Cherry Street Pizza Fail; Mizu Impresses Rob Balon

Here's where Austin food writers, critics and Rob Balon ate this week:

AUSTIN CHRONICLE — Virginia B. Wood and her crew of contributors compile a series of blurby blurbs on Austin restaurants that have opened since last year's ACL Festival. Mercury Pizza has "amazing" specialty pizzas; the revamped Liberty Tavern is "a great place to hole up and nosh"; the "real stars of the show" at Banger's are the "exotic" sausages; at Lucy's Fried Chicken, the bird is "tender and juicy, the breading perfectly crisp"; Pelons is solid, "straight-up Tex-Mex with a few Interior Mexican enhancements." The only negative tidbits go to Cherry Street, where Wood eats an $11 personal-sized artichoke pizza ("wasn't much food for that much money") and a Margherita Pizza that "pretty much fell flat" with some "sad" tomatoes.

DINING OUT ON KVUE — Rob Balon, whose wholesale refusal to criticize anything ever is complemented by his impressive affinity for exclamation points, hollers at the camera from the renewed Mizu in west Austin. He finds "wonderful steak, sushi and sashimi," pleasant "offerings for those who love raw food and for those who cannot abide it," and a hama tama roll that a human being literally cannot avoid developing a strong affection for ("Gotta love the hama tama roll!").

· New On The Menu [Austin Chronicle]
· Dining Out With Rob Balon: Mizu [KVUE]

[Photo: Cherry Street/Facebook]