Fearless Critic Austin Restaurant Guide [Paperback]

Robin Goldstein (Author), Alexis Herschkowitsch (Editor), Rebecca Markovits (Contributor), Monika Powe Nelson (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2006

Brutally honest, cheeky, and fiercely independent, the Fearless Critic is the definitive restaurant guide to the Austin area. Acclaimed critic Robin Goldstein has teamed with a secret panel of local critics to create a 416-page blockbuster of a book. The critics dine incognito, accepting no free meals and no ads from restaurants. Prepare to be shocked by the results: this is a new breed of food writing.

The book includes more than 400 brutally honest reviews, rigorous grades (with no grade inflation), and helpful cross-referenced lists that cover every corner of Austin's eclectic dining scene, from the power steakhouses to Hill Country BBQ shrines, wine bars to breakfast taco stands. It's an essential reference for anyone who eats out in the Austin area, including Bee Cave, Cedar Park, Dripping Springs, LakeTravis area, Lockhart, Marble Falls, Oak Hill, Pflugerville, Round Rock, and the Hill County.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alexis Herschkowitsch has written and edited for the Fearless Critic Austin Restaurant Guide and The Wine Trials, as well as Fodor's guides to Mexico, El Salvador, and Thailand. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, and has a WSET advanced wine and spirits certificate.

Rebecca Markovits is a member an increasingly rare species: the Native Austinite. She left town briefly for her undergraduate studies at Yale, where she learned to love the pizza pie; and for an M.Phil. in English Literature at Oxford, where she soaked in rain and curries. When Rebecca gleefully returned to Austin, she put all of her education to good use by sitting around and eating. She currently lives in South Austin.

Monika Powe Nelson is an Austin native and daughter of Pacific Northwest transplants. She spent some of her palate-forming years in the Hawaiian Islands, as well as some long summers in France, making her crave brisket, lefse, fresh fish, and stinky cheeses in equal proportions. Monika is a graduate of both the University of Texas at Austin and the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. She spent 14 years as a professional chef both in Austin and California. Monika currently resides in the Hill Country.

Robin Goldstein is author of The Wine Trials and co-author of The Wine Trials 2010 and The Beer Trials. He is a contributor to the New York Times' Freakonomics blog, and has written for more than 30 Fodor's travel guides, from Italy to Argentina to Hong Kong. He has an A.B. in neuroscience and philosophy from Harvard University, a J.D. from the Yale Law School, a certificate in cooking from the French Culinary Institute in New York City, and a WSET advanced wine and spirits certificate.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Off the Map Press (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974014338
• ISBN-13: 978-0974014333
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,613,654 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robin Goldstein is the author of The Wine Trials, the world's bestselling guide to inexpensive wines, and is founder and editor-in-chief of the Fearless Critic series. He has lectured on wine and behavioral economics around the world, and is also a contributor to the New York Times Freakonomics blog. He has authored six books of restaurant reviews and has written for more than 30 Fodor's travel guides, from Italy to Thailand, Argentina to Hong Kong. Robin is a graduate of Harvard University and the Yale Law School, and has a certificate in cooking from the French Culinary Institute in New York and a WSET advanced wine and spirits certificate.

You can visit his blog at http://blindtaste.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wow, June 29, 2006

By 

foodie (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fearless Critic Austin Restaurant Guide (Paperback)

this is something austin has needed for a long time. these writers don't just list restaurants -- they review them really seriously. some of the reviews are absolutely scathing ... and pretty funny. and in terms of food, they're spot on. why has everybody else been afraid to come out and say it: guero's isn't that good! also the review for mansion at judges hill is hilarious -- it's written as a long limerick.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars thank you for writing this book, January 11, 2007

By 

Austin Foodie (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fearless Critic Austin Restaurant Guide (Paperback)

Have lived in Austin almost 20 years - picked this book up to keep for out-of-town guests to use, ended up reading it like a novel and tabbing many, many pages of new places I want to eat. Better than a Zagat's-style guide, it's witty, intelligent, and dead-on accurate (so far). Have now given it as a gift to numerous people - here's a great gift idea: buy this book and insert a gift card to a highly-rated restaurant on the page where it's reviewed.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Limited range but accurate, January 6, 2009

By 

Your name here (Texas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fearless Critic Austin Restaurant Guide (Paperback)

Neat little book. Very honest opinions and we have found that the authors views pretty much mirror our own. Not in all cases though, we have restaurants that we love that they rated poorly and vice-versa.

That said, it's a very useful book and has brought several restaurants to our attention that we didn't know about or didn't know enough about.

Obviously, you have to live in one of the cities that they publish but if you live in one of the target rich environments like Austin, it's a handy guide.

I'd also reccommend their other book, "The Wine Trials". These same authors did blind taste tests with 507 testers in a variety of cities, testing wines that ranged in price from under $10 to over $200. They then tabulated the results and published a list of cheap wines that beat the big boys. VERY INFORMATIVE. Fool your wine snob friends by decanting some of the top ranked cheap wines and telling them you paid a wad for them.