Austin's has lost its soul. Or, more accurately, has left it at the funky little Broadway Village-area space it occupied for many, many years.
We consider this a tragedy. And a serious loss for Tucsonans.
A few months ago, the nearly 50-year-old Austin's moved to a former Souper Salad space on East Broadway near Wilmot Road. The original intention was to reopen the old spot and keep the East Side location, but that didn't work out.
Left behind were the odd-size booths with the ripped vinyl and the aisles that echo hamster-runs. Staff would go up and down those narrow, employees-only aisles serving hot dogs and pouring out extra-thick milkshakes they had just made.
Left behind is the old-style soda fountain where you could sit when the booths were full, which they almost always were.
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Gone is the spirit of that spot, which became a blanket of red before University of Arizona games and an ocean of giggles on weekends when families stuffed the booths and themselves, and waited in long lines to get a seat.
Now, some things have remained the same:
● There are still rips in the booths' plastic seats that hug the walls, but the crazy layout is gone and in its place is a standard wide-open dining space, with lots of tables. Zilch personality.
● The service is still pretty loose and slow.
● The servers still make those ice cream treats, piling the creamy, fat-rich cold stuff into sodas and shakes and sundaes.
● The food is still so-so, and the ice cream is still seriously good — with a caveat: On one of our visits, the ice cream popped with crystals, usually a telltale sign of refreezing.
But the chocolate chip ice cream still has huge chocolate chunks; the milkshakes ($3.50 for a thick triple-scoop one) are still served with the extra in the aluminum container, the chocolate still rich and dreamy.
However, for years Austin's has not been the place to get a great meal. Not even a very good one. It still isn't.
Grilled cheese sandwiches, hamburgers, chili and hot dogs continue to anchor the still-pink menus (with the old address just snipped out and a hole in its space).
For variety, there's the bacon, tomato and cheese melt ($5.25), a crispy sandwich on tasty sourdough bread grilled to a golden brown. But the bacon wasn't crisp and the tomato was tasteless. The harried waiter (it was busy and short-staffed) failed to mention that a variety of cheeses are available, and we ended up with wholly-without-redeeming-value American cheese.
The potato salad, with crispy chunks of celery and a sampling of mustard, was fine. If you prefer, you can get the rabbit food — raw celery and carrots. Or potato chips, fries or slaw. The fries tasted as though they had spent much of their life in a freezer. Fresh fries would be so lovely.
The Old Style Grilled Frank is three-halves of your standard beef dog, grilled to juicy tastiness, on a round toasted bun with sides of grated cheese and pickle relish. Nothing great, but, hey — 1) it's a hot dog, and 2) it was $3.
The burger deluxe ($4) had a thin, dry patty of beef served on a toasted bun. It comes with chips, fries or — get this — beets. The beets have always floored us — we admit to having grown up with the yucky canned variety and have yet to acquire a real appreciation of the veggie. But these are pickled beets, and while we didn't try them, we hear our aversion is unwarranted.
We miss the old Austin's. We miss the feel of the place.
We know we can still pop over to the East Side of town and grab a shake. But, frankly, it's just not the same.
Review
Austin's East
6129 E. Broadway, 514-5132
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sundays
Family call: Fine family place
Noise level: Not too bad
Vegetarian choices: Is ice cream a vegetarian dish?
Dress: Tucson casual
Reservations: Not accepted
Et cetera: Bring cash or a check; no cards accepted
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