Traxx Restaurant

Traxx Restaurant

Written by Deb Arnold Thursday, 07 December 2006

Casual atmosphere blends with fine taste

Traxx is a pleasant dichotomy of upscale and family dining born out of owner Joe Frengel’s years of restaurant experience and his love of Cedar Park.

“I live in Cedar Park and there’s nowhere nice to eat here that isn’t a chain restaurant or fast food,” Frengel said. “You can’t build a restaurant in this city that ignores families, but Traxx is also a place where you can bring a date.”

The Traxx menu was designed by Frengel, and the wine list by manager Jerry Hillyard. Glasses of wine start at $4.50 and dishes are described in plain language, so diners are not intimidated by chef’s jargon.

We began the evening with the crab and artichoke dip ($7.99) which was a nice blend of crab meat, artichoke hearts, and Parmesan cheese oven-baked and served with toasted baguettes.

My order of blackened tilapia, an 8-oz. filet served with a rich, creamy crawfish sauce ($14.99), was very enjoyable. The sauce was a nice compliment to the blackened spices. The sides of green beans and mashed red potatoes were nicely prepared and accompanied my tilapia perfectly.

If you like ribeye steak ($18.99), Traxx prepares a 12-oz. hand-cut steak cooked to your liking. Our steak lover enjoyed the choice cut served with sides of rice pilaf and seashell pasta salad. He also added five grilled shrimp ($3.50) to round out his main entrée order.

The vegetable and chicken fusseli ($14.25) was a splendid sight of broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, fresh basil and oregano tossed with corkscrew pasta in a light buttery garlic and wine sauce. Topping all this was a grilled chicken breast with a generous crown of Parmesan cheese.

Our last diner’s order, an 8-oz. Black Angus filet cooked to taste and served with a rich mushroom sauce ($22.99), arrived with generous servings of his two side choices of green beans and broccoli.

For dessert, we chose the homemade apple crisp with Granny Smith apples baked under a crumbly brown sugar and butter topping served a la mode ($4.99).

A special section of the menu is called “Sarah’s Foods,” named for Frengel’s daughter who is a picky eater. He came to her with a list of dishes and told her to pick which ones she would eat. Her choices make up the list and they range from baked ziti to a small ribeye and range in prices from $3.99 to $6.50.

Manager’s favorite

Grilled pork chop with apple chutney - $14.99

Wine suggestion: Lambert Bridge Merlot - $8.75

Traxx, 601 E. Whitestone Blvd. in the Railyard, 528-0018

Monday - Thursday 11a.m. - 9 p.m.; Friday - Saturday 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.