Woodland Restaurant: Old School Retro Without Being All Assy About It

What's the deal with "wartime" and comfort food? Clearly that's a rhetorical question, but look around and you'll see a preponderance of eateries offering retro cuisine - fresh, cold wedge salads, big honkin' messes of macaroni and cheese, peppery thick-cut onion rings and piles of thin pork chops with apple sauce - that hearken back to a mythical time of air-raid drills, movies about large menacing nuke-yu-lar bugs and innuendos about milkmen.

And what's more contextual than comfort food? When it's done right, it's more than just food, it's an extra helping of happy. But when it's not done right, it's almost an insult. Screw up fusion cuisine all you want, who's going to know? Screw up a Sloppy Joe, and you, sir, are an asshole.

Good news, Club De Ville owner Michael Terrazas' newest baby, the casual/classy Woodland Restaurant on South Congress, delivers. It's classic comfort food. We scarfed down southern corn fritters with cayenne cream, and those onion rings from two paragraphs ago were just right, not slimy and unwieldy like some places. The pulled pork Sloppy Joe was sweet and warm and not overpoweringly greasy (thank you very much.) The diners next to us didn't have a lot to say about the fish they were eating, but apparently the meatloaf was "stupid delicious." Well, alright! Stupid and delicious are seriously two of our favorite things.

Like most new restaurants, Woodland isn't without snags (they're still waiting on their liquor license.) They're offering up a Pilsner, a house red and a house white with dinner, but please don't make an ass of yourself on their free booze. Jeez.

While it's a little more relaxed and easier on the wallet than it's neighbors, Vespaio and South Congress Cafe, it's still first-date perfect - dim, a little bit swank, and the admitttedly DIY decor is fun and original.

Oh, also, we hear good things about the cheeseburger from people we trust.

photo by John The Scone on flickr

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By Sam Armstrong in Food on February 15, 2007 10:22 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

kevin

We had an unfortunate first visit, with under cooked burgers...they were most apologetic. We're going again tonight for a second chance cause stuff happens, right?

sam

Yes, CBOT, I own it in fact. Please come eat at my restaurant.

Sorry to boggle, Sam

CBOT

I've been to Woodlands twice, and it's okay, but it boggles the mind why anyone would think it's great.

I've tried the corn fritters (fine for fried dough, and who doesn't like spicy mayo?), the roast chicken (decent but dry), the meatloaf (bland but comforting), and bites of the pork chop (eh), the cheeseburger (pretty good, but it's a cheeseburger), and the pecan pie (terrible - microwaved in front of us with burn-your-mouth hotspots and cold lumpy spots).

I'll go back, because it's close to my house, it has a good atmosphere, and the drinks they made before they lost their liquor license were fantastic, but I (like Bruce) don't understand the lavish praise for such mediocre food. Perhaps you know someone there, Sam?

Sam

Since when does Casino not make the "cool kids" list? It still has a great burger.

Grape Ape

Best burger in this town is pretty easy to find. Same place its been for years and years. Casino. No its not a condo loving yuppie joint so I guess it won't make the "cool kids" list - but it is the best burger in town.

Bruce

I ate there for the first time just the other night. I got the burger. I'll admit it was a serious slab of beef, but it was also so salted I couldn't much taste the meat. The fries were very good, but big deal. My wife got a "salad" with her meal that was typical bland Agribusiness Medley of lettuce, carrot, and cucumber.

I'm all for moderately priced food, but I really wish people would stop applauding this kind of mediocrity. This place just feels like what I call a Business Restaurant--just a place someone opened because running restaurants is their job and there's a demand, not out of any actual interest in food. Do we need another place to get a good burger in Austin? Sure, comfort food seems ironic and trendy, but too bad it's mostly bland.

Maybe they should have put some of that funky decor attitude into the actual food.

Bruce

Or maybe...

I ate there for the first time just the other night. I got the burger. I'll admit it was a serious slab of beef, but it was also so salted I couldn't much taste the meat. The fries were very good, but big deal. My wife got a "salad" with her meal that was typical bland Agribusiness Medley of lettuce, carrot, and cucumber.

I'm all for moderately priced food, but I really wish people would stop applauding this kind of mediocrity. This place just feels like what I call a Business Restaurant--just a place someone opened because running restaurants is their job and there's a demand, not out of any actual interest in food. Do we need another place to get a good burger in Austin? Sure, comfort food seems ironic and trendy, but too bad it's mostly bland.

Maybe they should have put some of that funky decor attitude into the actual food.