Simply the best

9 best Austin restaurants for a lavish Mother's Day brunch

Mom will love the heart-shaped waffles at Carpenters Hall.

Photo by Alex Lau

Truth be known, Moms deserve the world. After all, they make boo-boos better, suffer through the pains of adolescence, and give rock-solid advice. The least anyone can do is treat them to one heck of a brunch.

Fortunately, the Capital City excels at the Sunday tradition — and that goes double on Mother’s Day. Yes, there are plenty of places where “moms eat free,” but don’t be a cheapskate. She gave you everything; it's time to pony up.

Cannon + Belle
If Mom is bored with the same old Benedicts, head to the flagship restaurant in the downtown Hilton for one of Austin’s most unexpected buffets. Cold stations dish up fresh seafood and creative salads while the mains include carved leg of lamb with horseradish, mustard, and mint chutney; baked halibut; and a petite filet with smoked mushrooms and a corn relish. And of course, there is a showstopping dessert table. The brunch is also available from 11 am- 5 pm, so there’s no need to rush. $65 for adults, $19.95 for kids 6-12, and free for children 5 and under.

Carpenters Hall
Perfect for moms with a Dwell subscription, the brunch at the trendy Carpenter Hotel offers tasty treats for everyone. In addition to traditional fare like heart-shaped waffles with maple syrup and berry butter, chef Grae Nonas is also offering specials including a blue crab omelet, spaghetti carbonara, shrimp salad tostada, and house made doughnuts and mini hand pies. Pair the meal with an aged rum Old Cuban for an unconventional twist. 10 am-3 pm, a la carte.

Emmer & Rye
This acclaimed Rainey Street eatery is catching an island breeze for its Caribbean Mother’s Day brunch. Book a seat from 10:00 am-3:30 pm and choose from entrées like coconut French toast with caramelized bananas and jerk chicken with blistered kales and stewed tomato. Each meal comes with dessert and unlimited mimosas and a special a la carte menu will be available to keep the kids happy. $50.

Juniper
Spoil mom at this East Austin fave, which is bringing back its brunch service for one day only. The prix fixe format allows guests to pick one starter, two small plates, and mains ranging from white lasagna to breakfast gnocchi with Italian sausage, poached egg, and maple syrup. The real fun, however, is in the “treat yo’ self” add-ons, which treats guests to luxe dishes like oysters on the half shell, pancakes with sturgeon caviar, and tenderloin steak and eggs for an extra cost. 10 am-3 pm, $45.

Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa
Brunch settings don’t come much more beautiful than this luxury resort near Bastrop. And buffets don’t come much more lavish than its Mother’s Day feast. The spread, offered from 10 am-2 pm, includes fresh seafood, artisan charcuterie, a carving station with prime rib and blackened salmon, truffle and parmesan mac ’n’ cheese, and a chocolate fountain. Plus, adults get complimentary Champagne. $64 for adults, $28 for children 6-12, and free for kids ages 5 and under.

L’Oca d’Oro
Jazz up the big day with a brunch set to live music from The Lucky Strikes. The prix fixe, available between 10 am-3 pm, starts with rosemary focaccia, a sourdough zeppole, and Caprese salad for the table then moves onto tempting main entree choices like butter poached royal red shrimp with potato gnocchi and lobster hollandaise; a hearty lasagna with a meatball ragu, pine nut pesto ricotta, and tomato confit; or white Sonoran crepes with caramelized bananas and L’Oca’s house take on Nutella. $45 for adults and $25 for kids 2-12.

Olive & June
Treat Mom to an Italian feast underneath the oaks at this neighborhood gem. The three courses start with dishes for the table including biscuits with fonduta and honey butter; an arugula salad with coddled egg; and a decadent pasta dish with hollandaise, crab, and asparagus. From there, guests can choose from either a garden frittata with squash and heirloom tomatoes or a waffle topped with ’nduja and apple saba (a thick syrup made from freshly crushed fruit juice). Brunch is 10:30 am-2 pm and comes with complimentary mimosas for the guest of honor. $38.

Punch Bowl Social
This North Austin entertainment hub may be offering the greatest Mother’s Day gift of all: free arcade play for kids. While the children play on, moms can savor dishes like a sausage and egg panini or asparagus and kale strata, or hit up the build-your-own “momosa” or Bloody Mary bar. A kids’ buffet will also be offered between 10 am-3 pm to make sure the day is blissfully free of tantrums. A la carte.

Revue
Moms can build-their-own brunch at the Fairmont Hotel’s unlimited buffet. Stations are scattered throughout the on-site food hall serving customizable parfaits, cheese, and charcuterie; prime rib; smoked salmon Benedicts; chicken pot pie; and fruits der mer. And that just scratches the surface. The festivities last from 9 am-3 pm, and include a bag to load up on goodies from the candy apothecary. $85 for grownups, $19 for children 5-12.

brunch holidays

Belles of the Ballroom

9 Austin bar and venue experts take over popular Old Austin space near UT

29th Street Ballroom/Facebook

Changes are coming at the 29th Street Ballroom, but the goal is to preserve what already makes it special.

The evolution continues at the 29th Street Ballroom, the music venue formerly attached to Spider House Café. It's no secret, Resound Presents CEO and co-founder Graham Williams says, that he and a large team of other industry pros are taking over the space; but now they're ready to talk about what comes next for the venue and adjoining bar.

Although Spider House Café closed in 2020, the Ballroom stayed open, and has continued serving University of Texas students and anyone else who wants to see a show outside of the ordinary: punk shows, burlesque revues, fundraisers, and more. It'll stay open through most of the renovations, scheduled through January of 2025, and is expected to hold a grand opening in March.

Now Resound — one of Austin's top live music organizers, which was itself born from the ashes of another Austin institution — is lending two of its co-founders to managing the space going forward: Williams and Ian Orth. They're joining seven other team members from venues around town, many of them overlapping: Amy Mullins, Brian Tweedy, Jason McNeely, John Yaklin, and Shannon LeBoeuf of Hotel Vegas, Chess Club, Kinda Tropical, Tweedy’s, and Yellow Jacket Social Club, in varying capacities; and Brian Buscemi and Mike Sanchez of the Little Darlin’.

Williams emphasizes that although things will be changing at the Ballroom, the goal isn't to change anything people already love.

"Over the next few months as we kind of ease into the spring, we're using this downtime to revitalize things, decorate, revamp some of the stuff in the venue and the bar, and just kind of get things moving in the right direction," Williams says, "taking what's already popular about the venue and just adding to it, really."

Bar updates
The biggest shift will be turning the bar from an accessory to live shows into its own entity that's open even when there's nothing else going on. Amy Mullins, best known as a co-owner of Yellow Jacket Social Club, is overseeing that transition. She's never operated a venue that is primarily focused on music, and has been enjoying learning more about how to do it; she even worked the door recently when a staff member called out sick.

Mullins echoes Williams in assuring that the change is more about logistics than tone. It'll still feel like Old Austin, but she does express a hope to run more than the "typical venue bar," handing out simple drinks as quickly as possible. She's working on a new menu that includes wine, beer, craft cocktails, and non-alcoholic options like tea, kombucha, or mocktails. Regardless of what's on the schedule on any given night, Mullins says the menu will stay the same.

"There's no drink too complicated for us to make, however busy we are," she says.

Food options
Another goal for the team will be making sure the space works when there's not someone onstage to crowd around. They'll expand the front and side patios and create a food truck food court that features the same trucks that are there now, plus one newcomer. All in all, that includes Yalla Burger & Wings, Gyro Center, Li’l Nonna’s Vegan Pizzeria, Guppy’s Indian Fried Chicken, Waylon J’s BBQ, and Ay Chihuahua Tacos.

The expanded patio will connect to Tweedy's Bar next door, which also has its own food trucks. The idea is to create a space to hang out after shows that feels fit for the purpose. It's possible to stick around after events now, but the layout does create a vague feeling of loitering.

Artist and fan-friendly tweaks
On the entertainment side, Williams says some of the renovations include putting in a new sound system, redoing the green room, updating the facade, and repainting signs. Since the winter is a slower time for live music, they'll be taking advantage of the extra time to work on things before packing the calendar with more events than before. Resound will handle most of the bookings in live music, comedy, and DJ sets, welcoming both national and local talent.

Whatever the details end up being, this team has proved to Austinites that they know how to run venues worth visiting. And since they're all friends and business partners on multiple levels, it sounds like having this many cooks in the kitchen just isn't an issue.

"Some of us have been roommates and known each other since we were young," says Williams. "It's a good mix of people who are all very like minded, so a lot is being brought to the table per decision. So yeah, it's it's really exciting. Sometimes that's not the case. .... But with this project, it's a lot of really great, creative people that are good at what they do [and] they trust each other."

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