Chronicle Critic Enjoys the Cobbler But Not the Noise at Cajun Barbecue Restaurant The Switch

Chronicle critic Melanie Haupt visited Dripping Springs barbecue restaurant The Switch, and found dishes of varying quality. Though she closed the review by saying the only complaints she had for the second restaurant from the Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew team were really “aesthetic in nature” (loudness, tables crowded by settings), her descriptions of the food still seemed lukewarm.

On a brunch visit, Haupt was less than impressed by the chop block queso (“just okay”) than the smoked jalapeño poppers (“rich, smoky, and delicious”). Though the brunch entree were enjoyable, each carried minor criticism: the avocado toast was “a little tough,” brisket hash had a not-as-spicy sauce that was “perhaps disappointing to horseradish lovers,” and the biscuit base of the Switch Benedict was “bland.”

The Switch’s peach cobbler, however, was the star:

The perfect marriage of crisp and gooey, topped with a cooling scoop of vanilla ice cream to bathe the delectably tender peaches, is cobbler worth going out of your way for.

Dinner was similarly a mixed bag, with the table enjoying the “plump” fried chicken wings while the chicken fried steak “bore uneven clumps of a blandish floury breading” (Haupt noted it was half as good as the dish at Cali-Tex restaurant Joann’s, which she also reviewed). However, the complimentary hush puppies and pickles on a massive pulled pork po’ boy received special compliment from her.

Despite these quibbles, Haupt still declared that she was eager to return to the restaurant.

Texas Monthly barbecue critic Daniel Vaughn stopped by the new restaurant location of Mum Foods, and was pleased by the offerings. Vaughn had previously called Mum’s pastrami the best in the state, and revealed that the restaurant location sells as much in a week as the farmers market stall does in one day.

Vaughn first swooned over an upcoming sweet side dish:

I tried a sample of a sweet corn dish headed to the menu soon: a half cob was topped with house-made sour cream and pickled blueberries. The aroma of blueberries remained, making the sour fruitiness even more surprising, and it all played well against the burst of sweet corn kernels.

Vaughn also explored the role of fermentation in salt in Mum’s pickles and pastrami. Vaughn suggests requesting a mix of lean and fatty pastrami in the sandwich, which comes on bread from forthcoming McGuire Moorman bakery Swedish Hill.

Overall, Mum seemed to retain its place among Vaughn’s favorites.

• Restaurant Review: Perfectly Barked Barbecue and Unlimited Hush Puppies at the Switch [Chronicle]
• All Coverage of The Switch [EATX]
• The Masters of Brisket Pastrami Now Have a Deli [Texas Monthly]
• All Coverage of Mum Foods Deli [EATX]