From TV personalities to people you actually know, everyone is eating in Austin these days. The city largely known for its live music, self-proclaimed weirdness and access to barbecue country is now where Asian influences dominate, small plates abound, former food trailers (and trucks) have opened non-mobile homes — and the homage to pork, in name (Bacon, Barley Swine, Salty Sow, etc.) and on the plate, endures.
Even if you didn’t know Austin was the nation’s third-fastest-growing city in population, it’s no surprise that its food scene is expanding in size and range. Uchi and Congress still impress, but they’re so yesterday’s news. So while you’re standing on line for a Tipsy Texan at Franklin (that’s a gooey chopped beef sandwich with incredible sausage and slaw; we know we can’t talk you out of a barbecue stop), map out the rest of your trip with this new and different list.
Egg and Chorizo Taco at La Fruta Feliz
3124 Manor Road; 512-473-0037
Finding the best breakfast taco in Austin is a contentious and subjective search. But when handmade corn and flour tortillas — pressed to order — enter the equation, and breakfast is served all day, the answer is clear: You must go to La Fruta Feliz. This is what locals call Interior Mexican (as opposed to Tex-Mex), and it’s up the street from another burgeoning restaurant row: Manor Road (pronounced Mayner). Of the nine breakfast taco options, egg-and-chorizo, $1.50, is the top seller. It’s clear why. There’s enough chorizo to add salt and zip to the eggs, without overpowering the essential eggy-ness. Of course, just about anything could taste amazing in these tortillas. And did we mention the size? Huge. Everything’s bigger in Texas, right down to the cheapest of eats.
Soup Can Bread at Foreign & Domestic’s Bake Sale
306 E. 53rd St; 512-459-1010
Foreign & Domestic’s killer gruyere popovers are a classic, but the Soup Can Bread, $5, is the must-have of the moment. By the time the Bake Sale opens at 9 a.m. three Saturdays a month, there’s already a line of carb lovers, bikes and strollers through the parking lot. Pastry chef Jodi Elliott knows her bread. She got her start with Claudia Fleming at Gramercy Tavern and worked her way around NYC before returning to her home state, where her in-can zucchini bread, lime and coconut coffee cake, jalapeño cornbread, and brioche are exciting young and old. “I’ve never seen adults so thrilled by the thought of getting to keep a soup can,” Elliott says. Of course, they’re often empty before they leave the lot.
Dirty South at Gourdough’s Public House
2700 S. Lamar Blvd.; 512-607-6568
Its Flying Pig, $5.75 (bacon with maple syrup icing) has attained Austin icon status, but in its new industrial-ranch-chic permanent home, the made-to-order donut gurus at Gourdough’s can offer much more.
“There’s only so much you can do out of a trailer,” co-owner Ryan Palmer says. “We evolved and wanted to expand on the idea of people showing up with six-packs to try with donuts.” At Public House, it’s the Dirty South, $12, that’s got everyone clucking. It’s a chicken fried steak atop a mashed-potato pancake atop a hot donut covered in white gravy and cranberry habanero jam that loosely melts across the layer cake-like, entree-size offering. It’s a pretty awesome variety of texture and flavors (none too sweet). You’ll never limit donuts to coffee again (beer, please!).
Hot Chocolate and Marshmallows at Fête Accompli Booth at Saturday/Sunday Farmers Markets
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: 400 W. Guadalupe, Republic Square Park; and Barton Creek, where S. Loop 1 (Mopac) meets S. Capital of Texas Highway (Loop 360) behind the mall
Chef Quincy Adams Erikson’s Hot Chocolate with a Farm Egg Marshmallow, $5, is all about the highest-quality chocolate (Venezuelan El Rey, 70.3 percent) and milk (Mill-King; heavy in butterfat, from three types of cow) she can find. “Every week we have a different best seller,” Erikson says, referring to the rotating enhancements of her base brew, like New Delhi (ginger and cinnamon) and Hot Cha Cha (ancho and chipotle). Whatever you choose (three options weekly), add an impossibly delicate marshmallow. Ask for the suggested pairing or trust your gut. Candied Jalapeño is a knockout.
Tongue Katsu at East Side King at the Grackle
1700 E. 6th St.; 512-422-5884
In October, James Beard Award and “Top Chef” winner Paul Qui and partner Moto Utsunomiya re-opened their spot outside the Grackle, with a new trailer and a new menu. Gyu Tongue Katsu Sando, $7, is beef tongue marinated in Red Boat fish sauce, breaded and fried, served on toasted Easy Tiger bread. This tasty, high-class drinking sop-up is the result of a 14-hour sous vide. “It’s a cruise ship and a pirate ship at the same time,” Qui says, describing both the dish and his career. Next up, the East Side King team’s first “real” kitchen, inside the weathered Hole in the Wall bar, in December, and a 60-seat restaurant next year.
COMING SOON
Jungle Curry at Sway
1417 S. First St.; 512-326-1999
Austin’s buzzing in anticipation about this gorgeous, 150-seat mostly Thai restaurant from the team behind local hot spot La Condesa. And you can expect Sway to bring the heat when it opens Dec. 9. Chef Rene Ortiz’s mouth-tingling Jungle Curry lives up to the pre-hype. “Customers were asking us for heat and spice,” owner Jesse Herman says. So they channeled Australia (both worked there), where Thai is as ubiquitous as Mexican in Texas, and delivered. Like all good curries, this one — with Texas Wagyu short ribs, eggplant and baby corn — is rich with flavor beyond the chilies and peppercorns. Seating at Sway will be mostly at large, square communal tables in view of one of the biggest and most open kitchens (nearly half the entire space) you’ll ever see and hear. The clatter of spoons hitting woks, says Herman, should be part of the fun.