Abel’s North

Tried Abel’s on a Monday night. There were three tables of people playing Trivia but we were the only dinner patrons. Our server and drinks were great but the food (and chef) were a complete let-​down. I can not recommend this place and we will not be back. Considering we were the only table there ordering dinner there is simply no excuse for food to come out cold and undercooked. Our Chicken Nacho appetizer was tasty but barely above room temperature when served. It seemed as if precooked refrigerated chicken had been dumped on some tortilla chips, some cheese sprinkled on and then microwaved or oven just long enough to melt the cheese but not heat anything else up. Our brined pork chop entrée was barely cooked, pink and half raw. That dish we refused to pay for and returned it to the kitchen. A manager was supposedly notified of our problems but never bothered to come over and talk to us. Shocking management disregard for customer happiness considering almost no one was there.
Abel’s, you need a serious management and kitchen staff overhaul in the north location.

Talk about surreal. Three of us stopped by yesterday (Sunday, Jan 17) at 11:15am, for brunch which was supposed to be served starting at 10am. The door was open, but the kitchen was dark and the building was empty; not a employee in sight. We hung around for 15 minutes without anyone appearing, and went over to Opal Devine’s for brunch.

I was very disappointed in Abel’s North. I’m a long time Austinite and have been to the other two Abel’s locations and I don’t understand how this one can be so different.
Not much has changed inside the restaurant since it’s days as Cool River. It definitely had the dirty downtown bar feel which may be fine for the late night crowd but was a little less appealing when my husband and I showed up at 6pm. The restaurant was almost completely empty, just us and two other tables. This should have been a warning sign since most decent places have some sort of happy hour scene most days of the week, considering how many tech companies are located in North Austin.
My husband ordered a margarita which was un-​drinkable. He asked the server for a small glass of orange juice to try to make it a little better, it didn’t work. I ordered the salmon with a side of asparagus. I am not a very picky eater and I could not even choke down my meal. The three stalks of asparagus I got were vastly undercooked and the salmon was old, disgusting, and terribly overpriced for what was on my plate. I was very glad that I did not get sick.
My husband got a burger and barely touched it as well. We came very close to talking to a manager. We were looking around wondering if we were on some sort of hidden camera/​bad restaurant gotcha show. We were in complete shock that any large scale restaurant in Austin could be serving food like that.
I almost felt bad for our server because we got the vibe that he knew the food was terrible and that he had probably has to deal with plenty of upset customers.
If you want to go to an Abel’s, I recommend taking a trip to the lake location. Abel’s North does not reflect the food scene in Austin at all.

No words can describe my level of disappointment with the service of this restaurant.
We held our work holiday party at this venue, and although they knew for two months that a party for 120 would be held on this day at this time, no one seemed to know what was going on when we arrived and nothing was ready. I feel sorry for the attendants that served, because they were given all the wrong information from the event coordinator. All of the party guests stood around for the first 30 minutes with no drinks, no food, no idea what was going on. For some reason (lack of communication), they all thought it started an hour later than what was stated on our venue proposal. WHAT? Did my two months of emails back and forth with the event coordinator, with a fully detailed agenda, which she requested, just fall through the cracks? Did the coordinator forget to coordinate?
When the bar was finally ready, guests dog-​piled in one outrageously long line. They had one bartender, and he kept leaving every five minutes to get things from another bar on the other side of the restaurant. Long line remaining long and bartender MIA.
Guests finally began to relax… drink in hand, a little food on their plate… mind you, an hour into the party. A guest comes to me and asks, «could you please let me know which trays have the vegan food?» Oh, no! There was no vegan food available. Proposal was for portabella mushroom fajitas, rice and beans for 12 guests. Sounded delightful. Nowhere to be found. Those guests had nothing to eat.
At the end of the event I gave a few choice words to the one manager I was able to find for lack of communication and coordination on this event. I respectfully asked that they consider a reduction in venue fee for the inconveniences at 30 – 45 minute late start. His response was that I had already received a discount for the vegan food. WHAT??? Kind sir, that is not a discount. You were simply not charging me for something we never got. Very disappointed! Your large, reasonably nice venue does not have the man-​power or internal organization to hold such parties.
Overall, people had a great time. My ability to overplan with fun games and photos kept people engaged and mostly distracted from the lack of service. Now, this is not to say that the people tending to us were not working as hard as they possibly could. They were. But for 120 people… 1 bartender and 1 attendant is not going to cut it.
Sorry, Abel’s. Your service is «EEEK, Methinks not!»

Never going back — food was not done; service was slow with bartenders disappearing
No sides delivered with the meal and the beer was soapy and Bellini no good — lousy
So I wrote the website to tell them and then called the next day. The manager was out — the on call manager was going to have them get back to me — nothing yet since being of December
I would like my money back — a 30 dollar tab could have been a 60 dollar tab…

Sunday Evening, all day «happy hour»; Surprisingly large and dead, it’s got a few good happy hour appetizers but still a bit pricey/​picky happy hour drink specials (was only some deep eddy’s vodka drink)… Not even a domestic draft.
I’d say 4 stars because the food was good but wasn’t spectacular (³⁄₅) but having the place to ourself to play pool and watch the game was nice (besides the prices).
I’m giving them ⁴⁄₅ for benefit of the doubt, lucky first time. Been to Abel’s on the lake dozens of times so it was kinda nice to avoid the constant crowd.

Food is really great but I’m currently sitting in the darkest room icing my mouth because the appetizer here has seared the roof of my mouth and I am unable to eat the entrée although it looks amazing. I am in too much pain. Waitress was very sweet but you should always ALWAYS let people know if something is gonna be so hot it might melt your flesh… Just a tip from someone who spent a year serving fajita plates. Ouch. And seriously turn some lights on.

Went on a Saturday afternoon. My date and I were the ONLY people in there despite there always being a ton of cars in the parking lot. The place is huge! There are tvs, shuffle boards, pool tables, darts, etc. it’d b a good place to take a big party (work related, bachelor party) I ordered steak tips and they were sub par. Very mushy. Had sautéed Brussels sprouts and they were burned to a crisp. Not impressed.

This place is completely oversized. Which be okay if they had any customers. Every time I come in, it is about half a dozen people. They now no longer open for brunch on Sat and Sun. They open at 4 PM if I remember correctly. That’s right, a sports bar that doesn’t show the first football games of Sunday afternoon. Bad management decision there.
Food is horrible. Everything is extremely overprice (probably so they can afford the lights in this mammoth bar). Chicken nachos had dry chicken, but were okay for the most part. Ribs were dry as well, and way, way too much sauce. They bring the ribs out on a platter, by itself (doesn’t cover the platter). They they fill the platter with sauce, which isn’t that good. Coleslaw was more like a cabbage soup with mayonnaise as the base. Frys were okay, but they don’t put any salt at all. Good chefs get angry if you season their food. You seasoning your own food is fully expected here. 14 oz bone-​in ribeye for $ 34 which is outrageous, considering their quality of other food. El Toro, which is a ribeye sandwich with peppers and onions. Yep, dry meat again. Peppers were overcook, no snap to them. Slimy and greasy. Also tasted like the produce was old.
Service is good. That’s to be expected when there is no one to serve. This was a bad decision and execution by Abel’s in so many ways. They should have built their own place, that was half the size. Fix the menu. Realize you are a bar that serves burgers, nachos, and potato skins. There is no way you can get people in there to pay for thirty dollar steaks. No one is going to even trust the guys in back to properly do oysters.
Instead of holding on to last legs by reducing hours, I say drastically change the menu. Better option is to realize that this place is never going to turn around. Close it up.
To potential diners, avoid the place. The food is horrible when comparing to fast food and chain places like Chili’s. Then you take into account that it is much more expensive.

I was here on a Saturday at 1pm meeting a large group of girlfriend’s (~13). The place was pretty quiet, I think we were the only people there outside of a few patrons watching the game at the bar.
This venue is HUGE and has a lot of bar seating and plenty of booths and tables. We were sitting near the pool tables, so we had a great view of at least two projections screens and two or three regular screens to watch some college football games.
Many in our party took advantage of the $ 1 mimosas and said they were okay (they all ordered multiple). The table ordered the trio (chips with salsa, queso and guac) as well as the fried calamari. The trio was okay, just wish the guac and queso had more flavor. And the calamari was good, both pieces of fried squid interspersed with a lot of fried peppers.
It was still early enough to have access to brunch menu and the regular menu so the orders were mixed. I had the traditional breakfast, which was well made, but really lacked seasoning. I heard good things about the chicken & waffles, shrimp salad, and the nachos. Generally, everyone seemed to have the same issue: food was cooked very well but we had to add salt/​pepper to it all.
Biggest issue I had was service. Our table felt very neglected, which was unfortunate since we didnt really see any other diners around us so soon after they opened. We were left wondering where our server was a few times, and on one occasion a member of our party had to find our server and tell her we were ready to order.
Overall, I think this is good place to go to watch games (and I hear they have good live music as well), but I wouldn’t make this a destination for the meals alone.

I didn’t actually end up staying so I can’t comment directly on food or drink only on ambiance and first impressions.
Saturday 9÷6÷2015 I was trying to find somewhere with live music up north. We went to a couple of places we normally frequent and they were all showing the UT game. Before heading home we looked up Abels that said they had live music from 8 PM to Midnight with a $ 5 cover… I wasn’t over-​enthused by the cover charge but $ 5 isn’t too egregious.
We arrive at Abel’s around 9:20 PM and as we were walking up we noticed it seemed empty and we couldn’t hear any music. I stopped to double check the website and a sign after you walk through the doors confirmed live music from 8 – 12. We head into the bar — both sides of the place are virtually completely empty — and ask the woman who was taking the cover charge payment why there wasn’t any music. She responded, very politely, that they would not start the live music until after the UT game was over. I glanced at the TV and noticed it was only the 3^rd Quarter and UT was losing 31 – 3. We weren’t going to wait another 30 minutes so we left.
I’ve avoided this place so far because of the bad reviews, but was willing to give it a try because there are so few venues for live music up north… but you can’t advertise an 8PM start and than expect patrons to wait till nearly 10PM to start the music. The game was a blowout and the bar and restaurant were lifeless. I peeked into the restaurant as well, I didn’t understand why they just would show the game there and have music in the bar and there was a weird vibe in the restaurant, not only was it deserted but it was weirdly bright and it didn’t fit with the overall theme it seems they are trying for.
Get it together Abel’s, music is a draw for paying customers… forcing people to pay $ 5 to watch a terrible, uncompetitive football game will push those same customers out your door.

Seriously worst food ever.
Had order for BBQ chicken and filet.
It’s «date night» on Tuesday for steaks– ordered filet for $ 25 w asparagus n mash potatoes. Server stuck stuck thumb in potatoes so it was sent back.
Ordered as medium rare– came out medium well… More on the well done.
Veggies sucked.
Told to cancel order. Friend ordered BBQ chicken. Sauce was all over it. Gross as can be. Green beans decent but how do you mess that up.
Place is dead as can be.
Bring back predecessor Cool River.
Server was awesome– go Gabby!
Food bad.
Will never go back.

I always have a great experience here, but I really just do one thing: watch sports. I am one of those sad people that don’t have cable so I usually take this opportunity to go have some food and drinks and at a place I can watch it on the hugest screen ever.
I like to watch the Longhorns here, lots of fans and they show it on the big screen. They usually have a good happy hour and comfy seats. They don’t care that you sit and watch the whole game, because there’s plenty of room in this massive place! I’ve always loved the foods: especially the white cheddar grits. I don’t know how to explain it, it might be the best food here. They also have bar food and drinks on special. A really good draft beer and drink selection.
We even came by to watch the women’s world cup and they pretty much gave us a whole room. They adjusted the volume over and over to make it perfect and generally had great service.
I always have a good time, that’s about all I can say! I’ll keep going to watch the Longhorns and Broncos this football season!

I have been here three times for dinner and I love the old lodge atmosphere. It is a beautiful building with lots of fireplaces, stone and huge windows.
Dining experiences have been positive and the food was good. I enjoyed the pretzel tots appetizer, they are toasted and have a great texture. My favorite dish is the shrimp salad which is a wonderful mix of grilled shrimp, feta, tomato, egg, and touches of bacon.
Friends enjoyed calamari, pork sliders, BBQ chicken (with Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce).
Desserts ordered were strawberry shortcake (large portion) and molten chocolate cake, smaller portion in a little bowl with amy’s peanut butter ice cream, roasted peanuts, and chocolate ganache — it was just the right amount of intense flavor, chocolate and crunch.
They were not busy on any of the weeknights I went. Lots of TVs and pool tables were available. I hope they get some more business because the ambience and food were both really good. Staff was friendly and attentive.
Brunch menu looks good, might try that next.

The only time I write reviews is when I am very impressed or very disappointed. This would be one of those very disappointed times. Each time I have been here the service has been lacking and the way the managers handle the situation is pretty poor as well. The food seems to have gotten worse, I thought frozen oysters was going to be the worst of it but no. The prices really don’t match the quality of the food. When I go out to a resturant the 2 things I expect to get are good food and good service, sadly this place seems to have neither. Tried it a few times and just never seems to change. So in conclusion, I will not be returning. Maybe another location is better but Abels North. No thanks.
P. S. When a member of your staff makes a mistake and instead of aplogizing and correcting the issue starts to act unprofessional and throws the check down. really expect more from a manager than just «I’ll talk to her»…Just sayin. Actual issue was never resolved.

We stumbled into Abel’s north, our normal haunt, for their great happy hour prices. Caboose was going to be performing at 8:15, and the band was doing a sound check. The drummer was pounding the drum over and over again. The bass guitar was also playing notes for the sake of noise and the keyboard would randomly check in. Most people go to Happy Hour to chat with friends after a long week. With this «sound check» going on and on it was simply impossible to speak.
We’ve been here many, many times, and all the Friday evening bands have to check levels, but it’s never gone on like this.
We spoke to our waitress who said it had been going on since 2:30 and the wait staff was obviously annoyed that they had to keep asking «huh» while we yelled our drink orders at them. She spoke to the band manager who said he could turn off the sound and we’d just hear vocals. Which was true, for about 5 mins.
My issue is that when a representative from our table went to the dark haired manager looking guy asking «can we be sat somewhere else» in an attempt to escape the brunt of the noise, he looked at us like we were insane. The blond headed manger said he thought he could accommodate us. However, by 7pm the band sat down to rest before their official start.
I expect a band to need a sound check (they do every week), but it seems that the restaurant manager should be PROACTIVE when he noticed that the racket was going on since 230. I’m glad to see that having bands on Friday seems to be boosting interest in a location that had to have been failing because of low numbers. However, don’t run off your happy hour people letting bands with over zealous drummers and guitarists make it impossible to have a happy hour.
Sound checks make sense. However, it doesn’t take an hour to check balance and it certainly doesn’t take 120+ minutes.
PS: The food here is still mediocre, but the cheap booze prices make up for it.

I have no idea how this place doesn’t have a better rating, it’s awesome! They have pool tables & shuffle boards so it’s great for big groups but also some quiet corners so it’s perfect for a more low-​key or date night as well. It doesn’t necessarily look like it from the outside but this place is huge. If you haven’t tried it don’t let the medicore rating stop you from going. it really was fantastic.

I went to the enormous bar on Saturday night to hear a cover band. It was not nearly as crowded as Cool River generally used to be. I like the setup with the dance floor and table games in separate sections. Happy hour prices are very reasonable. Outside of those times, it’s comparable to Domain prices. It’s one of the few places in the area to charge a cover. It’s a good place to go with a large group.

Cool atmosphere, very similar to the old Cool River.
$ 5 apps till 7pm & they have ALL DAY HAPPY HOUR on Sundays.
Staff was very friendly, outgoing, great sense of humor, socialized with everyone in the group and helpful.
Food is AWESOME and enough to fill you up. The drinks are always cold whether your getting a beer, water or soda.
Reason for 4 stars — NO LIVE MUSIC — they have a large stage that isn’t being used and they would bring in LOTS of business on the weekends.
For all sports fan — they have PLENTY of TVs and 2 large screens as well.

Weirdest Wednesday night dinner. Well, not too weird, it was delicious, the beer was cold, our server was sweet and very pretty. This place is HUGE and very empty. Now, I know it was a week night, and I didn’t judge Abel’s after the 30 minute walk to our table, but I did feel like my dinner mate rented out the whole place for us. You shouldn’t have!
Wednesday Wine Night, I like it! Half price bottles of wine and select $ 4 glasses. After my long day, I wanted nothing more than an ice cold Live Oak Hefe, which was surprisingly only $ 4 as well. (wine was for later). The service was prompt and our server was sweet. I had the California Chicken Sandwich (chicken, pepperjack, avocado, tomato), and my friend had the El Torro Sandwich (shaved prime rib, peppers, queso). I hate when my friends’ food looks better than mine. UGH
My food was good, nothing too amazing, my friend said hers was incredible. The sides for sandwiches and burgers is potato chips, with an up charge of $ 1 for any of the 10+ listed sides. I thought the menu was diverse and everything looked really good. We decided to sit on the patio and I never saw a single other customer, which made me feel sort of weird. Also, my entire bill (2 drinks, sammy and up charge side) was only $ 21. That was a big plus of this place. I may check this place out again, but I think I will stick to Abel’s on the Lake.