Top 20 American Restaurants in Austin Texas

Top 20 American Restaurants in Austin Texas

While Austin is known for being the live music capital of Texas, it also has a fantastic reputation for a thriving restaurant scene as explained at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. While the city offers every type of cuisine you are looking for, American restaurants are a nice go-to choice when you can’t decide. If you are looking for such a restaurant, here is a list of the top 20 American restaurants in Austin, Texas to consider.

1. Odd Duck

As per RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com, Odd Duck started as a food truck by Chef Bryce Gilmore and has grown into three brick-and-mortar restaurants, Odd Duck, Barley Swine, and Sour Duck Market. Locally-sourced ingredients shape the seasonal, ever-changing menu, accompanied by creative cocktails, craft beers, and approachable wines.

2. Texas Chili Parlor

A popular place for Texas cooking. The atmosphere and decor are like a small-town Texas bar. Chili is the main feature here. It’s Texas-style chili: no beans, onion, or pepper, and little tomato sauce. Mostly bite-sized chunks of beef that are slow-simmered until they are fork tender. The chili is available in a bowl, as a Frito pie, as a burrito filling, or with a burger. It comes in three levels of spiciness. The restaurant also serves other dishes including enchiladas, burgers, and salads. The gumbo, Frito pie, and chili mac and cheese are good.

3. Launderette

Launderette offers gourmet New American fare served in a polished cafe space in a converted gas station/Laundromat according to RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. This super cute Mediterranean-inspired restaurant in East Austin used to be a laundromat and now serves stellar food and cocktails. New Yorkers seem to really love this restaurant for the vibes and quality of the food. The beluga lentil and burrata are worth trying.

4. Roaring Pork

This is an American cuisine restaurant in the InterContinental Hotel. Located in the middle of downtown Austin, Roaring Fork provides an atmosphere that unites both the city’s business life and its nightlife. On the menu is another union of cuisine that leads to a combination of upscale yet rugged American cuisine.

5. Emer & Rye

Helmed by Owner and Executive Chef Kevin Fink, Emmer &Rye brings cuisine that is rustic and seasonally inspired to Rainey Street. Emmer & Rye is the first contemporary American restaurant in Austin to offer dim sum service as part of their meal, where guests can order items directly off of circulating carts, along with a weekly rotating menu using local farm-to-table ingredients.

6. Fonda San Miguel

A great interior Mexican restaurant located in Old Austin, Fonda San Miguel serves up an unbelievably extravagant weekend brunch buffet. The lush courtyard and beautiful sculptures inside make this spot photo-worthy, too, as articulated at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com.

7. Sway

Sway comes highly recommended as a date night spot if you’re wanting Thai in a fine dining setting and is a great spot to celebrate special occasions. It can get pretty noisy in the restaurant and it’s shared seating so I wouldn’t recommend Sway if you want to have a conversation. What to order: Chicken wings, brussels sprouts, jungle curry (very, very spicy), tiger cry, son-in-law, and Thai tea affogato.

8. Franklin Barbecue

A standout star within Austin’s heavyweight barbecue scene, Franklin draws lines that are as epic as its world-renowned brisket. Take a tip from the regulars: come early, come hungry, and come with a collapsible chair (you don’t want to stand for three or four hours if you can avoid it) as captured at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. The good news is that you can now pre-order up to six weeks in advance, as long as you’re committed to at least three pounds of meaty treats.

9. Moonshine Grill

Moonshine Grill serves the southern comfort food that your grandma would make but with an upscale and contemporary twist that can only be found in downtown Austin. Like Lambert’s, Moonshine is also a refurbished shop from the 1800s, but the two provide completely different experiences. Moonshine makes you feel like family, and so does the classic food with an innovative take.

10. Boulding Creek Cafe

Bouldin Creek Café has become one of Austin’s most beloved brunch spots, and understandably so. From their fair trade locally roasted coffee and other tasty concoctions to their vegetarian renditions of Migas and eggs benedict, everything on Bouldin’s menu is on point. Their lunch and dinner items meet high expectations too, making the restaurant a bustling spot at almost any time of the day.

11. La Barbecue

Though some have considered it a “backup” when Franklin runs out, La Barbecue, finally in a permanent location on East Caesar Chavez Street, should, in no way, be considered simply an also-ran in the Austin barbecue world as covered at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. Here the restaurant specializes, appropriately, in Central Texas-style barbecue, slathering meats with salty, savory rubs.

12. Dai Due

Part butcher shop, part supper club, Dai Due’s mission statement is to bring quality local food to your mouth. The supper club menu changes nightly – be sure to check out their diverse beer menu as well. It offers farm-to-table fare from locally sourced ingredients served in a rustic space with a butcher shop.

13. Contigo

Designed to feel more like a Hill Country ranch than a restaurant, Contigo is just north of much of Austin’s action, drawing families on the weekends with kids who love to run around its outdoor space. The steaks and burgers are well worth going out of your way for, as are the cocktails, which are mostly seasonal as described at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. You’ll feel like a real Austinite here, surrounded by locals from the neighborhood at one of the family-style tables and chatting up the staff that seems to know every anecdote about what’s served here and where it comes from.

14. Olamaie

Olamaie is a modern Southern restaurant helmed by one of the 2018 and 2019 James Beard Awards “Best Chef: Southwest” finalists and FOOD & WINE’s “Best New Chefs,” Michael Fojtasek. The menu focuses on farm-to-table freshness and a dining experience that combines classic Southern hospitality with modern restaurant craftsmanship. What to order: biscuits (they’re not on the menu so you have to ask for them), Dewberry Hills Farm chicken, and Ranger Cattle wagyu ribeye.

15. Jacoby’s Restaurant and Mercantile

Jacoby’s Restaurant & Mercantile offers family-raised meats, locally sourced vegetables, craft cocktails, and Texas craft beers with beautiful views of the Colorado River. You can sit inside or outside on their patio that overlooks the river. What to order: Chicken fried steak, mac & cheese, crispy brussels sprouts, steak frites, and strawberry cake.

16. Salt and Time

A full-service butcher shop featuring high quality, Salt & Time offers locally sourced and sustainable meats and housemade salami as discussed at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. Chef Josh Jones’ menus offer a creative and playful approach to farm-to-table, featuring local and seasonal ingredients.

17. CRU Food & Wine Bar

CRU Food & Wine Bar is located at 2nd Street Downtown Austin and offers many wine vintages for you and your friends or family to enjoy. The establishment also offers a wealth of quality food to sate your appetite. Some of the top options on the menu here include lobster and Mehr.

18. Lutie’s Garden Restaurant

Husband-and-wife chef team Bradley Nicholson and Susana Querejazu bring fresh, wholesome dishes spotlighting local farmers to the Commodore Perry Estate’s Instagram-perfect gardens. The food: Star plates include the grand aioli platter and whole-roasted black sea bass with seasonal greens, but there’s more than enough to keep herbivores happy as revealed at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com.

19. Leroy and Lewis Barbecue

With a rotating selection of smoked BBQ by the pound and a focus on alternative cuts and creative sides made with locally-sourced ingredients, this is food truck gold. The food: Known for his innovative takes on Texas ‘cue, pitmaster Evan LeRoy incorporates elements of fine dining and scratch-made cooking into every aspect of his menu-on-wheels.

20. Josephine House

Quality, local ingredients lay a solid foundation for the delectable brunch fare inside the charming craftsman cottage that is Josephine House. Whet your palate with something from the bakery case, like a crispy kouign Amann or slice of vegan blueberry-banana bread. Then look to the blandly named, but delicious inventive rice bowl with red rice, pickled seasonal vegetables, avocado, and sweet red pepper chimichurri, topped with a poached egg.

These are some of the best American restaurants in Austin, Texas, with more on this topic, and much more, being available over at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com.