Las Manitas Avenue Cafe

They're closed now?? How disappointing--now I can't go back on my next trip! (sobbing)

Maybe some Austinian who sees this can tell me of another good place to go for Migas!

Go eat there right away, as often as you can, because it will soon have the same fate as Maria's Taco Xpress...and perhaps worse.

Its 1930s subtle art deco interior makes you feel like you've stepped into a John Fante novel - and very well, a waitress named Camilla just might serve up your coffee and beans. Even if her name is not Camilla, you will still enjoy sitting at the lunch counter. That's the best seat in the house.

The menu, just by including certain ingredients and dishes such as Huevos Motulenos and Enchiladas Zacatecanas, pulls off an authentic flavor (and without the froo-froo of nouveau interior Mexican cuisine).

It's always bustling during breakfast and lunch - a true downtown cafe (started by two sisters in 1981 who still run the place). I cannot believe that one day soon, a high-rise hotel will be in its place. They've been promised a new location, but you can't replace history with compensation.

The food is perhaps a 3 out of 5. The quality/price ratio is very high, however. The ambiance gets 6 stars. The people who run the place (Cynthia) are the best! Every time I visit Austin, I come here at least once. Multiple trips during the day are not out of the question.

LM is going to be moving down the block to an upscale gentrified building. I wish them well, very well.

Picture lunch on a weekday: tons of people already enjoying their Manitas products. They could be tourists, politicians, or just your everyday, working-class hero. You start feeling the familiar anxiety of "should I stay or should I go?" since you're not entirely sure that they have room for you at the moment, even though your belly is telling you how much it needs friends to cure its solitude. But the friendly waitress waves at you and beckons you to follow her.

You wander farther and farther into the sea of lunch-goers until you reach the kitchen door. Watching the staff prepare food and wash dishes as you stroll by, you end up in the back patio area, complete with picnic tables covered in colorful tablecloths. Ah, relief washes over you, and euphoria takes over as you realize that you didn't have to wait at all for a seat at the table of Manitas.

Okay, back to the first-person. The horchata is tasty but relatively small; I was able to down it quickly, partially because of the size of its container and because it was hot outside. I gravitated immediately to the enchiladas rojos because the menu touted the use of ancho peppers in the sauce. Awesome! And the refried beans leave you without a doubt that bacon did its magic with the beans. The portions felt large for what you paid for, especially in the downtown area. Also, I could tell why so many people eat lunch here: it's tasty, and it's very fast.

The verdict: I hope this place never dies. It's become a staple in the downtown area, and just because the City of Austin wants yet another hotel, Las Manitas shouldn't suffer because of it. I want to go back during the weekend to try the menudo.

I come here to look at the pictures and remember what a great place this was. Always hoped they opened somewhere else.

As a testament to how great the food is, there was a huge line of people waiting to get in. It was nice and sunny in Austin and we had an hour and a half lunch break, so we decided to wait.

After maybe a half hour we were seated at a table near the door. The decor inside Las Manitas is simple, with some local art on the walls. There's a counter one one side and some booths on the other and some tables in between. The food is pretty simple, although they do have many items on the menu. Prices range from $5 - $8 for lunch entrees. How did it taste? I thought it was great. Matt and I each had a combo plate, Justin had enchiladas, and John had the chalupas. We were all happy with the food and were talking about going back for breakfast one day, but sadly it didn't happen.

I really liked Las Manitas and would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Austin who wants high quality food for a low price.

Can I have my Austin card now?

After living here for more than a year I finally made it to Las Manitas Cafe. Unless you work downtown this place can be hard to eat at since it's only open for lunch.

A couple of Saturday's ago I was hungry, and on Congress.... Yes! I finally get to visit this Austin staple.

It was pretty dang good! Since it was windy that day it felt like the makeshift roof they have over the patio was going to rip off at any moment.... but that's really my only complaint.

I ordered my food, and what seems like seconds later, it was delivered to my table. Super fast service.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and proclaim that Las Manitas has the BEST re fried beans I have ever had. period. I'm sure they have every kind of animal fat mixed into them.... but I don't care, because DANG..... those were some good beans.

This is an Austin staple that's worthy of it's reputation.

Without you, there's no sun in my sky,
There's no love in my life,
There's no world left for me,
And I, oh Baby, I don't know what I'm gonna do,
I'm lost downtown since I lost you.
Ever since you left,
Baby, you took away everything real in my life,
And tell me now,

How do I live without you?
I want to know.
How do I breathe without you?
Since you had to go
How do I ever, ever survive?
How do I
How do I
Oh, how do I live?

OMG, I want to swim in a pool of their tortilla soup. It's the perfect blend of chicken stock, cheese and tortilla strips. The broth has a nice texture, and the dish gets better as you get closer to the bottom. Too bad, they only serve it on Wednesdays.

But during the rest of the week, plan on enjoying their guacamole, refried beans, corn tortillas, chorizo and eggs, fruit bowls, veggie tacos, and pozole. These are a few of my favorite things. The BF loves their salsa, but it's a tad too spicy for me. At first we thought it strange that they don't automatically give you chips and salsa, but I got over it pretty quickly. I'd rather save my appetite for the meal.

The restaurant is cute and classy. I love their "sit anywhere" attitude. There aren't any gimics, upsales, or schmoozy servers here. They let the food speak for itself.

Eh.

Everyone in Austin seems to love this place, particularly the locals who have been here for 20+ years (a couple of whom I work with who end up dragging me there at least once a year). I just chalk it up to the i-loved-it-as-a-child phenomenon. You know? The phenomenon that still makes me only eat black olives after I've turned 5 of them into little individual fingers covers and then twiddled my fingers like Mr Burns? Exxxxxcellent...

Totally mediocre Mexican food. Offhand, I can name 3 places within a couple of miles that I'd rather go to (Manuels, Curras, Gueros, and I will throw in Hula Hut as a bonus even though they're not exactly serving "mexican food"...) I've eaten there at least 4 times, ordering something different every time, and I can't remember a single memorable meal. The menu is full of plain enchiladas, tacos, tostadas, etc. I'll bet you can get the same food at Taco Cabana for about half the price.

However, I will give it up to their whole let-you-walk-through-the-kitchen thing to get to the outdoor patio. When restaurants let me walk through the kitchen, it always makes me feel like the scene in Goodfellas where Ray Liotta takes Lorraine Bracco on their first date. I'm a sucker for it. But it can't save a place that's never once left me feeling like coming back.