ATXGuide
Austin’s New Restaurant & Bar Openings
photo credit: Arriba Abajo Cantina
If you tried to keep track of every new restaurant and bar in Austin, your head might spin. So just read this list instead. These are the openings that seem like they have the most potential. Although, keep in mind, we make no promises about the places we haven't visited yet. Go forth and be a pioneer—or just keep up with our Hit List to see which new restaurants we checked out and loved.
May
Lil’ Easy is from the De Nada Cantina people, but instead of tacos and margaritas, it’s all about gumbo, oysters, po’boys, and other Cajun classics. It’s located on East Cesar Chavez, in a casual, mostly outdoor space with lots of small metal tables on a large patio full of plants and fans. There’s also a full bar with draft beer, wine, cocktails, and nearly a dozen different frozen drinks (with and without booze).
Set in a renovated two-story house on West Slaughter Lane, Daisy Lounge is the latest addition to the quickly growing South Austin cocktail bar scene. It’s dark and dimly lit, with green and gold velvet chairs, and it’s only open Thursday through Saturday nights. The drink menu features a mix of classic and experimental cocktails (like a namesake drink with coconut-washed gunpowder gin and lavender), plus a few small bites that range from cajun-spiced corn nuts to market price caviar service. The space will also be home to a Persian pop-up restaurant on the second floor that’s expected to kick off in the upcoming weekend.
photo credit: Richard Casteel
P Thai’s quickly became our favorite spot for khao man gai when it first opened as a stall in the Hong Kong Supermarket last year. A few months later, it closed and we spiraled into a sadness that lasted until now, with their reopening on Airport Boulevard in a bigger space with a bigger menu. In addition to fried and boiled versions of their signature fragrant chicken dish, P Thai’s menu now includes a few more entrees, noodle dishes, and sides.
We visited P Thai's and added it to the Hit List.
When Zoé Tong opened on Barton Springs Road in 2023, it also inherited a smoker from one of the previous tenants. And now they’re putting that smoker to use, by opening up a small food truck in the same lot. Here, the menu is a little different than at Zoé Tong. Rather than focusing on Chinese street food and skewers, Si Baby Q blends Texas-style BBQ and South Asian flavors, in a much more casual (and outdoor) setting that’s perfect for a snack after a day at Barton Springs.
Austin has no shortage of “elevated cocktail bars,” and Prélude is the latest addition to this ever-growing list. It’s located in a renovated old house near 10th and Lamar that’s been segmented into a few different rooms and floors, each with a different theme. This is a reservation-only situation, with dates opening up three weeks in advance. There’s also a menu of very fancy small bites, with things like chawanmushi toast with uni and a take on “chicken nuggets” with hot sauce.
Located on the fourth floor of the Thompson Hotel Downtown, Arriba Abajo is a rooftop bar and restaurant with a Oaxacan theme. You’ll find a full menu of Mexican-inspired dishes—like guacamole with pomegranate and plantains, esquites salad, and chili-crusted prawn fajitas—plus cocktails and desserts. There’s also a rooftop pool that you can get into with a day pass (or a hotel key), accompanied by a dedicated menu of pool-friendly drinks and bites.
April
Lao’d Bar is a bar and restaurant from the team behind SXSE Food Co, a now-closed Laotian trailer that we liked a lot. And now they’re all grown up, with a permanent space in East Austin, right next to Sign Bar. It’s an open-air concept, with pulled-up garage doors that spill light into a dining room full of playful, colorful tables. On the menu, you’ll find a handful of Laotian-inspired cocktails, street foods, and a very refreshing coconut escolar ceviche served in a coconut shell.
The lot behind Howdy’s Vintage on Manor Road has quickly become a buzzy weekend spot, first with the opening of La Santa Barbacha and Fleet Coffee in 2023, and now with the opening of a bar called The Long Goodbye. In addition to the standard beer and wine offerings, you’ll also find a few signature cocktails, boozy agua frescas (from La Santa), and espresso martinis (made with Fleet espresso).
We visited The Long Goodbye and added it to the Bar Hit List.
Golden Horn is a cocktail bar from the team behind legendary dive bar Barfly’s. It also happens to be located one floor below it, on the ground level near Airport Boulevard. The space is large and cozy, with lots of wood paneling and a long bar featuring a handful of signature and draft cocktails, all generally priced around $10. There’s also a kitchen inside—called Yellow Ranger—serving Chinese-American dishes.
We visited Golden Horn and added it to the Bar Hit List.
Located inside of Golden Horn, a new cocktail bar on Airport Boulevard, Yellow Ranger is a Chinese-American “restaurant” serving dishes like crab rangoons, fried dumplings, noodles, and smashburgers. It’s really more of a counter-service situation, with ordering taking place via QR code at tables in the bar.
We visited Yellow Ranger and added it to the Hit List.
Manny’s is an upscale deli in downtown Austin with a sandwich menu featuring everything from classic deli staples (like BLTs and chicken salad) to cubanos, banh mi, and a Thai-style crying tiger hoagie. It’s located in a “garden oasis” (sorry, the plants are all fake) that also serves as the secret entrance to a bar operated by the same team.
Hidden behind Manny’s, Powder Room is a speakeasy-style cocktail bar open seven nights a week. The space is dark and intimate, with a retro design. There’s also a menu of small bites if you didn’t fill up on sandwiches from the deli outside.
Taking over the old Cenote space in Windsor Park (don’t worry, the original location on Cesar Chavez is still alive and well), Busty’s is a ‘70s-themed neighborhood bar from some of the people behind The White Horse and Frazier’s. The menu features old-school drinks like a blue hawaiian on draft and a frozen cherry cola limeade, plus smashburgers, taquitos, fried onion petals, and more.
We visited Busty's and added it to the Bar Hit List.
Casa Bianca says its food is “weirdo Italian,” which means they're serving stuff like clams casino with calabrian chili jam and beef tartare with bone marrow vinaigrette. The bar and restaurant on East Cesar Chavez took over the former East Side ATX space that closed back in December. They’re currently only open for dinner, but plan to expand hours in the coming months and open an accompanying rooftop bar in a few weeks.
Parked in a quiet food truck lot on East Cesar Chavez, Atlas Sandwich Company serves mostly Mediterranean sandwiches and stuffed pitas. The signature filling here is slow-cooked and shredded lamb, but there’s also grilled eggplant, classic Italian deli meats, and more.
The Marylander is bringing a little New England to East Austin, in the same food truck lot as Desnudo Coffee. The menu here is almost entirely crab-based, which means crab benedict, crab cakes, and crab cake sandwiches. And if you’re showing up to a Maryland-inspired food truck and not in the mood for crab—first, why are you here?—there’s also Old Bay chicken wings and a Baltimore-style pit beef sandwich.
We visited The Marylander and added it to the Hit List.
Love & Cookies first opened in Lakeway back in 2021 and recently expanded to a shop on South Lamar Boulevard. The menu features about a dozen classic and seasonal cookie flavors, plus brownies, cinnamon rolls, and cookie cakes. The previous location was more of a takeaway spot, but the new one has indoor and outdoor seating, plus a coffee bar and ice cream.
Tacos El Gallito is a late-night taco truck selling tacos, quesadillas, tortas, and burritos (including a Cali burrito). The tortillas are homemade, and the al pastor gets cooked on a trompo. To try them, head to the parking lot of that car wash near Barton Springs and South Lamar. Tacos El Gallito is open on weekdays until 2:30am, and until 4:30am on weekends.
Before closing for renovations back in 2022, Parkside used to be home to one of our favorite Downtown Happy Hours. They just reopened in the same space at San Jacinto and 6th Street. You can expect mostly the same menu, including the ever-popular half-priced oysters and bubbles on Wednesdays.
Muzzy’s first opened late last year before temporarily closing. Now they're back in the same space on East 12th with a new bagel recipe featuring naturally leavened sourdough. In addition to the classic range of bagels, there are also bagel sandwiches layered with lox, Italian sausage, sliced mortadella, and more.
March
From the team behind Olamaie (one of the best restaurants in Austin), Redbud Ice House is a casual burger joint in the former Contigo space. In addition to wagyu beef burgers, expect to find fried pork chop sandwiches, beer served in icy schooners, and fried green beans—a nod to an old Contigo classic.
We visited Redbud Ice House and added it to the Hit List.
For years, New Fortune was the go-to dim sum spot in Austin before closing during the pandemic. Now, they’ve finally reopened near the Lakeline Mall at the border of Austin and Cedar Park. It’s the only spot in town that offers dim sum on rolling carts (but only on the weekends).
L’Oca d’Oro is home to some of our favorite Italian food in town, and now the team behind that Mueller cafe has launched a more casual, all-day pizza joint in East Austin. In addition to pizzas that start around $20 for a 13-inch pie, the menu offers a few apps, salads, and a daily changing burger. There’s also beer, wine, and some fun cocktails, like cherry Coke Manhattans and frozen blood orange Negronis.
We recently checked out Bambino. Read our thoughts here.
After developing a cult-like following for hand-rolled New York-style bagels at Austin farmers markets, David Doughies recently opened a food trailer at Lustre Pearl South. You can get the bagels topped with house-made schmear, fresh-smoked lox, pastrami, and caviar.
Located in the heart of Downtown at 6th and Congress, Mexta is a massive new Mexican restaurant with a menu that pulls inspiration from a lot of different regions and dishes across Mexico, plus a little bit from Austin. Expect to find dishes like tetelas and aguachiles, as well as goat cheese fondue and tomahawk ribeyes with mole.
Right across the street from Komé on Airport Boulevard, Donkey Mo’s is a small counter-service restaurant specializing in Korean fried chicken. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because Donkey Mo’s was previously at H-Mart in Cedar Park before closing a couple years ago.
We visited Donkey Mo's and added it to the Hit List.
Taking over the old Native Hostel in East Austin, Holey Moley is a large indoor mini golf course. In addition to the nine-hole course, there’s also a stage for live music, a private karaoke room, and a golf-themed food and drink menu, with drinks like mulligan mojitos and putt-putt palomas.
An Nyeong is a new Korean restaurant specializing in Korean BBQ and tofu soups. There are also a handful of rice dishes on the menu, plus a house special raw marinated crab dish. It’s located at the bottom of a fairly nondescript office building in Brentwood, right next to a Rolex shop if you need to do some casual shopping after.
photo credit: Richard Casteel
If the name sounds familiar, that’s because the LeRoy And Lewis food truck at Cosmic Coffee has been one of our favorite spots to get barbecue in Austin for a few years already. Now, they’ve expanded to a brick-and-mortar restaurant, complete with a larger menu, a full bar, and ample seating. The truck is closed temporarily while they launch the restaurant but will open again in a few weeks.
We visited LeRoy And Lewis and added it to the Hit List.
Taking over the old Le Politique space Downtown, The Guest House offers mostly steaks, seafood, and cocktails in a Vegas-y space—there’s a DJ and neon lights, but also lots of plants and chandeliers. Some of the drinks come with a show (think dry ice and smoke-filled cloches), and the steak au poivre comes at “market price,” which is code for “this is probably going to hurt a little.”
We visited Guest House and added it to our Fun Dinners guide.
One of the OG names in Nashville-style hot chicken, Hattie B’s has recently expanded to South Austin, offering a large menu of grilled and fried chicken. The chicken comes in tender, sandwich, or bone-in form, gets fried nice and crispy, then slathered in hot chili ranging from “mild” to “shut the cluck up” levels of heat. Hattie B’s currently operates in eight cities across America, including a few locations around Tennessee.
We know what you’ve been thinking: “Austin really needs another fancy omakase spot” to add to the half dozen that have opened in the past few months alone. And do we have a treat for you. Endo is an omakase-only sushi spot that took over the old Daiboku Ramen that was only open for less than a year. A meal here consists of about 20 courses and clocks in at $180 per person, before tax and tip, making it one of the pricier omakase options in town (Otoko has Endo beat by about $100).
When Wee’s Cozy Kitchen first opened up in the back of a West Campus gas station, it quickly became one of our favorite spots in town for Malaysian food, and even made our list of the best new restaurants of 2023. A few months ago, Wee’s closed up, but now, it’s at the back of a Royal Blue grocery store Downtown, with the same menu of nasi lemak, laksa, beef rendang, and other Malaysian classics.
From the team behind Armadillo Den in South Austin, Dainty Dillo is a smaller version of the bar on East Cesar Chavez. There’s a small indoor area, but this is mostly an outdoor drinking situation, with a large patio overlooking the river. Much like at Armadillo Den, there’s a small menu of draft cocktails—including a few mocktails—plus a full bar and a kitchen run by Biggie’s Yardbird, where you can get smashburgers, fried chicken sandwiches, and cheesesteaks.
Retail Therapy is a new cocktail bar next to Small Victory in downtown Austin. It’s “inspired by vintage luxury fashion,” which means you can probably expect to see lots of Louis Vuitton and Chanel posters and retro armchairs. The menu features a mix of classic cocktails and house creations, and there’s a small food menu made up of mostly Japanese-inspired bites.
Fans of pickleball and cocktails have a new spot to call home. Drifter Social is a new bar, coffee shop, pickleball court, and live music patio in South Austin on Menchaca Road, near Armadillo Den and Moontower Saloon. It’s a family-friendly spot by day, if you’ve got little ones and want to give them a head start in becoming pickleball champs one day.
February
Sushi Roku has a few locations across Southern California and Las Vegas, and most recently added downtown Austin to that list. The menu features mostly new-school nigiri and izakaya items, including lots of dishes with wagyu, truffles, and other premium ingredients. And there’s a dimly lit dining room with lots of dark wood accents that feels like the type of place where you should show up dressed entirely in black. That fancy Downtown dining room comes at a price—try to hide your shocked face after seeing $12 Kirin Lights and $8 Shiners.
photo credit: Nicolai McCrary
Taqueria 10 de 10 has been quietly open for a few months with very limited hours over the course of a slow soft opening. Now it’s officially open, offering Tijuana-style tacos almost every day (and until 2am on the weekend). All of the tortillas are handmade and cooked to order, and there’s a trompo that gets fired up daily. It’s located in the back alley of Rey Rey, a cocktail bar near the convention center.
We visited Taqueria 10 de 10 and added it to the Hit List.
After running a series of pop-ups and private events over the past six months, Jive Turkey has a semi-permanent residence at Victory Lap, a sports bar near UT Austin. The menu is small, featuring a burger, a cornbread bowl with turkey and mashed potatoes, and a signature deep-fried turkey taco, plus peach Jell-O for dessert.
Tikka Shack is a mini-chain of Indian restaurants that just opened its first Austin location on West Anderson Lane next to Hopdoddy Burger Bar. The menu is very customizable—choose from about half a dozen curry styles, then decide what kind of meat you want, how spicy you want it, and if you want it in a bowl, wrap, or over a salad. They also have biryani, wings, and naan-based pizza and tacos if you want something a little different.
January
photo credit: Nicolai McCrary
Sijie Special Noodle is a mini-chain from Northern California with a large menu of dumplings, skewers, and other Chinese street food. It’s located in a strip mall in Northwest Austin, with a large dining room that gets very busy during typical dining hours. Show up early or prepare to wait a while, and use that time to watch robot waiters deliver trays of food while you strategize how you’re going to narrow down the 200+ items on the menu into a manageable order.
We visited Sijie Special Noodle and added it to the Hit List.
photo credit: Nicolai McCrary
Dang Hot 89 is a Nashville-style hot chicken trailer located in a big dirt lot in Northwest Austin. It’s also home to some ridiculously hot fried chicken, available in bone-in, tender, and sandwich form at spice levels that range from mild to “dang hot.” Whatever form you choose, just know that this will be some of the juiciest (and spiciest) chicken you can get your hands on in Austin.
We visited Dang Hot 89 and added it to the Hit List.
You might recognize the Golden Eye name if you’re a chocolate enthusiast—they’ve been offering custom orders and doing pop-ups in the Austin area for a while. And now there’s a retail store on West Anderson Lane. This is one of the few places in town to get premium, handmade chocolates that look like they could have been set pieces from Wonka, minus the magical side effects.
photo credit: Los Galanes Birrias & Tacos
Los Galanes Birrias & Tacos
Located on South 1st Street in Bouldin Creek, Los Galanes is a food truck specializing in tacos and other Mexican street food. Birria is the main focus—with taco, burrito, and sandwich varieties—but you’ll also find nachos, elotes, churros, and more.
Not to be confused with The Austin American-Statesman—the local paper with headquarters just a few blocks away—The Statesman is a fancy cocktail bar and restaurant on West 6th Street. On the menu, expect to find classic American dishes with the occasional Texas twist (think pimento mac and cheese and Parker House rolls with garlic chili butter). Tables also come equipped with a “champagne button” for bubbles on demand.
Adding to Austin’s growing scene of speakeasy-style sushi omakases, Tare is hidden away in an office building a little north of The Domain. The people running Tare previously operated an omakase in the back of Texas Sake, but this latest venture looks a little bit different, this time blending Japanese, Mexican, and South Texas flavors into a 15-course experience.
We visited Tare and added it to the Hit List.
Modeled off of “the classic American diner,” Toasty Badger is an all-day restaurant on South Congress with a ‘70s aesthetic. Expect to find classics like griddle cakes, monte cristos, and French- or American-style omelets, plus a small menu of cocktails that are especially suited to brunch.
Suzi’s Chinese has been a name in Austin since 1990, occupying different spaces and slightly different concepts around town until 2018, when Suzi finally decided to retire. Now she’s out of retirement, this time taking over the space that was previously Old Thousand on Burnet Road. The menu features a combination of old hits and new dishes, in a smaller, more intimate space than before.
K Pot in South Austin offers hot pot and Korean BBQ, both in AYCE formats. Instead of choosing between the two, you can get both for a few extra dollars—then you should plan to order as many plates as your table space (and stomach) will allow. This is a chain from NYC, meaning they’ve had a little bit of time to figure things out, and there’s a second location planned in North Austin soon.
We visited K Pot and added it to our Fun Dinners guide.
Yeni’s Fusion at The Aristocrat is one of our favorite spots in the area—it serves up a unique mix of Indonesian and Texas flavors. Now there’s a second location, this time at a small food trailer park on Oltorf in South Austin. The truck is open for lunch and dinner five days a week.
Parked behind The Back Lot a few blocks north of UT, Last Call Tacos specializes in South Texas-style tacos. The menu is pretty small, consisting mostly of a few tacos, quesadillas, and nachos, but there’s also the option to add queso to anything and “make it ‘Nasty’”—a tribute to the beloved dive bar that occupied the space for over 30 years.
Parked in the same lot as another new trailer that we like a lot (Feral Pizza), Mamasita’s offers Colombian and Honduran food out of a bright pink trailer. Expect to find a handful of Colombian and Honduran classics, including hot dogs topped with fried potatoes, cheese, and corn.
