Bouldin Restaurants

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.

James Beard award-winning Chef Tyson Cole serves small and inventive Japanese dishes using a mix of local ingredients according to what's in season, and fresh fish flown in from everywhere. Order the Hot Rock (they bring wagyu beef and a hot rock—hence the dish name—to your table and cook the meat in front of you), and the madai from the sushi menu. If you're a peanut butter person, you have to get the peanut butter semifreddo with apple-miso sorbet for dessert—the combination of flavors sounds strange but taste amazing. If you don't have time for a full-on dinner, come between 5 and 6:30 for sake social, during which a limited, but noteworthy, selection of the menu is on offer (and for a fraction of the cost).