We get a lot of people through Cospace who are recent Austin transplants, so we thought we’d put together a Welcome-to-Austin series with the basics.

Since moving all of those boxes has probably made you hungry, let’s start with food. The first thing you should know is that Austinites shy away from chains and go for independently-owned restaurants and trailers. You can find all of the following on Yelp. Here are some of our local favorites, in no particular order:

  • Tacodeli (tacos)
  • Z’Tejas (southwestern)
  • Franklin BBQ (best brisket)
  • Hoover’s (comfort food, dinner portions are huge)
  • Noble Pig (sandwiches)
  • The Odd Duck Farm To Trailer (amazing pork belly sliders)
  • Barley Swine (restaurant version of Odd Duck)
  • Gourdough’s (gourmet donuts, open to 3AM on weekends!)
  • Casa Columbia (love their weekend ceviche)
  • Moonshine (American)
  • Max’s Wine Dive (American, great burgers and appetizers)
  • Buenas Aires Cafe (Argentinian Food)
  • San Francisco Bakery (sandwiches/cafe, tasty pastries/cookies)
  • Sunflower (Vietnamese food, not pho, nor banh mi)
  • Tomo Dachi (sushi)
  • Mighty Cone (trailer, chicken/avocado cone is where it’s at)
  • Amy’s Ice Cream
  • Tiff’s Treats (cookies)
  • Hey Cupcake
  • Your Mom’s (burger bar)
  • Mandola’s (Italian, best gelato in town)
  • Din Ho (Chinese)
  • Chuy’s (Tex Mex)
  • Hula Hut (Hawaiian fusion, owned by Chuy’s)
  • Shady Grove (comfort food, also owned by Chuy’s)
  • Trudy’s (go for weekend brunch or Mexican martinis)
  • Torchy’s (tacos)
  • Salt Lick (BBQ)
  • P Terry’s (fast food burgers)
  • Hut’s (better burgers)
  • Dirty Martins (great greasy burger)
  • Clay Pit (Indian food, great lunch buffet)
  • Sarovar (Indian food)
  • Homeslice (arguably the best pizza in town)
  • Rounders (pizza, tasty garlic knots too)
  • Little Deli (pizza and sandwiches)
  • Chi’lantro (korean taco truck)
  • Flip Happy Crepes (trailer)
  • Whole Foods Cafeteria (downtown)
  • Kerbey Lane (breakfast, very Austin-y)
  • Magnolia Cafe (breakfast, also very Austin-y)
  • South Congress Cafe (American)
  • Cool Haus (custom gourmet ice cream sandwiches, pick your cookies and ice cream, food truck, hard to find)
  • Roaring Fork (American, pricey chain restaurant, but great happy hours)
  • Haddington’s (American)
  • Sullivan’s (American, reverse happy hour)
  • 34th Street Cafe
  • Asia Cafe (Chinese)
  • Shanghai (dim sum)
  • Baguette House (Vietnamese sandwiches, banh mi)
  • Ho Ho (Chinese BBQ)
  • Coco’s (Taiwanese)
  • Titaya (Thai)
  • Thai Passion (open until 3AM)
  • Houndstooth (coffee)
  • Uchi or Uchiko (sushi, sister restaurants)

Thanks to Dan Lien for sharing his master list of restaurants!

If you have something to add, by all means, please comment.