Pat's Pick

by Patricia Sharpe

LALAPALOUZA When I heard that erstwhile caterer Lou Lambert was opening a restaurant on Austin's South Congress Avenue—a popular haute-funk shopping district—I kept my fingers crossed for a place with good value, good vibes, and good food. Lambert's has delivered on all those fronts. Entrées are $11 to $20 (most come with side dishes), the decor is appealingly simple (polished-concrete floors, exposed air conditioning ducts, mirrors on off-white walls), and the free-range menu does right by both global and regional American creations. I love the cool appetizer of shredded-beef salpicón and guacamole, which you roll up in a corn tortilla like a taco, and I'm already addicted to the caper-strewn olive-oil dipping sauces that come with the tenderloin and (admirably rare) tuna entrées. The roast chicken is comfort-food heaven, and I'm telling everybody that they have to finish with the grown-up version of cookies and milk—a plate heaped with macadamia-nut pralines, citrus sugar cookies with crystallized ginger, chocolate-chip cookies, and a big dollop of whipped cream.