Lucy's, Elizabeth Street Cafe Garner Local Critics' Praise

This week the Austin Chronicle and the Austin American-Statesman tackle what have to be South Austin's two most talked-about new restaurants: the Elizabeth Street Cafe (home to the famous $22 bowl of pho) and Lucy's Fried Chicken, the hipster- and family-friendly Olivia spin-off from Chef James Holmes. Both restaurants thoroughly wow their respective critics.

Kate Thornberry at the Chronicle says the comparatively pricey menu at Elizabeth Street is well worth it, "when you taste what this cuisine becomes when made with the ingredients it deserves." She calls the short rib pho a "veritable cauldron of clear, richly spiced stock served with cilantro, sliced jalapeños, mint, sacred basil, rice noodles, and delectable chunks of meltingly tender short ribs."

Lucy's Fried Chicken gets an eight out of ten from the Statesman's Matthew Odam, who calls the chicken a "phenomenal" value and "exceptional." The raw oysters are like a "stolen beachside campfire kiss" and Taff Mayberry's "pies alone warrant multiple trips to Lucy's."

· Elizabeth Street Cafe: "Un-Pho-Gettable" [Austin Chronicle]
· At Lucy's In South Austin, Bird Is The Word [Austin360]
· All Elizabeth Street Cafe Coverage on Eater Austin [-EATX-]
· All Lucy's Fried Chicken Coverage on Eater Austin [-EATX-]
· All Week In Reviews on Eater Austin [-EATX-]

Lucy's Fried Chicken, inside. [Photo: Andrea Grimes/EATX]