Touchdown takeout

10 Austin spots for takeout and watch parties during the 2024 Super Bowl

Fresa's Chicken Al Carbon Super Bowl game-day dishes

We love an H-E-B platter, but you can get those anytime.

Photo courtesy of Fresa's Chicken Al Carbon

February is upon us and with it, the most important Sunday of the month: Super Bowl Sunday. If there’s one thing Austinites know how to do, it's cheer for their team.

For those looking for a bit more than a store-bought platter to enjoy at home, this list covers it all. Impress the gang with some local snacks, or take advantage of the abundance of sports bars in Austin showing the game.

Super Bowl LVIII is taking place in Las Vegas on February 11, with the San Francisco 49ers facing the Kansas Chiefs, and it’s sure to be one for the books. Whether you’re cheering at home, only there for the half-time performance, or bonding with strangers at a bar, these places in Austin will make sure your only worry is how well your team is doing.

Viewing Parties

Uptown Sports Club
Sports bars are the place to be and Uptown’s made the cut in an elevated setting, with its lineup of drink specials along with some newly installed 80-inch TVs, so you can savor every second of the game. After you’ve worked up your appetite, enjoy Uptown’s classic dishes like Aaron Franklin’s gumbo, the Uptown burger, and a limited-edition po’boy. Uptown’s Sports Club does not accept reservations, so make sure to get there early to grab a spot.

Fresa's Chicken Al Carbon
If you’re in the mood for a little Tex-Mex flair (no matter who's playing, you're in Austin) head out to Fresa’s. The Westlake and South First locations are ready for the watch party, with large-screen TVs along with food and drink specials such as wood-grilled wings and jalapeño poppers. Fresa’s also has takeout specials like the Super Party platter, which includes flautas, poppers, and wings; or you can choose a seven-layer dip, cookie tray, or wings platter. Pre-orders are available now on Tock.

Armadillo Den
For an outdoor watching experience, head out to Armadillo Den. The spacious patio features a massive screen, as well as drink specials on buckets, local beers, and mocktails. There’s a doggie park for those looking to celebrate with their four-legged friends. Food trucks from Via 313, Ranch Hand, and Biggie's Yardbird, plus the newly added Los Danzantes ATX, will offer a variety of options. To amp up the fun, make sure to check out the huge crawfish boil!

Soupleaf Hot Pot
Soupleaf is offering a unique watching party for a group of friends or families looking to venture out of the sports bar scene. Known for its Canton-style hot pot, Soupleaf is game-ready with handcrafted cocktails, plenty of TVs, and of course, all the hot pot options. That's a non-traditional, yet fun way to make this Super Bowl Sunday one to remember. Make sure to reserve a spot via Toast.

TLC Austin
Enjoy the game on the multitude of screens at this South Austin staple, and stay for the half-time specials. TLC Austin is offering happy hour specials only during half-time, which include $7 bites and sips, $1 oysters, and $15 beer buckets. Test your luck and football knowledge with Super Bowl squares (like bingo) for even more fun. Take the stress out of rushing to get a table by reserving a spot via Toast.

Takeout

Loro Asian Smokehouse & Bar
This South Austin staple is a must-add to the Super Bowl roster for its takeout specials. Loro is offering the Big Game Bundle and Bites with fan-favorite items to choose from, à la carte. That includes smoked wings, baby back pork ribs, Thai chips and dip, and much more. Bigger crowd? You can also choose the bundle that serves 6-8 people. Pre-orders are available now until February 8. Visit loroeats.com to order.

Cover 3
Another way to enjoy the game off-site is with Cover 3’s to-go game-day platter and wing platter specials. These two offers are takeout only; the game-day platter (serves 6-8) offers a few fan-favorite dishes such as the chipotle ranch wings, sliders, and mac and cheese, while the wings platter offers 100 wings with the choice of two of their signature flavors. Pre-orders are open now at cover-3.com.

Austin Rotisserie — Fareground location
If you want a more elevated spin on your game-day spread, why not consider French with a bit of Austin flair? Austin Rôtisserie is offering a takeout platter with its original rotisserie chicken, which will be chopped into bite-sized pieces to resemble wings and to make it easier to dip. The platter comes with salsa verde and buffalo sauce made specifically for the Super Bowl. Order online at faregroundaustin.com.

Garbo’s Lobster
Another option that is sure to impress any guest is Garbo’s Lobster. Garbo's is taking a few of its New England classics to go for the Super Bowl. You can order the DIY Me Roll Kits, which double as a fun activity while watching the game. There’s also the New England Classic, which comes with fish dip, clam chowders, mini lobster rolls, and The Tailgater including fish burritos, shrimp cocktails, and more. The party platter scores big with shrimp cocktails, lobster rolls, and chips. Order online at garboslobsteratx.com or by calling (512) 350-9814.

Tony C’s Pizza & Beer Garden
For the classic combo of pizza and wings, try Tony C’s Pizza and Beer Garden. Its Super Bowl special includes two 16-inch pizzas and 16 wings, in a choice of two flavors for $60 (serves 6-8). The restaurant is closing during the game, so this offer is takeout-only. To order, visit tonycsbeergarden.com.

takeout super bowl

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