AUSTIN GRILL

2400 Boston Street, Baltimore MD 21224

[410-534-0606]

Illustrations by Ashley Mancuso

“Hello Stranger” is the phrase that dominates the back wall at this regional chain establishment. Usually, we don’t write about chains, but this is the only Baltimore outpost of a DC restaurant group that still feels more like a “family” of restaurants, rather than a chain. The restaurant makes 25 salsas, sauces and dressings from scratch and has been 100% wind-powered since 2003. Anywho…Austin Grill has a lot of tacos on their menu. They used to have something like 14, then, when we went to try the tacos, they had eliminated a few, narrowing down the choices to just 10. But as of the publication of this site, their menu has changed again! Try to keep up. Now there are 3 tacos. We kinda liked it when there was such a smorgasbord of taco possibilities, and hope the owners may read this and bring back the taco choices!



BEST BET:

Ok, since the fish taco changed while we were in the process of creating this site, we’re going to share the old AND the new with you. Austin Grill used to serve a grilled rockfish taco, which, at the time when they had 10 tacos, was definitely the Best Bet. Rockfish was char grilled with minimal seasoning – yielding fresh and pure flavors. It was topped with a “pesto” that was made with pumpkin seeds, sour cream, cilantro and olive oil. The taco was simply fish and pesto in a soft flour tortilla and it was quite nice as such. We still have to say the fish taco is the way to go, but nowadays, that taco is a red snapper one with lots of fillings. The grilled fish is topped with onions, cilantro, cotija cheese, shredded cabbage
and chipotle mayo and is served with black beans and cilantro rice. This menu changes like the wind the restaurant is powered by. So…stay flexible, Taco Eaters.