News You Can Eat

Greek lunch deals and a live music comeback freshen up Austin food news

Yamas is now serving lunch, including a three-course deal.

Photo courtesy of Mylk Collective

With all that's perpetually new in Austin food, sometimes we like to take a look at the smaller changes. Some of those happening this week include new lunch and happy hour deals, a new tasting room in an existing distillery, and the return of live music at a longtime local restaurant.

Openings and closings

Genius Liquids and one of its brands, Creador Agave Spirits, quietly opened a tasting room at their distillery in Bastrop this September. Although it's specifically branded an agave spirits tasting room, the space also offers gin tastings, and guests can purchase bottles of spirits. Over 90 minutes, visitors will get a welcome cocktail, and the founders and owners of Genius Liquids and Creador will lead them through four curated pours. Tastings are $60 per person, by reservation only on Saturdays and Sundays. The distillery is located at 704 State Hwy 71 D300.

Hopefully this is just a temporary hurdle; on October 27, KC Donuts (8106 Brodie Ln. #105) experienced a fire, which has resulted in the store being closed. "We are so grateful for the fast response from our amazing firefighters," said the business in a Facebook post the next day. "We are still in the beginning stages of recovery. The reopening timeline is still undetermined. We will keep you all posted on the progress." According to fire officials via CBS Austin, the cause of the fire was a fryer that was left on.

ICYMI: Many Americans view dried "ramen" noodles as a struggle meal, but a new eatery in Cedar Park called K-Ramyun is dressing up the experience a little with more than 60 flavors guests can cook onsite with add-ins. in other news, an East Austin pickleball court is reopening November 1, and it'll be debuting a food truck by the Bill's Oyster team serving burgers, soft serve, and a few other comfort foods. (Austinites who want more of the soft serve trend can find options here.) Finally, the Houston-born café Dish Society has followed up its extremely popular Mueller debut with a second Austin location, this time on South 1st Street.

K-Ramyun Cedar Park interior At K-Ramyun you can choose from over 60 noodle flavors and 20 toppings to build your own bowl. Photo from K-Ramyun via Yelp

Other news and notes

Two upscale, new (or newish) Austin restaurants are expanding their service. Yamas, a Greek restaurant, is now serving lunch weekdays from 11 am to 2:30 pm. A very reasonable three-course prix fixe is available for $38, but à la carte items like spanakopita (spinach pastry) and moussaka (like shepherd's pie, lasagna, and eggplant combined) will also be available. Casa Bianca, a unique twist on Italian food with Japanese influences, has announced weekly specials like $1 oysters and updated its happy hour menu.

Casa Bianca oysters all'amatriciana The $1 oysters at Casa Bianca are a bit simpler, but these ones broiled with tomato, guanciale, pecorino are on the happy hour menu for $20 for a half dozen.Photo by Richard Casteel

Longtime Austin restaurant Satellite ATX, which opened in 2006, changed hands over the summer. Now owned by Austinites Ben Hardaway and Kullen Kifer (who started things off on the right foot with a Facebook introduction and feedback session), the restaurant is undergoing a bit of a renaissance. Live music is returning on Saturdays this November, with no cover charge and a new artist every week. That starts November 2. Kifer says in an email, "If the community loves it, you can expect more events to follow on one of the best patios in the area!" Scheduled acts are posted on social media.

El Día de los Muertos is inspiring deals and events around the city — more on some of those here. For foodies, we have two more deals to add to the plate. Taco truck Veracruz All Natural is inviting Austinites to a community celebration on November 1 at 2505 Webberville Rd., where they can bring food or altar offerings and enjoy tamales heated up over an open fire. Desnudo Coffee, also located on Webberville Road, will bring free coffee. On the fancier side, steakhouse Verdad True Modern Mexican is offering some holiday specials including half-off items from the sweet treat case November 1-2, and filet mignon tacos on Friday only. Free face painting guests visitors into the spirit.

news you can eat lunch donuts openings closings oysters live music food trucks

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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