Reviews

Under a magnificent old live oak, tables set with charmingly mismatched plates have sprung up behind the building that used to house Sway. From the eclectic menu, we liked the custardy buttermilk-tomato tartlet boasting a tender crust and a garnish of pickled onion. On the other hand, the fried frogs’ legs were dry and jacketed in a too-thick batter. Best offering was generous slices of medium-rare lamb loin on couscous brightened with dabs of harissa and halal white sauce (think mayo and yogurt with a touch of lemon and sugar).

AUSTIN’S FOOD SCENE is as diverse as its music culture. There’s no shortage of interesting restaurants and food trucks to try, and new ones are arriving all the time. Here are three of our favorite recently-opened eateries, and a fourth that’s coming later this summer.

We get it. It can be difficult to keep up with the fast pace of Austin’s restaurant and bar scene. We have you covered with our regular roundup of essential food news.

We didn’t eat at enough restaurants last year. Sure, in a lot of ways 2021 was more “normal” than 2020 — we started going to concerts, bars, movie theaters, and generally having lives again. Covid cases were on a downward trend! Vaccination rates were rising! Then we got hit with the Delta and Omicron variants and that renewed sense of optimism started to fizzle.

There ain’t much that can come between a Texan and gastronomical goodness (nice try Delta, winter grid lockdown, and the rest), and much like in 2020, new eateries have continued to fling open their doors to hungry folks down south.