ATXGuide
The Hit List: New Austin Restaurants To Try Right Now
photo credit: Richard Casteel
When new restaurants open, we check them out. This means that we subject our stomachs and social lives to the good, the bad, and more often than not, the perfectly fine. And every once in a while, a new restaurant makes us feel like a grackle in an HEB parking lot. When that happens, we add it here, to The Hit List.
The Hit List is where you’ll find all of the best new restaurants in Austin. As long as it opened within the past several months and we’re still talking about it, it’s on this guide. The latest addition might be a buzzy omakase counter, an under-the-radar taco truck, or a gas station with food that we can’t stop talking about. Or maybe it’s even a restaurant with caviar priced by the bump. You do you.
Keep tabs on the Hit List and you will always know just which new restaurants you should be eating at right now. And if you’re looking for a hot new bar, or a fun and exciting dinner spot, we’ve got those, too.
New to the Hit List (5/14): P. Thai's, Yellow Ranger, The Marylander
THE SPOTS
photo credit: Richard Casteel
When P. Thai’s suddenly closed their tiny stand in the back of the Hong Kong Supermarket late last year, we thought we’d never love again. Losing their khao man gai felt like going through a breakup. Now, P. Thai’s has reopened in a brick-and-mortar on Airport Boulevard and showed us what they can do with just a little more space (and tables). The khao man gai is even better than before—the chicken is incredibly tender and savory, and the portions are a little bit bigger—and there’s an expanded menu, which includes a new spicy boat noodle soup that’s quickly becoming our rainy day go-to.
photo credit: Nicolai McCrary
We never understood the hype around Old Bay seasoning until the first time we tried Old Bay wings—a Baltimore classic—and realized just how well chicken pairs with celery salt. You can probably guess the theme of The Marylander’s menu (hint: there’s a lot of crab) and while we really enjoyed the crab cake benedict, the wings are what we’ll be coming back to this food truck for. We like the honey Old Bay variety—they’re tender inside, crispy to the bite, and coated in a sticky glaze that goes great with that hint of spice.
photo credit: Nicolai McCrary
Yellow Ranger makes the kind of food that we crave when we’re two mezcal palomas in on a Friday night. It’s a counter-service operation at Golden Horn, a casual, ‘70s-themed cocktail bar located beneath Barfly’s. This is bar food imagined through a Chinese-American lens, which means that the second you finish those palomas, you’re just a QR code away from crispy crab rangoons, wonton chips with chili-spiked queso, and a semi-smashed burger with charred scallops and hot mustard aioli. This isn’t fancy food—it’s not trying to be—it’s just satisfying food that goes especially well with a cozy booth in a bar full of warm, yellow lights.
photo credit: Nicolai McCrary
We’re hardly phased when a good new taco spot opens, but sometimes we try one that makes us text all of our friends about it. Taqueria 10 de 10 is located in the back of the bar ReyRey a few blocks from Dirty Sixth, and entering through the alleyway feels like a reverse speakeasy where alcohol serves as a front for a secret taqueria. Once you make it inside past the disco ball, you’ll see a giant trompo spinning al pastor while a hot grill finishes up slabs of carne asada and diners crowd around a few small countertops. The meat arrives crispy and tender, and the handmade flour or corn tortilla is the perfect vessel for holding everything together. Order it “con todo” and it’ll arrive with the perfect amount of onions, cilantro, guacamole, and salsa.
photo credit: Nicolai McCrary
The Korean fried chicken at Donkey Mo's tests the upper limits of the crunch spectrum. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because they had a long-standing residency at H-Mart before shuttering in 2021. Two chickenless years later, they’re back in a bigger space with a larger menu that also includes things like spicy fried rice cakes and churros. The toughest decision you’ll have to make is choosing between wings, tenders, and thigh nuggets—whichever you end up with, get them tossed in sweet and spicy sauce if you like a little kick. And if you’re here to film some crispy fried chicken ASMR, don’t forget to hit record before you jump straight in.
photo credit: MaieB Hospitality
If you’re someone whose idea of being outdoorsy is sitting on a patio with a very cold beer and a burger in hand, Redbud Ice House is where you go. The excellent burgers come topped with pimento cheese and bacon (if you want), and the beers arrive in a frosty schooner that’s roughly the size of your head. The restaurant is 80% outdoor seating, and even the dining room has garage door walls we’re pretty sure are permanently open. Redbud feels more like an homage than a recreation of a traditional Texas Icehouse, but when that nod comes with air conditioning and a full bar, we’re okay with a few liberties being taken.
photo credit: Nicolai McCrary
While most of the pitmasters in Texas argue over who makes the jiggliest brisket, LeRoy And Lewis is looking at the rest of the cow. And they’re cooking all of it—from beef cheeks and flat iron steaks, to slow-smoked chuck roasts and beef chorizo sausages. And that’s before we even get to the pulled lamb, smoked chicken, kofta, and pork smashburgers that make up the other half of the menu. If the LeRoy And Lewis name sounds familiar, that’s because they’ve been operating a food truck for years that’s consistently been one of our favorite barbecue spots in the city. Now they’ve just expanded to a brick-and-mortar that comes with a massive indoor dining room, a much bigger menu, and a full bar where you can get very Texas-friendly drinks, like a frozen Big Red sangria or a cocktail with Dr. Pepper and Pasubio vino amaro.
photo credit: Nicolai McCrary
Tare follows the same format as a lot of other $100+ omakase sushi spots in town—a speakeasy-style dining room and 15-ish courses of nigiri and small plates. But instead of feeling like an expensive carbon copy, Tare feels like it spent its formative years in the Rio Grande Valley and decided to mix in everything around it. Nigiri ranges from minimalist bites touched with nothing but soy and wasabi over well-seasoned rice, to a few more experimental ones like shima aji drizzled with salsa macha, or sweet shrimp served raw over a bite-sized tamale. It’s a little bit Japanese, and a little bit South Texan, and it somehow all takes place at a 12-seat sushi counter hidden behind a curtain in a nondescript office building in North Austin.
photo credit: Nicolai McCrary
Fans of Nashville-style hot chicken probably already knew of Dang Hot 89’s arrival long before we had a chance to visit—the smell of sizzling cayenne pepper cuts straight through the air like a bat signal. Taco Bell mild-saucers beware, this is one of the few Austin spots where the “dang hot” spicy level should be taken seriously. This is a food trailer in the middle of a big dirt lot in Northwest Austin, but you’re not here for ambiance. You’re just here for ridiculously hot chicken, and you can get it in tender, bone-in, or sandwich form. Whatever you choose, just know that this will likely be some of the juiciest chicken you’ll get your hands on—with crispy skin and a Hot Cheeto-red tint to the whole thing. And once you do get your hands on it, remember to be careful around your eyes.
photo credit: Nicolai McCrary
Sijie is a mini-chain with a few locations in Northern California, and we hope it’s just a matter of time until Sijie’s soup dumplings pepper Central Texas in much the same way. It’s located in a strip mall in Northwest Austin with a large dining room blasting soft rock ballads while tiny robots on wheels deliver plates of food to tables that already have too many dishes on them. It’s hard to narrow down your order from a menu with nearly 200 items on it, but start with some pan-fried soup buns and grilled lamb kebabs, then finish off with thick and chewy housemade noodles with sweet garlic pork. Show up with a group and make an even bigger dent in the menu. In a city full of great Chinese food, Sijie brings a few dishes to the table that you won’t find anywhere else in Austin.
photo credit: Taylor Hannan
Austin has no shortage of omakases—some that we like, and others that we don’t—and this sleek Rosedale omakase spot is a welcome addition to the crew. The meal consists of 20ish courses, in which you’ll experience bright crudos, cooked plates, and dry-aged fish over rice. The nigiri is good—with high-quality fish and rice that we wish was a tad warmer—but the stars of the show are the small, non-sushi plates. That’s where unique textures and flavors get a chance to play with each other, like in a vibrant shrimp aguachile or stewed winter vegetables in a rich, savory broth. At $175, this is one of the pricier omakases in town, but you can also rest assured knowing there are no tacky upsells on the end to ensure you get full.
photo credit: Nicolai McCrary
The dough at Feral Pizza ferments for nearly two days, and we can only imagine it spends that time pondering the true meaning of life, love, and what it means to be a crust. The end result is crispy, chewy, and perfectly suited to pair with whatever toppings you choose, including our favorite—the ultra-simple Tomato Pie with just sauce, garlic oil, and pecorino. It’s a New York-style pizza, with an ultra-thin layer of sauce that provides some sweet, tangy flavor without overpowering the crust. This whole operation is done in a tiny trailer behind a convenience store in North Loop—as a result, pies can take a while. Call ahead or make yourself cozy with a few drinks from the shop next door. If dough can hang out that long, you can wait 30 minutes without going feral.
photo credit: Richard Casteel
Murray’s in East Austin is the type of place you should go when you don’t want to make a big deal about dinner, but you actually kind of do. It’s from the people behind Nickel City and Juniper, so there’s a strong focus on both food and drink. Burgers and goulash share a playing field with prime rib and beef tartare—you decide how fancy you want to be—and expertly crafted cocktails are available in full-size or tiny versions (there’s even a mini cocktail flight option). It’s dark and dimly lit, with wooden walls and a carpeted back room that feels like a place where mob bosses discuss “family” things, and you’ll probably find yourself chatting about what to order next time before you even make your way out the front door.
photo credit: Richard Casteel
POWERED BY
From the teams behind Uchi and Uchiko comes the red-hot izakaya-inspired restaurant Uchiba. It’s not a new concept—the original location of Uchiba is in Dallas—so it hit the ground running in a bespoke mid-century-inspired space downtown. The menu has the crowd-pleasing Uchi and Uchiko hits (hot rock, hama chili, and all the sushi you can imagine), but then there’s a bunch of new dishes including grilled yakitori, and a whole mess of exquisitely prepared dumplings, bao, and buns. While the Uchi restaurants in Austin famously only have wine- and sake-based cocktails, Uchiba has a creative liquor-based cocktail program, alongside the fun “perfect pairs,” in which a tiny app gets paired with a tiny cocktail.
photo credit: Nicolai McCrary
Sometimes you want a thick, juicy burger with a little ribbon of pink through the middle. Other times you just want a patty that’s smashed so thin it might get mistaken for an ancient piece of papyrus. Patty Palace is for when you want the latter. It’s a lot like the popular Bad Larry Burger pop-up, but without the need to set an alarm and wait in a long line to get it. That means super-smashed patties with crispy lattice edges, grilled onions, a few slices of pickles, and some mustard or special sauce. And, instead of waiting for an Instagram alert, you can get it almost any night of the week and pair it with whatever beer you want from St. Elmo Brewing, where Patty Palace is parked.
