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Owners Patrick and Kathy Terry sent out an announcement yesterday about the new location:

You are the first to know that the second P. Terry’s at 32nd and Lamar will open today. Our store hours are the same as the first location, 11 am to 11 pm. We’re training a lot of new employees and I hope that you’ll be a little patient through this process. As always we value your feedback.

I can only conclude that it would be irresponsible of me to NOT go try it out, seeing as how they have all these new people to train. Right?

Photo by chaychayolei on flickr under a Creative Commons license

In case any Austin vegetarians aren't on the Wheatsville member e-mail list, I wanted to share this survey invitation. A UT PhD student is "studying how vegetarians/ vegans/ pescatarians talk about being a vegetarian. Little research exists on this topic... I am trying to capture the experiences of as many vegetarians across the country as possible by February 1, 2009. At least 250 vegetarians are needed for this study."

Here's the link to the survey. I just finished taking it and found it quite interesting. If you don't mind sharing it with other vegetarians you know, that would be great - but note the February 1st deadline!

As my last entry here in my role as lead writer, I wanted to point out some of my favorite lunch spots. I lived in north Austin for the last eight years, so these are mostly centered around the 183 and Mopac intersection area.

Food Shui
This place was the first place I'd visit with each new week. The staff is very friendly, and the rice bowls never failed to please. I'd usually get either the ginger bowl or the Thai basil bowl; it would always come with a crispy veggie egg roll and brown rice, and I'd usually eat it from the seat by the window. I hope I'll find something that approaches the tastiness of this somewhere in Park Slope, but so far, no luck.

Texadelphia
I'd often get a craving for their curly fries, especially with ample salsa and mustard-blend sauce. Their veggie sandwich with guacamole was nice, but I really liked the veggie cheesesteak that they introduced this summer. I hope they'll keep it on the menu.

TacoDeli
I've written about their veggie torta before, but it still makes my mouth water, a delicious combination of black beans, grilled vegetables, and jalapeno spread. I'd spice mine up with some of their very hot salsa dona for a real treat.

Mangia Pizza
I love the deep-dish spinach pizza with wheat crust and mushrooms. Fortunately for me, it was available every day as a lunch special, served with a nice salad. It's not exactly good for you, but it really feels good as it's being eaten.

Hao Hao
Back in the mid-90s when I worked in Oak Hill, I'd make the drive once a week down William Cannon to go to this Vietnamese restaurant, usually getting the tofu vermicelli or the tofu soup. Even after moving north, I kept my dentist appointments at their south office so I'd have an excuse to go back here. In the last few years, they added more veggie items, including a wonderful tofu and asparagus dish that's enough for two people. When I come back to visit Austin, I'll definitely be stopping by.

Note: I've got my new veggie blog up and going now at Veg Out! Brooklyn. If you want to hear about great places to eat in the biggest borough of New York City, feel free to start reading that one too.

I've made it up to Brooklyn now, so I'm writing these last couple of entries from a place that's definitely not Austin, although, one could mistake Park Slope (my new neighborhood) for the west end of Austin's Sixth Street. There are lots of little restaurants along side shops, grocery stores, and all sorts of services that urban people need. I'm really enjoying it.

However, the purpose of this entry is to provide praise on a southwestern breakfast staple, the plate of migas. For the uninitiated, migas are a kind of scrambled egg usually cooked with stale tortillas, onions, tomatoes, peppers, and cheese. Some versions also include mushrooms, pico de gallo, and other Tex-Mex condiments. Here's a list of my favorites:

Trudy's
I like the Trudy's version for two reasons. First, their cheese has a bit of velveeta-like consistency that blends in really well with the eggs and makes every bite tasty. Second, they've got great sides, with their spicy refried black beans and their thin and crispy hash browns. The salsa is also quite tasty. The full-size version will keep you full for hours, but on weekdays, the location by UT offers a smaller portion that's more reasonable.

Austin Diner
Back in the mid-90's, my fiancee worked here when it was called Laura's Bluebonnet Kitchen. That's where she learned to make migas, and I find their take on them to be very satisfying. Liberally apply their table salsa to spice it up, and get it with their whole black beans and home fries.

Curra's
Worth noting for their veggie chorizo and mushroom options. You'll get a lot of food, and if you're really lucky, you'll be able to enjoy this with their wonderful red corn tortillas that have a nice, stone-ground corn taste. It's too bad that the only Curra's left is the one down on Oltorf. The far north location closed recently and the Burnet road location is now the new Frisco Shop.

Kerbey Lane
I mention this Austin staple for the benefit of our vegan readers, as they offer a vegan version made with tofu scramble. You get corn tortillas and lose the cheese in this version, but it's still very satisfying, especially with Kerbey's great sides.

Note: I had planned on also including the veggie chorizo migas from Las Manitas, but while writing the article, I learned that they've now closed for good as of the end of August. I ended up going there on one of my last weekends in Austin, so I'm glad I got to say goodbye.

Quick link: The Austinist gives a positive vegetarian-oriented review to newcomer Thai/Sushi joint Crave, located near the south end of the drag where Sound Exchange once lived. Maybe that will be tomorrow's lunch.

I love me some Dog Almighty, especially their surprisingly good vegan chili. I was just looking up their menu today for doing take-out tonight, and I saw that they'd made a commercial and put it up on YouTube. The spot is a Utopian vision of vegetarians and carnivores getting along together, and isn't that something we all want to work towards?

Not in any particular order, yet writing this entry made me feel very hungry!

Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz, Nacho Libre with grilled tofu

A great meal for one or snack for two when watching a movie. They put little triangles of tofu on each of their giant chips, and the beans and cheese are laid out so every bite is flavor packed. Ask for extra jalapeno to spice it up.

Freebird's World Burrito, Nachos with black beans and queso

I like this with plenty of their grilled vegetables. Liberally apply their hot and mild tomatillo sauces to soften the chips, then inhale the whole black beans and cheese with a little BBQ sauce.

Magnolia Cafe, Super Nachos

The best ingredients from their Magnolia Mud queso, applied generously to a selection of tortilla chips along with some fresh avocado & sour cream. Heaven and a little overwhelming.

ZuZu's, Black Bean Nachos

I picked this on the strength of their salsas which you can apply yourself from their fresh bar. I like the refried black beans too, and they put the whole thing in the oven to get it all melty with the chips slightly browned.

Chuy's, Special Nachos

Another nacho plate of the style where half-tortilla chips are arranged around a plate, each carefully topped with beans and cheese. Here, you can get their vegetarian refried beans and add some great table salsa or even some of their scrumptious jalapeno ranch dressing that they'll bring you just for asking. They include lettuce and tomato to cool you down.

The Austinist has several ongoing columns, including "I Am So Popular", the musings of Spike Gillespie . This week, Spike is writing about her favorite inexpensive Austin restaurants, and as a mostly-vegetarian-but-with-some-fish, she lists some good choices. I heartily endorse Magnolia Mud (hmmm, black bean, avocado, and good queso) and I probably need to go try the veggie burger at Hill-Bert's before I leave town, now that I know it exists. The same applies to Cisco's and their migas.

I'm still working on my "top 5" lists for my going away. Some ideas include top 5 brunches, top 5 plates of nachos, top 5 veggie dishes at meaty restaurants, and top 5 veggie-friendly buffets. Of course, they won't be comprehensive, as I've not been everywhere, so discussion is encouraged!

With the launch of the new design last night, the time has come to announce a big transition here at Veg Out! Austin. For the last nine years, I've been the author of all the material on this site, for better or worse. However, I'm about to leave the Austin area for a while; my fiancee and I just got a lease on an apartment in Brooklyn, New York, and we're heading out at the end of the month.

With this move, my good friend, Skye Kilaen, has agreed to take over the blog. She writes for several sites, including Heroine Content, Crafting a Green World, and JUST CAUSE. She's also been the web host for this blog since 2004, and she has appeared here a few times as "Miss Particular". She has some different tastes than I do, but she loves good vegetarian cooking, and I know she'll be a great writer on this topic. I'll let Skye talk about other changes around here in her own introduction post.

I won't be completely going away; I plan on a few "notes from away" posts about veggie food in New York and California, and I think I'll put up a "best veggie moments" list from my tenure here before I head out, but I wanted to get this news out while it's fresh.

Finally, a big thank you to all our readers! I'm proud of what I've done, and I expect great things from this site over the next year under it's new leadership.

KGSR 107.1 is sponsoring Austin's first Restaurant Week very soon on August 11-19th. This week, lots of local restaurants will be offering special $25 menus, usually with three courses. $5 of each meal's price goes to the Capital Area Food Bank to support their kid's program. However, since the menus are small, and possibly because this event is also sponsored by the Texas Beef Council, the vegetarian choices are a bit limited. I went through the list of menus for you, and here's what I found, although I'd confirm with the restaurant when you make a reservation about any ingredients.

Austin Land and Cattle Company

• Fire Roasted New Mexican Green Chiles stuffed with Goat Cheesed Wasabi
• Giant Portobello Mushroom with Grilled Peppers, Sweet Texas Onion and Texmati Rice
• Individual Raspberry Tart with Cream and Blue Bell Ice Cream or No Nut Chocolate Fudge Pie or Homemade Creme Brulee

Ciola's

• Appetizer: Eggplant Rollatini
• Salad: House Salad
• Entree: Penne Alla Vodka or Pasta Della Dario (ask to hold the meat)
• Dessert:Chocolate Mousse Martini or Tiramisu

Wyndham Garden Hotel

• Appetizers: Fried Zucchini & Portobello or Hummus w/ tahini or House Side Salad
• Entree: Vegetarian Stacked Enchilada or Grilled Portobello
• All entrees include our unlimited sides bar
• Desserts: Bourbon Bread Pudding or Chocolate Decadence or Dulce de leche Cheesecake

Kenichi

• 1st Course: Vegetable Maki - Tempura asparagus, cucumber, avocado, shiso & pickled burdock root
• 2nd Course: Eggplant dengaku - Twice Cooked Japanese eggplant with sumiso sauce and sesame onigiri
• 3rd Course: Mato San's Hot Balls - Tofu beignets with vanilla gelato, kaffir lime sale and local honeycombe

Dona Emilias

• Appetizer Plantain Chips - Sliced, seasoned, & lightly fried, served with our signature salsas
• Entree: Llapingachos - Pan-fried mashed potato cakes stuffed with mozzarella, with peanut sauce, avocado & tomato.
• Desserts: Flan - Classic flan with caramel sauce or Tre Leches - Traditional homemade sponge cake. Infused with three kinds of milk, topped with whipped cream.

Contact details, reservations, and details on the restaurants can be found on the KGSR Restaurant Week site.