Central Standard at 1603 South Congress Avenue, Austin

Reviews

• Rion Thompson

  Oct 15, 2018
  ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
  We had a pretty bad experience here tonight. If you want the cliffs notes: inattentive, cold service on a night when they're not busy at all.
  
  The long version. My fiancee took me here for dinner for my birthday. They started the evening by declining her ID even though it says she's of age. They said it's because it's expired. People familiar with TABC rules will know that it is not illegal to serve alcohol to people with expired IDs. They just decided not to serve her.
  
  Whatever. It's not a big deal that we don't drink. We order oysters and the guy who brings us the oysters does not remember the name of the oysters. He gives us a weird "uh" and says he can't pronounce it. Not that I really care what type of oysters I eat - I prefer gulf oysters which they don't have, for some reason insisting on importing shellfish from the northeast when they're two hours away from galveston - but that was strange nonetheless.
  
  After the oysters we got a pork belly appetizer. This was served on a wood plank with those wooden spears used to hold club sandwiches together as serving utensils. It was one of those moments when I really just would have preferred a fork and a normal plate - thr pork belly was topped with tomato and blue cheese, and the wooden spears did not succeed in holding everything together. The food was good though. Solid 8/10.
  
  For our entrees we got a pork chop and prime rib. These were great! No complaints here - compliments to the chef. The only part of the night that justified the price. We enjoyed waiting five minutes to remind an errant server we need silverware to eat.
  
  We asked for the check and for our remaining food to be boxed. My fiancee payed. No problem charging her card, even though they denied her ID. Really sticking to their guns - we can't serve you, but we can take your money!
  
  Then our server comes and puts our food literally on the floor.
  
  Good food, but the serving staff needs to be whipped into shape. They might succeed because of the location, but this wouldn't fly in a more competitive market like Dallas or Houston.

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