Aviary Takes Flight

The coolest little bar in South Austin unveils big plans for the future

Aviary is evolving.

What started as a simple home decor shop has, in the past decade, matured into a South Austin favorite for wine, small bites, and stylish home furnishings. Now Aviary Decor & Lounge has plans to become a full-service wine bar and kitchen.

Aviary recently launched a Kickstarter to fund a massive renovation of the 1,200-square-foot space on South Lamar Boulevard. Co-owner Marco Fiorilo and his team hope to raise $50,000 to build a full kitchen, enlarge the bar, spruce up the deck, and complete the space's transformation.

"With the addition of wine, Aviary has evolved, redirected, rebranded, and ultimately grown, and so with it have the demands and needs of both our patrons and the business. We’re excited that it has finally come time to redevelop Aviary as a full wine bar and kitchen," says the Kickstarter.

Currently, the neighborhood gem serves cheese and charcuterie plates and carries about 30 wines. In its next iteration, Aviary will launch a comprehensive food menu — complete with raw bar — and hopes to expand the wine selection to 200-300 offerings. Aviary will also add lunch hours, as well as service on Mondays.

While the space and concept may be changing, Aviary pledges to maintain the strong sense of community that it has nurtured for the past 10 years. "Though wine is the priority in revamping the business, Aviary is so much more than a wine bar. It is a community gathering place, a sanctuary, and true nest for all that is weird and brilliant about Austin," the campaign states.

To celebrate the launch of the Kickstarter, Aviary is hosting a pig roast Saturday, July 9.

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Green Spaghett Superiority

Bon Appétit loves this Lockhart joint on its Best New Restaurants list

Barbs B Q/Instagram

The Austin-area mentions were far flung, from Lockhart (Barbs B Q, pictured) to Harker Heights near Killeen.

One charming barbecue joint near Austin has done it once again, this time making one of the top editorial lists a U.S. eatery can make: Bon Appétit's 20 Best New Restaurants list.

Barbs B Q in Lockhart was the only Texas restaurant to clinch a spot, but not the only one specializing on the smoker. It joins King Barbecue in North Charleston, South Carolina. The list was very international, and especially contains nods to Asian cuisines.

However, Barbs was the only spot credited with pushing its entire genre forward in its introduction: "Sticky ribs, green spaghetti, and barbecue’s next wave."

This spot garnered huge amounts of attention right away when it opened in May 2023. (For those who could swear it's been open for longer...we see you.) Most restaurants would not strive to be called cute, but Barbs' branding centers around a red-and-pink color scheme, heart motifs, and assorted silliness. Still, the food speaks for itself, and almost immediately landed on some very serious lists including ones by Southern Living, Texas Monthly, and the New York Times.

As the teaser suggests, one of Barbs' strongest suits is an innovative menu, which includes the lime-forward "Molotov Pork Ribs," fajita sausage, lamb chops, and vegan sandwiches. This short write-up by Elazar Sontag appreciates the youthfulness not just of the brand, but of the prodigious pitmaster. In fact, she receives the "Chef of the Moment" badge, which only goes to one honoree on the list.

"There’s excitement as people sit on coolers and discuss the 26-year-old pitmaster who’s turned the barbecue world upside down," writes Sontag. "Fresh out of college and working at Goldee’s in Fort Worth, Chuck Charnichart earned a reputation as perhaps the finest brisket cook in Texas. At Barbs B Q, whose cheeky name is inspired by Nicki Minaj’s fanbase (“the Barbz”), Charnichart goes beyond that classic cut and adopts an irreverent style shaped by pop culture, her Mexican-American upbringing, and the flavors of South Texas."

Sontag also calls out the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos-inspired sticky pork ribs and attributes the "herby" spaghetti to the Rio Grande Valley. "Where traditionalists zig, Charnichart zags and this state’s barbecue is better for it," he writes.

These words were partially excerpted from a story called "This 26-Year-Old Pitmaster Is Reshaping Texas Barbecue," which was first published in August 2024 and is linked in the September list. Bon Appétit also pointed readers to a recipe from Barbs B Que: a Pineapple Upside Down Cobbler using crushed pineapple and sour cherries.

Austin restaurants are a common thread on this list from year to year. In 2023, coastal Mexican restaurant Este also made Bon Appétit's list, and was again the only Texas restaurant represented. In 2022, it was Canje, with special attention to the highly celebrated pastry chef Tavel Bristol-Joseph. Birdie's was on the list of 50 nominees, but didn't accompany Canje to the top 10. Other Austin favorites have made the nominees list or better going back at least a decade.

The full list from around the country is available at bonappetit.com. You do not need to be a subscriber to see the list.