new year, new fun

Take 2024 by the horns at these 14 New Year's events in Austin

Happy New Year, Austin.

Photo by Kateryna Hliznitsova on Unsplash

It's finally time to welcome the new year and leave 2023 behind. Austinites will have plenty of opportunities to celebrate their own way at many beloved local eateries, bars, and celebrations all day (or night) long. And for the laid-back crowd, there's still numerous things to enjoy from the comfort of their couches.

Whether you’re looking to spend New Year's Eve at home, with your family, or out and about, we’ve got you covered with 14 fun-filled events happening around the city.

Before New Year's Eve

Meanwhile Brewing x Thinkery
Families are welcome to participate in a guided holiday print-making activity at Meanwhile Brewing in collaboration with Thinkery, from 11 am to 2 pm on December 30. Children of all ages are welcome at this event, but the activity is best-suited for children under seven. Holiday brews and non-alcoholic beverages will be available, as well as Meanwhile's lineup of food trucks. Admission is free.

To-go dining options

Uchi
Contemporary Japanese restaurant Uchi is celebrating the new year with a multi-course to-go menu suitable for two (fancy) people. A few of the delectable bites included in the meal are a caviar set, soft-shell crab maki, duck breast, and chef's choice nigiri. Uchi Austin's to-go menu is $300, with a $75 optional add-on for sparkling wine or sake. Orders can be made online, and pick-up times are available beginning Friday, December 29, through Sunday, December 31, between 4:15-9:30 pm.

Carve American Grille
Carve is offering two to-go dinner options for Austinites on December 30 and 31. The "Holiday Feast for 4" option includes a three-pound prime rib meal with au jus, a family-sized portion of soup or salad, and two family-style side dishes for $165. For a simpler to-go meal, the restaurant will also offer a three-course menu for $75 per person from 11 am to 10 pm. Orders can be made online.

Sunday, December 31

Dine-in options

Canje
Austinites are invited to join Canje in “Celebrating the New Year’s Traditions of the Caribbean” on December 31, starting with a six-course prix fixe dinner. Details regarding the menu items are being kept under wraps, but the meal surely won't disappoint with a talented chef like Harvard Aninye at the helm in the kitchen. Dressing in black and gold is highly encouraged for the evening. Canje's New Year's Eve dining experience will cost $125 per person. Reservations aren't required, but are encouraged, and can be made online via OpenTable.

Café No Sé
The culinary team at Café No Sé is working hard this holiday season to bring patrons the ultimate New Year's Eve dinner featuring five courses, champagne, an espresso martini, and more. The dinner is the restaurant's precursor to the South Congress Hotel's NYE party, and entry to the evening festivity is included for dinner guests. The dinner is $107 per person, with seatings at 7 pm and 9 pm. Reservations can be made via OpenTable.

Perry's Steakhouse
Both Perry's Steakhouse locations at Domain Northside and downtown will be serving two special prix fixe dinners for New Year's Eve, beginning at 4 pm. The "Standard Prix Fixe" dinner has a three-course menu for $89 per person before 5:30 pm, and $99 per person after 5:45 pm. The "Rare and Well Done Prix Fixe" meal also features three courses for $149 per person, dine-in only. Reservations can be made via OpenTable.

Olamaie
CultureMap's 2023 Chef of the Year, Amanda Turner, is churning out a unique prix fixe dinner on New Year's Eve, featuring three delectable courses for $150 per person. The first course is the guest's choice of crudo, beef tartare, or hushpuppies with foie gras mousse and pear butter. The second course is a choice between steak — wagyu ribeye or tenderloin — with whipped potatoes, a salad, duck, pork chop, or fish. The third course will feature a choice between an apple sorbet, tuxedo chocolate cake, or sweet potato semifreddo. Biscuits are included in the meal, and there is a family-style option for large groups. Reservations for Olamaie's New Years Eve's dinner begin at 5 pm and can be made online.

El Raval
In an ode to Spain's New Year's Eve festivities, El Raval's "Nochevieja" dinner is Chef Laila Bazahm's spin on Spanish holiday dishes. The six-course meal will include East Coast oysters with scallop crudo, foie gras terrine with caramelized leeks, dry-aged wagyu beef carpaccio, and much more. The "Nochevieja" dinner is $95 per person, and will be served from 5-9:30 pm. Dinner guests can opt for an additional wine pairing ($45 per person) or cocktail pairing ($50 per person). Reservations can be made via OpenTable.

Evening celebrations

Devil May Care
Devil May Care's classic New Year's Eve party begins promptly at 8 pm this year, featuring delicious passed bites, a midnight champagne toast, and more. Guests can imbibe four exclusive cocktails while Eli Arbor and Gamma set the stage with music throughout the evening. Tickets are $150 per person, and can be purchased via Eventbrite.

Hotel San José
Get ready for this free New Year's Eve disco party from 8 pm to 1 am at Hotel San José on South Congress. DJ Jonathan Terrell will set the stage for the evening, while attendees can enjoy one of the hotel's many festive drink specials, grab some bubbly from the champagne tower, and more.

Gibson Street Bar
Who can say no to free cover and bottomless champagne? Gibson Street Bar on South Lamar is hosting a spectacular NYE bash beginning at 9 pm with tunes by DJ Be Better. Large groups who would like a guaranteed place to sit at the party can email Evan at echew@fbrmgmt.com to secure a reservation for the evening. These reservations for large gatherings have limited availability.

Lovebirds Cocktail Lounge
ATX Supper Club and Garbo's Lobster are teaming up to host a NYE Slumber Party at Lovebirds Cocktail Lounge, beginning at 8 pm. MasterChef season 13 runner-up Kennedy Grace will prepare small bites during the party, including Garbo's signature caviar. Other highlights of the evening include flash tattoos, palm readings, champagne, themed cocktails and mocktails, and more. Attendees can dress in their best sleepwear for the occasion. Tickets for the slumber party are $100 per person, and more information is available at partiful.com.

Revl Social Club
If you prefer the free-spiritedness of a silent disco, this party is for you. Revl Social Club is putting on a 21-and-over Silent Disco NYE Party from 9 pm to 1 am featuring three live DJs. Partygoers can take their pick between three channels: on one, EDM and top 40 dance hits; on another, 80s-90s and Y2K throwbacks; and finally classic hip hop and R&B (blue). Attendees will also get some glow in the dark gear to make their night even more fun, and there will be a champagne toast at midnight. Early bird general admission tickets are $30 per person, and can be purchased via Eventbrite.

Monday, January 1

Uptown Sports Club
Franklin Barbecue isn't open on New Year's Day, but you can enjoy some of Aaron Franklin's good Southern brunch at his East Austin restaurant instead on December 31 and January 1. A few off-menu items available for Uptown's special brunch include Franklin Barbecue’s very own chicken fried brisket with mashed potatoes and gravy; biscuits and creamy gravy with a fried egg; bacon bourbon pecan French toast; a table burger with thick-cut bacon and an over-easy egg with fries; and more. And you can't forget the bottomless mimosas and Bloody Marys. Reservations for Uptown’s New Year’s Day Brunch can be made via OpenTable.

austin new year's eve 2023 new year's eve

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.

michelin guide awards

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Whoops

Michelin goofs on a few restaurants honored in first Texas guide