Restaurants in Austin
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Güero’s Taco Bar
Oh, Güero’s, how we love you. Why must you make us wait? Well, clearly it’s because of the three million other hungry people crammed into your bar area. Still, we’ll try to be patient, because we love the atmosphere lent by the century-old former feed-and-seed store, and because we have an obsessive craving for your chicken tortilla soup.
reviewed
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Salt Lick BBQ
Many people say the Salt Lick is well worth the drive for the vast Hill Country horizons seen from its rustic outdoor tables. The family-style meal includes all-you-can-eat beef, sausage, pork ribs and sides. There’s also live music on weekends.
reviewed
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County Line
Unless you have an enormous appetite, there’s no need to splurge on the all-you-can-eat meals. Most of the combos and platters of delicious ribs, brisket and sausage are – truly – all you can eat. We love the lakeside location (enjoy a beer on the dock while you wait) and the lake-lodge decor.
reviewed
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Polvos
Fun, festive and just a little divey, Polvos serves central-Mexican food that always packs in a crowd. Try some of the dozen or so salsa varieties with one of the fierce margaritas.
reviewed
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Shady Grove Restaurant
‘Do you want inside or out?’ Really, what kind of question is that? We came for the shady patio, like everyone else. The lodgelike stone building is fine if it’s raining, or if you’re too hungry to wait, but outdoors under the pecan trees is prime real estate for enjoying everything from chili cheese fries to the vegetarian Hippie Sandwich.
reviewed
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E
Threadgill’s World Headquarters
Taking home cooking to a gluttonous new level, Threadgill’s lets you choose from a ridiculously long list of vegetable sides – something you just don’t get at home. Pair your meatloaf or chicken-fried steak with spinach casserole, butter beans, mac and cheese (not technically a vegetable, but still) and classic mashed potatoes and gravy.
reviewed
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Trudy’s Texas Star
Get your Tex-Mex fix here; the menu is consistently good, with several healthier-than-usual options. But we’ll let you in on a little secret: this place could serve beans and dirt and people would still line up for the margaritas, which might very well be the best in Austin.
reviewed
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Shady Grove
This 1940s state-park replica, complete with Airstream trailer and metal-lawn-chair kitsch, makes a great place to hang out. Munch on black-bean burritos under lights strung between pecan trees. Thursday night April to November unplugged musicians play.
reviewed
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Lambert’s
Torn between barbecue and fine dining? Lambert’s serves intelligent updates of American comfort-food classics – some might call it ‘uppity barbecue’ – in a historic stone building run by Austin chef Lou Lambert.
reviewed
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Magnolia Cafe
In Westlake, opposite Deep Eddy Cabaret, this casual, all-night cafe serves American and Tex-Mex standbys such as migas, enchiladas, pancakes and potato scrambles. It gets absurdly crowded on weekends.
reviewed
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East Side Cafe
- Austin, USA
- Restaurants › Café
Expect earthfresh ingredients in the peach-strawberry soup or veggie enchiladas; you can walk through the herb and vegetable garden behind the whitewashed wood house. (And yes, there are meat dishes too.)
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Hut's Hamburgers
Choose from regular beef, natural grass-fed cattle or buffalo meat for your burger at this Austin roadhouse (it was opened in 1939). Southern mains, like chicken-fried steak, are pretty good too.
reviewed
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Casa de Luz
A peaceful commune feel wafts from Casa De Luz, where the set macrobiotic, organic, gluten-free - yet somehow tasty - meal changes at each sitting (daily menu posted on web).
reviewed
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L
County Line Bar-B-Que
- Austin, USA
- Restaurants › Ribs
County Line Bar-B-Que is the original BBQ joint, located in a wood-shack roadhouse off Hwy 360. It serves a helluva hunka beef - the barbecued 12oz rib-eye steak beats all.
reviewed
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Black’s Barbecue
A longtime Lockhart favorite since 1932, with sausage so good Lyndon Johnson had Black’s cater a party at the nation’s capital.
reviewed
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Chisholm Trail Bar-B-Q
Chisholm Trail has been named one of the top 10 barbecue restaurants in the state by Texas Monthly magazine.
reviewed
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New World Deli
Fans of the sandwich will be delighted with the offerings at New World, whether they’re after a sloppy joe, pastrami on rye, or curried chicken salad on wheat – all of which are made with New World’s amazing, fresh-baked bread, and all of which will raise the bar on what you’ll expect from any future sandwiches you encounter.
reviewed
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Whip In
It started as a convenience store on a frontage road. Then the beer and Indian food started to take over. Now it’s half Indian restaurant and half beer store, with a few groceries still hanging around to keep it confusing. Would we mention it if the food (breakfast naan and ‘panaani’ sandwiches) wasn’t awesome? We would not.
reviewed
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La Condesa
Here in slacky Slackerville, decor is often an afterthought, but La Condesa came along and changed all that with an eye-poppingly gorgeous space that’s colorful, supermodern and artsy, with a dazzling mural taking up an entire wall. If you find their dinners to be a little spendy, come for brunch in the $10 to $14 range.
reviewed
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Kerbey Lane Café
Located in a former home, the original Kerbey Lane is a longtime Austin favorite, fulfilling round-the-clock cravings for anything from gingerbread pancakes to black-bean tacos to mahimahi. Vegetarians will find plenty to choose from. There’s another branch closer to campus, at 2606 Guadalupe St ( [tel] 512-477-5717).
reviewed
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Texas Chili Parlor
Ready for a triple X–rated meal? When ordering your chili, keep in mind that ‘X’ is mild, ‘XX’ is spicy, and ‘XXX’ will melt your face off. There’s more than just chili on the menu; there’s also Frito pie, which is chili over Fritos. Still not feeling it? There’s also burgers, enchiladas and, of course, more chili.
reviewed
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Wink
At this gem hidden behind Whole Earth Provision Co, diners are ushered to tables underneath windows that are screened with Japanese washi (rice paper), then presented with an exceptional wine list. The chef-inspired fare takes on a nouveau fusion attitude that is equal parts modern French and Asian.
reviewed
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Fonda San Miguel
The gorgeous building is drenched in the atmosphere of old Mexico, with folk-inspired art, and this place has been serving interior Mexican cooking for over 25 years. The Sunday brunch buffet is an impressive event but, at $39 per person, you’d better come hungry to make it worthwhile.
reviewed
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Texas French Bread
Forget the French bread; you want the yummy pastries, or perhaps one of the lunch specials followed by a yummy pastry. This place has been perfecting its ginger cookies, chocolate cake and hobbit bread for decades, so they’re pretty much perfect. Now serving dinner in the evenings.
reviewed
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Austin Java Company
Uniquely Austin, this restaurant disguised as a coffee shop has a relaxed atmosphere and tons and tons of good, cheap food to choose from. There are three other locations in town but only this one has a large bug on the roof, left over from the building’s days as a Terminix office.
reviewed
