Summer to me means eating food off the grill, diving into fresh seafood and finding nostalgia through childhood favorites that take me back to my parents’ home. So, it’s no surprise that my favorite meals of the summer of 2026 include burgers, hot dogs, fried chicken and raw seafood. Below are a few of the best things I ate in Austin this summer. For more of my favorite restaurants around Central Texas, visit Statesman.com/restaurants.
Maine oysters at Austin Oyster Co.
A selection of oysters at Austin Oyster Co.
MATTHEW ODAM/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
An East Coast oyster is an East Coast oyster is an East Coast oyster.
Article continues below this ad
Not exactly. After you’ve made your way around town and hit the various selections of oysters from Prince Edward Island (Malpeques), Massachusetts (Wellfleets) and Connecticut (Blue Points), it might start to feel or taste that way. So, I admit it can be rare to really get shook by a new oyster. But that was my experience at Austin Oyster Co. this summer.
The large Bombazines harvested from the New Meadow River grabbed me by the collar and threw me face first into the cold waters of Maine with a startling salinity I’ve rarely tasted, followed by some hay and sweetness to finish.
The Long Reach from Harpswell, oysters I’d never heard of, started with a sharp crispness but then came on with lush butteriness and umami, delivering the complexity and richness of an entire plated dish in one bite. They were so good I had to send some over to friends sitting at the bar.
The restaurant, which also serves one of the best burgers in town, recently started serving oysters from its own farm in Maine, so I am due for a return visit.
Article continues below this ad
2502 E. Cesar Chavez St. austinoysterco.com.
Breakfast taco at Comadre Panadería
Nopales, bean, egg and cheese taco at Comadre Panadería.
PROVIDED BY COMADRE PANDAERÍA
That rich, buttery flavor you get when gently crunching into the breakfast tacos at Comadre Panadería? It doesn’t derive from butter, or lard, or any animal fat. It’s the organic Sonoran flour from Barton Springs Mill in Dripping Springs doing all of the heavy lifting, with a spot from some sourdough discard and palm oil. Amazing what quality ingredients can do.
Article continues below this ad
Several employees spend almost an hour hand-rolling the delicate yet sturdy, sun-spotted tortillas that envelop soft-scrambled, pasture-raised eggs from Cedar Ridge Farms in Northeast Texas, the sharp nutty bite of melted Tillamook cheddar and charred nopales cooked with tomato, onion, garlic and serrano peppers. Other options include lush beans or toasty thrice-cooked potatoes, all a testament to care and quality.
“Everything that we make here is just what my mom taught us how to cook,” San Antonio native, admitted breakfast taco fanatic and 2025 Food & Wine Best New Chef Mariela Camacho told the American-Statesman. “Her genius is that she can make something really simple taste so complicated. Simple is the best, and the hardest.”
Camacho spent a couple of years stress-testing her award-winning bakery (the masa sugar cookie, the fruity donuts, the conchas … try them all) to make sure Comadre could handle the breakfast taco production and demand in the small space. (Note: The bakery is open Thursday through Sunday, with outdoor seating only.)
1204 Cedar Ave. comadrepanaderia.com.
Article continues below this ad
Mole Burger at Joe’s Burgers
MATTHEW ODAM/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
He couldn’t have imagined it three years ago when he started his mole madre — an ongoing culinary creation that is added to and adjusted over years — for a pop-up at his award-winning Con Todo taqueria, but chef Joseph Gomez had begun a journey to one of the best burgers in Austin.
The Brownsville native imagined what a mole indigenous to the Rio Grande Valley would taste like, so he immediately turned to the region’s ubiquitous mesquite trees and their pods. The earthy, wintry spices of the pods infuse a dark, nutty sauce piqued slightly by the fruity chile de onza from Oaxaca that pools the plate at his counter spot inside the Royal Blue Grocery downtown.
Article continues below this ad
Continuing his exploration of Mexican traditions, Gomez nixtamalizes heritage corn from Texas’ neighbor and blends it with local wheat for a milk bun that holds a seared burger capped by a slice of ham and a blanket of caramelized Havarti. The burger, sliced and served face down in the mole ahogado style, is visually stunning, but the appropriately titled Holy Mole is much more than Instagram bait. It holds up to the sauce but is only served to dine-in customers in order to maintain the integrity of the burger.
360 Nueces St. Instagram.com/joesburgerstx.
Fried chicken (and everything else) at Whip My Soul
Fried chicken at Whip My Soul.
MATTHEW ODAM/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
I walked by the window to the kitchen after cleaning my table on my first visit to this soul food restaurant tucked into a strip mall. I caught the eye of an employee and made some kind of exclamatory statement that likely involved a swear word. A hint of a smile accompanied his knowing nod. It’s like I had been welcomed into a secret club, where membership was granted by simply acknowledging that Whip My Soul serves some of the best fried chicken and sides in the city.
Article continues below this ad
Fried to a knobby, golden, crunchy finish that reveals juicy meat, the bird would be the star of any Sunday picnic. Same goes for the creamy mac and cheese and candied yams sweeter than your grandmother.
11416 N. FM 620, whipmysoul.shop.
Hot dogs at Zee’s Wiener System
MATTHEW ODAM/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Zak Drummond helped usher in the hot dog renaissance with his pop-ups, which he started in 2021. Coming out of pandemic isolation in a new city after moving here from Los Angeles, Drummond thought bringing the culinary staple of his native Rhode Island to Austin would help him feel closer to home and introduce himself to his new home. Good call, Zak. He operates more than 200 events a year, from weekly residencies to festival activations and private catering.
Article continues below this ad
“It’s just a way of life, really,” Drummond said of his home state, where even many pizza joints sling hot wieners. “Thinking about the number of people I’ve been able to serve over the years is pretty astounding, considering I never thought I was starting a business in the first place.”
Drummond grills all-beef franks packed with garlic and onion from Ralph Perrazzo of Snap-O-Razzo, and you might want a bib when you snap into that natural lamb casing.
A fragrant chili smothers the classic, with creamy coleslaw offset by the bite of onions and a splash of mustard. His tiny cart also features a regular special that nods to Texas, with sweet bacon jam, lush refried beans, jalapeño salsa and drizzles of mayo and mustard, along with a rotating selection of creative concoctions. Follow Zee’s on Instagram for its current location.
Article continues below this ad
Instagram.com/wienersystem,
Dining and Cooking