Bits & Druthers

located in a close in eastside cart pod, and absolutely YUM! We got a few items, and the huge hunk of fish on the large fish and fry was an excellent value, the poutine was damn good too.
We had my Welsh FIL who came over in the late 60’s with us and he loved it! SAid it reminded him of home. :)
We will def be back!
my 2 pennies

The fish would rate 4 stars.
The chips were competently cooked standard fries, nothing special. Three stars.
4 stars for the cole slaw, which was tangy and crisp.
2.5 stars for the curry sauce.
5 stars for the tartar sauce, which I thought was the best I’ve ever had.
The thing to know is that a «large» fish and chips still only gets you one piece of fish, just bigger than what you’d get with a small. I’d personally prefer two pieces, even if it was the same piece of fish cut in two, because for me, fried fish is all about the crispy batter, and two pieces would not only offer more batter, but it would also tend to be crispier, since it’s mostly the edges that develop the perfect crispiness. Their batter is great, so more of it would definitely have made me happier.
It’s also good to know that it will take a while. My order took about 25 minutes, and there were no customers ahead of me. I can’t imagine trying to go here during SXSW.
The one really off note to the experience was being asked if I wanted any change when I paid with a $ 20. Please just hand me my change and let me decide how much to put in the tip jar.

As someone who works right down from the road from these guys, I can say Ive eaten there several times.
Here’s what you do. Show up, order the fish supper. You will get a lightly breaded, perfectly seasoned piece of quality fish, fries that were made to be soaked in malt vinegar and cole slaw that is all the way legit (make sure to squeeze the lemon in it, the acid adds alot).
All of this will cost you eight bucks. There are alot of places in Austin that you can get eight dollars worth of food that is never enough and not very good.
Bits & Druthers is worth every penny

They got bloody good fish and chips, mate, only a few a quid. Come ‘ere with your blokes, pip pip cheerio!

Sure, the fish is great. And the fries? Well I usually don’t like the fries that come with fish and chips… too potatoey. Is that weird to say? I mean, they are fried potatoes. But sometimes those larger french fries are dry and gross.
Not these. They’re perfectly crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside without too much of that icky raw potato flavor I’ve encountered in many fish and chip experiences in the past.
But the kicker at Bits and Druthers is that curry sauce. I want to take a bath in it. It’s SO freakin’ savory. The perfect dip for your chips on a chilly night with a cold beer on the side. Makes me feel like I’m in England. Kind of. OK, not really, but damn, that sauce is just the best stuff I’ve eaten in a long time.
The atmosphere at the East Side Drive in is great as well. Bring a 6-​pack and some friends and settle in for a fun evening.

The fish and chips are the «dogs bollocks.» (That means «good» for all you non commonwealth peoples.)
Fried fresh and a really nice piece of haddock to boot. I’ve had fish and chips at a number of places around town, and these guys stack up if not surpass any I’ve had in the past.
The beer batter makes for a traditional thin crunchy crust. The prices are good and for $ 1 you get a side of a mild curry sauce to dip your «chips» in.
$ 7 for a large order fed me and fries for two. The specials (green bean salad) sounded good.
I’ll have to put this on my «will return later» list.

Awesome fish and chips.
They use a really nice beer batter which creates a thick and crispy crust around a big piece of haddock. The crunch you get when you bite into it is just amazing. The fresh cut fries are great, but I would be happier ordering more fish.
I talked to the owner and it turns out he’s using the same recipe as Marco Pierre White, and I respect that a lot.
Overall a great price ($ 7~) for a quick, honest, and delicious meal.

The spouse and I were out and about Saturday and we swung by B&D for dinner. It was hot as hell outside, but the temperature was tempered by a nice shaded table and a light breeze.
My wife had the fish sandwich and I went with the large fish and chips. Both meals were generous in size and a good value for the money. The fish, in both meals, was off the hook (no pun intended). Thick, white slabs ‘o fish coated with a tasty batter and cooked to perfection. My chips were also quite tasty and the sea salt was a nice touch. My meal was a little greasy, but hey, it was very, very tasty and there was plenty of it so that didn’t bother me.
The gentleman at the trailer was also super nice. When I commented how nice his trailer was (see my pic), he mentioned that he and a friend (possibly his business partner) finished out the trailer themselves and I gotta say, the B&D trailer is a cut above most of the trailers around town — it is clean and tastefully executed.
Great food, super prices and a prim and proper little trailer all adds up to a great causal dining experience. Check it out, mate.

I’m not the kind of person who actively seeks out opportunities to eat in the middle of a dirt lot in the summer heat surrounded by old trailers while seated at a large cable spool that was probably either pilfered from a junk yard or the phone company. However, one can only resist the siren song of the Austin trailer scene for so long, so I eventually found my way to Bits & Druthers.
The signature dish here, in case you skipped every other review to go straight to mine (and really, I totally understand if you did), is fish and chips. The chips part of that equation are really superb. Really, these may be the best fries (as we Yanks call them) I’ve ever had. Perfectly crispy and salty, with just the right amount of grease.
The fish, unfortunately, is where things start to go ever so slightly off. The breading was nice and crispy, if a bit unremarkable in flavor, and the fish was flaky and moist. However, underlying the fish was a slight hint of, well, that «not so fresh» taste. My wife said it was because they put malt vinegar in the batter, and I’m not the biggest malt vinegar fan. I don’t think that was it though, because the nasty flavor was in the fish itself, not the batter. My suspicion is the fish had just been sitting too long and had gone south. I didn’t get sick or anything, but it certainly did detract from the overall experience.
One thing I had heard Bits and Druthers did really well was poutine. My wife is a Canadian and has made poutine for me, but I had never had it from a place that actually served it in exchange for money (apart from the fabulous riches that come as part of being married to me, of course). Unfortunately for me, they had run out of cheese curds and couldn’t make poutine any more. Now, I know that running out of food is the «in» thing among the trailer set (trailerati?) these days. Hell, Franklin has made an entire business out of it. But seriously, if you run out of something, make a note of it on the menu so I at least don’t get my hopes up. Or, you know, go get some more cheese curds. They told me the cheese shop they get them from, and it’s really not that far away.
I’m assuming when these guys have non-​rancid fish and are properly stocked with cheese curds they offer a perfectly heavenly experience, but I wouldn’t know.

I’m not sure if I can write a review if I only had dessert but whatever! I can come back and change it after I’ve had the fish & chips.
My friend got the small fish& chips because we were trying other things in the trailer food court. The chips were realllly hot and crispy. They held up to the malt vinegar pretty well. I just ate some loveballs takoyaki so I got the eton mess. The eton mess is vanilla ice-​cream with bits of meringue and whipped cream topped with strawberry sauce (with real fresh strawberries). For 6 dollars I was expecting a bit more ice-​cream (only one scoop). Even the FB photos of it showed 2 scoops of ice-​cream. But it was still delicious and a welcome in the heat.
I can’t wait to come back and try the fish & chips, maybe their poutine and some of that curry sauce everyone is talking about.

I don’t like fried food, normally… except… I like fried fish.
Why? because if you fry fish right, the batter forms a perfect little sealed environment for the fish to steam cook. It is not easy to cook fish, especially cod, because when it cooks, the juices run out, it gets dry and it becomes tasteless, flaky, tough and gross — especially cod. When it is fried right, however, you can peel back the batter and find unbelievably beautiful flaky, moist, flavorful fish. No grease at all — the batter soaked that up and protected the fish. When this amazing coincidence of frying + perfect batter + fish happens? Well, this is when it gets as good as it gets — like I just had tonight at Bits and Druthers. If you do want to eat the batter, by all means do, it’s good, if you are into that. But if you want a healthy low fat beautiful piece of cod, just peel back that batter and you will find a really nicely cooked piece of fish that is steaming hot, tender and delicious. Bravo. LOVE that they have malt vinegar and sea salt to add.
The chips were ok. They were English. I like mine more crispy, but they were good. I can’t wait to try the slaw. If the slaw is good, this review goes up to 5.
The local was crawling with hipsters who were looking at me like a martian. Fuck that. I will eat where I wanna eat and no, I am not your mom.

This place is great. I am already plotting, er, planning, my next visit. Wellie Wednesday sounds like a for sure bet, at lunch. MMMMmmm…
Went tonight with my trailer friends and proprietor Mike Kelley treated us so well. The food was really great, better than any fish and chips I had in Britain or anywhere else for that matter. The piece of haddock I got was so big, it was nearly obscene. And fried to golden brown perfection. The chips were equally delish.
To top it off, we had a vanilla sundae with chocolate sauce and pistachios and a strawberry eton (which is strawberries, whipped cream, and baked meringue). The ice cream is homemade and you can tell. It is more creamy and smooth than a typical American ice cream. The owner was telling us about some other menu ideas (fried oysters, trifle), so keep on eye on this trailer. Can’t wait to try the beef wellington. Highly recommend. BYOB so bring some Fireman’s #4 to go with the beer-​batter on your fish.

OK so here it is. The real Austin Fish and Chips. And in a trailer too. I ordered the large. I wasn’t sure what would come out but I was happy to be handed a rolled up paper cone full of a fried piece of cod nearly as long as my forearm and some hot crispy chips (fries). I can’t believe I thought Baker St. was good a few months back. This guy has to be doing the real deal.
Armed with a bottle of vinegar and a cup of homemade tartar sauce, I went to the table. Be careful with the vinegar. It flows fast and furious and can run off the paper and onto your lap. Not saying I did this. Even with the vinegar, the fish stayed nice and hot. It was wonderful cod. Little hard to eat with a fork, so I just ate with my hands! Fries stayed hot and crispy too. These fries tasted atypical for Texas. Are they true chips? Don’t know. Better let the experts answer that. I was happy though. Gary K, french fry expert, what say you?!
Friendly staff! Just be nice and make sure to return their vinegar bottles when finished. I saw them looking around collecting all of them. That’s better time spent making delicious Fish and Chips!
Oh yes and they have Mexican Coke! How international! I have been slacking on that list of mine since pretty much everyone has it now.

Yet another Austin food trailer that I drove away wondering how the heck can great food come out of a space no bigger than a cell on death row!
Had a meeting downtown and stopped by to Bits and Druthers on my way home. Ordered a 2 piece fish and chip lunch and just loved it. I’ve been to many a tasty fish-​n-​chips place and my biggest complaint is drowning in the grease. That’s NOT the case here. Tender, moist, pieces of fish along with (non-​greasy) fries. I’ll be back.
Only wish is that this food trailer complex would get together and get some umbrellas or some other sort of shade in the eating area. Mid April, and it was a little toasty eating hot food with the sun glaring down on ya.

Did somebody mention fried food?!? Get out of my way, people and let me at it!
On a warm, sunny weekday, a friend and I hungrily made our way to the Bits & Druthers trailer. We both ordered the $ 9 fish supper: a large piece of fish, fries, tartar sauce, wedge of lemon, cornichon pickle and a side of homemade cole slaw.
We waited a little while but I didn’t mind, as I could smell our food being prepared. When our order was ready, my friend was handed two giant paper cones, with the explanation that the paper was to be used as a place mat.
There are few pleasures in life better than experiencing all this fried goodness emerging out of its wrapping. The smell alone was heaven. This was followed by the pleasant shock of seeing a foot-​long piece of lovely battered fish tumble out, followed by golden potatoes with large bits of sea salt still visibly clinging to them. All were hot, crispy and delicious. The cole slaw, mixed with a mustard vinaigrette and topped with sliced radishes, was also very good. A tasty lunch!

Trying new things today. I thank God for catholics this time of year because fish is abundant. This place is pretty freakin’ good. I ordered the small with chips and a side of curry sauce. The curry sauce was unbelievable. Think of a roux/​gravy with some curry in the mix. OFF THE CHARTS GOOD! It is a large portion for a buck. The fish was hot, crispy cooked perfectly. The fries are thick crisp when they first come out and seasoned really well.
There are only a few tables with umbrellas and most of them are taken by jerks who get 1 taco or an order of fries and stay forever. So it might not be so good in mid summer to eat some hot fish.
All said, It was $ 7 for 1 piece of fish, lots of fries, a bottle water and that amazing curry sauce. Pretty good deal for lunch. There is lots of parking on the side of the East Side Drive Inn. I noticed that after I did some street parking.

We thought the fish & chips here were very good. The coleslaw was delightfully different — vinegary and mustardy, with radishes — I’ve never had coleslaw like it, and even though I normally only like sweet coleslaw, I really liked it. I liked the homemade tartar sauce too. The fries were nice and crispy and plentiful. The fish was a little less plentiful, but still crispy and tender.
Our only complaint was the portion on the shrimp & chips. It was two shrimps stretched on a skewer with fries for $ 7. That seems a little steep for a couple of shrimp. Next time we’ll stick to the fish.
The guys were also really nice, and we liked the carnival atmosphere of the park, with such offerings as Pig Vicious, Vegan Yacht, Local Yolk and Ugly Banjo’s. The tattoo-​watching was terrific. Long live the trailer craze in Austin. All hail the trailer!

Easily the best fish and chips value in town, and perhaps the best f&c in town, period.
We’ve been a few times and the owner/​chef de fry cuisine Mike is a really nice guy, Texan all the way through with a Brit heritage that serves him well at the fryer. He dishes up a high quality, Real Ale-​battered slice of turbot from Quality Seafood and fries it exactly right, very crispy outside and gently moist inside, not remotely soggy, in a huge cone of perfectly crunchy fries, for seven bucks. Malt vinegar and tartar are of course awaitin’, and a fine homemade slaw that’s very fresh and quite close to perfect.
My gal calls it the best fish and chips she’s ever had. I wouldn’t go that far, having been raised eating way too many of these grease bomb delights, but I’ve only had one in town that was clearly better, and it was the best that Dog and Duck served out of a dozen-​plus efforts, and it was twelve bucks, and even then the fish wasn’t as good as Mike’s. QS and Fado make my other favorite f&c’s here, but they’re not quite as tasty. Schmick’s and Riley’s make pretty decent f&c but charge way more than what they’re worth.
In short: if you want great fish and chips in Austin, this is the new best place.
But wait, there’s more…
Mike also took the brave step of offering that other healthy treat, poutine, and while it’s not as wonderfully disgusting as the best Montréal versions, it’s really good. This is drinkers’ bar food par excellence, all that grease just ready to soothe the 6 Guinnesses in your gut at 2 am… but Mike’s only open from 11 to 7! I hereby bet that will soon change, as Austin discovers this is one of the half dozen best food trailers in town.
I would also like to predict that we will soon see a poutine craze in Atown as drunken revelers realize that pizza can never compare… unless you cover it in gravy, of course. Hello, Gourdough’s Pizza & Gravy donut!
And if it needed to get better, Mike offers the best Austin Local card deal I’ve seen: rather than the usual ten percent off, he gives you a Mexican coke, Topo or other drink. Go for the Dark Lord’s beverage, order the larger fish and chips, and prepare for a splendicious sugar/​grease coma of the highest quality… all for seven clams, tax included. Fair dinkum.
(And thanks for saying $ 7 and meaning $ 7, not $ 7.56 or whatever. In Europe (and most of the world), the law is that VAT (tax) must be included in the advertised price, and it’s nice to encounter that kind of honesty here.)
There are 7 other trailers in this new little eastside trailer conglomeration, and while they all have their charms (Vegan Yacht has some fine food), Bits and Druthers wins, hands down.
Check it out before the line-​ups start and prices rise and Tony Bourdain sends someone to film it with a shaky hand-​cam and then pretends that he was here.
Well done, Mike. Yer a fookin good frya.
PS Try the splendid homemade Sour Cream and Balsamic Ice Cream to finish.
Layers of flavors and one of a kind.

You want fries? They got fries. With optional tartar sauce.
I had fries.
(For more details, see Holly R’s review.)

Giant Union Jack on a trailer visually screams fish n chips to me. What sealed the deal was that this trailer had epicurean ingredients from locally sourced vendors: Antonelli’s Cheese, Real Ale, Quality Seafood, etc.
After looking over the menu:
— Fish n Chips
— Beef Wellington
— Arugula & Roasted Beets Salad
— Fried Oysters
— Mexican Coke, Topo Chico
I settled on the Fish n Chips (love the presentation — served in large paper cones!) and the Arugala Salad (I heart roasted beets). By far the best fish and chips I’ve had in Austin! Beer battered in Real Ale, this fish was definitely fresh — so moist, so flakey. Mmmm.
The chef came out to check on us… Bits & Druthers opened on the night Of Montréal played at East Side Drive In. He’s from Asti and built the trailer himself in a friend’s lot. (see facebook pics.)
What you should know:
— Bring Cash
— Bring Beer to go with your Fish n Chips
This trailer ranks high in my book — easily up there next to Odd Duck and East SIde Kings.