37 editor picks in Austin.
37 upscale places in Austin, editor-picked. occasion restaurants in Austin: destination kitchens for celebrations and visits. All Austin food.
Birdie's in Austin is Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel's counter-service bistro at East 12th and Harvey, a James Beard beverage winner and 2025 Time100 Next pick.
OrderWhichever pasta is on the daily-changing menu; Tracy ran pasta at Marea before opening.
TipThe reservation system is limited but walk-ins are always welcome; aim for the 5pm seating on weeknights.
Birdie's in Austin is Arjav Ezekiel's natural-wine list paired with Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel's bistro kitchen, the 2025 James Beard Outstanding Beverage.
TipThe by-glass list is the strongest in town; Arjav is at the bar and will route you through the strange bottles.
Suerte in Austin is Fermin Nunez's masa-driven East 6th room, a Michelin Bib Gourmand kitchen serving heirloom-corn tortillas and suadero tacos.
OrderThe suadero tacos on heirloom blue-corn tortillas; the masa is ground in-house each morning.
TipBeverage director Celia Pellegrini won the Michelin Texas Sommelier Award 2025; let her route the pairings.
Comedor in Austin is Philip Speer's modern Mexican room on the corner of Colorado and 5th, with an Olson Kundig design and a focus on sourcing through Texas.
OrderThe bone-marrow tacos with smoked butter and hoja santa-pecan gremolata.
TipThe guillotine garage doors open in good weather; ask for the indoor-outdoor counter when you book.
Este in Austin is Fermin Nunez's seafood-driven Manor Road bungalow, charcoal-cooked coastal Mexican food and ceviches in the old Eastside Cafe space.
OrderThe tuna tostada with avocado and serrano salsa; it has been on the menu since opening.
TipLunch runs Friday to Sunday 12 to 4pm; the daytime ceviche service is significantly easier to walk in than dinner.
Dai Due in Austin is Jesse Griffiths's butcher-shop-and-supper-club on Manor Road, a Bib Gourmand kitchen built on Texas farms and wild game.
OrderThe venison burger on house bun; the meat comes from Griffiths's New School of Traditional Cookery hunts.
TipThe supper-club nights book separately and run the most interesting menus; the regular dinner card is the daytime grill.
El Naranjo in Austin is Iliana de la Vega's James Beard-winning regional Mexican kitchen on South Lamar, serving Oaxacan moles and coastal ceviches.
OrderThe mole negro de Oaxaca; de la Vega trained at the source in Oaxaca City and rebuilt it in Austin.
TipThe Sunday-supper format runs a slightly different menu; ask about it when booking.
El Naranjo in Austin is Iliana de la Vega's James Beard-winning Oaxacan dining room on South Lamar, a family kitchen of regional moles, ceviches.
OrderThe mole negro de Oaxaca; de la Vega trained at the source in Oaxaca City.
TipDaughter Ana Torrealba runs the kitchen as chef de cuisine; the Sunday-supper menu is the most experimental.
The Roosevelt Room in Austin is the West 5th cocktail bar in the downtown Warehouse District, Austin's most-awarded cocktail room with a 150-page.
TipThe classics-and-originals menu runs deep enough that asking the bartender to choose is the standard order.
Suerte in Austin runs a Michelin-recognised wine program led by Celia Pellegrini at the East 6th masa-driven dining room, paired with Fermin Nunez's modern.
TipPellegrini won the Michelin Texas Sommelier Award 2025; ask her to route the pairings or the all-Mexican flight.
Emmer & Rye in Austin is Kevin Fink's grain-driven Rainey Street room, a Bib Gourmand kitchen with a dim-sum-style cart and house-milled pastas.
OrderWhatever the pasta of the day is; the kitchen mills its own flour and the pasta moves with the harvest.
TipSit at the counter to flag down the small-plates cart first; the choice cuts go fast.
Fonda San Miguel in Austin is Tom Gilliland's 1975 interior-Mexican dining room on North Loop, a pioneer of regional Oaxacan and Yucatecan cooking.
OrderThe cochinita pibil from the Sunday hacienda brunch buffet, plus a bowl of pozole.
TipThe Sunday brunch buffet is the showcase; book the dining room for it at least a week out and arrive at 11.
Kemuri Tatsu-ya in Austin is the Tatsu-ya team's Japanese-izakaya-meets-Texas-BBQ mash-up on East 2nd, a Michelin Bib Gourmand kitchen with sake list.
OrderThe brisket ramen; the tonkotsu broth runs into the BBQ kitchen and back out.
TipThe sake list is unusually deep for a BBQ-leaning room; ask the bar to route a flight from Junmai to Daiginjo.
Kemuri Tatsu-ya in Austin is the Tatsu-ya team's izakaya-meets-BBQ casual room on East 2nd, a Bib Gourmand kitchen built for big shared plates and sake.
OrderThe brisket ramen and the smoked-tongue maki; the menu cross-references both kitchens.
TipThe sake list runs 80 bottles; ask the bar to walk you up from Junmai to Daiginjo as a flight.
Whisler's in Austin is the East 6th Street cocktail bar with the city's strongest mezcal program, plus Mezcaleria Tobala upstairs serving agave flights.
TipWalk straight upstairs to Mezcaleria Tobala for the agave list; the downstairs bar runs faster and louder.
June's All Day in Austin is McGuire Moorman's South Congress wine bar and bistro since 2017, anchored by Master Sommelier June Rodil's by-the-glass program.
TipMaster Sommelier June Rodil rebuilds the by-glass list monthly; ask the bar for the latest revision.
Bufalina in Austin is Steven Dilley's natural-Italian wine bar and Neapolitan pizzeria on East Cesar Chavez since 2013, the room that started.
TipHalf-off pizzas during happy hour 4:30 to 6pm daily; the wine list runs 200 deep, ask for the orange-wine page.
Este in Austin runs a sharply curated Mexican and Mediterranean wine program at the Manor Road bungalow, with bar seating for ceviches and a wine-only.
TipThe bar takes walk-ins after 9pm; the wine list runs Valle de Guadalupe through southern Italy at the same depth.
Emmer & Rye in Austin runs an Old World-leaning wine bar program at the Rainey Street grain-driven kitchen, with a list built to drink alongside house-milled.
TipThe bar seats see the dim-sum cart first and route directly to the cellar; book bar over table if you want both.
Loro in Austin is Aaron Franklin and Tyson Cole's Asian smokehouse on South Lamar, a Texas BBQ and Southeast Asian small-plates mashup under live oaks.
OrderThe smoked brisket with rice noodle and Thai chiles; it is the most direct Franklin handprint on the menu.
TipThe South Lamar patio under live oaks is the best seat; no reservations, walk-in only, go early.
Lin Asian Bar in Austin is Ling Qi Wu's dim sum and Chinese kitchen on West 6th, a bright room with an open kitchen and Sunday dim-sum brunch carts.
OrderThe xiaolongbao and the pan-fried beef buns; the dough is rolled in front of you.
TipThe dim sum cart only runs Sunday brunch; lunch service Monday to Saturday is a la carte off the same kitchen.
Loro in Austin is the Franklin and Uchi teams' Asian smokehouse on South Lamar, a casual walk-in patio for Texas BBQ and Southeast Asian small plates.
OrderSmoked brisket with rice noodle and Thai chiles, plus a tall papaya salad.
TipWalk-in only; come at 5pm sharp or after 9pm to dodge the 90-minute weekend wait.
Lin Asian Bar in Austin is Ling Qi Wu's dim sum and Chinese kitchen on West 6th, a bright counter room with an open kitchen and Sunday brunch dim-sum carts.
OrderThe xiaolongbao and pan-fried beef buns; dough rolled in front of you at the counter.
TipSunday brunch is the only dim-sum-cart service; book a week out for the 11am seating window.
Perla's in Austin is the McGuire Moorman South Congress seafood patio, a Gulf-leaning oyster bar with dozens of half-shell varieties and a wraparound porch.
OrderHalf-dozen Gulf oysters and the whole grilled snapper; the patio at sunset is the room's signature shot.
TipWeekend brunch from 10:30am; reservations a week ahead for the patio or walk in at 11am Monday for the quiet oyster hour.
Garrison in Austin runs a steakhouse bar program at the Fairmont Austin on Red River, with a five-time Wine Spectator-recognised cellar and a tableside Dirty.
TipThe bar takes walk-ins; ask for the tableside Dirty Martini and the seasonal-fruit Old Fashioned variant.
LoLo in Austin is the natural wine bar and bottle shop on East 6th Street, with hundreds of wines for drinking on site or taking home, plus a large back.
TipThe retail shelves double as bottle list; pick from the wall and the corkage is a flat low rate.
Kemuri Tatsu-ya in Austin runs an 80-bottle sake program at the East 2nd izakaya-meets-BBQ room, a Bib Gourmand kitchen built for late-night.
TipAsk the bar for the sake flight; it walks you from Junmai through Ginjo to Daiginjo with explanations.
LoLo in Austin is the East 6th natural wine bar and bottle shop from Christian Moses and partners, the city's first dedicated natural-wine room with a large.
TipThe wine wall doubles as the retail shop; ask for a bottle to drink on-site at a flat corkage rate.
Sammie's Italian in Austin is McGuire Moorman's downtown red-sauce room on West 6th, an old-school Italian-American card with veal and a martini bar.
OrderThe veal saltimbocca and a Sammie's martini to start; pasta course is family-style.
TipThe bar runs walk-in service; the dining room books a week out and goes faster on Friday nights.
Justine's Brasserie in Austin is a late-night French brasserie in a 1937 East 5th cottage, owned by Justine Gilcrease since 2009 and open until midnight.
OrderThe steak frites with bearnaise; the kitchen runs until 12am Friday and Saturday.
TipThe Pagoda room and patio handle the smoking crowd; the Tuesday closure is firm, so plan around it.
Better Half in Austin is the Clarksville bungalow from the New Waterloo group, a coffee-shop-by-day, cocktail-bar-by-night patio with a frozen Negroni.
TipThe patio is the work-friendly room until 4pm; after that the cocktail program runs and the laptops close.
Justine's Brasserie in Austin runs an after-midnight bar program at the 1937 East 5th cottage, the city's longest-running late-night French room.
TipLate-night service runs to 12am Friday and Saturday; the Pagoda room is the smoking patio.
Better Half Coffee & Cocktails in Austin runs a wine, beer and cocktail patio at its Clarksville bungalow from the New Waterloo group, coffee shop by day.
TipOrder frozen Negronis on Sunday with a brunch plate; the wine glass list is short but sharp at $14.
Fonda San Miguel in Austin runs a deep tequila and reposado list alongside Mexican and Spanish wines at the 1975 North Loop dining room, the city's heritage.
TipThe reposado-and-mezcal flight at the bar is the room's quiet routine; ask for the Mexican wine list at the back.
Stubb's Bar-B-Q in Austin is the Red River BBQ-and-music venue in an 1850s limestone building, a downtown amphitheatre with smoked plates and a long.
TipSunday Gospel Brunch books out 3 weeks ahead; the regular bar runs late on show nights.
Cosmic Coffee in Austin is the South Congress beer garden on Pickle Road since 2018, an indoor-outdoor patio with rotating Texas drafts and the Pueblo Viejo.
TipThe beer garden runs until 11pm; Pueblo Viejo's truck closes earlier, plan a 9pm taco run.
Bouldin Acres in Austin is the South Lamar two-acre beer garden on the corner of Oltorf, a family-and-dog-friendly patio with smash burgers.
Tip21-plus rule kicks in after 10pm; the daytime patio is family-and-dog territory until then.
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Six East Austin smokehouses in three hours, including a MICHELIN One Star pitmaster and three Bib Gourmands. Skip every line, ride in an air-conditioned van, and come hungry.
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