjoyed it.

Michelada $5~ One of his sisters really like this drink. My fiance tried it and decided to get one too. hehe. I love how they put the beer in a mini brown paper bag.

So... are you ready for some SERIOUS food p0rn?? haha

Country Clucker (crispy fried chicken breast, potato pancake, warm cream corn, candied jalapenos; served on a piping hot donut) $11~ 

This was mine! ALL MINE! MUAHAHAHA! :P J/k I shared... I was debating on a few but the creamed corn and jalapenos won me over. I liked everything in this dish. All the food looked so amazing when they brought it out. This was like a small mountain of deliciousness. A perfectly fried (giant) donut, slightly crispy on the outside, soft and pillowy on the inside. Topped with a potato pancake, perfectly fried chicken, and SO MUCH CORN! It was so good!!! I loved the candied jalapenos, it added just a hint of heat to the dish. It was as epic as the picture looks. I sooo wanted to finish it all but I was sampling other stuff too so I took about 1/3rd of it to go.

Dirty Plucker (piping hot donut topped with hand battered fried chicken, honey butter and maple icing) $9~ 

My fiance got this. He and his sister were going to go halfsies on each of their dishes. This is their play on chicken and waffles. And this was my favorite out of everything I tried that day... although it was hard to pick a favorite. Again, perfectly fried donut, with a maple icing. Topped with fried chicken, and more maple icing. And honey butter to top everything off if you want it even sweeter. That honey butter was the bomb. I drizzled it over every bite, and some on my Country Clucker too! The general consensus was that it was too much sweet to finish the entire plate, but since we all shared, it was perfect. I would've eaten the whole thing though. The perfect sweet and savory combo.

His sister got the Count Gourdough Cristo (oven roasted turkey, ham, swiss cheese, roasted red pepper, basil, red onion, wrapped in donut dough and deep fried; served with avocado lime sauce; served with fried Yukon chips) $10~ 

So she gave half to him. They both loved this. I was expecting it to be super heavy like a normal Monte Cristo sandwich but it really wasn't. The avocado lime sauce paired with it superbly. And their Yukon chips were great. They both wanted more of it.

Public House Salad (cilantro buttermilk dressing, romaine lettuce, feta, tomato, cucumber, six-minute egg; served with a piping hot garlic donut) $7~ 

His little sister got this since she wanted to try a little of everyone's as well. They were kinda giving her a hard time for getting a salad here. haha. But I'm actually glad she got it cuz I was able to get some green veggies to go with my Country Clucker. The salad was huge! And what was even more O.O was how huge the garlic donut was. And that garlic donut could easily be one of everyone's favorite elements that day. It was just perfection. It was plain (unglazed). Fried perfectly, not greasy AT ALL, and SOOOOO FLUFFY! They really have their donut dough down to a science.

And finally, his bro in law got the El Camino Burger (angus beef, chipotle cheese blend, chipotle mayonnaise, pickled jalapenos, bacon, cilantro, sliced tomato, fried onions; served with fried Yukon chips) $11~ 

At least one of us had to get the donut burger right?? Freaking amazing. So much flavor, I loved the chipotle mayo. It tastes just as good as it looks.

Fried Brussels Sprouts $4~ I also saw this on the menu so I had to order it. Pretty dang good. :)

This meal was amazing. It exceeded my already high expectations. I loved everything I tried and so did everyone else. Just looking at these pictures again makes me want to pick up and drive to Austin right now. It's a good thing I don't live close though...I'd be there ALL THE TIME! If gluttony is your middle name, then this is the place for you. Although, surprisingly, I didn't feel like any of the dishes were super greasy or heavy. Nothing oozed with grease even though everything is fried. Impressive. I will definitely make this a required stop any time I'm in Austin.

Quality of Food:

Service:

Ambiance:

Value:

Overall Experience:

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~