Restaurants in Leander

The brunch menu is a savory-sweet blend of Spanish, Greek, and North African influences, with a healthy peppering of stiff cocktails to wash away the bitter memories of Saturday night. Sip a mimosa made with cava and orange, grapefruit, or pomegranate juice ($5 for a glass, $20 for a carafe), nurse a spicy Bloody Mary blended with Hangar One Chipotle Vodka and house-made tomato juice ($9), or soothe a throbbing head with Spanish iced coffee, a blend of Caffee du Monde cold-brew coffee, cream, and Licor 43 ($7). Stomach activities include a variety of small plates, such as sea-salted pork pinchitos ($5) or made-to-order doughnuts ($6) in cinnamon-sugar and vanilla-crema varieties. For a healthy torso purse, freshen up with a baby romaine and feta salad ($9), garnished with cucumber, kalamata olives, tomato, onion, parsley, mint, and oregano. The spicy fennel-sausage flatbread ($9) pairs sweet apple with savory manchego cheese and pine nuts, while more breakfasty egg-filled dishes include the FINO benedict ($12), scrambled eggs with cured salmon, yogurt, onion, and watercress ($9), steak and eggs ($15), and tortilla Espanola featuring red peppers, onions, and tomatoes ($10).

Start your tour of Texican's massive menu by slinging your jaw around spinach, mushroom, and onion quesadillas ($7.99) or clearing your taste buds of impurities with spicy cream-cheese-stuffed jalapenos ($5.49). The plentiful options let you supplicate at the altar of a traditional dish such as cabrito—a platter of tender goat roasted with mysterious spices and topped with tomato and bell pepper ($14.99)—or head straight for the grill with a 10 oz. rib-eye steak tampiqueña ($14.99). To enter the mythical realm of "New Mexico," head northwest of south of the border for some Santa Fe enchiladas in smoky red chile ($9.49), or fly straight up into space instead with a deadly delicious chile relleno plump with chicken, beef, shrimp, or cheese and legally drowned in red tomatillo sauce ($8.99).

Through its sophisticated, jet-setting menu, ate.cafe aims to capture the feel of intimate old-world eateries complete with dapper gentlemen tossing bocce balls of gruyere and children sparring with baguettes. Let your chariot-racing taste buds out of the lunch gates in pursuit of the AAA Sandwich with guacamole, cucumber, tomato, and balsamic vinaigrette ($6.50), or a chopped salad with salami, provolone, chickpeas and cherry tomatoes ($7.75). The café's Southern European flare becomes more pronounced during dinner, when tapas such as shrimp in garlic sauce (gambas al ajillo) ($12) and bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with parmigiano reggiano ($7) appear on plates after patrons say their names three times. A small selection of desserts such as pecan tart, fruit crisp, and Italian chocolate-almond torte ($7 each, $9 with ice cream) satisfy forsaken corners of the palate.

Ordering off of the menu at Hat Creek is a heart-wrenching process in which customers have many Sophie's Choices to make. First, they must choose between a big-hat burger combo with fries and a drink (from $6.39) or a little-hat burger combo with fries and a drink (from $4.99). After invariably ordering both sandwiches and shuffling them together like a pickled pinnacle deck, customers must then determine if they would like cheddar, pepper jack, and swiss ($.30 each), plus bacon ($.75) and an additional order of fresh-cut fries ($1.99) to dunk in a Blue Bell cookies-'n’-cream malt ($2.39–$3.49).

Jeff Blank and his kitchen crew like to joke that other cooks must suffer from a "fear of cooking." That's because, for the award-winning chef, cooking is a kind of alchemy—an ambitious experiment that is sometimes fated to fail. But when it works, Jeff and his Executive Chef Kelly Casey transform fresh ingredients, often plucked from local farms and ranches, into piquant dishes adorned with housemade sauces, such as tomatillo white chocolate, mango jalapeño, and bourbon vanilla praline. Behind the kitchen, a stone smokehouse infuses ostrich, rattlesnake, and venison meats with dusky notes, creating entrees that have won them recognition for the Best Wild Game Dish from readers of the Austin Chronicle.

Diners take in the gustatory array on a patio and in a garden gazebo, surrounded by vegetable plants, flowers, and trees wrapped in petite nodes of light. Even the rustic, upscale décor—characterized by soft candlelight, red tablecloths, and vibrant paintings along exposed-stone walls—has earned acclaim, finding favorable mention in the New York Times' travel guide.

Texadelphia's menu of cheesy, steaky, 100%-Angus-beefy goodness kicks off any meal with a bang. Order some chips and queso ($5.75) or queso fries ($6.29) before tearing into the Founder's Favorite, the cheesesteak that started it all (Angus beef or thin-sliced chicken breast, cheese, mushrooms, jalapeños, and Texadelphia's signature mustard blend; $6.89–$8.99). Branch out along southern lines with the Texican, a beef or chicken cheesesteak with all the trimmings and queso for topping or spooning ($6.89–$8.99), or the Hickory, laden with signature hickory sauce and manned by a crew of mouth-pleasing cherry peppers ($6.89–$8.99). Items of non-Philly origin also dot the menu, such as the bacon cheeseburger ($6.99) and the smoked turkey with guacamole salad ($6.59).