Retail Roundup: Pointe Venture Area Shopping, Dining and Entertainment

Pointe Venture residents appreciate the peaceful serenity and beauty of Lake Travis, but everyone needs to go shopping from time to time, and when the occasion arises, you can enjoy dining out at a favorite restaurant.

For groceries, Super S Foods 15 minutes away in Lago Vista is the best nearby grocery and boasts an abundance of organic vegetables and meats. There is also a full-featured HEB in Cedar Park, about 30 minutes from home. Cedar Park also offers a Randalls, Wal-Mart, and Sam’s Club.

Bring Your Shopping List and Hearty Appetite to the Lakeline Mall

For Pointe Venture neighbors, one of the most well-rounded shopping, dining and entertainment destinations is only about 35 minutes from home at the large, luxurious Lakeline Mall. Lakeline Mall features Macy’s, Dillard’s, and Sears department stores, as well as about 150 other specialty retailers ranging from electronics and children’s apparel, to men’s and women’s fashions, as well as health and beauty stores.

A handful of the mall’s most popular retailers are Brighton Collectibles, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Hollister, The Limited, and Visible Changes, to name a few. Along with its extensive food court, Lakeline Mall hosts several dining and popular entertainment options including Applebees, Chili’s, Plucker’s, Texican Café, a Regal Cinema multiplex with IMAX, and even a place called Jumpstreet — an indoor trampoline bouncy-topia.

Authentic Homestyle Noodles Bowls, Top-Flight Sushi

Cedar Park, about a half an hour from Point Venture, has grown into a town with some seriously good restaurants. Many discriminating diners might be surprised to find a true culinary treasure tucked away in a strip mall between a Hancock Fabrics and Party City in a suburb like Cedar Park. But that’s exactly where even the most refined gastronomes find satisfaction at Soto Japanese Restaurant.

Inside, the place is sleek and elegant from the décor through the dishes. Operated and owned by two generations of the Japanese restaurant family Okamoto — which also operates restaurants in Japan — ensures it is virtually impossible to go wrong with any dish on their menu. Soto flies their fish in from Japan at least twice weekly, and only serves the freshest, choicest cuts in their sushi, sashimi, and entrees. While there is a solid selection of home-cooked noodle bowls, there are inventive and fresh ideas on the menu, too. Soto is not just a good restaurant for a place in a strip center — it is a top-flight restaurant in its own right.

Water Park Fun and Tasty Food Served with Beautiful Views of Lake Travis

The Shore Club at Volente Beach on Lake Travis, about 40 minutes away, is more than worth the trip. A 50-acre water park with slides, splash pads, and pools right on the lake also boasts a restaurant, three boat ramps, numerous picnic tables, a nature area, playground area, and a covered pavilion.

The restaurant, Shore Club at Volente Beach, serves a variety of tasty appetizers, steaks, seafood, hamburgers, and sandwiches either in their comfortable dining room or on their large patio that features beautiful views of Lake Travis.

Many diners recommend newcomers try the crab-and-crawfish-stuffed avocado or the bacon-wrapped jalapenos as a starter. On hot summer days, one of the menu’s delicious salads can be a very satisfying meal. In addition to chops and steaks, among the most popular entrees are the tacos with either grilled ahi tuna or shrimp marinated in habanero barbecue sauce, garnished with Asian slaw, cilantro, and lime sauce. The tacos are served with seasoned rice and black beans.