This is Neat

Austin's first whiskey distillery since Prohibition starts pouring soon

Still Austin Whiskey Co distillery rendering

Still Austin Whiskey Co. is opening soon in South Austin.

Rendering courtesy of Opa Design Studio

Austin is getting its first whiskey distillery since the Prohibition era when Still Austin Whiskey Co. opens at The Yard this winter.

"We wanted to create a place where the whiskey novice and the experienced whiskey drinker can both find something they're excited about," co-founder Lisa Braunberg tells CultureMap. "Still Austin Whiskey Co. is one of the rare birds of distilling in that we're building a fully 'grain-to-glass' distillery, making whiskey from 100 percent scratch. We've built a distillery that lets us do it all in-house: milling, mashing, fermenting, distilling, barreling, and bottling — right here in the heart of Austin."

Braunberg founded the urban distillery alongside her husband, Andrew; husband-and-wife Sal and Joanna Salinas; and father-son duo Cleveland and Chris Seals. The team is rounded out by distiller Kris Bohm, who comes from Ascendant Spirits in California.

Still Austin is dedicated to making bourbon and whiskey with locally sourced ingredients. The lineup includes aged options in addition to small-batch flavors and three "New Make" whiskeys, which Braunber describes as unaged varietals "created using a unique fermentation process that brings out caramel and fresh bread notes and provides a smooth finish."

All can be enjoyed in a large tasting room and outdoor whiskey garden, which serve as the centerpiece to the 9,600-square-foot distillery. Still Austin also will host tours and a variety of themed events, from live music to yoga.

"We're particularly excited about an experience we call Distill Your Own Barrel (DYOB). This event lets us share our passion for making whiskey with anyone interested. It's meant for groups who want to get together and do something unique — have a hands-on DIY whiskey making experience," says Braunberg.

The team recently installed a 45-foot bourbon still designed by Michael Delevante and crafted by the acclaimed Forsyths of Scotland. Once the distillery is up and running, Still Austin whiskey will be available onsite and at retailers and bars across town.

The team is eyeing a December opening. Still Austin will join fellow boozy tenants the Austin Winery and St. Elmo Brewing Company at the burgeoning South Austin complex.

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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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