After scientists revealed UFOs were actually full-grown tortillas, people everywhere filled swimming pools with guac and beans to catch and dissect the floury creatures. Nab a tender, baby disc with today's Groupon: for $15, you get $30 worth of food and non-alcoholic drinks at Corazon at Castle Hill. This Groupon is not valid for use on happy-hour specials, the weekday lunch menu, or alcohol.
Breathe in the delicious aromas emanating from Chef Michael Taddeo’s classic southwestern dishes, made from the freshest available ingredients. For dinner, start with the posole blanco ($5.95 for bowl, $3.95 for cup), a chunky spoonful of green chiles, tomatillo, hominy, and roasted pork, tempered with shredded cabbage and escabeche onions. Crisp salads, such as the house salad ($5.95) packed with jicama, beets, carrots, pasilla chiles, cheese, and pecans, will entice vegetarians, while meativores will find much to savor in the entree selections, which include enchiladas, meat, and seafood selections. Hook teeth into the seared sea bass in an artichoke and lemon sauce ($22.95) sided with garlic and cheddar potatoes and a fennel, zucchini, and caper relish, or toss the chicken enchiladas ($14.95), topped with a black mole, to the fox of your stomach. For those who can still look a piece of sweet dessert in the sugary eye, there’s the tempting Kahlua and cinnamon crème brûlée ($4.95) and the apple-cherry rustic tart ($4.95).
Flirt with flavor and dust off your high-school Spanish vocabulary for a sure-fire hunger annihilator in Corazon at Castle Hill's evocatively decorated interior. This independently owned Austin favorite has decades of experience when it comes to overflowing your corazon with savory desire.
Reviews
Austin Restaurant Guide/Fearless Critic evaluates the upgrade from Castle Hill Café by saying that “Any cynicism is quickly subdued upon entry, though, by a warm embrace of oranges, yellows, and deep reds.” It goes on to conclude that “Corazon continues to do what Castle Hill Café did: charm and excite with excellent food at very reasonable prices in a lovely, evocative setting.”
Food critic Rob Balon shares such sentiments: “Corazon at Castle Hill should definitely be back on your radar. It should also be on sonar and any other location devices available!”
More than 50 Yelpers agree, giving Corazon 3.5 stars:
- I tried a number of dishes - the crab cake was amazing and came with a really delicious little salad, roasted bell pepper bisque was fresh and light and oh so tasty, baby caesar was good, beef picadillo empanadas were sweet and smokey and the chicken flautas were crispy and a bit spicy. – Ashley L.
- I've eaten here a few times as a regular diner, and have been impressed. I especially love the butternut squash soup and the carne asada. – Veronica A.
Corazon at Castle Hill
In 2002, when asked about his role as sous-chef at the wildly successful Castle Hill Cafe, Michael Taddeo told the Austin Chronicle, “We have lots of fun doing what we do”. Yet, following executive chef David Dailey’s retirement, Caste Hill’s co-owner, Cathe Dailey, decided to temporarily close the café’s doors and focus on a rebirth of sorts, refurbishing everything from the eatery’s menu and 110-year-old home to its very name.
Today, Chef Taddeo has taken the reins in the kitchen at the resurrected café—Corazon at Castle Hill—where he and much of the old staff continue to churn out upscale Mexican cuisine tweaked with a few changes. Today’s menu adapts to the seasons, with the chef using products that are fresh and locally available; when the Austin Chronicle's Mick Vann visited during the winter months, he sampled warm comforting plates of flautas carnitas and arrachera beef, calling them a “huge winner” and “wonderful.” Yet, in the summer, the chef’s menu consists of lighter tastes, including shrimp enchiladas, potato-corn sope, and pork tenderloin roasted over a boy scout’s campfire.
Red-clothed tables set with white napkins and small vases of fresh flowers give diners a visual clue to the eatery’s elegant-yet-comfortable vibe. Customers’ eyes also wander to the dining room’s vibrant orange walls, which house Cathe’s personal touches including Mexican folk art culled from her personal collection.