THE AUSTIN NEWSLETTEREATUPDATED OCTOBER 202617 PICKS

The best restaurants in Austin, ranked.

Seventeen Austin rooms across every price tier, from the Michelin one-stars and a 21-course omakase counter to the modern-Mexican dining rooms and a 79-dollar counter prix fixe. Every entry says who it suits and what to order, because the right answer changes depending on whether you are booking an anniversary or feeding four people on a Tuesday.

The best restaurants in Austin, ranked across the full range rather than one cuisine or price tier: the Michelin-starred tasting menus, the modern-Mexican rooms that define the city right now, the steak and sushi splurges, and the value institutions worth the line. We live here, and the list is built from deep cross-source reading, from The Infatuation and Eater to Texas Monthly and the Michelin Guide, then checked against each restaurant’s own hours, menu, and booking page. Every entry carries who it suits, what to order, and the catch, because where to eat depends on whether you are booking an anniversary or feeding four people on a Tuesday. The deeper benches, the tacos, the barbecue, the brunch, and the coffee, each get their own guide. Updated as places open, move, and close.

Carissa Spisak
Carissa Spisak
Writer, The Austin Newsletter
Best Restaurants · Austin, 2026 2026 · The Austin NewsletterFeatured spots can add this badge to their own site, free.
  1. South Lamar · $$$$ · omakase and à la carte sushi · special occasion
    01

    Uchi

    Illustration of the kind of dish Uchi is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    James Beard winner Tyson Cole’s converted bungalow on South Lamar is the room that turned Austin into a sushi town, and it still sets the standard more than twenty years on. Order the hama chili, yellowtail with ponzu and Thai chili, and the oak-grilled walu walu, or hand the kitchen the seasonal omakase. Booking runs through SevenRooms and the prime slots vanish, though the room takes walk-ins too, and the daily happy hour from 4pm to 6pm is the cheapest way through the door. Uchi has since grown into a ten-city group, but this is the original, open from 4pm every day and until 11pm on Friday and Saturday.

  2. Downtown · $$$$ · Michelin one-star, a 20-foot open hearth · special occasion
    02

    Hestia

    Illustration of the kind of dish Hestia is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    Kevin Fink’s downtown flagship holds one of Austin’s seven Michelin stars and cooks nearly everything over a 20-foot open hearth, with dry-aged steaks and a multi-course chef’s tasting as the headline. The wood-fire char runs through the whole menu, so come for the live-fire cooking rather than à la carte grazing. The tasting is listed at 215 dollars a head before wine, which makes this a special-occasion spend, and weekend tables book up well ahead.

  3. Clarksville · $$$$ · white-tablecloth steak since 1975 · date night
    03

    Jeffrey’s

    Illustration of the kind of dish Jeffrey’s is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    Open in Clarksville since 1975 and reimagined by MML Hospitality, Jeffrey’s is the classic Austin splurge room: wood-fired, in-house dry-aged steaks, tableside service, and one of the deepest wine lists in Texas. It is Michelin-recommended and made OpenTable’s 2026 list of the most romantic restaurants in America, which tells you the occasion it is built for. Expect expense-account pricing and a dim, clubby room that leans more anniversary than weeknight.

  4. Mueller · $$$$ · a 21-course edomae omakase counter · counter for two
    04

    Tsuke Edomae

    Illustration of the kind of dish Tsuke Edomae is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    Tucked into Mueller’s Aldrich Street district, Tsuke Edomae runs a purist 21-course edomae omakase at a tiny counter, the kind of nigiri-focused, reservation-only seating that has become an Austin obsession. Book through Tock and plan around the booking windows, since seats open in batches months ahead and sell out fast. It is a fixed multi-course commitment with a per-person deposit, not a drop-in sushi bar.

  5. East Austin · $$$ · masa-driven modern Mexican · date night
    05

    Suerte

    Illustration of the kind of dish Suerte is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    Fermín Núñez nixtamalizes his own heirloom corn here, and the masa is the whole point: the signature suadero taco layers confit beef and the kitchen’s “black magic oil” on a fresh tortilla. It is a Michelin Guide restaurant and one of the city’s most-cited modern Mexican rooms, so think dinner out, not taco counter. It is East 6th and dinner-only most nights, with weekend lunch, and prime tables book ahead.

  6. East Austin · $$$ · coastal Mexican, big outdoor deck · patio dinner
    06

    Este

    Illustration of the kind of dish Este is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    Este is the coastal-Mexican companion to Suerte from Fermín Núñez and Sam Hellman-Mass, built in the old Eastside Cafe space with a sun-drenched room and a big outdoor deck. Go for the shrimp aguachile, the tuna tiradito, and oysters, all leaning on charcoal cooking and bright, citrusy preparations. It landed on national best-new lists, so book the patio ahead for shoulder-season weather.

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  8. East Austin · $$$ · counter-service prix fixe, 79 dollars · walk-in dinner
    07

    Birdie’s

    Illustration of the kind of dish Birdie’s is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel and Arjav Ezekiel run this counter-service wine bar at 12th and Harvey, and it has the hardware to match: Food and Wine Restaurant of the Year, plus Arjav’s 2025 James Beard win for beverage service. The room now serves one prix fixe, 79 dollars a person for five or so courses built on seasonal vegetables and handmade pasta, with a natural-wine list that is a reason to come on its own. Five reservations go out each night on OpenTable and everyone else is seated first come, first served, so at peak the trade-off is a wait for one of the city’s best tables. Dinner runs 5pm to 9pm Tuesday through Thursday and to 9:30pm on Friday and Saturday, and the room is dark Sunday and Monday. The kitchen accommodates vegetarians and pescatarians and keeps a kids’ menu, and the place is cashless with no phone, so questions go to email or Instagram.

  9. Downtown · $$$ · contemporary Mexican in a Tom Kundig room · special occasion
    08

    Comedor

    Illustration of the kind of dish Comedor is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    Set in a striking Tom Kundig-designed room on Colorado downtown, Comedor from Philip Speer serves contemporary Mexican that critics have compared to Mexico City’s tasting-menu giants. It is Michelin-recommended and was named a best new restaurant in America by Esquire when it opened. It is a downtown special-occasion spot, so expect valet-district parking and book ahead for prime times.

  10. South Lamar · $$$ · 2026 CultureMap Restaurant of the Year · group dinner
    09

    Odd Duck

    Illustration of the kind of dish Odd Duck is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    Bryce Gilmore’s wood-fired, fast-changing farm-to-table room on South Lamar won the 2026 CultureMap Tastemaker Restaurant of the Year, and the menu rewards ordering wide across small plates. Reliable hits include the cast-iron cheddar cornbread and the redfish ceviche, but the printed menu turns over constantly. It is built for sharing several plates, so a solo diner pays more per bite than at a one-entree restaurant.

  11. East Austin · $$$ · live-fire Caribbean on East 6th · dinner and cocktails
    10

    Canje

    Illustration of the kind of dish Canje is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    Named for the national bird of Guyana, Canje is James Beard winner Tavel Bristol-Joseph’s live-fire Caribbean restaurant on East 6th, pulling from Jamaica to Puerto Rico to mainland Guyana. The jerk dishes and slow-cooked, smoky plates are the calling cards, served in a bright, plant-filled room. It leans rum-and-cocktail dinner spot, and the best tables go fast on weekends.

  12. East Austin · $$$ · Texas-sourced game, Bib Gourmand · weeknight dinner
    11

    Dai Due

    Illustration of the kind of dish Dai Due is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    Jesse Griffiths runs Dai Due as a combined butcher shop and restaurant where nearly everything, down to the olive oil and the wine, is sourced in Texas, which earned it a Michelin Green Star at the Texas guide’s 2024 debut and now, with Michelin retiring that award, a place in its Mindful Voices series alongside a Bib Gourmand. Look for wood-fired wild game and house charcuterie, and a menu that shifts with what Texas is producing that week. It is genuinely hyper-local, so go in open to the board rather than set on one dish.

  13. North Loop · $$$ · the hacienda landmark since 1975 · family celebrations
    12

    Fonda San Miguel

    Illustration of the kind of dish Fonda San Miguel is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    Open since 1975, Fonda San Miguel is the grande dame of interior Mexican cooking in Texas, set inside a colonial-style hacienda near North Loop that is packed with original art. It was the first Texas restaurant to build its menu on regional cooking from Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz, and the Yucatán, and the dishes that carry it are the mole poblano, the cochinita pibil, and the ancho relleno San Miguel. Service is dinner only, Monday through Saturday from 4:30pm, with a bar and atrium happy hour Monday through Thursday until 6:30pm. The Sunday hacienda brunch buffet, long the first-timer’s move here, is listed as temporarily closed, and the same team has since opened Tzintzuntzan, a bakery and restaurant serving panadería baked goods, ice cream, and regional breakfast and lunch dishes.

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  15. East Austin · $$$ · No. 4 on Texas Monthly’s Best New Restaurants 2026 · raw bar for two
    13

    Fish Shop

    Illustration of the kind of dish Fish Shop is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    Justin Huffman and Nicole Rossi opened this East 6th raw bar in July 2025, and it landed at No. 4 on Texas Monthly’s Best New Restaurants 2026, the only Austin spot to make the list. Huffman flies in West Coast seafood from San Francisco’s Monterey Fish Market, so go for the Dungeness crab cocktail, the halibut crudo, and oysters. It is small and newly busy, so grab a reservation early.

  16. East Austin · $$ · the brisket temple, line forms before open · out-of-town guests
    14

    Franklin Barbecue

    Illustration of the kind of dish Franklin Barbecue is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    Aaron Franklin’s salt-and-pepper brisket on East 11th is the restaurant credited with launching the modern Texas barbecue movement, and it carries a Michelin Bib Gourmand to go with the James Beard hardware. Order brisket, of course, but the pork ribs and the turkey are equally dialed in. Lunch runs Tuesday through Sunday from 11am until it sells out, usually by 2pm or 3pm, and the line forms hours before that, so bring a chair or borrow one of the loaners. Advance orders now go through preorder.franklinbbq.com, and the team also runs a private-events space, Franklin Backyard, at 2027 Anchor Lane. The rest of the bracket, including the city’s two starred pits, is ranked in our Austin barbecue guide.

  17. South Austin · $$ · Michelin one-star, new-school cuts · barbecue lunch
    15

    LeRoy and Lewis

    Illustration of the kind of dish LeRoy and Lewis is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    One of two Austin barbecue joints to hold a Michelin star, LeRoy and Lewis built its name on new-school cuts that go well beyond brisket: beef cheeks, flat iron, pulled whole hog, and rotating specials. It is the counterpoint to the classic-Texas spots, so order what is on the day’s board rather than defaulting to brisket. The best specials sell out, so go early.

  18. South Lamar · $$ · Uchi-meets-Franklin Asian smokehouse · casual group hang
    16

    Loro

    Illustration of the kind of dish Loro is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    Loro is the counter-service collaboration between Tyson Cole of Uchi and Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue, marrying Texas smoked meats with Southeast Asian flavors on South Lamar. Order the smoked brisket, the oak-grilled chicken, and a frozen gin and tonic, and lean on the strong happy hour. It is order-at-the-counter and gets loud and packed at peak, so it is more lively group hang than quiet dinner.

  19. East Austin · $ · the migas taco benchmark, food-truck born · breakfast on the go
    17

    Veracruz All Natural

    Illustration of the kind of dish Veracruz All Natural is known for
    Illustration: The Austin Newsletter, gouache plate

    Sisters Reyna and Maritza Vázquez grew Veracruz from a 2008 East Austin food truck into eight locations, and the migas taco, with house-fried tortilla chips folded into a thick handmade corn tortilla, is the benchmark every Austin breakfast taco gets measured against. It is the cheap, essential entry point on any citywide list. Hours differ by location, which is the thing to check before you drive: the East Austin shop on Webberville Road opens at 7am daily and runs to 9pm Thursday through Sunday, while the Rainey Street location opens at 9am and closes on Tuesdays. It also leads our East Austin breakfast-taco ranking, where the migas originales is the order.

What we considered and didn’t include

The things we passed on are part of the value. Documented for editorial discipline.

  • OlamaieClosed permanently on Sunday, July 19, 2026, after twelve years, and Michelin has removed it from the guide. It held a one-star for refined Southern cooking and was on this list until it closed, so it stays here rather than quietly disappearing: the room on San Antonio Street is dark, and the off-menu biscuits went with it.
  • Garbo’s on North LamarConsidered for the value tier and left off, because the 626 N. Lamar location closes on September 26, 2026 after three years. A ranking is no use if it sends you to a door with a closing date on it.
  • Most taco and breakfast-taco spotsThis list keeps only two taco-forward picks here, Suerte as a modern-Mexican destination and Veracruz as the value breakfast-taco institution. The deep bench of Austin taquerias belongs in the dedicated taco guide, where they can be ranked head to head rather than crowded onto an umbrella list.
  • The full barbecue bracketWe capped barbecue at two representatives, Franklin for the classic-Texas institution and LeRoy and Lewis for the new-school, Michelin-starred counterpoint. The rest of Austin’s stacked smoke scene is better served by the barbecue guide, which can compare brisket, lines, and hours across all of them.
  • Coffee shops and brunch-only spotsA best-restaurants list is dinner-and-destination first, so cafe culture and brunch-specific venues live in the coffee and brunch guides. They are great, but they answer a different question than where to book dinner tonight.

Common questions

What are the best restaurants in Austin right now?
For a single citywide spread, the picks run from destination fine dining (Uchi for sushi, Hestia for Michelin-starred tasting, Jeffrey’s for steak) to institutions (Franklin Barbecue, Fonda San Miguel) to the modern-Mexican core that defines current Austin (Suerte, Este, Comedor). If you only book one, make it Uchi or Suerte. Both are widely considered the city’s signature tables and appear on nearly every credible list.
Where should I eat in Austin by cuisine?
Mexican runs from Suerte and Este for the modern rooms to Fonda San Miguel for interior classics and Veracruz All Natural for breakfast tacos. Barbecue is Franklin for the classic-Texas standard and LeRoy and Lewis for new-school cuts, while sushi is Uchi or the Tsuke Edomae omakase counter. Seafood is Fish Shop, Caribbean is Canje, and steak is Jeffrey’s. The live-fire and farm-to-table end belongs to Hestia, Odd Duck, and Birdie’s.
What are the best new restaurants in Austin?
The strongest recent openings are Fish Shop, an East 6th seafood raw bar that took No. 4 on Texas Monthly’s Best New Restaurants 2026, and Lao’d Bar, a far-East-Austin Laotian spot that drew national best-of attention. Tzintzuntzan, a new bakery and restaurant from the Fonda San Miguel team, serves panadería baked goods, ice cream, and regional breakfast and lunch dishes from Mérida, Oaxaca, and Mexico City. Mercado Sin Nombre, an heirloom-corn and Mexican-coffee cafe that earned a 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand, rounds out the newcomers worth a trip.
Where do I find the best food in Austin on a budget?
The best cheap eats lean Mexican: Veracruz All Natural for the city-defining migas breakfast taco, food-truck born and now at eight locations, and Mercado Sin Nombre for heirloom-corn tortillas and excellent Mexican coffee. Barbecue counters like Franklin are value per pound, but the line is the real cost. For a guaranteed quick, cheap, great meal, go tacos.
Where can vegetarians eat well in Austin?
Two rooms on this list say it on their own menus. Birdie’s builds its prix fixe on seasonal vegetables and handmade pasta and states that it accommodates vegetarians and pescatarians, and Fonda San Miguel carries a marked vegetarian section, including enchiladas vegetarianas, cauliflower tacos, and a stuffed butternut squash with wild mushrooms. The barbecue and wild-game picks are the opposite proposition, so treat Franklin, LeRoy and Lewis, and Dai Due as meat-first rooms rather than vegetarian destinations.
What is the best restaurant in Austin for a romantic date night?
Jeffrey’s in Clarksville is the classic pick, named to OpenTable’s 2026 list of the most romantic restaurants in America, with a dim, clubby room and tableside service. For something more modern, Comedor’s dramatic downtown room or Este’s candlelit patio both work well. Birdie’s is the low-key option, a counter-service prix fixe you can usually get into if you are willing to wait.
Where are the best restaurants downtown?
Downtown’s heavy hitters are Hestia (Michelin-starred live-fire cooking) and Comedor (modern Mexican on Colorado). Jeffrey’s sits just west in Clarksville. All three are reservation-first and lean special-occasion, so book ahead, especially on weekends.
What are the most splurge-worthy restaurants in Austin?
For a true splurge, the omakase and tasting-menu tier delivers: Uchi or Tsuke Edomae’s 21-course edomae counter for sushi, Hestia for a live-fire chef’s tasting listed at 215 dollars a head, and Jeffrey’s for a dry-aged steakhouse blowout with one of the state’s deepest wine lists.
Does Austin have Michelin-starred restaurants?
Yes. Austin’s first Michelin Guide arrived in late 2024, and under the 2026 Texas selection announced on October 8, 2026, the city holds seven one-star restaurants: Barley Swine, Craft Omakase, Fabrik, Hestia, InterStellar BBQ, Kappo Kappo, and LeRoy and Lewis. Two of those seven are barbecue joints. Fabrik and Kappo Kappo are new this year, and la Barbecue dropped from a star to Recommended. Austin also carries fifteen Bib Gourmands, Franklin Barbecue among them.
Which Austin restaurants need reservations versus a walk-in?
Reserve well ahead for Hestia, Jeffrey’s, Comedor, and Tsuke Edomae, which opens its booking windows months out. Uchi books through SevenRooms and takes walk-ins as well, and its 4pm to 6pm happy hour is the easiest way in without a table. Birdie’s releases only five reservations a night on OpenTable and seats everyone else first come, first served. Franklin Barbecue is a line rather than a reservation, though advance orders go through preorder.franklinbbq.com, and Veracruz and Loro are counter-service.

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