Lake Travis - Westlake Edition | February 2023

DINING FEATURE

BY TAYLOR CRIPE

FLAMING QUESO

One of the popular dishes at Vaqueros Cafe & Cantina is called queso ameado, a aming queso with cheese, chorizo, mushrooms and poblanos made tableside for customers. Here is how Vaqueros prepares the dish:

Melt butter on a heated skillet plate. Step 1

Step 2 Add the ameado base with mushrooms, poblanos and chorizo.

Pour oil on the ameado, and light it on re. Step 4

Step 5 Mix well and serve.

Step 3 Stir in Monterey Jack cheese.

From left: The Vaqueros Cafe & Cantina owners are Don Burdette and Bobby Steiner. Vaqueros Cafe & Cantina Cowboys bring family recipes to Westlake and Steiner Ranch V aqueros Cafe & Cantina began as a partnership between two cowboys who wanted to bring quality Mexican food to Austin. “We are both cowboys rst; we’re restaurant people after that,” co-owner Bobby Steiner said. Steiner and his partner Don Bur- their brand is they have added new recipes over the years based on recommendations from friends, family and sta, Steiner said. The eatery’s enchiladas, for example, came from recipes from the owners’ families and their employees. PHOTOS BY TAYLOR CRIPECOMMUNITY IMPACT

Vaqueros Cafe & Cantina A Westlake 1801 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., Austin 512-382-7899 www.vaqueroscafe.com Hours: Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri.- Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. B Steiner Ranch 3810 N. Quinlan Park Road, Austin 512-960-4774 Hours: Sun.-Thu. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri.- Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

of milk, and topped with whipped cream and strawberries. The recipe came from General Manager Isi Farias-Dobbs, Burdette said. “We had been making tres leches the same way for years,” he said. “One day, she made hers, and we tried it; we then threw ours out and started selling hers.” In addition to traditional Mexican foods, such as tacos, sopas and fajitas, Burdette and Steiner also expanded their menu to include items from the steakhouse, seafood and other American food. Some items on the menu include the Vaqueros burger, pancakes, ribs and cedar-plank salmon. “We integrated seafood items here, and it’s been really, really good for us,” Burdette said.

“The people who work here have us try [their recipes],” Steiner said. “Some of their [food] was better than some of ours.” The restaurant has Latino workers who have been there for a long time and who have greatly inuenced how Mexican food is cooked at Vaqueros, Steiner said. One of the sweet items on the menu is a traditional Mexican dessert called tres leches, a sponge cake soaked in three dierent types

dette have been in the food business for years; their rst venture, Steiner Ranch Steakhouse, has been open for over 10 years, Burdette said. Now, Burdette and Steiner own two additional restaurants in Steiner Ranch and Westlake, both called Vaqueros Cafe & Cantina. The Westlake location opened in 2017, and the Steiner Ranch location opened in September. One thing that stands out about

PARKSTONE HEIGHTS DR.

360

REAL CATORCE

STEINER RANCH BLVD.

LAKE TRAVIS WESTLAKE EDITION • FEBRUARY 2023