October is a big month for restaurant openings in Austin, as residents emerge from their sealed, air-conditioned chambers and begin to explore the plentiful patio scene. This roundup is a list of all the latest openings you should know about in Austin, including
a Tex-Mex spot in a remodeled historic schoolhouse, a Spanish tapas restaurant nestled in Zilker, and two new restaurants by Q2 Stadium from a favorite restaurant group.
For Eater’s curation of the best new restaurants in Austin, check out the Heatmap, and for a guide to the best restaurants in the city, look to the Eater 38. Find these restaurants and more great recommendations on the Eater app, where you can create your very own maps and guides or trade notes with fellow restaurant fans.
Have a tip about a new opening you want Eater to know about? We’d love to hear from you at austin@eater.com.
Never Better and Hold Out Bar & Grill
10025 Burnet Road, Austin, Texas 78758, United States
Sibling restaurants Better Half Coffee & Cocktails and Hold Out Brewing have once again opened two restaurants on the same property, taking over the Turnstile on North Burnet. The two new restaurants have similar menus to their siblings: Never Better, the walk-up window, serves coffee, breakfast, and lunch, including Better Half’s popular breakfast sandwich; customers can take items to-go or stick around on the patio. Hold Out Bar & Grill serves a lunch and dinner menu of burgers and the like, plus beer and cocktails. The restaurants are just blocks from Q2 Stadium, making them a new destination for game days.
Trung Nguyen E-Coffee
7020 Easy Wind Drive, STE 140, Austin, Texas 78752, United States
This Vietnamese coffee giant garnered massive lines when it opened an Austin shop in October. Those who waited were rewarded with colorful specialty drinks like black sesame cream phin coffee, banana cream white coffee, matcha, and cookies. Located in Crestview, across from the Crescent shopping center, the small but modern cafe has a few tables inside and out, but most coffee is to-go.
Terrible Love Wine
3908 Avenue B, Austin, Texas 78751, United States
Coffee shop Terrible Love has expanded into other beverages with a next-door wine bar in Hyde Park. Dubbed Terrible Love Wine, the cafe serves wine and snacks in a space with a patio and a minimalist interior, adorned with retro posters and tables for chatting around. The food menu includes various iterations of bread, meat, and cheese, plus tinned fish and a chickpea salad.
The Watershed
1004 W 11th St, Austin, TX, 78703, US
Clarksville gained a new gathering space with the Watershed. The indoor/outdoor property brings together three offerings: Grisette, an all-day coffee, beer, and wine bar; Muy Yum, an on-site food truck serving Latin American salads, bowls, and sandwiches with protein options like chorizo salami; and, confusingly, the Watershed, an event space. Given the ample patio space, there are many planned events throughout the year like art markets and live music.
Casa Fina
408 Josephine Street, Austin, Texas 78704, United States
(512) 284-7419
Casa Fina opened Wednesday, October 7, bringing Spanish tapas and cozy European vibes to the Zilker neighborhood. Chef Erind Halilaj and operating partner Charity Sadoy, both from Il Brutto, transformed the former House Wine space with a new patio, a light-filled dining room, and a bar, with diners intentionally seated a bit close to create community. Drink highlights include Spanish wines and gin and tonics, and the food menu has snacks such as crispy octopus, manchego cheese, and mussels alongside larger plates like grilled quail with smoked paprika.
Escuela Farm
6240 West US Highway 290, Austin, Texas 78735, United States
(737) 787-3007
The team behind much-beloved campus-area burrito spot Cabo Bob’s has opened a fancy Tex-Mex restaurant in Oak Hill. Escula Farm is located in a restored century-old schoolhouse on 5 acres of farmland, so many of the ingredients used in the kitchen and bar are grown on-site. The restaurant serves dishes like ceviche, steaks, fajitas, blue crab flautas, and gooey old-school enchiladas. The bar program is extensive, with frozen options like a horchata colada; clarified, bottled ranch waters; a Mexican martini, and nonalcoholic options. Escuela Farm opened Wednesday, September 20, but reservations are still a hot commodity — the restaurant is booked out for the next month.
Nishi
2000 Southern Oaks Drive, Austin, Texas 78745, United States
Japanese food trailer Little Nishi has expanded into a restaurant space off Menchaca Road in South Austin on Thursday, October 15. Chef Joel Taylor, formerly of Uroko, serves Little Nishi dishes like hand rolls and karaage along with a new menu of nigiri, maki, and larger entrees like pork belly cutlet and lavender salmon. The interior has a kind of industrial vibe, with a corrugated metal ceiling and mostly bare painted brick walls.
Briggs Distilling
121 Brownson Lane, Driftwood, Texas 78619, United States
This spacious family-owned distillery opened in Driftwood on Saturday, October 17. Though drinks using the distillery’s whiskey are the main offering, there’s a full bar with coffee, frozen cocktails, and nonalcoholic beverages. On-site food truck A.T. Eatz Burger Joint serves burgers and fries. But arguably the biggest attraction here is the scenery. There’s a beautiful view of the Hill Country and that big Texas sky from the kids’ playscape, the outdoor live music stage, or the open-air patio on the building’s second floor.
