Stefan Davis, the general manager at Barley Swine in Austin, has developed a pamphlet-full of service philosophies over his years in the industry: hire great personalities to make a long meal less monotone; treat others the way you want to be treated; and his central tenet, “the guest is our life force.”
“Without them we are nothing, we cannot survive. Several things branch from this and it’s a good base to begin from,” he says.
The front-of-house articles of faith have proven immensely successful: 16 years after opening, Barley Swine remains one of the city’s fine dining favorites, and Davis this year was awarded the MICHELIN Guide Texas Service Award, presented by Capital One.
Before he was writing the rule book, Davis was a teenager looking to make some extra cash with a restaurant gig. Early on, he was drawn in by the pacing of the environment and its forward-facing work.
“I landed a couple of order-at-the-counter jobs that pulled me out of my shell a little and exposed my delight for helping people,” he says.
That same gung-ho attitude pervades the dining room at Barley Swine. As the tasting menu from Chef Bryce Gilmore progresses from lighter vegetable courses to its dry-aged ribeye climax, several different front-of-house staff interact with the table. Servers are not given a script but are taught instead to trust their instincts and guide guests through the meal while relying on their charm.
It’s Davis philosophy 101: Counting on personable staff to keep the client happy.
“As the night progresses, these interactions become more of a relationship than just a conversation,” he says.
In an interview below, Davis expands on his tricks of the trade, shares what he hopes a guest is thinking as they leave his restaurant and discusses how Chef Gilmore’s early days cooking in a trailer play out in the service today.
Walk us through a guest’s evening at Barley Swine.
Guests are greeted with an open door and warmly directed to their table. Their captain promptly arrives to introduce themselves and to guide the guest through our small but mighty chef’s tasting menu and supplemental items. We talk drinks, take the order for any additional courses and we’re off and running. As our guest, we try to take all of the decision making off your plate.
We encourage you to enjoy your company while immersing yourself in each course as it arrives. Guests will interact with several front-of-house staff members throughout the meal. All personnel who arrive at the table bring their own personality and honor their work, which adds richness to the experience.
Our chef’s tasting menu builds thoughtfully and intentionally expressing Texas grown ingredients cooked using techniques from all over the world. The menu progresses from lighter vegetarian and cold fish courses into cooked proteins, climaxing with our dry aged ribeye. The meal continues with desserts that aren’t overtly sweet or cloying to the palate, gently setting the guest down prior to receiving the check.
Barley Swine encourages its guest to enjoy their company while immersing themselves in each course as it arrives. Guests will interact with several front-of-house staff members throughout the meal which adds richness to the experience. © Richard Casteel/Barley Swine
Talk to us about Chef Bryce Gilmore’s early days cooking in a trailer and how that plays a role in the kind of service delivered today.
The growth from our humble trailer days is immense. Miraculously, we’ve managed to uphold several founding core values over the years. The original Odd Duck trailer had a Post Oak wood fire grill inside the freaking trailer! Could you imagine working that thing in the Texas summer heat? Both the Barley Swine and Odd Duck brick-and-mortar locations contain wood-fire grills that add a signature smoky touch to the menu.
Bryce has always championed local farms and ranchers. The Odd Duck trailer was revolutionary back in the day for being a ‘Farm to Trailer’ concept before the Farm to table and trailer boom hit Austin. That same commitment to local farmers and meat purveyors applies to all concepts under Bryce’s wing. Bryce has taken [things] a step further by establishing his own small farm in Dale, Texas. The chef turned farmer. We’re extremely proud to feature as much directly sourced produce from our very own River Field Farm.
We contain the spirit of Austin. South Austin is where Odd Duck and Barley Swine originated from. It’s important for our staff to carry the soul of South Austin with them in every guest interaction — South Austin hospitality as it’s become known.
What do you hope a guest walks away thinking after a meal at Barley Swine?
Honestly I hope they think, ‘That dinner was waaay better than I expected.’ Right?! I mean exceeding expectations is our ultimate challenge as hospitality professionals. What’s going to be that one thing, or several things that we nailed to have the guest think, “Wow, now that was amazing!”
Service contains several layers of execution. The drinks have to be perfect, the food has to hit, the service needs to be adaptive and cater to guest needs, our staff needs to engage correctly, the restaurant’s temperature needs to be comfortable… There are so many variables to manage. In that, we strive not only to manage but also to exceed our guests’ expectations for every guest every night. So if they walk into the restaurant with high expectations and leave with the sentiment that the meal was better than expected, we’ve done our job. I would also like them leaving imbued with the sentiment that they have just been cared for by a genuine and loving staff. Our customer guest relations are what truly give us purpose in this industry.
Barley Swine’s chef tasting menu builds thoughtfully and intentionally expressing Texas grown ingredients cooked using techniques from all over the world. © Richard Casteel/Barley Swine
Do you have any service philosophies that you impart on your team?
Gosh… maybe too many. There are lots of analogies that come to mind, which I’ve developed over the years. But the biggest one that I repeat often is that the guest is our life force.
I hire amazing hospitality personalities. In the world of tasting menus, things can become bogged down by repetitive monotony. If I give a script of what to say and how to say it, the job becomes robotic. Instead we provide touchpoints for discussion in the initial greet. Beyond that, my service team must rely on their inherent intuitive hospitality skills to guide each table’s experience. This allows my captains to relax a little and to inject some of their personality into the table interaction.
It’s silly how basic this sounds, but treating others the way you want to be treated really goes a long way in a restaurant that prides itself on employee retention. You never know what someone will do or say when their bandwidth is stressed. We have a lot of conversations on critical feedback and the best way to effectively transfer that information to someone else.
We also work a lot on spreading the service pressure of the night across all employees rather than letting it collect in certain areas. That’s a big one actually and something I’ve put a lot of focus behind since the pandemic: managing the bandwidth of my individual team members.
How did you get your start in the industry?
I started in the restaurant industry right out of high school. I was never that kid who knew what they wanted to do for a career. And indeed in the beginning, it was fun to work with my friends and earn some extra money for my weekend endeavors. I quickly fell in love with the pace and personability of the job and decided to take my work a little more seriously. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was building the foundational skills for a career as a hospitality professional.
Honestly I hope they think, ‘That dinner was waaay better than I expected.’ Right?! What’s going to be that one thing, or several things that we nailed to have the guest think, “Wow, now that was amazing!” © Richard Casteel/Barley Swine
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Hero image: General Manager Stefan Davis is the winner of the 2026 MICHELIN Guide Service Award.
Written by
David Shortell
David Shortell is a contributing writer for The MICHELIN Guide, based in Mexico City. His news and travel reporting has appeared in publications including The New York Times, CNN, and Travel+Leisure.
Dining and Cooking