Eclectic Food Trucks and Cool Cafes Dominate Austin’s Restauant Openings in July
Every month, a new crop of restaurants opens in and around Austin. While everyone loves a good sushi spot, food truck, or outdoor patio, this round-up will give you the high-end spots and the low-end spots that are new to town — be they good, bad, or so bad they’re good/so good they’re bad.
1400 South Congress Avenue, Suite A102 in Austin
This Dallas-based coffee shop brings an outpost to Austin with lavender, strawberry, and French toast lattes; strawberry, mango passionfruit, green tea mango and hibiscus iced tea coolers; and an array of toasts topped with avocado, burrata, and fruit. The cafe is known for its white, bright spaces that are friendly to laptop warriors with free WiFi, and for starting the La La Land Foundation, which offers cafe internships to people transitioning out of the foster care system.
4204 Menchaca Road in Austin
The local Wow Poke food trailers get one more location, this one at Radio Coffee. Like all its other locations, it offers an array of poke options, including a make-your-own bowl; spam musubi; chicken wings in kimchi butter sauce; and poke wraps.
9817 Anderson Mill Road in Austin
Find this food truck at the Anderson Mill Food Truck Court, where it is dishing out samosa, dahi, and sambar vada (fritters), chana masala, mattar panner, chicken wings and lollipops, chicken and paneer rolls, and numerous curries. There is also a long drink menu, including a mint lemonade, badam milk, chickoo or strawberry shakes, mango lassi, and masali chai. Orders for pickup can be placed online, while delivery is available through Uber Eats.
401 East Whitestone Boulevard in Cedar Park
The city’s first Georgian restaurant is open in Cedar Park, following a soft opening this spring. On the menu are bites like phali, a traditional Georgian spread in which vegetables are ground into patties with walnuts and herbs; lobio, a salad of cold red beans; kharcho, a tomato and rice stew; adjarian khachapuri, a boat-shaped bread filled with cheese and topped with an egg yolk; and much more. There are also loads of Georgian wines to try, some of which are displayed in a backlit built-in bookshelf. The cute dining room is decorated in hues of blue with touches of tan and red, and has those good, cozy chairs with a wide bottom.
518 River Road in Boerne
“Brunch so good, you’ll move to Boerne” is the tag line of this all-day brunch spot from the owners of local Italian restaurant Albi’s Vite Italian Kitchen. There are shareable bites for the table like French toast sticks and the Brie Mine, which tops toast with warm brie, blueberry compote, and honey. Standard brunch plates, including pancakes, an everything bagel loaded with eggs and salmon, and steak and eggs, are available, along with some Tex-Mex brunch items like a Birria Benny and El Jefe Chiliquiles. There are also a variety of tasty coffee options. As a kicker, diners can order a picnic-at-the-river kit for $30 with crepes and beverages of their choice.
600 East Market Street in San Antonio
The Riverwalk gets a fancy new restaurant inside the Grand Hyatt San Antonio River Walk. Overseen by chef Jose Rodriguez, it serves Italian cuisine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; dinner highlights include a dizzying array of pastas, from a gemelli mac with white cheddar to a lemon ricotta ravioli. There is also frito misto, burrata salad with heirloom tomatoes, Neapolitan-style pizzas, steak, and branzino. Save room for an affogato for dessert.
11619 Bandera Road, Suite 106 in San AntonioLookout dirty soda lovers: This Illinois boba chain has opened its first Texas location in San Antonio, where it offers freshly squeezed boba-filled lemonades, plant-based caffeine drinks, boba teas and coffees, shakes and frappes with house styles and build your own options, and monthly special creations. In July, that includes the Seaside Smoothie, a colorful drink with pineapple, dragonfruit, coconut, Greek yogurt, and a swirl of spirulina to add blue hues. Online orders are available.
