Austin
Restaurants in Austin
Austin restaurants sport simple and excellent Tex-Mex and comfort food, as well as new culinary creations and world-renowned chefs. Food trucks are widely popular, and the restaurant scene is equally as vibrant. Congress is being called the best new restaurant in Texas, with a choice of a three or seven-course prix-fixe menu by Chef David Bull. Stubb’s Bar-B-Q is famous not only for its food but also for its history in the music scene. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Cash and countless other blues and country artists would play for their meals there, and the Austin location carries on that spirit with live music almost every night. Not to mention exceptional barbecue.
Kerbey Lane Café is an Austinite favorite. It’s open 24 hours a day, so anyone looking for late night queso dip, afternoon coffee or morning brunch has the perfect place to go. They also emphasize local and sustainable food. For some authentic Tex-Mex, the wildly popular Guero’s Taco Bar offers classic style margaritas and cantina fare. Plan ahead for a line, and don’t miss their chicken tortilla soup.
Operating out of a vintage Avion trailer, this cash-only crêpe vendor serves sweet and savory variations of the French staple, all of which are made from scratch with high-quality ingredients.
The restaurant looks and feels like a farmer's market and supports local farmers and business. It uses only biodegradable, compostable, or recycled products, including cutlery made from potatoes.
At this unassuming restaurant in Cherrywood, local chef-owner Hoover Alexander serves Deep South—style comfort food with Tex-Mex, Cajun, and Jamaican influences.
Located off the beaten path in the West Campus neighborhood, this second-story restaurant is known for its Mediterranean small plates and inventive cocktails. The covered patio caters to a 30-something happy hour crowd, while the candlelit dining room is popular with couples.
The Scene: Despite their demanding day jobs, Hannah Calvert and her business partner, Tasso, opened SUG in 2006 as a way to exorcise their deep desire to cook, entertain, and even matchmake.
From an unassuming, tin-roofed structure on Manor Road, across from Interstate 35 and the University of Texas at Austin campus, El Chile serves Tex-Mex to a mixed crowd of Austin high rollers and hungry undergraduates.
The coffee house is adjacent to the Hotel San José and is perfect for iced coffees and people watching.
Named for the expansive pecan trees lining this trendy section of Barton Springs Road, Shady Grove's patio area provides coverage from the hot Texas sun.
Bess translates an idealized French bistro into western terms (pewter bar; encaustic tile; distressed mirrors).
What It’s Like: The layout of this Austin favorite is a marvel in itself; 40 tiered decks—that can hold up to 2,200 people—jut out from a 450-foot-high cliff over Travis Lake.
With La Condesa in Austin's trendy Warehouse District, chef Rene Ortiz brings traditional flavors of the interior of Mexico to Texas. Don't expect Tex-Mex.
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