Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • T6

Page 6 FOOD DRINK Read more about the Austin food scene on the Relish Austin blog. austin360.comrelishaustin itikM lkilt The owners of Tortuga Flats in Round Rock call Icehouse." matthewodam PHOTOS AMERICAN-STATESMAN Restaurants continued from 5 KMJ- 1 A plate of mackerel, fatty BPeSt yB1 iIHbI The Quacker at Blind Squirrel features tea-smoked duck in salmon and yellowtail at Beluga in Round Rock. Tortuga Flats General manager Tre Dotson and chef Octa-vio Benavides were unsuspecting victims in the collapse of the Yassine brothers' demi-empire. The duo showed promise with Stack Burger Bar in the Warehouse District, before the restaurant closed in the wake of the Yassines' legal problems. Dotson and Benavides have risen from the ashes and opened Tortuga Flats.

They call it a "Mexican Icehouse," which means in addition to interior Mexican items like tender pork in the tangy cochini-ta pibil and Tex-Mex staples like fajitas (starting at you'll also find habanero chicken wings The bright restaurant feels like an oasis in the middle of its sprawling strip center near Interstate 35. And a gua-camole appetizer special ($8.99) at one recent lunch tasted and looked like something you'd find at a Mexican resort. 6 FRIDAY, FEB 21, 2014 A special appetizer at Tortuga Flats features guacamole and fresh seafood. Motorcycle Run MARCH 1 5 5K Junction Texas Tech thick pieces of pork belly and pineapple and slathered with a sticky sweet sauce felt less like a Mexican vacation and more like a tourist trap. (3107 S.

1-35. 512- 388-1445, Contact Matthew Odam at 512-912-5986. Twitter: odam Hunks of sauteed snapper, shrimp and crab topped and were folded into the large serving of creamy mashed avocado. The seafood burst and hummed with citrus and smoke. Throw in some lettuce, and you have an entire meal.

But the jaw-jacking beef sliders topped with MARCH 27 NRA Banquet www.junctiontexas.com AUSTIN 360 AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN.