Michelin now rates Austin, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. Like other new cities added, these are government-subsidized efforts on the theory that it boosts tourism.
There were no three- or two-star restaurants awarded. The lack of two’s seems wrong. The one-stars went to:
- Barley Swine (always a good tasting menu)
- Craft Omakase (the third best omakase in town)
- Hestia
- Olamaie (good, but Michelin star?)
- Interstellar BBQ (should have easily been two star)
- La Barbecue
- LeRoy & Lewis
Interstellar BBQ
Several Bib Gourmands were awarded. Dai Due deserves it, and I’d note they have the best burger in town. Distant Relatives barbecue is overrated. Kemuri Tatsu-ya is a favorite, always-reliable Texas-Japanese fusion. Micklethewait Craft Meats is on par with La Barbecue. Nixta Taqueria probably could have been given a star. Odd Duck is a perennial favorite, sister to Barley Swine.
Giving Franklin Barbecue only a Bib Gourmand is absurd. While I think it’s been surpassed in Austin by Interstellar (and only by Interstellar) it’s revolutionary in the space and certainly one of the five best barbecue spots in the world and possibly one of the top three.
Franklin Barbecue
Genuinely, by the way, while Interstellar’s brisket – the Central Texas staple – is outstanding, their peach tea glazed pork belly will change your life.
I don’t see how Birdie’s only got a ‘recommended’ when it’s better than most anything on the list. Este, Suerte, and Lenoir are, indeed, ‘recommended’. Under this category, barbecue spot Terry Black’s is overrated. Omakase spots Toshokan and Tare are underrated.
Tare
Tare
Toshokan is as good as Craft Omakase. Tare is Texas-influenced and certainly interesting and worth a visit, though in my mind one notch below. But the major snub of the list is Tsuke Edomae which is orders of magnitude better than the Omakases that did get a star or other recognition.
Chef Michael Che of Tsuke Edomae
One theory is that it’s too closely associated with Kyoten in Chicago, which is head and shoulders above anything in the Windy City but that Michelin refuses to recognize. However I assume that it’s just Michelin inspectors unable to get a reservation. This is the toughest spot to get into possibly in the country right now.
- It’s better than anything else in Austin
- And since the Austin food scene, while good, hasn’t kept up with the city’s growth there’s tremendous demand
- But only 8 seats per night, so it doesn’t scale
- They book out 4-5 months in advance, releasing reservations on a single morning for months at a time and those seats are gone within seconds
- And existing customers (who have been at least 3 times) able to book before the 4-5 month window opens
Tsuke Edomae reportedly has a food cost equal to its menu price, which is three times higher than normal for a restaurant. It’s massively underpriced compared to its quality, and to demand. They only make money on the service charge (no tipping); alcohol; and optional extra pieces of fish.
The Austin American-Statesman by the way accurately lists Birdie’s and Tsuke Edomae as tied for best restaurant in the city, along with Nixta Taqueria.
Suerte; Dai Due; Bufalia; Barley Swine; Franklin; Olamaie; LeRoy and Lewis; Craft Omakase; Foreign & Domestic; Tare; Lenoir; Interstellar; and La Barbecue among others. They make mistakes, too, for instance picking Perla’s over sister restaurant Clark’s and not including any barbecue in their top 10 while snubbing Kemuri Tatsu-Ya.
Several spots that did make the list are overrated. It seems like they’re stretching because once they agreed to rate Austin they needed to rate restaurants in Austin and while the city’s food scene is across-the-board above average there’s actually very little that’s great. Some of the spots that made the list wouldn’t have come close in other cities that the guide rates.
Here’s the simple way to find hidden gem restaurants and spot overhyped traps in whatever city you’re visiting.
BuT mIcHeLiN oNlY rAtEs ThE fOoD
The recent money grabs by the Guide have only served to wreck its credibility, and it is transparently not rating the restaurants regularly anymore. There are descriptions of food in the Chicago Guide’s latest ranking that the noted restaurants haven’t served in years. But hey, people still use it…
I ate at Terry’s a couple years back and was impressed. I would definitely rate them worthy of mention.
Michelin is a joke. It’s like so many “ratings” that the businesses pay to play.
Wait, Michelin, like, the tire company?? Nooo waaayyy!
Local here….agree with most of your opinions on the ratings. And shocked Birdie’s wasn’t rated higher.
There’s a reason Michelin Guide doesn’t cover people fighting in Wendy’s or cops being called to McDonald’s or cars jumping lines on a drive thru or burning KFC stores or Starbucks rewards devaluation or people finding true love doing shots at a bar or dogs eating Burger King on the counter or pet owners faking a service animal to bring a giraffe into Chipotle.
Thought leader in restaurants?
Maybe this puts things in perspective: various Texas tourism groups paid Michelin around $900,000 to come survey eats here. Heck, for that kind of money I’d rumble around town, find cute little eateries with 8 tables and food you’d never think of trying. Which is what they’ve done in DFW. For Austin, both Franklin and Blacks are absolutely gotta-be’s, but, hey, that Albanian fungus creme absinthe foam at Le Stulti was heavenly! (They also left out El Patio and Avenue B, maybe next year …)
@Fordamist – Terry Black’s is massively overrated, it is certainly not top 5…
Agree about Terry Black’s. Frankly one of the worst BBQ experiences ever.
Only Austin bbq I’ve been to was Terry Black’s due to line length. Driest brisket I ever had. Didn’t like it enough to finish it.
Thanks for sharing your idea of the good places to eat at in Austin. I rarely come around to that part of Texas nowadays, but it’s always nice to read what your favorite food places are and will check out some of the places you mention when I next swing by that part of this state.
@Gary: Terry Black’s is multi-site. The Dallas (Deep Ellum) branch is just about the best BBQ in the city.
@Harry: Michelin is not “pay to play”. Whoever told you otherwise was having you on and thought you would be too lazy to check.
@Dan: All the Texas restaurants were rated in the last six months. The next rating is next year.
There is some “pay to play” aspect involved with some Michelin picks, but the extent of it is not so bad that it undermines the general utility of their recommendations.
Fort Worth also paid to have Michelin rate its restaurants. Fort Worth is NOT part of Dallas. Five cities, not four.
@Gary – Since your wife was a professional chef do you consult her regarding your picks? Nothing wrong one way or the other but presumably she has a lot of insight on the subject.
@Christian – we spend a lot of time talking about food. We often agree, but not always!
Michelin Guide has been shitting all over Los Angeles, ignoring it completely for over a decade until last year, when it suddenly realized we have the most varied and vibrant restaurant scene in NA.
Michelin rates the whole dining experience and not just the food. Decor, service, wine cellar: it all has to be consistent. And, yeah, one star can be sloppy. I’ve had some interesting experiences in one-stars. Some have been great, others have been laughably bad / pretentious (as in “hey, you put that contraption in front of us, but I’m pretty sure it’s not supposed to boil the soup twice” and “your fancy LN-cooled dessert flakes would have been nice if you didn’t let it warm up and, omigod, are you actually trying to shovel chunks out?”
It’s a decent guide for what it presents, but never think the best food will be in there.