It can be hard to find a restaurant that has it all. In a good dining experience, you want to see quality customer service, an amazing ambience that makes you feel comfortable, and delicious food to boot. If you've never been to Geraldine's in downtown Austin, you might find it hard to believe that the Rainey Street restaurant is offering serious upscale dishes in the heart of one of the most entertaining parts of the city. After all, you can't see Geraldine's from the ground, and that is part of why it's such an amazing experience inside.
On the fourth floor of the Hotel Van Zandt, Geraldine's gives restaurant-goers a "bat's eye view" of Lady Bird Lake and the Austin skyline, which sets the scene for the delicious food to follow. We're not here to just sing Geraldine's praises, though we do love the guinea fowl motif (named of course, after the charismatic guinea fowl that used to roam Rainey Street). We're really here to tell you about fantastic new dishes on the new happy hour menu.
Geraldine's Happy Hour
Photo by Marie Carlson.
As you can see, there are so many options to choose from! We've highlighted three drinks and three bites that are must-tries from Geraldine's.
The Sips
The Guinea Punch. Photo by Marie Carlson.
At a recent tasting, Marie Carlson (hi, Marie!) was able to try three different drinks that are new offerings. The first was the Guinea Punch that tasted like it'd be perfect on a porch, or the pool and bar balcony at Geraldine's. Refreshing with a citrus taste, the whiskey was still relatively strong in the drink, making it a good choice to get your happy hour started right.
The Long Island Iced Tea was next, and it didn't have quite the same taste you'd expect from a traditional Long Island Iced Tea. The rum was most present in this drink, and the heavy orange and citrus flavors brightened up the flavors.
Finally, the French 76 was the favorite drink of the event and really, when does prosecco go wrong? The bubble-to-drink ratio was delicious and sparkly, and Marie said it was the best French 76 she's had. I know Marie, y'all, and this is a huge compliment, one we don't take lightly around here. So your first choice for a cocktail during a Geraldine's happy hour should be the French 76.
The Bites
The Pig Face Candy Bar. Photo by Marie Carlson.
Of the six new bites from the happy hour menu, there were three stand-out options that everyone must order. To start, the aptly-named Pig Face Candy Bar shouldn't scare you away! This was the favorite dish of the night, and as Marie put it, she doesn't even like pork! The mix of sweet and savory here really put the dish over the top and the cheese crackers, though messy for a date (just skip the awkward part, y'all), were totally worth it.
The Salt Roasted Beet Salad. Photo by Marie Carlson.
The Salt Roasted Beet Salad was an intriguing forerunner and as Marie said, "I'd imagine if you were into beets, this would be beyond amazing. I don't like beets, but I still thought it was pretty good." Now if that's not enough of an endorsement for the beet lovers among us, I don't know what is! The deviled egg Geraldine's pairs with it sold the deal along with the tasty aioli.
The Parmesan Funnel Cake. Photo by Marie Carlson.
Finally, the Parmesan Funnel Cake completely blew away the team. Not your average funnel cake, you might be expecting something sweet and covered in powdered sugar. This is not the case at Geraldine's, and the savory version was covered in Parmesan cheese so how could that not be delicious?
The next time you're ready to hit the town, make sure Geraldine's is first on your list. If this snippet of the new menu is any indication, there isn't a bad dish in the place, y'all.
