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Local Southern restaurant shutters, Snap Kitchen goes national, and more Austin food news

Poppy's Southern Recipes barbecue shrimp

Poppy's Southern Recipes was a Steiner Ranch favorite for Cajun and Southern comfort food.

Editor's note: We get it. It can be difficult to keep up with the what’s what and who’s who of Austin food. We have you covered with our regular roundup of the freshest Austin restaurant news.

After less than a year in business, Steiner Ranch Cajun spot Poppy’s Southern Recipes closed June 22. Owners Mark and Deidre Harvey opened the eatery at 4300 N. Quinlan Park Rd. in August 2018 with a menu of classics like gumbo, po’ boys, étouffée, and New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp. According to a Facebook post, the shutter was forced by a medical diagnosis. Although Poppy’s tried to cut back to four days a week, the Harveys soon realized that recovery would require their full attention.

Hot off opening its Cedar Park location on May 15, popular San Francisco chain Ike’s Love & Sandwiches debuted in Sunset Valley at 5207 Brodie Ln., Ste. 210 on June 19. To celebrate its grand opening on June 27, the new eatery will be giving out free sandwiches to the first 50 guests. CEO and founder Ike Shehadeh and franchise partner (and former Houston Astros No. 1 draft pick) Mark Appel will be in attendance.

A new concept is moving into 415 E. Sixth St., the former home to a string of spots, including Agave and Big Bang Bar. Although a web presence has not been established for Bijou Lounge just yet, a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission filing states that it will have a full bar and offer late night hours.

The June 25 sale of Texas Monthly may be the talk of the town, but that’s not the only news coming out of the venerable magazine. On June 19 at the Wine and Food Foundation of Texas’ Toast of Texas event, the periodical named a Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre blend from Driftwood winery Fall Creek Vineyards its Top Texas Wine of 2018.

Central Market has been named among the cleanest grocery stores in America by nonprofit watchdog Consumer Reports. The rankings were culled from a survey of more than 75,000 of the organization’s members. Of the 96 grocers rated, only six earned the highest marks in the white glove test. California-based Trader Joe’s, also operating in Austin, was the only national chain on the list.

In the most exciting pairing since DJ Jazzy Jeff teamed up with the Fresh Prince, Uchiko has announced a Ko-Lab (get it?) dinner with red-hot East Austin restaurant Suerte. The six-course dinner on July 1 will include a variety of family style and individual dishes melding Japanese and Mexican cuisine. Reservations for the $175 feast can be made by calling 512-916-4808.

Austin-based Snap Kitchen is going national. On June 24, the healthy grab-and-go chain announced that it was now offering direct-ship meals throughout the South and East Coast. The meal-plan service — covering specialty diets like plant-based, keto, Whole30, paleo, and high protein — were previously only available in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and Philadelphia.

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Peak Plates

7 Austin restaurants make OpenTable's top 100 for 2024

Jeffrey's Restaurant/Instagram

Jeffrey's Restaurant is a great example of the type of fancy, well-established restaurant that made the list.

Restaurant reservation website OpenTable has issued its new list of the top 100 restaurants in America for 2024, and seven Austin restaurants have made the list. That's already impressive at a glance — 7 percent of the entire national list in just one city — but compared to other Texas cities, it's huge. Austin is the only Texas city to have more than one restaurant on the list.

The "2024's Top 100 Restaurants" list is a compilation of the most sought-after and top-ranked restaurants in the U.S. based on 14 million verified reviews on OpenTable from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024. Restaurants are not ranked, but arranged in alphabetical order by state.

Austin's seven restaurants (including several repeats from OpenTable's 2023 list) are:

Aba: Known for its laid-back, yet fancy patio and being a popular spot for visiting celebrities
J Carver's: Known for a commitment to the classic steakhouse experience and legitimately fancy dining
Jeffrey's Restaurant: Known for fine dining, a connection to Austin before its boom, and a fantastic wine program
Red Ash Italia: Known for approachable, yet high-quality Italian food with rustic touches
Sammie's Italian: Known for its romantic take on the archetype of an East Coast Italian joint
Uchi: Known for bringing Austin into the national sushi conversation and defining the scene
Uchiko: Known for a cool atmosphere and getting creative with sushi and other small plates

Austinites will probably not be surprised by this list, which names some very well-established restaurants that are all upscale. These qualities tend to appeal to similar lists, regardless of who's curating them.

It is interesting, given that the list was democratically based on user ratings, that there were not more beloved food trailers or casual spots. However, other factors that led to high rankings included alerts set and reservations made ahead — things that don't really apply to even the most awesome taco truck.

Mediterranean food was a trend among the Austin picks. Red Ash Italia and Sammie's Italian are, as the names would imply, completely dedicated to Italian food, while Aba covers a wider swath of the Mediterranean. There were also two steakhouses: J Carver's and Jeffrey's Restaurant.

As list-perusers may have guessed, Uchi and Uchiko are in the same family of restaurants, with Uchi being the more formal and Uchiko being a bit more accessible for drop-in meals and cocktails. But are two more incognito duos of sibling restaurants on the list: J Carver's and Red Ash, and Jeffrey's Restaurant and Sammie's Italian.

That could be a coincidence. It could also be a reflection of the utility of money and experience in opening a good restaurant, or a lesson about the effects of good (and expensive) marketing. Whatever it is, it doesn't sound like hospitality groups had any direct sway on how OpenTable made its choices.

This list was different from the inaugural list of OpenTable Icons, which launched in 2024. The "Icons" list chose restaurants that are getting a lot of buzz, which ended up being more subjective. It also seemed to let in — as a side effect of the process, rather than a hard eligibility rule — more new and Mexican restaurants. Two restaurants are on both lists: Red Ash and Jeffrey's.

Restaurants outside of Austin that made the Top 100 list, organized alphabetically, are:

Hudson House — Dallas
Steak 48 — Houston
Signature — San Antonio

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