The Best Restaurants In South Congress Austin

The eclectic restaurants you’ll find in South Congress – a cultural hub in Austin, Texas – are popular with the younger population in the city and reflect the sleek and modern restaurant scene in the wider area. From a vegetarian spot to a sushi bar, these restaurants will help satisfy your cravings.

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Café No Sé

California-inspired Café No Sé, inside the South Congress Hotel, embodies a popular attitude in Austin: eat local and eat fresh. Under executive chef Kendal Duque and pastry chef Amanda Rockman – once a participant in the television series Top Chef: Just Desserts – the popular restaurant serves fresh-baked pastries and bread every day. Café No Sé is the perfect place for a delicious brunch or dinner with a West Coast vibe.

Sway brings modern Thai food to Austin’s very diverse food culture. It takes fine dining and puts an almost radical twist on it by providing communal seating. In addition to its incredible food and unique decor, Sway has a great and friendly atmosphere.

Enoteca Vespaio

Enoteca Vespaio, a smaller version of the popular Vespaio Ristorante, is a bistro-inspired cafe in the heart of South Congress. It was created to fulfill the wishes of Vespaio’s faithful customers, who wanted a place where they could enjoy the food they love in a more relaxed setting and with more variety. Like its sister restaurant, it makes everything from scratch, including cured meat, pasta and bread. Enoteca does a great job of combining a fine Italian dining experience with a laid-back Austin vibe.

Lucky Robot

Lucky Robot brings modern Nikkei-style cuisine to Austin and has been praised for its “digital Tokyo vibe.” However, the most prominent thing on its list of praises is the menu, which fuses Japanese cooking techniques with flavors from Latin America. It’s also the first sustainable sushi restaurant in the Lone Star State.

Bouldin Creek Cafe

As one of the oldest restaurants in South Congress, Bouldin Creek Cafe is seen by many as a major source of Austin culture. It displays work by local artists and has a dog-friendly open patio. The cafe is revered for its all-vegetarian menu and has won several awards. From the blueberry cornbread to its signature sandwiches, most items on the menu can be made vegan as well.

Perla’s

Although many restaurants in Austin use fresh ingredients daily, Perla’s, a seafood and oyster bar, takes it to another level. Each day it has fresh fish and oysters flown in from the Gulf of Mexico. It sports a Cape Cod-style menu with oysters, lobster rolls and other seafood dishes inspired by the East Coast. Perla’s has a laid-back environment and nautical decor that will remind you of the Gulf Coast and all that it has to offer.

Habana Restaurant and Bar

In business since 2001, Habana Restaurant and Bar pays homage to owner Ysabel Flores’s home country of Cuba. From the ceviche to the seafood paella, you’ll find nothing but authentic Cuban flavors. The restaurant stays as close to Ysabel’s roots as it can, giving Austin a taste of the Caribbean country.

Home Slice Pizza, South Congress Avenue

Considered a classic in Austin, Home Slice provides Austinites with an authentic New York-style pizza experience. Many have praised it for its specialty Sicilian-style pizza, while others stick to its equally delicious pepperoni, cheese and sausage varieties.

Otoko

The omakase-style meal presented by chef Yoshi Okai at Otoko is unlike any other. Omakase essentially refers to a multi-course Japanese meal in which the chef decides what to make. The beautiful establishment, inside the South Congress Hotel, features only 12 seats for a truly intimate dining experience.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.