Woodland

05/05/2008 Posted by ek3113

This was our first visit. We went on a Sunday evening and I was surprised at the full-house. Seems to be a good indication that people like it here. I loved the servers in jeans and plaid. I liked the decor. It was a bit loud and it made conversation a little difficult. We had the corn fritters to start (total YUM) and a variety of entrees. The only quibble was the Halibut special that night was served lukewarm. The Peanut Butter Chocolate pie made up for it, though! The grapefruit mojito, Grace & Moxie, is very good and gets better and better. :-) I love Starlite and am happy that Woodland serves down-home comfort food with an equal attention to detail. We'll be back.

Pros: Food, Atmosphere

Cons: Loud

01/22/2008 Posted by brecre

My very first experience at The Woodland, is one that I will never forget. I went with a group of friends about a year ago. We were greeted by a very sweet hostess that seated us at a very large booth to accommodate our group. The staff was very inviting and friendly and made me feel right at home, but they had better food than my house. They offer a great home cooked menu, my friends and I were dying to try everything! I think we might have, starting with: Corn bread muffins (perfectly moist), Arugula & Fennel salad (My favorite...salad), Fried oysters with an amazing sauce on the side (I dream about this one), Steak (tender and juicy), Pork Empanadas (sp?) (wonderful flaky crust and an even better filling)... There was more. Not only was the food amazing the service was to match. The servers were polite and funny, all the people it took to bring us our truck load of food were all smiles. The manager even came by to visit to make sure we were enjoying ourselves and proceeded to be friendly with conversation. At the bar: the drink menu was very unique with a lot of neat twists to plain old drinks. The bartenders are great about helpful suggestions on what would be the best drink for the taste you desire (sweet, sour, etc...) I could really go on and on. The Woodland is my favorite place to take my friends to enjoy great food and relax in a friendly environment. Remember if you treat the staff like you would like to be treated, you will be treated like gold :) and even if you're a rude person (which A LOT of people are) they are still as kind as can be.

Pros: Great food, service etc....

Cons: That their not open 24/7

01/10/2008 Posted by geogeek

A group of us went here on a wednesday night. No crowds and we were seated quickly. I got the stuffed tomato and pecan pie. The tomato was a little mushy and lacked a lot of pizazz or spice... just kind of bland. The poXpie (the on-line review system won't take the "T" after po... because it is "inappropriate"... lame!!) was good. One friend got the poX pie and found a 1 inch long bone in it- eekk. The other friend got some kind of steak sandwich that looked good. Overall, I thought this place was just sort of average. I'd pay the extra money for a nicer restaurant on Congress. The service was fast and very friendly though.

01/06/2008 Posted by daoconn

Went today Jan 6 for brunch around 1:30. Wasn''t busy. Had two little kids with us. Ordered english muffin w peanut butter....10 mins later was told they don''t have pb. Ordered bowl of fruit with two lunches...had to wave down the busboy 15 mins later to have him pull it off the line...it sat for about 20 mins and the cooks didn''t say anything to the waitstaff. Had to walk to the line myself and get spoons for the fruit. Waitstaff couldn''t leave the table fast enough. No one seemed concerned....hugh....so I guess they won''t care when they don''t have jobs...hugh. Bathrooms were filthy..not just from the day...was a couple of days worth of crud. Old saying ...if the bathrooms are dirty...so is the kitchen. Sad that a local place is so poorly cared for...really wanted it to be great!!! Our first time, when the owners were there when they first opened...it was good.

Pros: Walking distance from our house.

Cons: Waste of money...no energy..food choices are boring

12/26/2007 Posted by nina_ricci

I attend this establishment on a weekly basis and what I can say is they cater to everyone's needs. Their salads and veggie burgers rock! The bartenders, waitstaff, and hostess are all friendly and truly try and help the best they can given the space (come on folks this is SOCO). This isn't one of those planted post; I truly love this place and will miss it once I move to another coast. Great amazing food, great folks and great management...you couldn't ask for much more! BRAVO GUYS!

Pros: You should be there

Cons: Why aren't you there?

12/14/2007 Posted by susanlon

My sister and I had been meaning to try this place for a long time. Very optimistic, we entered on a Friday night and were greeted by the hostess who walked us over to a standard, small table. There were many booths open and we asked to sit in one. She said no, because they were about to get busy and needed the booths for larger groups (this was 8 PM). Fair enough, we thought, and sat down waiting several minutes for someone to come over and ask for a drink order. We never did get someone to ask for the drinks. Instead two waters and some stale corn muffins were smacked down without any acknowledgement of either of us. The most insulting part was that every party who walked in after us consisted of two people who were immediately taken by the hostess to the empty booths. However, the small two-person tables we were forced to sit at were available and empty. What happened to the booths being for large groups? It was the same hostess the entire time. Did she suffer a mental block? The remaining staff members were walking around like zombies. The food didn't even make up for it. We speculate that my sister's chicken potpie was the soup of the day (chicken noodle) with some cornstarch stirred in and a slab of pie crust thrown on. Also, make sure to check your receipt as well. They somehow tweaked the dollar amount of our entrees so that the receipt listed the correct dish, but with a mysterious increased price. We had to open a menu and point to the listed price before our waiter corrected the mistake. Just don't go here if you don't want your evening ruined. Save your money.

Pros: none

Cons: service

12/08/2007 Posted by momeban

I went to eat at Woodland tonight with my friend. It was her first time there, and I have been there for a few times. I had good experience for past few times, but it was completely different experience tonight. I ordered meatloaf , and it was hard around the edge. I told the server that I had meatloaf before here, and it wasn't hard like this around the edge before. He took it back to the kitchen and brought me another plate. It was better than before, but meatloaf still had hard edge. The server explained to me that because it was cooked in the oven, the edge is hard like that. I understand how meatloaf is prepared, but it was not hard around the edge when I ate there before (nice and moist). The server told me if I do not like the food, he would take it off the check. When my new meatloaf arrived, this guy came by the table and asked us how the food was. I replied, "Better than before." It turned out that the guy stopped by briefly was manager. I would have appreciated if he identified who he was and took a time to speak to me. Then we ordered coffee and desserts. We felt that coffee tasted weak, and my friend asked the server if he could make coffee stronger. He replied, "It is just a coffee, not like espresso or anything." We told the server to take our coffee back and cancel the desserts. Yes, I did pay for my meal I did not enjoy very much. My friend and I felt that the customer service was not that great at Woodland. I do retail management and will never treat my unhappy customer the way I was treated tonight. As for our server... He was not customer friendly (not outgoing, energetic, attentive). A little smile on his face will go a long way. Needless to say, tonight's experience completely ruined my previous experience at Woodland.

11/29/2007 Posted by cletus13

I love the Woodland, it is one of the best things to happen to S.Congress in a long time. The interior is hip and inviting. The staff is friendly and helpful. The food is delicious. Certainly in a rush any small restaurant is bound to get backed up. But when the drinks are that good, what 45 minutes among friends. If you want everything to come out fast and mass-produced go to tx land and cattle. And to the people who said they were discriminated against: Give me a break, both of the Managers are in their mid to late thirties. I eat and drink at the woodland all of the time and I always take out of towners there. Haven't had a compliant so far. Check it out, you won't be sorry.

Pros: Everything

Cons: What cons?

11/11/2007 Posted by robertknox

Some friends of mine called me on a Friday night and asked if I would like to meet them at Woodland for dinner. They arrived a bit before me and phoned me to inform me to hurry up because Woodlands will not seat partial parties. (which is fine because I was sure they don't want you camping out). We arrived and waited 15 minutes to be seated. My friends ordered food/drinks & I ordered a drink.We got our drinks & waited & waited for the food to arrive. Our server explained that a lot of people are ordering burgers & that there is only one cook in the back that can cook burgers so the kitchen is backed up. We din't order burgers by the way. We waited more and a female server came by and explained the exact same thing and that they are short in the kitchen. Finally after 1.5 hrs of waiting we asked for a manager. He came by and explained that the kitchen is not short handed and didnt know why someone one would say this. He was very defensive. We all exchanged words about the poor service & he went to the kitchen and brought out one of the orders. My friend ate his until it was cold and his appetite was ruined. We asked for the manager again because the other plate never arrived. It has now been 1 hour and 45 minutes. My friend is now P.O'ed. He had talked to the manager and the manager kept on defending the kitchen and that things are busy and proceeded to give excuse after excuse. We told him we don't want to hear excuses that he was being very unprofessional which he was. He was the rudest and worst manager I have ever seen. Then he forced us to pay for the 3 lousy drinks after waiting close to 2 hours then he was overly polite to rub it in our face. I cannot believe that someone like this is still employed. A business that has people like this representing it does not deserve to serve the public in any shape or form. There are too many other restaurants in Austin with great food and courteous service. Please seek them out...

Pros: Its not near my house

Cons: Everything we experienced

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

10/16/2007 Posted by edmondcb

My wife and I came into the Woodland on a Sunday morning, about eleven-o-clock, for brunch. Everything was excellent, from the service (a friendly young man who the receipt identified as Wiseman) to the drinks and the food. The Bloody Mary I had was very spicy and rich-tasting, which is exactly how I like it. My wife had "The Morning Wood," which was as delicious (in her estimation) as the name is quirky and fun. In fact, quirky and fun are as good of descriptors as I can find to accompany this review. Highly, highly recommended. Oh, and getting a table was a breeze - it did not take longer than 5 minutes, though from the street it looked like it could have taken up to half-an-hour (which I would wait, if I had to, since the output is so good). Very efficient, and enjoyable, especially if you get to sit by a window. Like I mentioned above, the waiter was quick on his feet and very knowledgeable about the menu. He came to the table often (but not too often) and made sure our food and drinks were to taste. He had a professional, and at the same time, fun, demeanor, which seems to be a rule, rather than an exception, in the restaurant, as all of the waiters, waitresses, and even the manager, seemed to be having a good time while also efficiently doing their jobs. Anyway, I ramble. Go try it!

Pros: Great service, great food.

Cons: I don't think there are any!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful