Supper Friends

I attended my first Supper Friends this past Saturday eve. I really enjoyed the environment, welcome drink, and food! The friends I went with had been there several times before and spoke highly of the experience. The appetizers consisted of oysters, Brie crostini's, and prosciutto wrapped butternut squash! I enjoyed the nicely spiced seafood gumbo, gulf fish, and a few bites of the sweet King cake. I was able to bring some leftovers home too so I could enjoy it again! The owner was there and I think he got the baby in the cake. :-) You can order additional drinks while there and we were recommended a very nice red wine that went well with the meal. I'm so glad I got a check to check it out and look forward to trying it again hopefully this year!

Supper Friends at Swoop House is an Austin institution when it comes to pop up dinners. We have been going for many years, maybe ~9 years since our first dinner here! And we keep on coming back. It is fun, delicious and the ambiance inside the house and the gardens is optimized for enjoyment!Supper Friends offers a themed meal (usually dinners, sometimes brunch). It is normally a 5 course prefix menu that is carefully thought out. I'm particularly fond of their passed appetizers - they usually have 3 different types of delicious bites - that you can nibble on as you wait for guests to arrive and dinner to get served. There's an option to pair your meal with wines. The staff there is amazing from the wait staff, the sommelier, the chef, owner (including his family) - all very attentive and friendly!We would like to see more dinners offered. Our last dinner there was a couple of months ago and we've been waiting for the next event since! We can't wait to go back!

What an awesome experience! Supper friends is located in a cute little house that's filled with tables and chairs, and it has beautiful grounds to be enjoyed in the spring time. The idea behind supper friends is to enjoy a meal with conversation tables are set up in groups of eight or more, enter party will be seated with others and the evening begins your greeted with a cocktail and hors d'oeuvres, and then you're seated. At that time it is explained that if you take your cell phone out everyone at the table gets an opportunity to text your friends. In other words don't take your cell phone out.Meals are theme based and run several courses from appetizers to desserts and everything in between and the food is always delicious. The conversations run the gammit from light to funny to serious. You make it happen. So check the calendar and sign up.

After being on the mailing list for months and salivating over friends' reviews, I finally was able to snag a reservation for a fixed price dinner at SWOOP House. The Cajun/Creole-inspired 5 course menu was a test run for items that will appear on the menu for their soon-to-open new restaurant (Sawyer & Co) at the location of the former Arkie's on Cesar Chavez. On the day of this, our 20th anniversary celebratory dinner, I starved myself all day in preparation for an evening of total gluttony - this will prove to be folly on my part.If you've never been, Supper Friends involves a 3.5 hour multi-course themed dinner served at assigned community seating in 3-4 large tables in a charming restored cottage (SWOOP House) with wood floors, chandeliers, and all things adorably eclectic. Substitutions are not allowed, but celebrating special occasions is. Meeting your dining companions and engaging with new friends are highly encouraged.We scurried through rush hour traffic from North Austin to make it down to the Airport/183 area just in time to arrive for 7p cocktails and passed appetizers. Although the $58/pp advanced fee (which includes 20% gratuity) does not cover adult beverages, the SWOOP folks were so kind as to provide an initial delicious sangria on the house. That drink was exceptionally tasty on a parched empty stomach, imbibed while lounging on the sunny front porch and meeting other diners as they arrived.During the cocktail hour, we made new acquaintances with a traffic engineer, a home & commercial security specialist, and a manager at Spec's - all good friends to have! - over our shared love of good food and adventure. Course -0- (Passed Hors D'Oeuvres)Devilled Eggs with Praline Bacon, Crab Beignets, and Petit MuffalettasThese appetizers were fantastic, each more delicious than the last. The servers were too generous, coming by at least 3 times with recurring offers for each tray. Don't make my mistake and fill up on these tempting starters, or you will be hurting later! When 8p rolled around, it was time to head inside to find our place cards and start the sit-down meal. This time, we shared the chef's table with a few SWOOP staffers & family members, as well as a charming pair of couples (parents and adult daughter with SIL) celebrating their retired school teacher mom's birthday. We all had some connection to Louisiana and were giddy about the evening's meal.Course -1-Crawfish Etouffee with Homemade CornbreadHeavenly. Rich. Too much good food for an early course in a 5 part meal; this one should be reduced by half. Yep, I foolishly scarfed down every bit of this dish (it was too tasty to waste), so spoiler alert, by the time I reach the main entree I am possibly about to burst.Course -2-Fried Gulf Oyster Salad with Seasonal Greens, Corn Relish & Creamy Jalapeno DressingThe. Best. Salad. Ever. Also, the best fried oysters I've ever tasted. These guys know what to do with the succulent little bivalves - they were so very tender, you could hardly tell they were fried except for the delicate crisp coating. Our table oohed and ahhed so much about these, the chef came by to give us 2 more servings of just the oysters, with extra dressing for dipping. Oh, lord, there is no way I'm gonna make it to the end of this meal.Course -3-Cajun Meatloaf served with Whipped Potatoes & Green BeansOne bite of each item, and I am done. No more food can enter this body. Luckily, take out containers were offered and accepted. The meatloaf was quite tasty, with a coarse but fluffy texture and a flavorful sauce. Unfortunately, the butcher failed to remove all of the unwanted bits from the meat and 3 of the 6 people at the end of our table found bone chips in our servings.Course -4-King Cake Bread PuddingSeriously? How can anyone possibly eat dessert now? Do you people have a 2nd secret stomach that you bring out for emergencies like this? This one went straight into the doggie bag, but it was still delicious ten hours later when I ate it for breakfast, cold from the fridge.Final thoughts: The food, staff, venue, and fellow diners were all lovely. Hospitality was phenomenal, including gratis toasting glasses of bubbly at the end of our meal in acknowledgement of our special occasion. This spot is a bit out of the way for me for a weeknight, but I can see coming back at least once per year for a novel menu.

Had this bookmarked for awhile and when I got the chance to experience for half the price thanks to Yelp, I jumped on it! You'd be a Fool not to, right? A four course dinner for $25 is a deal anywhere much less in such an intimate and quaint surrounding. Loved the house with it's hard woods and beautiful art (altho it's true it does get warm in there! Dress accordingly). Loved the decorations, from fancy rose petals on the floor to whimsical dinosaur planters on the table. Loved the grounds and the vintage car in the drive. Loved the hard working staff that was continuously prepping food, distributing food and corking and serving the wine the patrons brought. Loved meeting the folks at my table, esp the older gent to my left who regaled me with stories of Alaska and Africa (and the mating rituals of leopards).Loved the appetizers! Deviled eggs with a slice of pickle and fried leek strings and quail nachos topped with pickled onions. Both creative and a burst of flavor in the mouth. Loved the ice-burg wedge salad with it's candied bacon, sweet pecans, and tangy blue cheese. Loved the tempura fried eggplant and seasoned fresh veggies.That's where the love stops I'm afraid. As Lee noted, the brisket was epic fail. Two huge slabs of tough dry meat served only with a tiny amount of sauce and with only a butter knife to saw through it. You gotta have balls to serve brisket in Texas, so I respect their gumption, but you gotta back up the balls with tender flavorful meat, and this just wasn't it. My older gent friend said he prefers the brisket at County Line. ahem. The potato salad was really good tho and surprised my palette with crunchy toasted almonds. Finally, the dessert was also a bit off. After such a rich meal, something light would have worked better I think. The combo of decadent chocolate, rich praline mousse and tart raspberry sauce made my tongue retract in fear. Couldn't finish it. Also as Lee noted, I would have loved for the chef to explain each course, especially what that crunchy thing was in the tater salad (hope it wasn't the taters!). It may have just been an issue of having a full house of chatty folks and trying to move the dinner along at a good pace. I know I was guilty of being the last to finish most courses just because I was having so much fun talking to my older gent bfff. But having the chef come out before each course probably would have focused me a bit more on finishing the prior course anyway.Despite the missteps in food, I look forward to a return visit. This is perfect for a group of supper friends to get together over a leisurely meal (I'm lookin at you Carillon Group...you know who you are!).

Elites were invited to dine here for 50% off. I called Emily at the Swoop House and she said there were three seats left. The discount applied to all three of us. $25 for a four-course meal and cocktail! Can I get a whoop? Or a swoop? We knew where we were celebrating my sister in law's birthday!The house is in East Austin and has a large garden, a nice porch, and would be a great place to have an outdoor meal in the Fall. We wandered inside to check out the three-room house and the table arrangements, which come with your printed name indicating where you should sit at one of the large tables. There were these cute little whimsical dinosaurs filled with miniature plants that served as center pieces. See: sometimes I'm so easy to please. The quail nachos were excellent, and the deviled eggs had fried leeks in them, which was a new one for me: very dramatic presentation. The sliders were okay. And the wedge salad had an amazing dressing on it. This is an extremely difficult town to try to compete in the bbq arena, so I'm not sure why they chose brisket as the main course. I really didn't care because I had not paced myself and was stuffed with every other delicious thing that came before it. The 2DineFor staff is very courteous and professional, and it seems as if this could be a really fun place to have a large birthday party or rehearsal dinner...and if there were enough of you then you wouldn't have to worry about being in public when Uncle George gets out his ancient video camera and starts recording people's feet. I also liked being able to meet lots of new people. The woman next to me was with her husband and four friends who had all traveled to the same country in the past year and, as neighbors, they want to go out and talk about what they'd seen. Seems like a great idea to me. There was an issue (twice) when we were engrossed in our conversation and I looked down at our plates and realized that we were probably holding up the entire table so I figured I should eat faster for the third and fourth course. Practical stuff: They don't have a liquor license, so you get one cocktail at the beginning and then you bring your own wine/champagne/beer pairings to the dinner. And I did feel a tiny trickle of sweat rolling down the back of my knee at some point in the evening, so dress accordingly. I asked one of the servers how many dinner parties they were hosting and he said they were up to three a week in the summer, but that doesn't seem to be posted on the website. So, you should just sign up for their mailing list to get details about the next one.

As someone who's seen my favorite supper club grow up over the past few years I'm almost hesitant to write a review of my little hidden gem. The atmosphere of the Swoop House is just great, and at times it feels like the perfect location for just about anything from dinner, to mixology classes, wedding receptions, and more. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of attending let me break it down for you. It begins in the early evening with cocktails and appetizers, usually something amazing that I would likely be unwilling to try elsewhere. As its BYOB you can also bring your own beer, wine, champagne, etc and start chilling it. After lounging with the guests and making new friends you are then seated and the adventure begins. The entire show is led by Stephen Shallcross and his crew of chef's, servers, and food artistes. Before the each course the chef comes around and explains the food, what to look and taste for and usually an amazing fact about its origins. Depending on the menu it can range from 5 to 7 courses and they offer both Meaty and Vegetarian offerings. I almost always find myself getting full just short of the main course so I often try to pace myself in the beginning no matter how hungry I am. Now while the food is to die for the people are really the most fun part of Supper Friends. Not a single time have I gone and not met someone interesting, or laughed for hours with friends old and new. I've taken business clients, friends, family and all have been amazed at this little secret I had and why I hadn't mentioned it to them sooner. In my heart of hearts this will always remain my favorite place to have a meal and now I'm just ready to share it with more of my future Supper Friends.

I absolutely adored Supper Friends.I went to Supper Friends with some family after receiving a yelp email. It's a novel idea - go out to eat like you're attending a dinner party. We showed up a little after 7 for the hors d'oeuvres. Everything was super tasty and BONUS - they were handing out margaritas.Along came dinner. We sat at a large table with a number of other dinner guests. The food was great and they continuously poured wine (you bring your own) as we chatted with our fellow dinner guests.Overall, the staff were exceptionally friendly and couldn't have been more attentive if they tried. I also through the price ($55) was very reasonable especially with the added perks of a few free drinks. Supper Friends wasn't just an exceptional dinner, but an exceptional experience.

I'm experimenting with various pop-up and "underground" dining clubs that feature rotating chefs. My first experience at Supper Friends was fun! One of the best things about this experience is the meal is served in courses and lasts 3+ hours, with the starters served out on the patio and then the meal served at community style tables. There is only space for 35 people, which lends itself to intimacy and fosters mingling with new people and "reviving the lost art of conversation" (as noted in their welcome cell phone policy). Another great feature is the dinners are held in a lovely restored 1930's bungalow, dubbed the Swoop House. The interior is filled with charming details; a red crystal and beaded statement chandelier hangs above a large rectangular table adorned with white linens. An eclectic mix of white painted chairs surround the table and LED candle light flickers everywhere in the room. The tables display matching while china, proper silverware place settings and table cards with each guest's name. The grounds are lovely and relaxing. As you meander through the garden you can see they grow many of their own herbs, veggies and even edible flowers. The "wall of succulents" is a very appealing landscape feature and one I would love to copy! The menu for the evening was vegetarian (which I understand is offered only a few times a year). My favorite starter hands-down was the tasty Moroccan tomato shooter. Other starters included delicate palate-cleansing melon ball skewers and avocado toasts. Several rounds of the starters were offered. The beet and ricotta salad was a refreshing start of the sit-down portion of the meal. The sautéed spicy baby carrots were delicious, but I wasn't fond of the thick chickpea-sauerkraut puree underneath. The lemon risotto with asparagus and forest mushrooms was tasty. My favorite course of the night was the outstanding Bergamot poached pear with a creamy hazelnut ricotta and Frangelico syrup drizzled on top. This one makes it into my "Top 10 Best Desserts" in Austin list! They offered wine pairings for each course ($25-$30) or you could purchase a bottle of wine, or bring your own bottle which they keep in chilled ice buckets ($15 corking fee).

Totally worth going for the experience and the food! Loved it!Hopefully I get this right, but basically Supper Friends is a dinner club/social, that is catered by 2Dine4 and hosted at the Swoop House. All three are wonderful! The dinner starts with passed appetizers and the cocktail of the night, on the house. It's a great time to start chatting with the other random strangers, who you will be spending the rest of the evening with! Then you're seated at beautifully decorated tables and served a 3 course meal. Our menu for the night:Pimm's Cup Cocktails - refreshing as always and yummy. this one was a little fruitier tasting than most that I've had.Salmon on truffle chips - my fav appetizer from the night. I looove truffles! Housemade Ricotta with fava bean on a bruschetta - really good flavors, sweet and salty.Dates - stuffed with almonds and with a chili sauce on it. meh, wasn't my fav, but I did enjoy the spicy kick.Salad with beets and a pistachio butter - the pistachio butter was DELICIOUS! and I love beets, so this salad was great in my opinion.Pasta with halibut and mushrooms with a light lemon and pepper flavor - wasn't the most flavorful pasta, but it was definitely above average. I definitely appreciated the lightness of the pasta.Chicken over farro - again a more light dish, but with good flavors.dessert - YUMMY!!! Goat milk panna cotta. reallly good and not too sweet. Overall, I would highly recommend Supper Friends for the chance to try something very Austin-y, meet some great people, and have a great meal! All the great reviews are 100% true.