Austin: Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill

You know some places are going to rock, even before you take a glance at the menu. When we sat down for lunch at Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill in Austin, TX, our table neighbor had just been served up a conversation-halting chicken fried steak. As he beamed, our table stared on slack jawed in awe. Graciously, he posed with his trophy...

But, it was just lunch, so we were thinking a little milder, a little healthier... after all, we still had to plan where we were eating dinner.

So naturally, we ordered two healthy items... fried. Readers, meet Fried Asparagus. If my Mom had served asparagus like this instead of out of a can, it might not have taken me til age 33 to like it.

Next up, what I like to call the poor-man's Bourbon Steak Lobster Corn Dogs... the formidable challenger, Moonshine's Shrimp "Corn Dogs" with honey mustard & blueberry swirl. There's only one on the plate because they went faster than I could snap a photo:

I balanced that heaven off with a small Spinach Salad served with orange slices (ahem, which I now know how to cut thanks to @MangoTomato), goat cheese, and dried cranberries.

Someone else at our table went a different direction (you know who you are) and ordered the Green Chile Macaroni with grilled chicken, corn relish and green chile cream. It really was a totally unique twist on mac-and-cheese, both lighter and spicier:

Moonshine is located just on the backside of the Austin Convention Center, is in a charming, historic building, and has great patio seating. A must stop for you SXSW food junkies.