Austin Restaurants

Owned by James Beard Award-winning chef Edgar Rico and his wife Sara Mardranbigi, this little indie restaurant serves some of America's best artisinal tacos. The tortillas are made in house with heirloom corn they nixtamalize themselves.

Barley Swine works its magic with fresh-off-the-farm Texan bounty like no place else. And we’re obsessed with the locally made Sunset Canyon pottery each dish is served on. A healthyish dinner could look like this: bean salad with masa-infused mayo, shishito pepper mousse flecked with puffed grains, and a bowl of shiitake dumplings with grilled squash to share.

If you’re after something substantial, Café No Sé is open all day, but the weekday breakfast is our favorite. The space is big and bright, with wooden tables, wicker chairs, and outdoor seating. The menu falls somewhere between healthyish and decadent, so you can order, say, the gluten-free paleo granola one day and ricotta pancakes with pecan butter the next.

Chef Fermín Núñez did the rounds in Austin, cooking at La Condesa and Launderette before striking out alone. The menu champions traditional tacos, tamales, and tostadas, all made with what is the foundational ingredient of Mexican cuisine: masa. A soft flour of finely ground, presoaked corn kernels is prepared daily, using local white, green, and red heirloom corn. The nutty, slightly sour flavor of the doughy wrap is worlds away from the chewy, prepackaged tortillas we’ve become accustomed to. Be sure to order the suadera taco—fork-tender brisket, avocado salsa, and Suerte’s black magic oil (smoky Morita chili, a little sesame, and other secret, transporting flavors we can’t quite put our finger on). The drinks list is a thing of beauty. Mezcal and tequila are, of course, in abundance, but the Oaxacan whiskey was a first for us, and a good first at that.

Imagine a mashup of hot Malay, Thai, and Chinese smoked meats paired with Texan BBQ. That’s Loro. Run by Austinite food-scene veterans Tyson Cole (Uchi) and Aaron Franklin (Franklin Barbecue), standouts include the Thai green curry sausage and charred pork shoulder with a heaping portion of garlicky rice noodles to soak up the juices. While Loro isn’t necessarily the spot for the meat-averse, sides like Texas sweet corn, zesty papaya salad, and the grilled Asian pear with kale hit the spot for herbivores and carnivores alike. Stools and long wooden tables built for communal feasting set a picnic-for-the-adults vibe, and twinkling skylights and long hanging lamps strung from the barn-style roof add atmosphere in spades to this casual dining spot that is so thoroughly at home in Austin.

Born in Veracruz, Mexico, sisters Reyna and Maritza Vasquez grew up helping out in their family restaurant. Veracruz All Natural (and mostly organic) started as a food truck back in 2009 and was an immediate hit. Nowadays the sisters have five locations, including a brick-and-mortar spot in north Austin. We go weak for flautitas de papas (potatoes wrapped in a corn tortilla, deep fried, and served with beans and salsa)—the ultimate comfort food. Al pastor tacos are freshened-up with seared sweet grilled pineapple, while the vegan “furioso” (cauliflower, black beans, spinach, salsa) has as much flavor as any of the meat dishes. Fruity aguas frescas are the norm around Austin, but Veracruz has added to its arsenal a slew of healthy juices and smoothies (with the option to add hemp protein, and nut milks), which are ideal to go.

This truck was a local secret for a while. But places this good don’t stay secret for long. Pueblo Viejo’s breakfast taco is nothing short of an institution in Austin: a perfect egg, potato, spicy chorizo, and a generous amount of cheese. For an indulgent treat or a little soakage after one too many margaritas (the margaritas tend to taste better when you’re this close to Mexico) the chicharron taco—crispy pork rinds with salsa verde and heaps of fresh cilantro—hits the spot.

For Armando Vazquez, tacos are a family affair. His two daughters run the outrageously popular Veracruz, while he and his wife, Maria Rios, turn out their own version of the food they grew up with. In this case: Granny’s chilaquiles taco is a breakfast special we—and pretty much the rest of Austin—happily stand in line for. Tender shredded chicken, cheese, spicy jalapeños, and a smattering of onions are liberally drizzled in Rios’s grandmother’s secret mole sauce.

El Primo is a member of the old guard. Reliably good, affordable, and unchanging, the breakfast tortas and salsas served out the hatch of this teeny-tiny south Austin trailer are the stuff of local legend. Michoacán chef Humberto Reyes has been flipping tacos here for thirteen years, and unlike at many of the other city trucks, the meat to cheese ratio sandwiched into every tortilla is always just right. Stop by for breakfast, pick up a cold brew next door from Once Over coffee like the Austinites do, and take note: El Primo is cash only.

Like many of Austin’s most beloved food spots, Odd Duck started out in a trailer—a Fleetwood Mallard camper, specifically. The menu is, at its base, Southern, but the flavor combinations and resolute use of local produce add an element of farm-to-table California. Lunch could be a chopped smoked chicken salad, while dinner might be delicate roasted quail with collard greens or meltingly tender bavette steak with charred-onion salsa. Plan for a long, lazy evening out on the patio and start with a cocktail. Drinks here are good—really good—and all the classics have an Odd Duck spin to them. The Paloma, made with a hint of tarragon and topped with a salty foam, is our standing order. Be smart and come for happy hour: Many of the entrées are half-price, so you can justify ordering double and leaving stuffed.