News You Can Eat

5 things to know in Austin food right now: New Mexican restaurant opens garden bar outpost

Este is opening an intimate bar space on its grounds called Bar Toti.

Photo couresty of Bar Toti

Editor’s note: We get it. It can be difficult to keep up with the fast pace of Austin’s restaurant and bar scene. We have you covered with our regular roundup of essential food news.

Openings

Recent East Austin darlingEste, known for Mexican seafood and charcoal cooking, is opening up a garden bar to share its spotlight called Bar Toti. The menu is "inspired by the bar cultures of Spain, France, and Mexico," according to a release, including an unexpected "smashburger" by Chef Fermín Núñez, a current Tastemaker Awards nominee. Visitors can snack on other à la carte bar snacks like marinated olives, seasoned nuts, mussels, and Basque cake. Only 750 square feet, the side venue can accommodate 75 standing guests. Bar Toti opens on April 21 and operates Fridays and Saturdays from 5 pm to midnight.

Two openings at The Shops at Arbor Walk this April have expanded the food options at the North Austin outdoor mall. Casa Do Brasil, an upscale churrascaria (Brazilian steakhouse), brings fire-roasted meats straight to diners' tables alongside a salad bar, and opened on April 14. Teaspoon, which opened on April 1, brings teas, boba, coffee, and creative juice or milk mixes from the chain's Los Altos, California, origin. The Shops at Arbor Walk are located at 10515 N Mopac Expy.

Other news and notes

Topo Chico, the sparkling mineral water worthy of the cult obsession it's garnered since 1895, is branching out from its classic-but-safe flavor profiles with a whole new line called Topo Chico Sabores, launching on April 24. The three flavors come in cans containing real fruit juice and herbal extracts with no added sugars: blueberry with hibiscus, tangerine with ginger, and lime with mint. The new line will only be available in five regions: Texas, Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and New York.

Coffee drinkers who have found themselves wishing for a little more spice will be pleased to hear about Roasty Buds, a new Austin coffee brand since 2022 that just launched new flavors — and maybe even a little intimidated. Existing flavors include hatch chile, ghost pepper, and Carolina reaper, plus some non-spicy roasts. Joining the roster are Texas BBQ and cherry glaze BBQ, both smoky flavors, but the latter takes on more sweetness. Bags can be purchased at roastybuds.com.

Pasta Bar, the semi-Italian cousin of omakase restaurant Sushi by Scratch Restaurants, is not so new to Austin anymore as it celebrates its first anniversary in town. The 10-person chef's table has drawn much attention for its luxury plating and pricing, but the experience is surprisingly laid back, especially with wine pairing. A new spring menu features beautiful al dente cavatelli with Louisiana crawfish and nasturtium (an edible flower), a knockout Parisian gnocchi with bone marrow, and a Texas wagyu ribeye with acorn flour pasta. Reserve ($195) on Tock.

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Whoops

Michelin goofs on a few restaurants honored in first Texas guide

Kau Ba/Facebook

Houston's Kau Ba has been removed from the Michelin Guide.

Texans' reactions to the first Michelin Guide in the state have ranged from glowing to unimpressed, but a few notable mix-ups are more concrete than differences in taste. The November 11 ceremony honored more than 100 restaurants across the state, but at least two were in error. In Dallas the guide confused two restaurants with each other, and in Houston one of them had closed.

Starting in Dallas: The Guide's release announcing the list of restaurants who'd won awards included The Charles, an award-winning Italian restaurant in Dallas' Design District, as one of 57 restaurants that earned a "Recommended" rating.

The Charles is a surely deserving restaurant that opened in 2018, the first concept from acclaimed food & beverage group Duro Hospitality, which has since gone on to open other restaurants such as El Carlos Elegante, Sister, and Cafe Duro.

But the Guide got the wrong Charles: The real recipient was Mister Charles, a sibling Duro Hospitality restaurant that opened at 3219 Knox St. in early 2024.

The Charles specializes in Italian and Texas-inspired dishes.

Mister Charles features French and Italian-influenced dishes.

It wasn't just an incorrect name; it listed the accompanying (incorrect) address.

A spokesperson for Michelin Guide verified that Mister Charles was the winner and said that the listing of The Charles was a mistake.

“This was an internal error caused by our geolocation process. The problem will be corrected in the most expeditious manner,” the spokesperson said. The Guide website has since updated the list and replaced The Charles with Mister Charles.

Having a difference of opinion about a critic's choices is one thing — but having an error of this magnitude is something else entirely.

And blaming "geolocation" as the source of the error is a curious excuse. Geolocation refers to the ability to track the whereabouts of an electronic device using GPS, cell phone towers, WiFi access points or a combination of these.

The Houston mix-up was also disappointing, but only involved one restaurant: In a press release issued Thursday, November 14, the Guide announced that it had removed Montrose Vietnamese restaurant Kau Ba from the list of Bib Gourmand recipients.

The reason: "Upon further investigation, our team has discovered the restaurant has been permanently closed since our Inspection team's visits occurred," the statement reads.

As has been widely noted in local media, Kau Ba closed earlier this month. The restaurant’s Instagram account now belongs to Alora, which is described as “a fresh Peruvian-Vietnamese fusion concept inspired by travels to Saigon.” It is expected to open soon.

Open since 2018, Kau Ba served an innovative take on Vietnamese fare created by Nikki Tran. The restaurant built on the notoriety Tran had achieved after being featured in two Netflix series: Somebody Feed Phil and Ugly Delicious. It earned considerable acclaim, including a spot in the Houston Chronicle’s top 100 restaurants as recently as 2023 and a nomination for Best Neighborhood Restaurant in the 2021 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards.

The restaurant went through a number of iterations during its tenure. For three-and-a-half years, Tran partnered with Aya Sushi owners Minette Corpuz and Bruce Kish to oversee operations, but they parted ways in February 2023.

In an email sent to Houston Public Media, Tran expressed regret over Michelin's decision.

“But we understand and respect Michelin’s decision to remove Kau Ba from its selection,” Tran said to HPM. “Exercising an abundance of caution from a legal position, I am not able currently to share further details of our situation but I do hope to follow up soon with more information.”

“Until then, on behalf of the entire Kau Ba team, we want to thank the entire culinary community for the recognition and support,” Tran added. “Kau Ba is proud of the dishes we created and look forward to sharing very soon what’s next.”

Thankfully in Austin, things seem to be going okay. The capital city swept the competition with seven stars (one more than Houston now that the change has been made), and two green stars for sustainability — in fact, the only green stars in the state.

Austin also had four of the first-ever barbecue restaurants to be awarded stars. Houston also had one.

Austin's winning restaurants were Barley Swine, Craft Omakase, Hestia, Olamaie, InterStellar BBQ, John Bates, La Barbecue, Alison Clem, and LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue.

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