2 Best Restaurants in Austin, Texas

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Though Mexican, Tex-Mex, and barbecue are the default cuisines, everything from Brazilian to Pacific Rim fusion has made headway here, and there are strong vegetarian and natural-food followers.

To find the best barbecue, local consensus tends to be that you've got to head out of town to Lockhart, Luling, or Llano, in the Hill Country. Nevertheless, there are several fine options within the city limits, the bulk of them simple places.

In some venues the music and food share nearly equal billing, like Threadgill's, whose massive chicken-fried steak is as much of a draw as the well-known blues and rock acts on stage. Stubb's Bar-B-Q hosts a popular gospel brunch on Sundays.

Austin is a casual city, and the dress code is almost always "come as you are"; a few restaurants require a jacket for men. Tips are generally 20%. Smoking is prohibited inside restaurants and bars, though some allow smoking on their outdoor patios.

Sway

$$ | South Austin Fodor's Choice

Based on a distinctive Australian-style Thai cuisine, Sway has provided Austin with an injection of modern Thai fusion in a chic, sexy setting. The South Austin hotspot, which opened in 2012, has received high acclaim from luminaries like Bon Appetit, who ranked it as one of the “50 Best New Restaurants in America” in 2013. The alluring menu offers tasty starters like prawn miange, followed by options including stir fry, curry, wok noodle, and grilled and fried rice preparations. We recommend the Jungle Curry, with wagyu beef, eggplant, and red chilis, or the lemongrass-perfumed tom kha gai soup. Reservations are required for the twice-nightly Moo Sway dinners, featuring off-menu specialties like whole roasted pork shoulder, all served family-style. To drink there's wine, sake, and beer, plus custom kombuchas and drinking vinegars (with flavors like tamarind and apple), mixed with Topo Chico and served over crushed ice. Seating is mainly communal and quickly fills up on weekends. Take-out orders are now accepted online, making the elevated cuisine more accessible.

Thai Fresh

$ | South Austin Fodor's Choice

Relaxed and locally sourced, this no-frills café is a staple for lovers of high-quality Thai food in a casual neighborhood setting. Part grab-and-go market and coffee bar, part café, and part cooking-class destination, Thai Fresh is a popular breakfast, lunch, and dinner spot, with a diverse range of curries, stir-fries, and noodle and fried-rice dishes. Homemade breakfast tacos are also available throughout the day. Locals drop by for their iced chai lattes and sparkling Thai basil lime aguas frescas, or stick around to indulge in one of their organic vegan ice creams and kombucha cocktails with sake, sparkling rosé, or white wine. Brunch is served on weekends.