Ski Shores Cafe (central west Austin)

After searching Yelp for a place where we could take the kids that we haven’t been before, we stumbled upon Ski Shores Cafe.  The weather was just gorgeous, a bit windy but perfect.  We take advantage of every opportunity to be outdoors if we can so Ski Shores Cafe it was.

From the map, there seemed only two ways to get to the restaurant, by boat or through Emma Long Park.  The drive in was so pretty, and my daughter enjoyed looking at all the beautiful houses with the Spanish-tiled roofs.  Every so often we’d catch a peek of the Austin skyline through the trees.  It was lovely to see some fall colors, and for anyone who is a transplant from New England, don’t roll your eyes at our fall colors.  :-)

Ski Shores Cafe is so laid back that we knew it was a great spot to bring the kids.  Nearly all the seating is outdoors, whether open or covered lanai, patio, deck.

The kids spotted the big playscape so we found our way over to the picnic table near the playground.  There were huge bald cypress trees providing shade, but the wind gusts were fairly strong so every so often, we’d get pelted with some cypress needles, nothing terribly irritating.

The kids ran right off to the playground.  The playground is fully enclosed with a low wooden fence with a gated door way.  Our picnic table was set up a little higher than the playground so we were able to watch our kids play from the corner of our eyes while hubby and I read the Sunday paper.  Anytime the kids ran out of the play area back to me, I found myself getting half-way up in case I needed to make a run to catch my 2 year old who might think it funny to run straight towards the water.  There is absolutely no railing around the perimeter of the decks.

A waiter mosied over to our picnic table with menus which mostly had burgers, pizza, tacos, and salads.  It was fairly standard, and there were a few kid items as well.  Hubby gave their famous 1/3 pound Scooter burger a try.  I ordered a basket of chicken tenders and fries in case the kids wanted to run over and have a snack in between play time.  The kids weren’t too hungry since they had a late breakfast so we ordered them each a frozen ice pop (50¢ each) treat.

It really was relaxing, sitting by the water.

When the food came, hubby was surprised that the burger was so huge.  It was a double cheeseburger with jalapenos and the works.  He didn’t particularly care for the cole slaw, and when I tasted it, I thought it was more bland than anything else.  The chicken tenders too were a little bit on the bland side.  They were cooked fine, but just lacked some seasoning I thought.  The kids didn’t seem to mind when they came over to graze a little bit at the table.  We ended up taking the chicken home and tossing it in with a salad for dinner.

The restaurant ambience and friendly staff made up for the just-ok food.  The kids were having so much fun on the playground.
We noticed a music stage.  Even with the food not being the most standout feature, we’d come back with the kids to enjoy some live music outdoors by the water.  I’m sure our kids would happily agree to come back.  Dogs are welcome too at the restaurant on the decks.


Ski Shores Cafe
2905 Pearce Road,
Austin, TX 78730
(512) 394-7511 ‎

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