Best New South Austin Restaurants

As part of the annual Austin Food Blogger Alliance's City Guide, here are my picks for the best new restaurants in South Austin that have opened in the past year. Also see my post Top Sweet Shops in South Austin! 

Moreno Barbecue, 5608 Menchaca Road; read my full post here.

Brisket nachos + smoked pork belly

Pork rib, sausage + brisket

Jjim's, 1100 South Lamar Boulevard (Korean)

Bokkeum bap (brisket kimchi fried rice with egg) 

Galbi jjim (braised beef short rib)

1417, 1417 South First Street; read my full post here.  (French-inspired)

Cocktails! 

Duck confit crepes

Neighborhood Sushi, 1716 South Congress Avenue (Japanese)

Lunch bento

Sashimi selection

Pho MPH, 3715 South First Street (Vietnamese)

Pork banh mi 
Admittedly not as tender of pork as I like, but thrilled to have this option in this part of town!

Kiin Di, 1901 South Lamar Boulevard (Thai fusion trailer)

From top left: Thai fried chicken, pork over ginger rice, pad Thai, noodles with pork belly, Malaysian roti

Eat A Pita, 2101 South First Street (Mediterranean trailer)

Falafel, veggie combo plate, gyro plate

The Salty Donut,  2000 South Congress Avenue (sweets)

Texas sheetcake + brown butter salted donuts

I hear the cocktails are sensational at Tiki Tatsu-ya, but haven't heard about the food. What are your favorite new South Austin dishes? Drop a comment below!

Click here to see the rest of the 2022 AFBA City Guide.

Changing with the Times

The past few weeks have brought some very sad news to the Austin food scene.

The owner of La Mexicana Bakery announced his retirement and the longtime South First institution will close for good before I hit publish on this post.  I made it by two weeks ago for tacos, which I will sorely miss.

La Mexicana breakfast tacos...no frills but large and inexpensive!

Chocolate tres leches, just one of hundreds of items from their panaderia.

Winebelly, my favorite wine bar, and not just because it was 5 minutes from my house, sadly could not withstand the economic times and closed in January. RIP to the best chicken liver mousse in town.

Winebelly's chicken liver mousse, this one during a pandemic pivot to carry out.

And an end of an era, though not by choice, as fire ripped through Texas French Bread on Rio Grande Street on January 24th, leaving literally ashes. A Go Fund Me has raised nearly $195,000 for staff; at this time they do not know if they will rebuild. This was one of the first places I ate when I moved to Austin in 1994 and their Hyde Park Fudge Cake was legendary.

As they say, all good things must come to an end, which includes this blog. Not hanging it up quite yet, but getting close. Stay tuned.