It\u2019s a joy to choose a restaurant, but it\u2019s not always easy. That\u2019s where we can help. In the Where to Eat Right Now series, we\u2019re highlighting our favorite places in cities across the United States. These lists will be updated regularly, as restaurants close and open, and as we find new gems to share. When visiting restaurants, we do not give advance notice and we pay for all our meals.<\/p>\n
While Barley Swine\u2019s tasting menu changes regularly, you can always order the shiitake dumplings, a staple emblematic of the house style. Ornate, stylistically agnostic and technically impressive, it\u2019s served with a small spatula to encourage you to scoop up the cushion of bourride, which turns saucier as broth spills out of the punctured dumplings. The dish dates to the early 2010s, when the chef-owner Bryce Gilmore established Barley Swine as a destination restaurant in a city then still primarily known for Tex-Mex, barbecue and food trucks (Barley Swine sprang from one). Much about Barley Swine \u2014 the reclaimed wood in the dining room, a culinary aesthetic based on technical innovation and local ingredients \u2014 is redolent of that exciting era. BRETT ANDERSON<\/p>\n
6555 Burnet Road, No. 400; 512-394-8150; barleyswine.com<\/p>\n
Birdie\u2019s is not just another wine bar. Chalk that up to the partnership of Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel and her husband, Arjav Ezekiel \u2014 she\u2019s a highly skilled chef, and he has the energy and affability of the dancing tableware in \u201cBeauty and the Beast.\u201d Birdie\u2019s is the place to be whether you just want to drink something interesting or you\u2019re planning the big night out. In Ms. Malechek-Ezekiel\u2019s hands, simple food \u2014 a creamy vegetable soup, roasted carrots with pesto \u2014 feels anything but simple. Add to that an electric atmosphere and wine glasses that seem to magically refill themselves \u2014 you\u2019ll want to return just to see what the couple might cook or pour next. PRIYA KRISHNA<\/p>\n
2944 East 12th Street, Unit A; no phone; birdiesaustin.com<\/p>\n
The chef Tavel Bristol-Joseph made a name for himself in Austin with the pastries at Emmer & Rye and Hestia, which he co-owns. Here at Canje \u2014 an ode to his Guyanese roots, with a menu that also stretches across the Caribbean \u2014 he has switched gears, with brilliant results. The food is a tangy, spicy, coconutty dreamscape. Tilefish soaked in tamarind and rum butter. Prawns brushed with a verdant green seasoning and smoked chiles. A tres leches cake drenched in coconut milk. What makes the jerk chicken so supercharged with flavor? Mr. Bristol-Joseph ferments his seasoning. And plan on at least one order of the buttery Guyanese-style roti per person. PRIYA KRISHNA<\/p>\n
1914 East Sixth Street, Suite C; 512-706-9119; canjeatx.com<\/p>\n
Hidden in an unassuming building in a residential neighborhood is the concha-meets-funfetti-pastry fever dream that is Comadre Panader\u00eda. Here, conchas dusted with Barbie-pink strawberry jamaica powder share space with a sheet cake topped with prickly-pear buttercream and a black-bean honey bun. Every creation from the baker Mariela Camacho feels simultaneously innovative and nostalgic \u2014 as if a panader\u00eda took a trip through the snack aisle of an American grocery store. PRIYA KRISHNA<\/p>\n
1204 Cedar Avenue; no phone; comadre-panaderia.square.site<\/p>\n
Omakase restaurants are to tech-boom Austin what mounted longhorns are to Texas steakhouses: distinguishing features suggestive of achievement. Craft stands out from the pack for its exceptional food, relative accessibility and its refusal to upsell customers with luxury ingredient add-ons \u2014 a hallmark of too many local competitors. The partners Tim Boyer, Nguyen Nguyen and Charlie Wang all worked at Uchiko, one of the local restaurants most responsible for making Austin an unlikely hotbed of modern Japanese cuisine. Craft advances that tradition with a 22-course tasting menu that oscillates between nigiri sushi and picturesque composed dishes. All of the interventions, be it the quick blast of a blow torch or the dollop of honey-yuzu vinegar, flatter the mostly imported, always pristine seafood. BRETT ANDERSON<\/p>\n
4400 North Lamar Boulevard, Suite 102; 512-887-8889; craftomakase.com<\/p>\n
East Austin | Mexican, Tacos<\/p>\n
In a city of superlative tacos, the ones that Luis \u201cBeto\u201d Robledo (above) makes at Cuantos stand out. It\u2019s the choricera \u2014 a round pot with deep sides and a shallow center, commonly used for cooking the meats in their own fat \u2014 that makes the difference in these Mexico City-style tacos. The standout is the suadero, in which brisket is plucked from the pot, still dripping with juices, sliced into thick slabs and then loaded into fresh, two-bite tortillas with plenty of cilantro and onion. These tacos demand to be eaten immediately, messily and with the understanding that you\u2019ll be ordering three more. PRIYA KRISHNA<\/p>\n
1108 East 12th Street; 512-905-0533; cuantostacosaustin.com<\/p>\n
Cherrywood\/East Austin | Modern Texas<\/p>\n
Locavore restaurant iconography tends toward still-life-worthy artichokes, tomatoes and gourds. Dai Due is different. Its commitment to Texas ingredients, extending from produce to its wine list, is all but unrivaled, yet the image that best captures the restaurant\u2019s ethos is meat sizzling over live fire. The chef and co-owner, Jesse Griffiths, channeled his passion for Texas\u2019 great outdoors \u2014 and more specifically the animals he hunts there \u2014 into this lusty, idiosyncratic butcher shop and restaurant. The seasonal vegetables are often very good, in no small part because they\u2019re often cooked in tallow (as are the seasonal fried crawfish hand-pies, which are wonderful). But you\u2019re here for what the executive chef, Janie Ramirez, is grilling over Texas post oak: coffee-cured antelope leg fillets, aoudad meatballs, memorably flavorful pork chops, and quail stuffed with boudin and plated with pickled blueberries. BRETT ANDERSON<\/p>\n
2406 Manor Road; 512-524-0688; daidue.com<\/p>\n
East Austin | Mexican, Tacos<\/p>\n
Discada \u2014 which recently moved to East Austin \u2014 serves one type of taco, and it\u2019s unforgettable. The restaurant uses the discada method, also known as \u201ccowboy wok\u201d cooking, that\u2019s popular in Mexico City. In this style, various chopped meats and aromatics are cooked in a plow disc from a tractor and added in layers, to build on the rendered fat and flavor from each one. The tacos, brought to Austin by the high-school friends and co-owners Anthony Pratto and Xose Velasco, are dainty but pack a big punch. Even in a taco-saturated city, there\u2019s truly nothing else like Discada. PRIYA KRISHNA<\/p>\n
1700 East C\u00e9sar Chavez; 512-920-5473; discadatx.com<\/p>\n
East Austin | Coastal Mexican<\/p>\n
Este is inspired by the seafood dishes of the Mexican coast, but it\u2019s not strictly limited to them. The menu isn\u2019t filled with faithful recreations of the aguachiles and tostadas found in cities like Ensenada or Veracruz. Instead, the chef Ferm\u00edn N\u00fa\u00f1ez isn\u2019t afraid to go off-road in the name of uncovering something delicious. Grilled turbot with salsa verde shines even brighter with a rich slick of hummus on the bottom. Hazelnuts and brown butter enliven the salsa macha in the grilled squid. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t find it in Mexico,\u201d Mr. Nu\u00f1ez said of his cooking. \u201cBut it is Mexican.\u201d PRIYA KRISHNA<\/p>\n
2113 Manor Road; 512-522-4047; esteatx.com<\/p>\n
Ezov\u2019s food features Texas ingredients in dishes that are colorful, sprightly spiced and inspired by the chef Berty Richter\u2019s upbringing in Tel Aviv. There are audibly crisp falafel riding a swirl of tahini, amba and schug; cubes of pomegranate-stained raw snapper, scattered with chopped pistachios; and juicy, skewered kofta riding a bed of fire roasted eggplant and topped with charred, oil-slicked pine nuts. If you\u2019re interested in wines from the Eastern Mediterranean, especially Lebanon, ask to see the bottle list. That said, if you dare to order the everything bagel martini, consider yourself warned. BRETT ANDERSON<\/p>\n
2708 East Cesar Chavez; 512-305-1118; ezovatx.com<\/p>\n
Why wait hours for barbecue in a city where there are excellent alternatives? Fair question. The answer is that Franklin\u2019s barbecue is as good, if not better, today than it was when Aaron and Stacy Franklin graduated in 2011 from a food truck to this cinder block building. Mr. Franklin has since become one of the country\u2019s most recognizable pitmasters. His buttery-tender brisket, juicy sausage and weekend-only beef ribs remain consistently exceptional. And the hospitality, extended even in the pre-opening hours to customers waiting on the sidewalk, bears none of the entitlement or cynicism typically found at restaurants where the demand for seats so vastly exceeds the supply. All of which makes Franklin a rare breed: a restaurant that has become a tourist attraction, while upholding the standards that made it famous in the first place. BRETT ANDERSON<\/p>\n
900 East 11th Street; 512-653-1187; franklinbbq.com<\/p>\n
Texas barbecue has always been great. It has also never been better. Get yourself to this northwest Austin joint for a taste of how both things can be true. The brisket and pork spare ribs are as good as any you\u2019ll find, traditionally prepared and reminiscent of what Texans have been eating for generations. But the owner and co-pitmaster John Bates also applies the techniques and creative license of fine dining to expand the Texas barbecue repertoire, which here includes pulled lamb shoulder, pork belly glazed with peach tea and turkey breast marinated in hefeweizen. The sides are so delicious \u2014 smoked scalloped potatoes, a citrusy beet salad topped with pumpkin seeds \u2014 you could even post a sign once unthinkable near Texas barbecue: vegetarians welcome. BRETT ANDERSON<\/p>\n
12233 Ranch Road 620 North, Suite 105; 512-382-6248; theinterstellarbbq.com<\/p>\n
Are you the type of person who finds outsize comfort in short-order cafes and diners, preferably with a bit of age on them? Perhaps you feel the same about Mexican restaurants where you can get a pork chop with your huevos, the taco selection runs to nearly 20 and refried beans are effectively unavoidable? You\u2019ll love Joe\u2019s, which also happens to be a time capsule from the era when East Austin was a working-class Mexican American stronghold. The breakfast-and-lunch restaurant has been run by the women of the Avila family for most of the years since Joe Avila opened it in 1962. You\u2019ll undoubtedly want more of the fluffy, housemade flour tortillas; extras are 50 cents apiece. BRETT ANDERSON<\/p>\n
2305 East Seventh Street; 512-472-0017; joesbakery.com<\/p>\n
Kemuri is arguably (along with Blood Bros. BBQ, outside Houston) the state\u2019s most fully realized Asian-influenced barbecue place. What the chef-owners Tatsu Aikawa and Takuya Matsumoto call a Texas izakaya is also a full-service restaurant that imagines what a Japanese chef might have been cooking at a Texas roadhouse 100 years ago. The answer covers a lot of ground, from smoked eel, hamachi collar and brisket to rayfin jerky, karaage with egg salad and a daily-changing sashimi. Mr. Aikawa and Mr. Matsumoto are innovative tastemakers who operate a number of popular Texas-inspired Japanese restaurants in Austin. This restaurant and bar, first opened in 2017 and decorated with Texas flags, taxidermy and vintage signs in Japanese, is their crowning achievement, at least thus far. BRETT ANDERSON<\/p>\n
2713 East Second Street, Austin; 512-803-2224; kemuri-tatsuya.com<\/p>\n
East Austin | Lao, American<\/p>\n
Everyone here is sweating, and it\u2019s not because of the Texas heat. The flavors of Lao\u2019d Bar are relentless in the best way. The papaya salad stings with eye-watering fresh chiles; the fiery crying tiger sauce that coats the rib-eye lahb demands a lager to be drunk alongside. The Lao American chef Bob Somsith, who used to run a Southeast Asian food truck, roots his cooking in Laotian tradition \u2014 fish sauce, herbs and chiles abound \u2014 but isn\u2019t afraid to take creative liberties. The Lao\u2019d smash burger, for example, is proof that American cheese and lemongrass-spiked pork sausage make a dreamy pair. In a former parking lot, Mr. Somsith has created a restaurant that feels more like a house party, with garage doors, string lights and colorful tablecloths \u2014 and where one frozen guava cocktail may easily give way to more. PRIYA KRISHNA<\/p>\n
9909 FM 969, Building 4; 512-902-5048; laodbar.com<\/p>\n
Bouldin Creek | French-Texas Bistro<\/p>\n
Claudia Lee and Richard Hargreave, the married owners of Le Calamar, recruited the chef Casey Wall to create a restaurant that, since opening in May, has filled a local void for a modern bistro-brasserie. The classic dishes are better than you remember, often thanks to grace notes like the sauce vin jaune pooling around pan-roasted chicken or the chicken liver parfait served in a jar with fruit preserves, which feels like encouragement to spread it thick. There are Texas influences, too, though they aren\u2019t loudly broadcast. It\u2019s a credit to Mr. Wall\u2019s sensible spin on locavorism that you can complete a meal here without realizing the brown butter over the Gulf fish amandine is darkened by salsa macha, or that the restaurant\u2019s twist on baked Alaska is built from local pecans, honey and olive oil. The wine-friendly menu is well served by the bottle list, curated by Mr. Hargreave, which includes options from France, Texas and Mexico.<\/p>\n
1600 South First Street, Suite 100; no phone; le-calamar.com<\/p>\n
South Manchaca | Barbecue<\/p>\n
The pitmaster Evan LeRoy has been building a following for his open-minded take on Texas barbecue since 2017, when he opened the first LeRoy and Lewis as a food truck with his wife, Lindsey, and partners Sawyer and Nathan Lewis. So it\u2019s no surprise to find crowds at the brick-and-mortar location that opened last winter. Established favorites (Citra hop pork sausage, brisket burger, cauliflower \u201cburnt ends\u201d) are on a menu that also expands on L and L\u2019s freewheeling style. Lamb kofta tacos and smoked Italian beef sandwiches are among the new additions that will leave diners grateful to live in the age when Texas barbecue is so open to experimentation. BRETT ANDERSON<\/p>\n
5621 Emerald Forest Drive; 512-962-7805; leroyandlewisbbq.com<\/p>\n
Windsor Park\/East Austin | Barbecue, Deli<\/p>\n
Giving Jewish deli food the barbecue treatment is one of those ideas that feels obvious as soon as you chow down on peppery, smoky slabs of pastrami between two thick pieces of toast with a big smear of mustard. But you didn\u2019t think of it. The chef Geoffrey Ellis did. Mum Foods \u2014 which operates as a brick-and-mortar as well as a farmers\u2019 market stall \u2014 is a sandwich lover\u2019s dream, a place where the ratio of meat to bread to condiments feels obsessively considered. PRIYA KRISHNA<\/p>\n
5811 Manor Road; 512-270-8021; mumfoodsatx.com<\/p>\n
Edgar Rico and Sara Mardanbigi\u2019s taquer\u00eda is like no other that you\u2019ll find in this taco-packed town. There is fish sauce in the salsa crudo, and furikake dusts the tuna tostadas. The sholeh zard is inspired by the Iranian dessert Ms. Mardanbigi grew up eating, blended with elements of the arroz con leche from Mr. Rico\u2019s Mexican American childhood. Nixta is justifiably known for its tortillas \u2014 Mr. Rico makes masa using heirloom corn and nixtamalization. The reservations-only tasting menu, served Thursday through Saturday, further showcases the couple\u2019s stunning creativity and ambition. But most of the time Nixta remains what it always has been: a counter taquer\u00eda of the utmost excellence. PRIYA KRISHNA<\/p>\n
2512 East 12th Street; no phone; nixtataqueria.square.site<\/p>\n
North Loop | Thai, Chinese<\/p>\n
The chef Thai Changthong has been cooking khao man gai for more than a decade, but here he finally has the space to showcase the extent of his expertise. His version is a masterpiece: whole chickens are poached in a rich, two-year-old broth, placed in an ice bath so the skin gets taut, then hung dry, yielding meat you can slice through like butter. The poached pieces are served with slinky slices of chicken skin, rice enveloped in chicken fat, ginger, garlic and a sauce of fermented beans, Thai chile and ginger that could awaken the dead. This cooking speaks to the distinct cuisine born of Chinese immigrants who moved to Thailand, adapting their dishes to the electric flavors of their new home. The kitchen prepares seven distinct sauces to supplement your meal. Order them all. PRIYA KRISHNA<\/p>\n
4807 Airport Boulevard; 512-387-1852; p-thai.com<\/p>\n
For a while, the Paprika truck was a not-so-well-kept secret for some of the best suadero in town. Last year, the husband-and-wife owners, Margarito and Hayden P\u00e9rez, opened a brick-and-mortar taquer\u00eda, and the tacos have only gotten better. The P\u00e9rezes approach the menu like the high-achieving students of Mexican food that they are, using more than seven kinds of chiles in their tenacious, garlicky salsa macha and repurposing the previous day\u2019s tallow to confit the next batch of suadero \u2014 their secret to packing so much complexity into a small taco. Austin may feel steeped in the tech industry now, but Paprika \u2014 with its cheerful spirit and casual, all-are-welcome vibe \u2014 still feels like it belongs to the community. PRIYA KRISHNA<\/p>\n
6539 North Lamar Boulevard; 512-716-5873; instagram.com\/paprikaatx<\/p>\n
What, exactly, did they put in this snapper to make it taste this good? And the cabbage? And the beans? At this Mexican-inspired restaurant, practically every dish inspires that level of wonder. Only a chef as wildly creative as Ferm\u00edn N\u00fa\u00f1ez could think to give beans the aligot treatment and slather them on a tlayuda, or reinvent the Choco Taco with cinnamon semifreddo and peanut caramel. Mr. N\u00fa\u00f1ez is charting a distinctive path for himself in Mexican cooking. PRIYA KRISHNA<\/p>\n
1800 East Sixth Street; 512-522-3031; suerteatx.com<\/p>\n
In 1995, Tyson Cole, a white, Florida-born sushi novice, was hired by Takehiko Fuse, a revered Japanese chef working in Austin, on the condition that he learn to speak, read and write Japanese. That discipline is still evident in the food at Uchi, the restaurant Mr. Cole opened eight years later. This sequence of events helps explain how Austin, a landlocked city where people of Japanese descent make up only 0.2 percent of the population, became home to one of the country\u2019s most dynamic Japanese restaurant scenes. Dishes that partner raw or lightly cooked seafood with non-Japanese marinades and sauces, fruits and even goat cheese are emblematic of Uchi\u2019s locally influential cross-culture style \u2014 now found at Uchi locations around the country. Nevertheless, dinner here is a uniquely Austin experience. BRETT ANDERSON<\/p>\n
801 South Lamar Boulevard; 512-916-4808; uchi.uchirestaurants.com<\/p>\n
Multiple locations | Mexican<\/p>\n
Veracruz All Natural<\/p>\n
In the Texas breakfast-taco wars, Veracruz All Natural remains one of Austin\u2019s stalwart champions. And it\u2019s not just because of the restaurant\u2019s beloved migas taco, a delightful mess of tortilla chips, scrambled eggs and pico de gallo wrapped in a fresh corn tortilla. The sisters and owners Maritza and Reyna Vazquez have created a mini-chain of taquerias, inspired by their coastal Mexican hometown, that helped move the city beyond Tex-Mex, toward Mexican fare that emphasizes fresh produce, bright flavors and pressed juices. Austin is a better food town for it. PRIYA KRISHNA<\/p>\n
Multiple locations; veracruzallnatural.com<\/p>\n