Every year Austin host the ACL music festival which is like a typical festival in the park with multiple stages of large touring acts. One aspect that makes ACL a little bit different and a little better is that instead of the typical festival food (elephant ears, corn dogs, and cheese fries) ACL has local Austin restaurants set up stands and come up with items just for the festival. This usually means a lot more veg options than the corporate fair and better food. One breakout is “the chicken cone” and though it sounds like something you would get at any state fair, according to my friends it is worth going to the festival for the deep fried chicken surrounded in coleslaw with a spicy dressing all surrounded by a tortilla like cone. After years of huge lines at the festival the restaurant decided to open a trailer on South Congress and I checked the online menu and it seemed to have some possible veg options so we were on our way.
For vegetarians they have a deep fried avocado cone, and I say vegetarians because the coleslaw is not vegan. I got mine without and found the fried avocado pretty lacking without any accompaniments. That’s not to say it wasn’t good; the batter was crisp and tasty and the avocado was in really big chunks, it was just lacking a flavor contrast. Some spinach and tomatoes would have made it worth returning. Sadly, I won’t be. One reason I thought the whole trip might be worth it is because the menu also mentioned chili-dusted fries. In reality, they were just somewhat soggy regular fries, served in a cone, and lightly sprinkled with chili which I could hardly taste.
The real slap in the face from the mighty cone was their descpription of their “Veggie Sliders”. Online it only mentions that they exist but at the store they sounded great, I don’t remember the details because I was shocked and appalled by the note that the sliders were “Almost vegan, just a little butter”. You F****** bastards. You could easily make these vegan, you know how to do it (a little oil or margarine instead) and instead you choose to say “Screw you” to any vegans who might fall in love with your trailer, write blog posts about it, and send recommendations to everyone in the vegan blogosphere. Instead, you have to get uppity and laugh at us with your stupid sign proclaiming your love of butter. Really, if the sign had said “Not Vegan” I would have respected them for being clear, but the taunting “Almost Vegan” sent me into a rage.