Heading to Austin for Hot Luck fest? Here are three new restaurants to visit

As a longtime food writer, a recent trip to Austin could only be about one thing.

You guessed it: Swimming holes.

Around the end of April, I flew down to the Texas capital for three days of hiking, sun and total immersion in a series of fresh-water springs that, unlike the rivers and lakes near my Portland home, wouldn’t lead to cold-water shock, hypothermia or drowning.

But hey, we’ve all got to eat.

As Austin gears up for Hot Luck — the food and music festival from Franklin BBQ chef Aaron Franklin, Mohawk venue owner James Moody and Feast Portland co-founder Mike Thelin — here’s a quick report from Austin, where I found time to check out a handful of exciting new restaurants in the other city that likes to keep things weird.

The first stop: A meeting of the minds with Austin American-Statesman critic Matthew Odam at Meanwhile, a new South Austin brewery, cart pod, soccer field, play area and performance stage from a pair of former Portland brewers. (The Secret Beach IPA was as bright and crisp as you might imagine.)

As we tracked Odam’s young daughter across the brewery’s 3.7-acre property, he gave me the state of play for Austin’s post-pandemic restaurant scene (recovering, but still risk-averse) and handed out a few recommendations.

“Let’s see,” he said. “You’re coming from Portland, so you’ll probably want to focus on barbecue, Mexican and maybe Southern food.”

I could have quibbled about that middle one — Oregon has better Mexican food than outsiders imagine — but if you loop in Tex-Mex, he has a good point. And as it so happens, I ended up visiting three restaurants that ticked off those cuisines. And deliciously so.

Did I pick the perfect time to visit? Uh, no. Hot Luck was still a few weeks away, but there was a crypto conference in town, which — as I learned — had driven up hotel prices beyond my bitcoin-deficient budget, and led to buyouts at two restaurants (Suerte, Emmer & Rye) I tried to visit. When I checked in, I learned my East Austin hotel room, which I had considered a deal at $170, lacked a bathroom or sink.

But that just sent me out hunting for newer places that weren’t yet on the Bored Ape Yacht Club’s radar. And more restaurants meant more calories to burn during the hike to the next day’s swimming hole.

Here are three newer restaurants — and a handful of swimming holes — to try on your next visit to Austin.

Most modern Mexican seafood menus exist in the shadow of Contramar, Gabriela Cámara’s near-perfect restaurant in Mexico City’s leafy Roma Norte neighborhood, home to two of the world’s most imitated dishes — raw tuna tostadas and whole butterflied fish smothered in two contrasting salsas.

Este, a new restaurant from the team at Austin’s celebrated Suerte, is far from a copycat, but it does swim in similar waters, with their own take on the tuna tostada and a butterflied snapper rubbed with an annatto-red chile marinade.

And why not? It doesn’t take a genius to realize that the interplay between fresh tortillas, quality seafood, colorful salsas and tropical cocktails is a surefire winner. And Este, a charming restaurant with a serene side patio just northeast of downtown, delivers on all fronts.

The Este ceviche was more generous than expected, with big chunks of citrus-cured sea bream and avocado showered with a spicy shredded carrot salpicón, all scooped up with tostadas pulled from a stylish box (as a solo diner, the follow-up tuna tostada with avocado and sesame-peanut salsa matcha was a little redundant).

And I loved almost everything about the trout a la pulla, a thin pink filet hidden under a gorgeous pulla chile cream as smooth and orange as tikka masala sauce, with spoonfuls of trout roe bursting with flavor and fresh tortillas still warm on the side (my only quibble was the trout. Apparently inspired by the Troisgros bros’ salmon with sorrel sauce, that fish would have worked better here.)

Sit at the bar and you can watch margaritas, palomas and lipstick-red mezcal-campari cocktails pile up in a frosty traffic jam at the pass. But the patio and dining room — with its pale wood, Oaxacan fabrics and bright blue-and-yellow tiles — are equally fine places to spend a warm evening.

Details: 2113 Manor Road, Austin; 512-522-4047; esteatx.com

Interstellar Barbecue

Here’s a little restaurant critic’s secret: Generally speaking, barbecue isn’t our first choice for a meal, especially when traveling. It’s not that we don’t appreciate the nuances of slow-smoked meat. It’s just that trays of fatty brisket and ribs — and their potential for long lines and indigestion — make us think our time and calories might be better spent elsewhere.

But this is Austin, home to some of America’s most famous modern barbecue restaurants, and Interstellar BBQ was not just the first restaurant Odam mentioned when I came into town, but occupies the second spot on Texas Monthly’s 2021 guide to the state’s 50 best barbecue joints, a meat-lover’s BBQ bible released every four years.

Unlike Franklin Barbecue, La Barbecue or those other Austin destinations recognized by the customers (some in deck chairs) waiting out front to order, Interstellar sits in a strip mall about a half hour northeast of town, trimming off some of the crowds. On my Thursday visit, the line was only about 25 people deep.

After about a half an hour, I reached the front and found owner John Bates manning the meat-carving station himself. And I was in luck. Bates, who trained in Austin fine-dining kitchens before turning to barbecue, told me he would sell me as small a portion of each meat as his scale could weigh. That meant I was able to load up my tray with a single rib, one slice of slow-smoked brisket, another of beer-soaked turkey and a single jalapeño popper sausage, sampling as much of the menu as I pleased under the sprawling oak trees next to the offset smokers parked out front.

Most major American cities have at least one or two proficient barbecue restaurants these days, with the vast majority aping the Austin style (on its best days, my local spot, Matt’s BBQ in Portland, could go toe-to-toe with many of Texas Monthly’s previous top 10s). Nowadays, barbecue fans are hunting for something more: A good story, unusual sides, perhaps a melding of simply smoked meat with Mexican or Southeast Asian flavors.

At Interstellar, the star of the meat lineup is the tender smoked pork belly, each bite drenched in syrupy peach tea glaze that is exactly as good as it sounds. And unlike other barbecue establishments, Bates also goes the extra mile with his sides and desserts, including a slaw tossed with shredded jalapeño, rich scalloped potatoes under a toasted Parmesan crust and an out-of-this-world banana pudding for dessert.

Details: 12233 Ranch Road 620, #105, Austin; 512-382-6248; theinterstellarbbq.com

Uptown Sports Club

No, it’s not a sports bar. As far as I can tell, this new restaurant from Hot Luck co-founders Aaron Franklin and James Moody doesn’t even have a TV (a lesson I learned the hard way while looking for a place to watch the NBA playoffs).

But it is one of Austin’s best new restaurants, and one of the best New Orleans-inspired restaurants I’ve tried outside of New Orleans itself.

Built in the 1800s, the Uptown’s low brick building was previously home to a neighborhood bar, but has been long abandoned (in a 2017 prank, locals dressed up the frontage to look like an incoming Chili’s). The renovation was a stunner, preserving the vintage curb appeal while transforming the interior from a dirt pile to an all-day cafe, bar and restaurant with a “Texan take on Louisiana homestyle brasserie fare” that could have been transported directly from the French Quarter to East Austin.

At least one item does come from New Orleans direct: Real-deal Leidenheimer bakery rolls, the same ones used at all the best po’boy shops, get shipped to Uptown frozen, where they’re reheated and stuffed with hot roast beef, fat gulf shrimp, an upscale turkey club or my pick, fried green tomatoes. I ordered mine with a Vieux Carre, one of several classic New Orleans cocktails listed on a sandwich board menu hanging behind the bar, and took my bartender’s recommendation to add crunchy bacon to my sandwich, creating a custom — and impossible to put down — BLT.

Uptown is also a raw bar, with oysters, caviar, a shrimp cocktail and a crab Louie salad that I ordered but never arrived (the restaurant is only two months old, and has probably worked out some service kinks since my visit, but I had a game to watch and not much appetite left anyway; they took the salad off my bill). The gumbo gets a breakout box on the menu for good reason. Starting with a dark roux made with roast beef fat drippings, the kitchen adds plenty of chicken and Franklin Barbecue sausage (without the line). It’s dank, smoky and probably the best gumbo I’ve eaten outside New Orleans itself.

Details: 1200 E. Sixth St., Austin; 512-551-2013; uptownsports.club

Over a three-day visit to Austin, I ate a half dozen breakfast tacos (Vaquero impressed me, Veracruz had an off day), three trays of barbecue, one super-sized Tex-Mex platter and some of the best gumbo I’ve ever tried. Light work! But I was really in town for the swimming holes. If you’re in town and want to dip into a fresh water spring, start here:

Barton Springs Pool

The easiest fresh water spring to reach, this giant concrete swimming pool sits at the heart of Zilker Park within walking distance of downtown. Non-resident adults pay $8 for access to a pool filled with water bubbling up from the Edwards Aquifer that stays around 70 degrees year-round. 2201 William Barton Drive, Austin

Sculpture Falls

Don’t let the person walking their dog fool you: Despite the dry creek bed they passed, Sculpture Falls — found about 30 minutes walk from the Barton Creek Trailhead’s freeway-adjacent parking lot — is still brimming with enough water for a cool dip in one of the tub-sized depressions formed in this gorgeous limestone waterfall. Found along the Barton Creek Greenbelt Trail

McKinney Falls State Park

After a night spent in Hill Country and a pilgrimage to the historic barbecue houses of Lockhart, I made a reservation for this state park about 15 miles south of Austin. If you only have time for one, head to Upper Falls, which has water deep enough for one quick limestone cliff dive before heading back to the airport. 5808 McKinney Falls Pkwy., Austin

Nickel City

Out for a walk one night, I happened upon this impeccable East Austin dive bar just as a freak lightning storm was threatening. There’s a late-night food truck serving sliders, wings and Coney dogs out front, and the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off boiler maker, with a shot of half Campari and half Fernet and a back of Meanwhile’s excellent pilsner warmed this aging hipster’s heart. 1133 E. 11th St.

Austin Motel

If the crypto conference hadn’t driven basic local room prices up to $600, $900 and even $1200 a night, I would have tried to book this South Congress hotel, with its kitschy decor, plentiful neon and gorgeous curving pool on the side. 1220 S. Congress Ave.

Michael Russell is the restaurant critic for The Oregonian newspaper. He won’t be at Hot Luck this weekend, but he can be reached anytime at mrussell@oregonian.com