Austin Chapter IW&FS Members Pick their Favorite Restaurants
This is a treasure trove of valuable information about our favorite restaurants, places we’ve dined at as a group, and restaurants that may let you bring your own wine. It is designed to be useful to Austinites and to visitors to Austin, alike. Download a copy of it to your mobile device so you’ll have it at your fingertips at all times.
With over 3,000 restaurants to pick from, it can be daunting to select the perfect restaurant for your mood, even with help from sites like TripAdvisor.com, Yelp.com, and the Austin Chronicle Restaurant Guide. To solve this dilemma, we asked our members to tell us which restaurants are their favorites in an assortment of categories. An astounding 85% of our members weighed in, many with comments that are included here, unvarnished. Be sure you read the end notes, as you’ll find them revealing.
Our Favorite Restaurants
Restaurants in each category that received at least four votes are listed with an asterisk in front of them, with the very favorite one(s) listed first. Those with three votes or less have no asterisk and are listed alphabetically. Before you go, make sure you Google the restaurants to check times, locations, reservations, and recent reviews.
Siena Ristorante Toscana, billed by the Austin Chronicle as ‘a culinary destination,’ and Barlata’s Tapas, received our very top scores. Siena is located in a beautiful Tuscan-designed building and offers excellent value for outstanding Tuscan-inspired cuisine. Barlata Tapas Bar, with its hip vibe, offers a mouth-watering array of small plates meant for sharing.
Other top selections include Chez Zee, La Fonda San Miguel, La V, Green Pastures, Trulucks, Eddie V’s, La Traviata, Torchy’s Tacos, Flemings, Elizabeth Street Café, and the private Austin Club.
| Restaurant | Notes |
| Chez Zee | lunch too! |
| Green Pastures | Beautiful setting, recently sold and undergoing renovations; check recent reviews |
| Arro | Their charcuterie plate is awesome! Try it for Happy Hour. |
| Uchiko | Very expensive; better like Japanese food because there are few other options |
| 2nd Street Bar & Kitchen | A meat lover's dream |
| Try them all: bakery; bar; restaurant but keep in mind that Chef John Bull is no longer there. | |
| Sunday brunch, lunch, too | |
| La V | |
| Trio | at the Four Seasons |
| Uchi | |
| Foreign and Domestic | |
| Qui | |
| Frank’s | |
| Congress | |
| Wink | |
| Hudson’s on the Bend | [1] |
| Bonneville | |
| Lenoir | |
| Dai Due | |
| Prelog's | |
| Olamale | Southern Cuisine updated |
| Restaurant | Notes |
| Trulucks | Lovely dinner of seafood |
| Eddie V’s | |
| Perla's | |
| Quality Seafood | Did you know they are the seafood source for most Austin restaurants? Their business is selling fresh seafood, more so than cooking it. |
| Mongers |
| Restaurant | Notes |
| Siena | Also for lunch! |
| La Traviata | |
| Andiamo | |
| Gusto | |
| North | |
| Vespaio | |
| Juliet Ristorante |
| Restaurant | Notes |
| Torchy’s Tacos | Lunch truck too! |
| Asti | Italian dinner, too |
| Cover 3 | at MoPac; easy parking - hamburgers with garlic Parmesan fries |
| Roaring Fork | |
| 24 Diner | Breakfast all day! |
| Blue Baker | |
| Daily Grill | |
| East Side Café | |
| Franklin's | BBQ esp. Smoked turkey breast |
| Hofbrau | best dive for steaks |
| Hula Hut | get there before 11:30 to sit on the pier; college hangout |
| Huts | burgers |
| La Madeleine | |
| Moonshine | if you can get in – go before 11:45 |
| Olivia's | |
| Perry’s | |
| Russell's Bistro |
|
| Sawyer and Company | |
| South Congress Cafe | great lunch place and you can shop SoCo too! |
| The W | |
| Liberty Kitchen |
| Restaurant | Notes |
| Little Deli | |
| Frank and Angies | |
| Home Slice | |
| Salvation | |
| Bufalina Pizza | fun place with terrific Roman style pizza and yummy burrata |
| Craig-o’s | |
| Due Forni | for gluten free pizza |
| Mangia | deep dish |
| Numero 28 | for informal great pizza |
| Pieous Pizza | |
| Saconnes Pizza |
When I don’t want to cook [2]
| Restaurant | Notes |
| Fleming's | Happy hour menu or tapas |
| Cru | Tapas, too |
| Grove | several locations |
| Thai Passion | |
| Cedro | in Cedar Park |
| Cippolina's | |
| Clark's | |
| Ruth's Chris | Happy Hour menu |
| Titaya | Thai cuisine |
| The Odd Duck | |
| Plate |
| Restaurant | Notes |
| Barlata | |
| Malaga |
Vietnamese/Asian/Mexican/Hidden Gems
| Restaurant | Notes |
| Elizabeth Street Café | French Vietnamese |
| Chinatown/Westlake | dim sum |
| Garage Mahal | |
| Soto | a gem for Japanese food - the plating is awesome |
| Asia Café | |
| Bombay Bistro | on Research (fabulous Indian buffet for $12.95) |
| Justine’s | |
| Matt's El Rancho | favorite Mexican; especially seafood dishes and chile rellenos |
| Muang Thai | |
| Texas French Bread | lunch, too |
| Z-Tejas | |
| Apothecary | |
| Barley Swine | |
| Café Crepe | |
| Las Cazuelas | Mexican breakfast esp. Migas and delish beef taco dinner |
| Little Deli | hidden gem with fab NY style thin crust pizzas and deli sandwiches plus you can byob |
| Maudie's | at 7th and Lake Austin - great Mexican breakfast and cheese enchiladas |
| Sagra | all you can eat mussels on Tuesday! |
| Sawyer & co | dinner menu with great brunch and cajun food |
| Thai Spice | |
| Tomodachi | Sushi |
Food Trucks (check local information; they move around)[3]
| Restaurant | Notes |
| Micklethwait Craft Meats | BBQ trailer, excellent brisket |
| Dart Bowl | truck stop enchiladas, great fries and homemade bread |
| Lucky Poaha | |
| Peached Tortilla |
The Austin Club[4]
Restaurants We Have Been to as a Group 2013-2015
The following is a list of restaurants that the Austin Chapter of IW&FS has been to as a group over the past three years. Each occasion included a four- or five-course plated meal with wine pairings, and each was outstanding and with its own special charm. It is no surprise that many of these restaurants are also on our list of favorites, above.
| Arro | Café Josie | Capital Grill |
| Flat Creek Winery | Flemings | French Quarter Grlle |
| Green Pastures | Lenoir | Mettle |
| Olive and June | Olivia | Seersucker |
| Swoop House | Texas French Bread | The Austin Club |
| The Grove | Trento (closed) | Tomodachi Sushi |
| Truluck’s | Wink |
Restaurants that Accept BYOB Wine for a Corkage Fee
Restaurants in Texas that do not have a hard liquor license may allow you to bring your own bottles (BYOB) of wine into their restaurants. The following is a list of restaurants that may allow you to do so. Call ahead to determine the corkage fee and to check that their licensing status hasn’t changed.
| Artisan Bistro (Lakeway) | Barley Swine | Botticelli's |
| Cafe Josie | Chez Nous (previously declined) | Cipollina |
| Eastside Cafe | Fabi & Rosi | Foreign & Domestic |
| Jezebel | Lenoir | North |
| Olivia | Plate (in Bee Caves) | Ronnie's Real Food |
| Russell's | Supper Friends (Swoop House) | Siena (maybe) |
| Trattoria Lisina (Driftwood) | Texas French Bread | Uchi |
|
Uchiko (family style) |
Wink (Sundays?) |
last updated May 2, 2016
send comments and corrections to Lynn Jelinski at kc2kg@earthlink.net
1. In Lakeway. They have the best crunchy trout and their martinis are great. They have one of the best wine lists also. We always get the appetizer plate with meats and cheeses. Their desserts are good. If you want rattlesnake, venison, elk they have that too! Also good for when I don’t want to cook and for happy hour tapas.
2. Several of our members said that it was rare that they didn’t feel like cooking!
3. A number of members said that they didn’t frequent food trucks, but would like to.
4. The Austin Club, a private club, was selected by numerous members as one of their favorite restaurants. It has reciprocity with numerous clubs around the world, so check with your local club(s).