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Gluten Free Hill Country -- Estancia Churrascaria Restaurant
Bottom line -- Mid/upper range for dinner ($35 nightly North) excellent service, excellent bar, gluten free dining possible using caution. Recommended -- but pay attention; ask questions.
I was introduced to Estancia on New Year's Eve -- not the best time for any restaurant, especially bad if it's for a first visit. It's a struggle for a restaurant to give good service on a holiday, and the ones that usually succeed are dealing with a limited menu. Estancia, by its very nature, was prepared for the challenge, with an attentive wait staff and excellent food.
Estancia naturally deals with a limited menu, but not too limited by any means. This is a Brazilian steakhouse, along the lines of say Fogo de Chao. It has two locations in Austin, TX, and I was part of a group at the north restaurant.
First, what Estancia is -- an all you can eat gaucho grilling experience, offering 14 different cuts of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and sausage, grilled to your desired temperature. They also have two forms of lamb chops, one with their special garlic mix, and the other with simple sea salt and pepper. The salad bar, which is nicely centered in the room at Estancia North, has twenty or so dishes of mixed vegetable, meat and cheese choices. The side dishes, which are included in the price of admission, include cheese bread rolls, fried bananas, garlic mashed potatoes, rice and beans, and polenta. Drinks, desserts, tax and gratuity are extra.
What Estancia is not -- it does not provide for a complete, gluten free experience. In fact, our otherwise attentive wait staff was bewildered when I asked about gluten free offerings. I had called ahead about gluten free provisions, and was told to ask for the manager upon arrival.
This took a while. Whatever the chain of command was, the manager could not shake himself loose to give a dinner guest a guided tour of the salad bar, which was what finally ended up happening. My dinner companions were starting on their meat by the time I got a quick tour of the salad offerings.
The manager was sure about the safety of many things, but uncertain about anything containing mayo (was it true mayo? There's the problem, of course.) Tabbouleh salad was off-limits, as was any bread offerings on the salad bar. He also recommended against the salad dressings. I always stick to oil and vinegar at steakhouses, so I was not surprised. Since he was not sure about the milk (why, I wasn't sure) he was worried about the mashed potatoes. Otherwise, he was fairly sure the rest of the dishes would be fine.
Fairly sure wasn't good enough for me, so I confined myself to the gluten free rolls (good) and tried the bananas. I stuck with the meat, which in my case was beef and lamb. I don't eat pork right now, and the chicken was either seasoned with gluten (the legs) or wrapped in bacon. Both the chicken breasts and half the filet mignon were bacon-wrapped, and the manager said the bacon had gluten in it. I also could not eat the leg of lamb, but the staff will quickly grill you lamb chops with but a pinch of sea salt and and pepper. The sausage, in my experience, is always off limits for gluten sensitive individuals.
I tried all the beef I could, and the lamb chops. Everything was uniformly excellent. Even better, normally at Brazilian steakhouses I find all the meat over-seasoned, and have to ask for portions cut from the center of the skewered meat. Here, only the picanha had a touch too much salt for me, but it was not annoying. The lamb chops were the best I've had in years, meaty, perfectly cooked. They are tiny, and continue to cook on the plate, so I recommend getting a group of two or three ready to eat lamb cooked the same way, and devour them the moment they arrive. A piece of mine continued cooking on the plate, but a friend who preferred medium-well gladly took it off my hands.
The waiter did not bring the dessert tray sampler because my dining companions either did not want dessert, or had eaten here before and had favorites, or ordered the dessert they always wanted. The group liked their choices, ordering creme brulee and papaya creme with liqueur. Several people had a glass of Liqueur 43 with dessert, and as we were late NYE diners, complimentary champagne was served at midnight.
Desserts are hard for me to judge, because I've cut back so much on sugar and salt, and eat no gluten and very little dairy. For me, the papaya creme was for the ultimate heavy creme experience -- I did not find it sweet, but it also took its flavor from the liqueur topping. Without a bite of papaya in a sample, I tasted only heavy cream. The creme brulee texture was thick and creamy, as if someone set up clotted cream, and the melted sugar on top tasted a bit charred. The Liqueur 43 was a lovely vanilla-tinged drink with a hint of citrus. Ignore the ad campaign for the liquor and try it, if you enjoy liqueurs. It's well worth trying!
Was it a good experience? Yes -- the service was attentive, the meat cooked beautifully. Will I go back? I will. But I will try and time it so I can get there earlier than my party, and get a slow tour of the salad bar, pinning the manager down about the side dishes.
I think Estancia could quickly carve a part of the GF market for themselves by sharply delineating safe dishes, and training their entire staff in the differences. I can go to Fogo and know that except for the chicken legs, Tabbouleh, and french bread, everything in the main meal is safe for me. Estancia has superior lamb, and beef the equal of Fogo's. Fogo's rolls and bananas are tastier for some reason. Fogo offers me dark chocolate at the door, which is my usual dessert there. Estancia has candied mints, most likely made with gluten.
Both restaurants need to hire Sweet Texas to make a lovely selection of gluten free cookies to offer as a simple sweet with coffee and after dinner drinks!
Note: Estancia is currently a cheaper evening dining experience than Fogo de Chao.
I was introduced to Estancia on New Year's Eve -- not the best time for any restaurant, especially bad if it's for a first visit. It's a struggle for a restaurant to give good service on a holiday, and the ones that usually succeed are dealing with a limited menu. Estancia, by its very nature, was prepared for the challenge, with an attentive wait staff and excellent food.
Estancia naturally deals with a limited menu, but not too limited by any means. This is a Brazilian steakhouse, along the lines of say Fogo de Chao. It has two locations in Austin, TX, and I was part of a group at the north restaurant.
First, what Estancia is -- an all you can eat gaucho grilling experience, offering 14 different cuts of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and sausage, grilled to your desired temperature. They also have two forms of lamb chops, one with their special garlic mix, and the other with simple sea salt and pepper. The salad bar, which is nicely centered in the room at Estancia North, has twenty or so dishes of mixed vegetable, meat and cheese choices. The side dishes, which are included in the price of admission, include cheese bread rolls, fried bananas, garlic mashed potatoes, rice and beans, and polenta. Drinks, desserts, tax and gratuity are extra.
What Estancia is not -- it does not provide for a complete, gluten free experience. In fact, our otherwise attentive wait staff was bewildered when I asked about gluten free offerings. I had called ahead about gluten free provisions, and was told to ask for the manager upon arrival.
This took a while. Whatever the chain of command was, the manager could not shake himself loose to give a dinner guest a guided tour of the salad bar, which was what finally ended up happening. My dinner companions were starting on their meat by the time I got a quick tour of the salad offerings.
The manager was sure about the safety of many things, but uncertain about anything containing mayo (was it true mayo? There's the problem, of course.) Tabbouleh salad was off-limits, as was any bread offerings on the salad bar. He also recommended against the salad dressings. I always stick to oil and vinegar at steakhouses, so I was not surprised. Since he was not sure about the milk (why, I wasn't sure) he was worried about the mashed potatoes. Otherwise, he was fairly sure the rest of the dishes would be fine.
Fairly sure wasn't good enough for me, so I confined myself to the gluten free rolls (good) and tried the bananas. I stuck with the meat, which in my case was beef and lamb. I don't eat pork right now, and the chicken was either seasoned with gluten (the legs) or wrapped in bacon. Both the chicken breasts and half the filet mignon were bacon-wrapped, and the manager said the bacon had gluten in it. I also could not eat the leg of lamb, but the staff will quickly grill you lamb chops with but a pinch of sea salt and and pepper. The sausage, in my experience, is always off limits for gluten sensitive individuals.
I tried all the beef I could, and the lamb chops. Everything was uniformly excellent. Even better, normally at Brazilian steakhouses I find all the meat over-seasoned, and have to ask for portions cut from the center of the skewered meat. Here, only the picanha had a touch too much salt for me, but it was not annoying. The lamb chops were the best I've had in years, meaty, perfectly cooked. They are tiny, and continue to cook on the plate, so I recommend getting a group of two or three ready to eat lamb cooked the same way, and devour them the moment they arrive. A piece of mine continued cooking on the plate, but a friend who preferred medium-well gladly took it off my hands.
The waiter did not bring the dessert tray sampler because my dining companions either did not want dessert, or had eaten here before and had favorites, or ordered the dessert they always wanted. The group liked their choices, ordering creme brulee and papaya creme with liqueur. Several people had a glass of Liqueur 43 with dessert, and as we were late NYE diners, complimentary champagne was served at midnight.
Desserts are hard for me to judge, because I've cut back so much on sugar and salt, and eat no gluten and very little dairy. For me, the papaya creme was for the ultimate heavy creme experience -- I did not find it sweet, but it also took its flavor from the liqueur topping. Without a bite of papaya in a sample, I tasted only heavy cream. The creme brulee texture was thick and creamy, as if someone set up clotted cream, and the melted sugar on top tasted a bit charred. The Liqueur 43 was a lovely vanilla-tinged drink with a hint of citrus. Ignore the ad campaign for the liquor and try it, if you enjoy liqueurs. It's well worth trying!
Was it a good experience? Yes -- the service was attentive, the meat cooked beautifully. Will I go back? I will. But I will try and time it so I can get there earlier than my party, and get a slow tour of the salad bar, pinning the manager down about the side dishes.
I think Estancia could quickly carve a part of the GF market for themselves by sharply delineating safe dishes, and training their entire staff in the differences. I can go to Fogo and know that except for the chicken legs, Tabbouleh, and french bread, everything in the main meal is safe for me. Estancia has superior lamb, and beef the equal of Fogo's. Fogo's rolls and bananas are tastier for some reason. Fogo offers me dark chocolate at the door, which is my usual dessert there. Estancia has candied mints, most likely made with gluten.
Both restaurants need to hire Sweet Texas to make a lovely selection of gluten free cookies to offer as a simple sweet with coffee and after dinner drinks!
Note: Estancia is currently a cheaper evening dining experience than Fogo de Chao.