Drakula

Argh! So mad they closed!
Well, the few times I did eat there, I really loved their food. I remember having a gulash they made which was delicious, as was their sausage. The thing I liked was that their food was substantial without just making you feel stuffed to the gills.
The family that ran the place was pretty cool. They decked the place out in various Romanian decorations to give a lot of character. They had books about their native country to read while we waited for our food.
Real shame to see them go, maybe they’ll be back in a better location some day.

What a Wonderful surprise!
Our first dining experience was a hit…
Our guests all tried different entres. From chicken, pork, beef as well as vegeatarian dishes. They all were great and plentiful.
Save a little room for desert. Their cake is amazing.
We all look forward to our next visit.
Enjoy
George W. (the other one from Texas)

It appears they are closed. Phone and website are shut down.

I enjoy Romanian food, so I was extremely happy when Drakula opened.
This place reminds you of being at a Romanian home getting a home-​cooked meal.
The décor leaves a lot to be desired and the wait time can, at times, be somewhat lengthy, but that doesn’t really phase me because the food is great!
I’ve tried a number of dishes and like some of the other reviews, the only complaint — the rolls. They should just make mini Romanian Easter breads for the tables!
All in all, worth a trip to try some authentic Romanian food.

I have a lot of experience with Romanian food, and I am so excited to see a Romanian restaurant that does it right. I’ve tried a variety of dishes there, and nothing has disappointed. It is authentic, which is good by me, as Romania has some of the best food around.
If I had to nit pick, I would suggest a breadmaker, as bagged rolls from Costco leaves a lot to be desired. Seriously, though, nitpicking!
I suppose the best compliment would be that my Romanian friend’s opinion of the stuffed peppers was that they reminded him of his mother’s. This is a thumbs up beyond words.

I’ve been here a handful of times now and have found every trip to Drakula quite fun and tasty. It’s a fairly small place with maybe a dozen tables. I’ve been when it was near empty and near capacity, and the waitstaff is always pleasant, efficient, and helpful.
The Assorted Romanian Appetizer Plate is a nice way to start a meal… similar to plates my Czech great-​grandmother would prepare for special occasions, but with some unique combinations I hadn’t tried previously. The schnitzel (both pork and chicken) makes for a delicious meal. I’ve tried a few other menu items as well, but our trips to Drakula are far enough apart that I tend to default to the schnitzel because it’s so tasty!

The ONLY reason for the four stars is that the place was very warm inside. About half way through the meal I could feel little beads of sweat developing on my forehead. Air conditioning would have been nice.
But the food was amazing! We had the Drakula’s Castle, Romanian Goulash, and the Cheese Strudel for desert. All of it was delicious!
The service was great and everybody there was friendly. And again, it would have been five stars if it was only a more comfortable temperature in there while eating.

Not horrible. But not good.
Small restaurant. The interior decorations remind me of a Mexican or Tex-​Mex restaurant.
I used to order the assorted Romanian appetizer plate and the stuffed cabbage (pork) with polenta (the default image). The cabbage dish was a bit bland, and the pork reminded me of Vienna sausages.
The food takes a while to come out. And the service is not really good and almost non-​existent. Except for the young guy who worked there when I lived in town. He’d talk a lot. Cheerful. Nice guy.

I am from Romania, therefore I was very pleased to find out about Drakula. Their food is authentic and tastes great. The appetizer is similar to what you would find in Romania (yes, we have feta cheese, ham and salami there, should anyone be complaining about their serving these items).
I am vegetarian, and they have a special menu for vegetarians with four entrees on it, offering more vegetarian options than many other restaurants.
The food is absolutely delicious, and the owners are friendly. If you are looking to experience a bit of Romanian culture and cuisine, this is the place to go.

I did not know this restaurant existed until I saw a Unilocal review recently. Wow, it has been around for over two years and I have never head of it. How can that be I must be way out of touch? So to make up for not knowing I scoped up the wife and 2 friends and scooter-​ed on over their Friday night in my Bat Mobile. Since I read the reviews I was not expecting and black cape-​ed mad men or bats but only traditional Romanian cuisine which I don’t know if I had ever before.
The restaurant is small with about 10 tables of which 6 were in use by guest so we were seated right away and ordered our drinks. We ordered the meatball soup and
a small cucumber salad. I liked the soup; it was kind of like tomato soup with vegetables and 3 small beef meatballs. My wife liked it as well. The salad was a little salty but I ate it and it was OK.
For our mail meal I ordered the Chicken Schnitzel (Chicken Breast), my wife got the Stuffed Pepper with Mashed Potatoes (beef), the others ordered the Grilled Fish Served in a Spicy Broth and the Stuffed Cabbage (pork) with Bread or Polenta. I liked the chicken but felt a sauce of some kind would have make it better, I liked the stuffed pepper better so my wife and I switched meals. The others like their meals. I tried the pork and did know like it very much, but she liked it very much.
We finished off with the cake, it was like whipped cream but it had lots of stuff in it like raisins, bits of oranges, pineapple, walnuts, and others things I was not sure of and it had the back of the cake with lady finger cookies. I really liked it I was not disappointed at all.
Our service was fine and did not seem slow. The only item I found disappointing were the rolls, they were not warm at all and no butter was provided, I did ask for it and I got it but is was just a regular roll unheated.
Would we go back? Yes sometime in the future.

This is a small, family-​run place. It’s usually not crowded, but you should be prepared for a leisurely pace when you come here.
The food here is different. It’s worth trying it once. I had chicken schnitzel, which was good, but not that different to me from chicken fried chicken.

I was curious because of the name of this place. I thought it be would kind of fun. Well, it’s Romanian cuisine. When you walk in, it reminds me of my grandmother’s house. The service is friendly and they are helpful with menu selections. The food was good, not great. Then again, I may not have known what to order.
I’d go again.

Service: The service was slow, though I don’t think I can REALLY blame the wait staff since I was part of a 38-​member group. Still, with TWO wait people, only one other table in use, and me with waitressing experience, I didn’t think I should have had to ask for an iced tea refill. Wait staff was nice, and the owner came out to say hello and to thank us for coming.
Ambiance: The restaurant is extremely small, so I wonder — even if the restaurant fills up at any point — how they stay in business. They have some nice knick-​knacks on the walls, and I enjoyed reading Drakula’s (the person) history and Romania’s history via the back of the menu.
Food: I did not order an entrée because I’d had a late lunch. I got a bowl of the meatball soup, which was very good. The meatballs were very easy to cut up and they went well with the tomato broth. The only thing I did not like about the soup was that they put shredded carrots in it. That was just odd and not good with meatballs. I was afraid the soup might end up being too spicy for me, but it was not spicy at all, which was fine with me. Things that are too spicy make me cough a lot, and then I have trouble getting my breath, so I try to stay away from stuff like that.
I later had a slice of homemade «cake», but there was nothing cakey about it. The «cake» is the main reason I’m only giving this place 3 stars. It was essentially Cool Whip with some diced fruit mixed in. Seriously, it tasted just like whipped cream. Whipped cream is good and all, but only as a topping. The picture of the «cake» in the menu was quite meringuey looking, but I decided it was just a bad picture. Obviously I should have trusted my first instinct.
Since we brought such a large group to the restaurant, we were given a couple plates of desserts to share, which consisted of pieces of cheese/​apple danish (I did not try any of that), some itty bitty crescent rolls with what I think were mashed up dates inside (not very good), and some bread twisted into pretzel shapes which was neither very good nor pretty to look at. In fact, no one in my part of the group liked the free desserts. Nor did they really like the «cake» I let them try.
Also, Drakula has a very poor selection of beer and wine. And do not go there thinking you can get a martini… they lack a full bar.
Previous history: I wanted to try Drakula a couple of years ago with my boyfriend-​at-​the-​time. We looked up the place, saw they were open until 10pm, went over there at nearly 9pm one Saturday night, and they were closed. We emailed to ask them to verify their hours. Explained that we went one night when they were supposedly open until 10pm but they were closed instead. Mentioned in the email that we were very put off by this. Despite the fact that we were very diplomatic in the email, we never got a response from them, so we decided to never again go there.
Conclusion: Two years later I finally went. Even though I very much enjoyed the meatball soup, I doubt I will go back to Drakula.

For years I’ve been wanting to try this place. Usually the thought only came when I was seeing a show at Cap City Comedy after I’d already eaten. It happened every time — without fail. But last night, it finally occurred to me early in the evening before the Norm MacDonald show.
I found the service to be great — we were the only customers there for most of the meal. The food was good but I was hoping for better. Partly because of the anticipation built up over the years as well as expectations from a recent vacation to Eastern Europe where we had some amazing food.
Coincidentally, Norm did mention this place in his set. Not that he’d eaten here. He just found the name Drakula to be an odd name for a restaurant — doesn’t sound appetizing.
I’d like to echo what Catherine Y’s review of this place brings up about a possible after-​effect of one of the dishes. I’m pretty sure it’s the Mici — those little logs of rolled-​up ground meat are like burp incubators. Just fair warning.

This past weekend I found myself in a interesting position. Late afternoon on a Saturday night with nothing to do. Rock and Roll all night? Nah, too early. Party every day? Pshaw, as if I’d ever stop. Then it hit me, schnitzel time! My plans were almost dashed when I arrived at ABIA only to find that the last flight to Bucharest was on Southwest. I wasn’t about to spend 15 hours trapped in between two sweaty, mouth-​breathing ingrates that have nothing better to do than wait 5 hours before a flight to get a window seat, but I digress.
Then it hit me like a ray of sunshine made of upper cuts. There has to be a purveyor of Eastern European food wares somewhere this side of the pond. After consulting the all knowing Google, I discovered that there is a restaurant that does just that here in Austin.
Drakula offers what I am led to believe is authentic Romanian food. For all that I care, it can come all the way from Moldova, it is all wonderful. I had the pork with a side of the mushrooms, which I was recommended as the best of all the sides. Next time I will have to try the cabbage rolls, which the owner himself came out to suggest. For dessert, have the cake. Don’t question, just order.
Pros: Food, service, price
Cons: Can’t earn airline miles

Food was alright but we burped really badly after that. The worst thing was the burp stank badly! And you can smell it few feet away, how horrible is that if you are on a date?
I had the grilled fish with spicy sauce and the mushroom side, bf had the mici sausage with mashed potato. Kris had the goulash. He said it may not be that good but it was good enough to remind him of homecook meal in central eastern Europe region.
Besides the stinky burps, I do like the service there. They are courteous and attentive.

My boyfriend and I love to go here to have traditional Romanian food. My boyfriend, who immigrated from Romania when he was 12 says that the food is what you would be served if you went to someone’s home, and he loves it. he also loves that the waitstaff all speak to him in Romanian.
This place is not recommended for vegetarians, and the food is not necessarily light, but it is well made and very tasty. The appetizer plate for 1 is always enough for the both of us, and we have loved everything we tried on the menu. I am especially fond of the sarmale (stuffed cabage) and my boyfriend usually gets either the HUMUNGO stuffed pepper or the Iachni de fazole, a tasty dry-​bean stew served with yummy sausage.

My roommate and I decided to try this place last weekend. Neither of us had ever had Romanian food before and wanted to give it a try. The food was good. Reminded me a lot of German food. The portions were large and enough for leftovers.
It wasn’t busy at all on a Saturday night. I would eat there again.

When my friend who’s Romanian visited Austin and heard there was a Romanian restaurant, she definitely wanted to check it out since there arent many around. Her husband (who spent numerous dinner nights with her parents while she was out of town) also knows his stuff when it comes to Romanian food so away we went!
It was my second time going and it’s never been busy. Our waitress was attentive at times, but did need to be flagged down a few times. Our food was mediocre – this was coming from the experts who had the real thing to compare it to and from my husband and I who were judging it by our own tastes. We ordered the $ 27 appetizer that everyone enjoyed but when it came down to the soups and the entrees, it could have been better. The portions are huge so you’ll definitely have leftovers.

Question regarding a previous review: Why in the world would anyone KEEP GOING to a place they say is so terrible? Sure, if I went to a place with bad service, I’d give them another shot. But a third, or even a FOURTH time? Forget it!
That being said, I’ve been to Drakula twice and loved it both times — the first time, it was just my boyfriend and I. The second time, it was with a group of about 15 people total.
The first time… One night, we were talking about a different place to try out and I said, «You know, I keep hearing about this place called Drakula.» So, Big Kahuna looked them up on Unilocal and, at the time, they had a five-​star Unilocal rating.
What is Drakula? It sounds so goth, right? It’s not — it’s the most unfancy Romanian restaurant with the best food!
And for those of you who have never had Romanian food: trust me… it’s gooOOoOOoood! Very tasty stuff! Even a picky eater would find something yummy to eat there.
We weren’t expecting a fancy place since Drakula is in a strip shopping center, but we were happy to see that the restaurant very clean and bright. Yes, they are in need of some help in the design/​decoration/​ambiance department — even painting the walls blood-​red, or anything besides white, would make a huge difference! — but once you get to eating, all your focus is on the FOOD and not the austere white walls.
The food… oh my goodness! Big Kahuna and I completely pigged out on our first visit.
We ordered the «Platou Romanesc» (Assorted Romanian Appetizer Plate) for two people for $ 12.99. It is basically a small platter of different cheeses, pickles, and cream dips, and I don’t know what all else. There was also a basket of hot rolls. Big Kahuna ordered a bowl of «Ciorba de Perisoar» (Meatball Soup) for $ 3.99 Combining the soup, bread, and appetizer plate, you could easily make a very filling meal out of that alone!
For our entrees, I ordered their famous stuffed cabbage with polenta for $ 10.99. Apparently, this is THE most popular dish there — and for very good reason! I just can’t begin to describe how tasty it was! Just trust me – order it. They bring you two stuffed cabbage rolls with two scoops of polenta and it is garnished with sour cream and these tiny sausages which are cut to look like little jacks (as in the game of jacks.)
Big Kahuna ordered Drakula’s Castle for $ 11.99, a dish of grilled chicken, topped with pork, topped with cheese, and topped with mushrooms in a tomato sauce. Very impressive! The only thing they could have omitted was the garnish of vegetables. The dish was ringed with a corn/​greenbean/​carrot «medley” — the kind you get out of a frozen bag. We think they put it there for colour, but they could easily just leave it off, or maybe put down a side of polenta instead.
Of course, the desserts… oh so bad for you! We split a humongous piece of «Homemade Cake» for $ 3.99, which was like a spice cake with creamy white frosting, sprinkled with nuts.
We had a college-​age young waitress named Anka (sp?) and she was very happy to make recommendations and describe different foods to us. (I think her parents actually own Drakula.) Our service was very good. Granted, we were the only ones there, aside from a couple of single people at different tables.
However, I really think we would have still gotten good service because it was GREAT the next time we went, which was a few months later for my birthday! :-) I had made reservations with Anka a month prior, and we had the event on a Saturday at noon. Anka and a male waiter were excellent! Towards the end of the meal, they brought out a birthday cake made with lady fingers, and they played Romanian birthday music! Everyone had a nice time and said they really enjoyed the food. :-)
There were a couple of other families there, and they appeared to be enjoying themselves as well.
Also, we had about six children with us, and they all ate chicken nuggets & french fries ($ 4.99/plate) and had ice cream ($ 3.50) which was served in a really cute ceramic waffle (with a real waffle piece and cherries and whipped cream.)
Bottom line: keeping in mind that I am from Dallas and have eaten at tons of restaurants, my favorite restaurants are those little family-​run places. Drakula tops that list! If you are like me, and you enjoy trying different foods, this is a must-​visit! The best time to go is during the earlier part of the week.