Fork it over, Boston!: Annie's Cafe & Bar (Fork it over, Austin!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Annie's Cafe & Bar (Fork it over, Austin! - Part 15)

A light rain and chill had dominated the first few days of the trip, but on the fifth morning, the downpours began. The Austinites were thrilled; it had been a dry season. We wrapped ourselves up in ponchos and trudged along in wet shoes and jeans. Boston was having gorgeous weather through all this, of course.

Before leaving the hotel, we settled on a breakfast place called Annie's, an adorable brasserie. Sam had her heart set on the chorizo migas. After braving the storms, we arrived and settled in at a high table by the window, watching inches of water swirling down the street.

The menus arrived. It was a special SXSW menu lacking the chorizo migas, among other things. Worse, some of the prices had been boosted slightly from what we saw online. We asked about ordering items off the usual menu, but they were unavailable. Resigned to the small set of lackluster and overpriced choices, we ordered:

fried egg sandwich

full English breakfast

morning crunch

croissant with jam

Maybe it was the rain and the unavailability of chorizo migas and the sneaky price increase, but this was probably the first meal that left us disappointed. The food was decent, but something felt off. It's an adorable space and the standard menu looks fantastic, though, so perhaps this was an anomaly. If I lived in town, it's definitely a place I'd attempt again (not during the conference), but this visit was kind of a bust.