Traci and I will be heading to Austin for Christmas to visit her folks and her brother.
One night we are having dinner with Stuart Yaniger but the rest of the time free. Any new must stop food destinations? We were last there a year ago. Will be staying in the West lake area
I know a decent place a couple hundred miles north that serves steak.
I hear ya…we won’t be hitting Dallas in this trip though…
Good on ya Tony!
To be perfectly honest, I haven’t done fine dining in Austin in a while. When I’m up there for football games, it’s ususally Mexican (Fonda San Miguel) or BBQ (Salt Lick in Driftwood).
We’ll definitely be hitting some BBQ and Tex mex (Traci loves Chuy’s) and we may hit a pizza/Italian place that Stuart raves about…other than that, completely open
Tony,
Here are my recommendations for Austin, wine-centric dining, no particular order:
Aquarelle (french), Wink (eclectic), Zoot (eclectic), Paggi House (eclectic), Trio (steak/eclectic), the Carillon (eclectic), Asti (italian), Fino (spanish/mediterranean), Mirabelle (eclectic), Chez Nous (french brasserie), Fabi & Rosi (french/european), Max’s Wine Dive (southern comfort food)
Aquarelle, Wink, Zoot, the Carillon, Mirabelle, Chez Nous, Fabi & Rosi, and Asti allow you to bring your own wine.
The only ones of these that are “new” are the Carillon (which is on the UT campus), Fabi & Rosi, and Max’s Wine Dive.
Also, Ranch 616 (southwestern), Lambert’s (nuevo BBQ), and Garrido’s (tacos) are very good, but not particularly wine centric.
For true barbeque nirvana, go to Lockhart (about 30 minute drive south of Austin) and eat at either Smitty’s or Kreuz’s. Both are the best BBQ you will have. Ever. Anywhere.
And, for Tex-Mex, I recommend Maudie’s or Matt’s El Rancho. I’m not a fan of Chuy’s.
Greg - awesome list. I’m going to see if I can convince Traci to do Tex Mex at either of the places you mention. Might be tough b/c she loves Chuy’s.
as for bbq, I definitely want to try Kreuz. Was on my list last time we were there but we ended up somewhere else…name is escaping me right now.
And of course, Traci’s mom will make us chicken fried steak one night
I know how hard it can be to not go back to a favorite Tex-Mex joint when you can’t regularly get it. However, I think Maudie’s and Matt’s are far superior to Chuy’s. In fact, the first bite of food I consumed after coming to Austin was at Matt’s. I had been living in Utah for the prior 6 years and had not had any Tex-Mex during those entire 6 years. Very tough.
Also, while either Kreuz or Smitty’s will be excellent, I have to give a slight edge to Smitty’s. If you haven’t heard the story, Kreuz’s prior owner passed away, leaving the business to his son and the building it was located in to his daughter. The son and daughter eventually got into a dispute, and the son pulled up stakes and moved to business to its current location (a few blocks away from the old location). Subsequently, the daughter opened up Smitty’s in the space originally housing Kreuz’s. Both have essentially the same food (I, very very slightly prefer Smitty’s versions), but Smitty’s wins mainly because it has the old time feel of the original location – including the fact that the line leading to the place where you order your meat goes right by the open fires being used to smoke the meat.
Greg - thanks for the Smitty’s/Kruez history. May be we’ll hit Smitty’s then.
Max’s Wine Dive looks really interesting.
Aquarelle (french), Wink (eclectic), Zoot (eclectic), Paggi House (eclectic), Trio (steak/eclectic), the Carillon (eclectic), Asti (italian), Fino (spanish/mediterranean), Mirabelle (eclectic), Chez Nous (french brasserie), Fabi & Rosi (french/european), Max’s Wine Dive (southern comfort food)
Aquarelle, Wink, Zoot, the Carillon, Mirabelle, Chez Nous, Fabi & Rosi, and Asti allow you to bring your own wine.
Building on Greg’s suggestions (and Greg has good taste! 
:
He left off a couple of restaurants that might fit your request: Vespaio (Italian) and Olivia (eclectic). We went to Chez Nous last week and the food was quite good. They do a 3 course meal for $25 and charge $25 corkage so you would want to bring a good bottle. And the best place in town for us: Uchi (Asian, read about it), corkage $20 but they may or may not charge you. We are having a Champagne-fest at Uchi this Saturday. I guarantee some magnums will die in a spectacular fashion. ![[truce.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/d/d33e712b50d5efc2425bf219c404fbdb7ed0ba50.gif "truce"){kind=small}
I also swear by the original Chuy’s on Barton Springs. I can’t stand Maudie’s but that is strictly a personal thing. Also Zoot has moved out to the 'burbs with mixed reviews.
Enjoy your visit! ![[basic-smile.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/83717c74df9b0ce202453063bc4f11baf0ee6b8a.gif "smile"){kind=small}
D’oh! I forgot Olivia. A very good spot – they don’t let you bring your own wine, though. Great food, ranging from fairly standard (though tasty) southern comfort good to serious foodie offal type stuff – awhile ago they had veal heart as a special and it was awesome!
Still don’t understand the Chuy’s love, though. My sister used to go to the original Chuy’s to get free tacos (the original one was just a bar that gave away free tacos to get people to come in and drink) and study for exams while she was a poor student at UT. After graduation – and getting a job that allowed her more than subsistence wages (and free tacos) – I don’t think she’s been back more than a dozen times (and this is since the early 80s).
Also, to follow up on Shannon’s suggestion re Uchi – I’ve heard good things about the food. Indeed, everyone I know who has eaten there has raved.
However.
It is very japanese/sea-food centric. Since I don’t like such sea-food stuff, I have not dined there.
Also, many that have eaten there, and raved about the fabulousness of the food, have also groused about the super-ultra-mega-expense.
BTW, Tony, if you have a extra night out that you would like to have a get together with some good wine/food, let me know and I will try to set something up.
Also, many that have eaten there, and raved about the fabulousness of the food, have also groused about the super-ultra-mega-expense.
Re: Uchi - while it is expensive our average meal cost is less than a 3 course meal at Wink or Olivia.
Greg - will let you know. Think we will be there from the 21st -26/27th of December. One night is dinner with Yaniger, one night is Christmas, and one night is dinner with Traci’s folks at home. We will have a car so pretty mobile.
I had a great time in Austin and definitely second Matt’s El Rancho. Also liked Shady Grove for the Austin-like atmosphere and the straightforward food. Tried some of Olivia’s food at the ACL fest and thought it was very very good!
Ditto Smittys. Love the atmosphere. Kreuz is very good, but Smittys has the edge. Hope the place you went to and can’t remember was Black’s. I wish I couldn’t remember my visit there. It sucked.
Tony,
I have a different take on food in Austin, perhaps driven by the fact that for the last 20 years I’ve lived in and around NYC, and before that I lived in the San Francisco/Bay Area for 6 years.
Restaurants in Austin are 10 to 15 years behind everyone else. Much of the emphasis is on low-quality, abundant but cheap food. Many of the “high-end” restaurants source their food from Sysco, which to me is the kiss of death. We do not have the equivalent of 11 Mad, Bay Wolf, Chez Panisse, Flour & Water, Bouley, Jean Georges, Quince or any truly 3(***) places on either coast.
That said, the best local chefs try to source locally grown ingredients, and they are learning. Olivia seems to be the best of the bunch, though the cooking and service can be erratic. Chez Nous has an excellent Steak Frites and provided you bring a French wine, is more than happy to offer corkage. The other restaurants are okay in a pinch, but don’t expect cooking, ingredients, ambiance or service to match their price level.
As always, YMMV.
Assessment is quite possibly true. Being behind the times, however, is not always a bad thing.
The old Austin I knew is certainly changing, becoming less distinctly Texan, more cosmopolitan and eclectic.
A great place for the next Alice Waters to thrive. I hope she has some Texas roots.
I like Guero’s (sp) on Congress for a cool very informal Sunday taco spot. But my Austin knowledge is limited.