Sneak Peak at 24 Diner

Swiss chard and artichoke gratin.

24 Diner is a fabulous new restaurant opening soon on Lamar.  Brent and I had a chance to go to a pre-opening dinner there and I've already gone back, longingly peering in the door doing my best to will them open again with my jedi mind tricks. Unfortunately it didn't work. Needless to say I am in love with 24 Diner and as I write this I feel guilty about my other love, Frank, which I wrote about here. Though I've decided I can love both.

I love the upscale diner feel. Nice job!

'guts' of the artichoke gratin

The first bite of the swiss chard and artichoke gratin was pure unadulterated happiness. If this was any indication on my meal to come I was afraid I might never leave my seat. I couldn't stop mmmming and groaning every time I took a delicious bite. I haven't had a food-gasm like this in a long time and I'm greedy... I definitely wanted more!

Veggie Pot Pie

Then came my veggie pot pie, holy hell in heaven. I don't know what that means exactly, but I think you know it was good! Just looking at the pictures I can taste the firm peas and sweet sweet potatoes melding in my mouth in a beautiful harmonious symphony. The puff pastry was to die for. Die, I mean it. If I ever get the choice of my last meal this is going to be a hard one not too pick, though my Mimi makes the best homemade creamed corn in the south. It's definitely going to be a tight decision. Now if for my last meal I could just have everything on the menu here.. well then I'm sorry Mimi, you know I will always love you.

Bacon Gorgonzola (no gorgonzola) with Texas local beef... you know I had some!

Thanks to the decision maker who decide to buy Texas local beef because then I got to taste the burger. No kidding, I would say it's easily one of the top 3 in town. I even liked the caramelized onions and I freaking hate onions. Now that I think about it, maybe they sprinkled some sort of drug on us when we came in... or in their food, it was all so good. The mac and cheese was salty and cooked perfectly with some nice firm and not mushy noodles, just the way I like it.

Alisa's stuffed swish chard and I quote, 'full of flavor, fresh, and healthy.' It looks beautiful and I can't wait to try it.

While we were there we met two fabulous ladies that happened to be seated next to us. Of course, I had to take a picture of their beautiful looking dishes and Alisa and Lynn were happy to oblige. Alisa is the co-founder of L Style G Style, which explained her willingness to let me shoot photos of their food. Towards the end of the meal we started talking to our new friends and had the best time and greatest conversations. It really made the night complete and reminded me of what I love about Austin. The food and the people here are truly amazing.

Lynn said her charred bitters salad was warm and comforting like a soup.

We ended our meal by splitting a roasted banana and brown sugar milkshake. Lynn nailed the description saying it tasted just like a Nilla Wafer. If only she knew the strife Nilla Wafers have caused in our house.

I typed up a menu that I took when we left. I'm not sure if they will change anything or not but you can see it here.

Needless to say, I'm hopelessly in love with 24 Diner and have not stopped thinking about this place since I sadly walked out the front door. I hope they don't think it was that easy to get rid of me.

Open Soon 24

Of course I love that they post where their local veggies come from.