I recently had the chance to spend some time in Austin with my mom. Several friends recommended The Oasis Restaurant on Lake Travis for the breathtaking views and amazing food. Unfortunately, our experience was neither breathtaking nor amazing. I suppose you could say that the restaurant was more of a “Disappointment on Lake Travis” than an Oasis on Lake Travis.

We came in on Friday night at around 9PM. The restaurant was empty for the most part so we were able to get a table immediately. My mother and I immediately noticed the beautiful furniture, clean and well decorated building, and view of Lake Travis, which was amazing despite the fact that it was already dark outside. If someone were to ask me about my experience at that point, I would have said that we were off to a good start.

Unfortunately, the good start came to an end when it was time to order our meals. My mom ordered a Margarita with her meal, which she found bland and improperly mixed. I had my usual Dr Pepper which came out just fine — then again, I don’t think it’s possible to mess up serving a soft drink.

I went for the Beef Fajitas while my mom gave the Beef Fajita Nachos a try. My fajitas did not come out well. The meat tasted like it was reheated in a pan instead of taken fresh off the grill. The condiments (rice, beans, guacamole, sour cream, etc.) were nothing to write home about, either. My meal tasted like something you’d expect to get at a greasy fast food place or out of a van at a construction site… it certainly wasn’t worth the $16.99 price tag.

Mom’s nachos were yet another disappointment. The first thing we noticed was that her “Beef Fajita Nachos” didn’t seem to have a lot of fajitas on them. We searched her plate for fajita meat but were only able to find 2 or 3 strips of it. We complained and our waitress was somewhat helpful, bringing us a plate with more fajitas, which were also poorly cut (huge chunks!) and undercooked as well. I would’ve expected them to take the entire meal back and bring back a properly done plate, but this just didn’t happen.

In the end, the cost of our dinner came out to a total of $42 for the two of us. We were not charged for the extra meat, but I still feel that we would’ve gotten a better meal at Taco Cabana or some other fast food Mexican joint. Service was good, the view was amazing, and the building was clean and spectacularly decorated. Unfortunately, bad food killed the entire experience for both of us.

I don’t think we’ll be back in the future. :(