Retail Roundup: Ranch at Cypress Creek Area Shopping, Dining and Entertainment

Less than 10 minutes from the Ranch at Cypress Creek, Lakeline Mall is one of Austin’s biggest shopping destinations. With over 150 stores, shoppers enjoy a spacious mall including anchor stores Dillard’s, Macy’s and Sears, as well as American Eagle Outfitters, Bath & Body Works, Express, Foot Locker, Frederick’s of Hollywood, Gap, Image, Lakeline Day Spa, Lane Bryant, The Limited, Office Max, Old Navy, PetSmart, Ross, JCPenney, Brookstone, New York and Company, Yankee Candle and many, many more.

Restaurants at the mall include Applebee’s, Chili’s, Frullati Café, Little Tokyo, Los Canarios Fine Mexican Cuisine, Phil’s Philly Grill and Simon’s Sushi, among others.

Teens are attracted to the mall’s extensive food court, movie theater and other retail shops like Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch. Families appreciate the wide range of stores catering to children and children’s needs such as the Disney Store, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Carter’s, The Children’s Place, Rooms To Go Kids, Gymboree, Gap For Kids, and Inflatable Wonderland, a bounce house park.

For grocery shopping, residents find everything they need to make delicious home-cooked meals at one of the three HEB grocery stores, all conveniently located just a short drive from the neighborhood.

Austin’s Best Sushi

Cedar Park is home to a number of distinguished Asian restaurants, but Daichi Sushi and Grill, just a couple of minutes from any address in the neighborhood, is often noted as being the best of the best in the area. Daichi Sushi and Grill serves gracefully plated super-fresh sashimi and sushi, as well as items from the grill, and boasts a good selection of sake and Japanese beer, as well.

The restaurant’s decor is modest, but elegant. And the service is attentive, knowledgeable, and outstanding. Loyal diners recommend the spicy crab lettuce wraps, and the sweet uni sushi whenever it’s available, as well as teriyaki skewers and the udon and ramen soups. The spicy crab wraps are a delicately balanced blend of flavors. Each wrap is a medium sized bite with spicy minced crab in delicious sauce on a small piece of lettuce.

Comfort Food and Heavenly Chocolate Chip Brownies

For something homey, delicious, fast, and easy, Bob & Mike’s Chicken serves some delicious down-home fried, grilled, or buffalo style chicken tenders that the whole family will love. Bob and Mike’s makes all of their food with fresh, pure ingredients.

The chicken tenders in the kitchen are fresh – not frozen. The onion rings are sliced and battered fresh. The delightful coleslaw is made on premises with mayonnaise and fresh, heavy cream. Even the desserts are made with care to use only choice ingredients. For instance, the heavenly chocolate chip brownies are made only from sugar, flour, sweet cream butter, and two varieties of bittersweet chocolate. To top it all off, the iced tea is also freshly brewed.

The menu’s narrow focus of chicken tender rolls, chicken tender sandwiches, chicken tender chicken salad, and chicken tenders on a plate, doesn’t deter the dedicated Bob & Mike’s fans. Rather, it seems to bring the faithful back with new soon-to-be converts in tow.

Awesome Pizza and Super Salads

Cypress Creek locals have fallen in love with Local Slice Pizza, a family pizza place with a difference. Not just another pizza joint, this place creates pie that is made from the freshest ingredients with a local flair. They top their popular thin, crunchy crust pizzas with freshly shredded mozzarella, fresh basil, and other locally sourced, sustainable, natural ingredients.

Among the most popular pies is The Elgin. The Elgin comes topped with Elgin sausage, red onion, sweet peppers, and house-made Ray’s BBQ sauce. For diners who want to really savor the freshness, the simplicity of the Margherita Pizza showcases fresh roma tomatoes, fresh basil, and fresh mozzarella.

The salads are unusually fresh and well made, especially for a pizza place, where salads sometimes feel like an afterthought. (No pre-shredded iceberg and pale, factory farmed tomato chunklets here.) The vibrant Brushy Creek salad, for instance, is made from leaves of fresh spinach and arugula and garnished with toasted almonds, craisins, goat cheese, and ginger sesame vinaigrette. The kitchen also offers vegetarian and gluten-free options.

World-Class Entertainment and Pro Sports

For big-time entertainment, Cedar Park has its own special events arena, the Cedar Park Center. The Center is a sprawling 8,000-seat arena that is home to Texas Stars hockey, Austin Toros basketball, and an ongoing variety of exciting family entertainments, live music, and other events.