Threadgill’s

Food is terrible. Prices are too high. I usually come to Unilocal to write good reviews, but I felt the obligation to post how terrible of an experience I had at Threadills. Will not return and would not recommend tThreadgills to my friend nor greatest enemy.

Fried green tomatoes! Cornbread muffins! Had the bronzed catfish with grilled asparagus! Amazing…

My only beef with this place is that when my friend and I came in Memorial Monday, the first place they offered to seat us was towards the back where it was dark and no windows — it was around 11-​ish and there were very very few people dining. I said «The place is nowhere near full. Could we please have a better seat?» I had to specify that I wanted the better lit booth seating by the windows with a view (I was just visiting friends in Austin from LA). They complied so I guess I should not complain. In the first place, why would you not offer the better-​lit booth seating when your restaurant isn’t even full? Restaurants here in LA, where I guess people are much more litigious and maybe more racially sensitive, are very much aware of this.
That said, the fried green tomatoes and squash bisque were pretty good. Cornbread was just meh!

Meh… I’ve not been here in at least a decade and now I remember why. The prices are way too high. $ 14.95 for a chicken fry!!!
It took 10 minutes to ask for water, and another 10 to get it.
When I place my order I told the waitress I was had an appointment to get to. No sense of urgency on her part. She came back 10 minutes later to check on us and I asked her to make mine to go and handed her my card. She brought the bill back with no food, grilled ham and cheese. I signed and waited and waited. I told my coworkers that once my lunch arrives to put it in the fridge at work. Just then she came out with our entire order. I took it and left.
Outside I found my car blocked by a Shiner semi…
I told the bartender and she asked my if I wanted her to move the truck! She ran off to find the manager. He finds the driver and asks him for an invoice. I’m fit to be tied. Finally the driver finds his partner to move the truck.
At this point it’s been 45 minutes since we’d arrived. The first Austin bum I came across I handed them my meal and joined the traffic log jam to try to get to Mopac.
I will not be back for another decade…

Brunch? When considering Sunday brunch options in Austin put this one at the bottom of the list. Eddie has let this slip big time. Bland, boring and oddly presented. The all-​you-​can-​eat buffet is horribly lame. The only reason to visit is the hotel is close and the place is filled with Austin music history. Otherwise, avoid.

Great food and great service. First off, while I listed this restaurant as being good for dessert I truthfully couldn’t guarantee it because after I eat there I am always too stuffed for dessert. I am only going by what I have eaten there over the many years going and speculating what their choices might taste like. I can honestly say that I have never had a bad experience going there.
I will say this though, while I still enjoy the rolls they serve, I miss the ones they used to make years ago. I don’t fault them for the change though because at the time I was working for a elderly gentleman known as Curtis Sawyer and we delivered the stone ground cornmeal and flour to them, coming directly from a small mill in Lockhart that they where using to make the rolls. He unfortunately passed away and the company and supply for it went away, hence the change in taste. He was the nicest person I’ve ever met and the Threadgill’s staff always treated us as family when we came. While working for him I even got the pleasure of meeting Eddie Wilson, the owner, and his charming wife and they both are wonderful people.

The food was amazing as was the service until time to take care of the bill. There was an error where one of our cards was ran on two tabs instead of one. 15 minute into this and alarmed after seeing our server looking in trash cans we called for the manager. 10 minutes later he arrived. Not happy with how this was handled. Not even a sorry.

A group of my significant otter’s conference going friends decided to eat here on our last night in Austin. This location is a convenient walk from downtown or South Congress but it looks as if they have plenty of parking. Our server was attentive and friendly and everyone enjoyed the food. Portions are generous and prices are fair.

i’ve got to first say that we went for sunday brunch last rainy sunday and the food is just ok. nothing great, nothing bad. the service was great. the music was FANTASTIC but i’ve heard it’s been hit or miss. we personally loved it and would return for drinks and music if nothing else. :) the place is huge!

Pretty disappointed. I called ahead of time, was told Chris Knight wasn’t starting until 9 pm. Upon arrival, he was already playing and only had 4 – 5 songs remaining. I was led to believe he was the headliner. I paid $ 25 to see the guy that I really wanted to see, only got to hear a few of his songs, and instead, was introduced to a pop country musician of not the same caliber. Not cool.

I was really quite taken by surprise with my lunch visit today. I have been to Threadgills many times over the course of the past 10+ years… it was always very average. I don’t know if they hired a new chef or what but they blew me away. Everything was good, from the Texas Caviar, the fries, the creamed spinach, the collard greens, the coleslaw, the San Antonio Squash! The Buffalo chicken tenders! I’m just in shock that they have made such a turn around.
I ordered Catfish, Bronzed, I am going to say this, the best catfish I have ever eaten. It was buttery and fresh! And cooked perfectly! I still can’t believe it! It’s kinda weird how good the food was… I ordered Meatloaf to go I loved it so much. I had a bite of it with the San Antonio squash… so good.
Oh and PIE-​Rhubarb pie was AMAZING. I don’t know what’s going on here, but I have to say good job Threadgills, steppin’ up your game!
I see they still do their Gospel brunch and live music, that’s nice, I may have to come back for that soon!

We ate here last night. Low maintenance interior which is a great setting for families and kids.
To start, the give you rolls and jalapeño corn bread with butter. I preferred the rolls as the corn bread wasn’t spicy as anticipated and it was a bit to over beaten.
Our meals were nicely portioned. BFF ordered liver and onions with Mac and cheese. Not even in my radar, but she loved it and took half home. Bf liked his fried chicken and greens. I opted for the 5 veggie plate. See photo. Especially delicious was the spinach casserole. Black Eyed Peas lacked flavor but we’re good when doused with hot sauce.
We had an awesome time and everything was reasonably priced.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Threadgill’s to be honest. The food wasn’t anything special. I think the atmosphere and environment is probably the best part of it. Lots of Austin history in this place, it’s just kinda standard bar food that you have to eat unfortunately.

Although I only give it 3 stars everyone should go to Threadgills at least once while in Austin.
It’s a little pricey for comfort food but it’s an Austin landmark so I don’t mind paying a few extra $$.
$ 9.95 for a 3-​veggie plate. I guess that seems fair. $ 11.95 for 5
The dinner rolls are just ok. But free so you can’t really complain
Check it out on a night when there is music. Cold beers and full bar.
Just some of their dishes are bland. That’s the reason for mediocre rating

Not a bad spot. A little bit of a wait. Good food. Good dessert. Home cooked meal. Recommend the fried okra with ranch!

I have never had such a horrible meal from Threadgills. We paid $ 70 for 2 adults and 1 kid meal and all of it was disgusting. Except for the chocolate icebox pie, which I’m pretty sure they don’t even make.
I ordered the 5 veggie plate. Fried okra (hard as a rock and flavorless), spinach casserole. Oily and inedible. Broccoli rice casserole was watery and flavorless. Black eyed peas were ok.
The kid ham was the size of a deck of cards, flat as a pancake and dry as a bone. There was no Jezebel sauce with it to ease the pain.
The chicken fried chicken was moist but flavorless. We are not picky eaters, but when there is literally no flavor, it’s disappointing.
My husband ordered hush puppies and they were fried so much they were like rocks. I cut the inside of my mouth with the first try from the rock hard breading. WTH is going on here? We have coined the term suckpuppies for this dish. No kidding.
The Ceasar salads (we made the mistake of getting 3) was limp and watery. It already had some other kind of oily dressing on it when we got it, and Ceasar on the side.
So $ 70 dollars later we feel like we just got screwed on New Years Day. Not sure what happened to Threadgills. It used to be pretty good. Now it’s worse than had we gone to Lubys for a disgusting but much cheaper Louann Platter.

Superb diner atmosphere. We were here for the gospel brunch on Sunday, great service, loved the music, nice way to kill a few hours on a Sunday afternoon. The all-​you-​can-​eat was just ok as far as the food goes … Fruit selection and omelets were excellent. Get here early if you want the best seats for the music!

Yesterday, I took a spontaneous road trip from Houston to Austin. Having driven nonstop, the first thing on my mind after arriving downtown was to find something to eat. Granted, on Christmas Day, not much is open, and what is open is going to have a very long wait, and the restaurant is going to be packed.
With this knowledge, I drove around Austin until coming upon Threadgills. A nearby business had suggested the place for its «home-​cooked» feel, and I took their advice.
I wish there were an option for less than 1 star, because that’s how badly I regret taking that advice.
First impressions: the restaurant was packed, and parking was obviously disorganized. Inside, people were scattered everywhere waiting. The restaurant smelled horrible– almost musty. The restrooms were full of sewage, used toilet paper, and smelled like vomit. No one had done a bathroom check– if this even exists for Threadgills.
Service: The hostess told us that for a party of 2, the wait would be an hour and fifteen minutes. Seeing how I had to head back towards Houston within the next few hours and still had sightseeing to do, this wasn’t an option. I decided to take a look at their menu anyways, perhaps another day, I could return and give the place a try. I was handed a Holiday Menu; I’m assuming this is put in place on Holidays to ensure the kitchen runs smoothly. The hostess was busy, so I decided to ask the bartender behind the to-​go window to see a regular menu. To be exact, I said, «May I see a regular menu, please?»
The man behind the to-​go window, gesturing toward the holiday menu, responded curtly, «THIS is what we are serving today.» And he walked off!!!
I didn’t even have a chance to explain that I had no intention of eating there today! I simply was scouting out the place for the sake of Unilocal,and future visits! Instead, he dismissed me so quickly! This incident has left a sour taste in my mouth since yesterday, and I can certainly say that I will not be returning to Threadgills during any future visits to Austin.
Management should see to it that their staff is kinder to people, especially during Christmas! And especially when busy! Just because the restaurant is packed, and you’d rather have the day off, doesn’t give any staff members the excuse to be rude to customers. This is the reason alone why this restaurant has such low reviews: stop making Unilocalers mad!

Worst service ever! Our server wasted our time. We’ve been here for 2 hours and I’ve been so sweet and understanding to him but I think he just isn’t a server type or he is new. It took him 20 minutes to bring our drinks. Took an hour for our food which is probably normal. Then 45 minutes for our check!!! The food isn’t fantastic. I’m really not happy about this place and the servers.

Had lunch here last week and even though it is walking distance from my job, I have never been here before!
It is a huge space and homey inside. We had the best waitress who was very attentive and kept on getting our drink refills.
You definitely don’t go hungry here, they brought out yeast rolls and cornbread while we were perusing the menu. I got their special of the day which was a turkey and dressing with a side for under $ 10.
The turkey wasn’t that remarkable but I did enjoy the cowboy caviar and the dressing. The salad was also good as I got it with their wasabi ranch, they have some interesting dressing choices. I wouldn’t say that all of their «vegetables» listed count as vegetables but when I am craving some comfort food again then I will be back.

Homestyle cooking period. If you’re into that great if not Zax across the street is good.
Tonight the waitress was good and efficient for the over coverage she was handling. The hipster seater dude with glasses and beard was rude and seamed confused. The food had a mis this evening. The protein was over cooked but the veggies were done well. Broccoli rice casserole is a must if you’re into that fare.

Lets start with the pros: Its an Austin tradition, a great location, a unique interior, and I’ve had good service the times I’ve gone. I did the brunch once about two years ago, but am not one for the super crowded feeding trough type of dining that buffets offer… but if you are, their brunch might be a good fit. In regards to the menu, I’ve had two items over the 5 times I’ve been. I am not a fan of the chicken fried steak… I’ve had it a few times just to make sure. It tends to be a fairly thin piece of meat, with a lot of coating, and overcooked in parts. I’d take a pass on it. But the chicken fried chicken is very good and worth a shot. While a unique interior, I would say that the bathrooms seems a little rough around the edges, sort of like a 6^th street bar… compared to most full service restaurants, but hey, maybe that works for them given the venue. Overall, a decent place worth going to once in a while.

I just wanted to thank Threadgill’s for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. And a special kudos to the manager who handled an unhappy customer who thought her wait was too long brilliantly. Turkey and fixings and service were are spectacular as usual!

Thanksgiving, ok Bizy I get it. Told us 45 mins. After 45 wait I inquired to how it was going. Informed it would be another hour. Ordered to go instead. Been waiting for 40 mins for that order so far.
We eat here often, great food but service is really beginning to suck. Last week we were here mid after noon, only four tables besides us. Order time was still 40 minutes and another 30 to be served.
If you come here, expect 1 hour to be served. Holidays, 2 –3 hours minimum.

This is the first time I’d been to this Threadgill’s (as opposed to the other site), and the first time I’d ordered anything but the chicken-​fried steak, which I’d found variable in the past.
But on this visit to Austin I’d already overdosed on bbq and other heavy meaty foods, so I was looking for something lighter and healthier. So was my companion, who had a spinach salad, so points to the restaurant for offering that.
What I had was the bronzed catfish: no breading, just pan-​sauteed with lots of tasty but not too spicy spices. Turnip greens on the side were also just what I needed. A connoisseur of local food whom I’d met at Salt Lick the previous day said of Threadgill’s merely «It’s all right,» but this was the best meal I had on this trip to Austin.
We came at the height of lunch hour (we got what looked like the last free table, but by the time we finished, the place was half-​empty), but the service was fast and efficient, and there wasn’t any sloppiness in the preparation of the food.

We needed a place to grab a fairly late dinner with a small child near our hotel. This was recommended by a few people and had chicken fried steak on the menu…“world famous chicken fried steak” the menu boasts. So when in Texas, one must have a few things BBQ, steak, Tex-​Mex, and chicken friend steak. Both my friend and I ordered the Chicken Fried Steak. I was not impressed. It was not bad, but the steak tasted like fused together ground beef or salisbury steak. The menu says that it is top sirloin, but the consistency did not feel like a solid piece of beef. I tasted the kid’s chicken tenders and those were good and I wished I had gotten a basket of those.
The staff was awesome though! They put up with us coming in late, and when the child had had enough they were very understanding and quick to get us boxes and to-​go cups.
There menu has a lot of things that sounded good that I would be interested to try and the the advertise live music, so that may be fun to check out.

All I can vouch for is the buttermilk pie and the music. Both were wonderful. I think I wanna make one at home now. Great band. Nice server. All around good Austin experience!

If you want to see live music and experience a piece of Austin history then by all means come here. However, if you are hungry and craving a meal that will hit the spot, go somewhere else. Today was my first time trying their savory food (I’d had the buttermilk pie once before) and I was extremely underwhelmed.
We started out with complimentary potato rolls and cornbread muffins. They were okay. Not great, but the muffins had actual chunks of corn baked inside of them which I thought was a nice touch.
We also ordered hush puppies as an appetizer (6 come to an order) but neither of us cared to finish those. I like more of a crunch on the outside of mine and these didn’t taste like they were even battered before being fried.
As for our entrees, my husband ordered their ‘World Famous’ chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and fried okra while I had the vegetarian quesadillas. The menu description for the quesadillas doesn’t mention mushrooms so I was a little shocked when I saw that my plate was drowning in them. I don’t care for them at all, so I wish I would have known to ask for them to be left off. I picked them out but the flavor was so strong that I couldn’t finish more than 2 pieces. We took the rest to go for my husband since he likes mushrooms.
He said his chicken fried steak was okay, but certainly not the best he’s ever had. He could tell the meat itself was textured properly and cooked well, but the batter and gravy didn’t live up to the ‘World Famous’ hype. Apparently they will refill your vegetable sides free of charge here though which I thought was pretty cool. His mashed potatoes were good but the fried okra tasted like it came straight out of the freezer section.
We shared a slice of the buttermilk pie before we left too because I enjoyed it last time and wanted him to try it. I should have asked them to warm it up because it was served to us room temperature which wasn’t nearly as good.
Although my review sounds harsh I would come back here again for drinks and maybe a few appetizers, just not so much a full meal. I did see that they have a prickly pear margarita which I happen to be obsessed with at the moment so that made me happy.

Not for the meek. Huge servings. Thick, creamy gravy. Tender steak. Perfect sides: black-​eyed peas and smashed potatoes, cornbread, and a cold Lone Star. Is this heaven? No, Threadgill’s.
Cool place. If these walls could talk, who would you listen to first: Joplin, Willie, Jerry Lee, Captain Beefheart, SRV — so many found their voice inside this place. And the kitchen has continued to consistently deliver on the promise of only serving the very best.
Got to get your chicken-​fried steak on? Come to Threadgill’s. They’ve been doing it and doing it so very, very well forever, and we love it! One of our must-​stop places every time we visit Austin.

Very cute venue. Walkable from Embassy Suites which is a plus as we stayed here for work.
The food is meh. I had beans, grilled chicken and what was supposed to be garlic cheese grits… Could not detect the garlic. Chicken was plain and kind of dry. Beans were blanched, plain green beans. Something you’d expect at an old folks home. Several people ordered chicken fried steak and said it was bland as well — lots of plates with lots of food left on them.
The dessert (chocolate icebox pie) was good. Deep cocoa flavor.
I would not have selected this place with all of the amazing food around. I think if you’re here for music or an event it would be a different experience but I was not and was left unimpressed.

If you like home style cooking guess this would be as good a place as any. Hubby likes it so I cave and go. I have to say the asparagus rocks! Mexican martini was pretty good. I had the salmon which wasn’t bad but probably should have chosen something else. Hubby got the chicken fried steak and mashed taters and while I’m not a fan normally, it wad pretty tasty. Overall pretty cool place because they do have live music and outdoor areas. Would give it 3.5 stars of that was an option. Id say try it if your into home cooking.

This place is disgusting. I have no intention to ever go back.
The service was horrible, we had no silverware, asked for the bread, then had to ask again for the butter. Our waitress was extremely absent minded as well.
We came for the live music which you can’t even see our hear throughout the restaurant. We could barely hear any music from where we were sitting.
And like I said, the food was disgusting. The bread and cornbread was dry and bland. I ordered the three vegetable platter which was $ 10. I got collared greens, mashed sweet potato, and okra and tomatoes. The mashed sweet potatoes had no flavor, were lumpy even though they were meant to be smooth, and not even sweet. The okra and tomatoes was completely flavorless so I added salt and hot sauce at the table and still didn’t even eat it. The collared greens were the nastiest ones I’ve ever had. I put one scoop in my mouth and almost spit it out they were so gross. I was so irritated I spent so much on this meal for such small sides and nothing tasty. $ 4 per side was a TOTAL WAIT OF MONEY!
My husband had the Bronzed Catfish and a side of fries. The catfish was okay, nothing worth mentioning and the fries even tasted old and stale.
We also went for my birthday and the only thing they offer is a buy one get one free dessert? What, I’m supposed to buy someone else dessert so I can get a free one?
We really did not enjoy our experience. Not worth the money in our opinion.