New year, new round-ups! This year, I’m going to focus on posting one round-up a month that contains all the new, fun places I visited that month. Think of them like little glimpses into what I’m loving right now.
Links to all the locations are included in the post.
None of the meals or drinks were sponsored – this was just me running around the town.
Previous editions can be found here: Austin Eats Round-Up.
Bakery Lorraine is one of my favorite new places at Rock Rose. I first visited them at The Pearl in San Antonio and was so happy to hear they were opening up a location in Austin! I’ve been a few times to Bakery Lorraine and here are the highlights: First of all, last time I visited, I was offered a free macaron to sample. A whole macaron! That may seem small, but it really meant a lot to me – that’s good customer service! I was able to try a flavor I’d never order on my own (their “Red Hot” macaron) and it turned out to be delicious. All their baked goods that I’ve tried have been high quality and very impressive. Their macarons, Mexican chocolate cookie, and chocolate sea salt donut are my favorites. I’ve also sampled their dinner menu. The egg salad was SO good. You can order it on a croissant or on a thick slice of sourdough bread. The atmosphere is big, bright, and airy. You can hang out, catch up with friends and family, or claim a table and work by yourself. There’s also a huge patio space if you’ve got your furry friend with you. If you park at the Red Parking Garage at Rock Rose, you’ll be steps from the Bakery.
Bakery Lorraine // 11600 Rock Rose Ste. 100, Austin TX 78758
Speaking of Rock Rose, Houndstooth has a new location there and it is beautiful! Brian and I had some time to kill one day and decided to pop in. The space feels very large and open. It’s also colorful and vibrant, yet simplistic feeling at the same time. There’s plenty of seating and places to hang out. The coffee is pretty excellent and has a unique, floral flavoring. I ordered a chai tea latte and it was good – on the sweeter side for me, but good. I didn’t try any of their pastries, but they come from Texas French Bread and looked delicious! If you’re at Rock Rose and need a spot to rest for a bit, I recommend Houndstooth.
Houndstooth Coffee // 11501 Rock Rose Avenue, Austin TX 78758
Ramen Tatsu-ya on East 6th is currently my favorite ramen location. I’ve tried a lot of ramen in Austin, and Ramen Tatsu-ya is, in my opinion, the best. The one downfall was always the LINE! There was always a line during popular hours and that was annoying sometimes. Their new East 6th location has a small parking lot in the back (perk!) and is HUGE! I immediately fell in love with it. There’s some pretty awesome mural art by @XXXAVE and @mila_sketch on the interior and exterior of the building as well. I’m sure I’ve said it a hundred times before, but my absolute favorite menu item is the tsukemen – condensed pork bone dipping broth, chashu, ajitama, nori, and lime. I’ve also been getting into their chashu rice bowl.
Ramen Tatsu-ya // 1600 East 6th, Austin, TX 78704
Hanks has a pretty excellent happy hour menu. Every day from 3-6:30pm, they have $1 off beer, $5 frozen and tap cocktails, $5 tap wine, and $3 off appetizers. Some of my favorites include the Hanky Panky Tiki tap cocktail and the Paloma frozen cocktail. Their appetizer menu is pretty robust, but my favorites have been the brussels sprouts, hummus and pita, and fried zucchini. Another reason this is the perfect after-work happy hour meeting place is their parking lot! It’s easy to coordinate large groups of people when there’s a parking lot for everyone. They have a large outdoor patio space (perfect for all your #HanksHounds) and bar area as well. If alcoholic happy hours aren’t quite your thing, they have a cafe as well. In all honesty, I was not super impressed with Hank’s regular food menu. It was ok, but nothing really blew my mind. I’d stick to happy hour and apps here.
Hanks // 5811 Berkman Drive, Austin, TX 78723
The Squeezery downtown was an unexpected fun find! It was on my Yelp Bookmarks list for a very long time, so when I finally was in the area, I made a point to stop in. First of all, The Squeezery is very small! It has just a few bar seats and two tables outside. On their menu, I saw a matcha cashew vegan gelato bowl and ordered it immediately, as I usually do with most matcha things. It’s made with a housemade cashew milk base and Panatea matcha. I was expecting a smoothie bowl, but it came out more like gelato scoops. Best of all? It came in a coconut half! Can you say, Instagram-able? I loved it. In addition to gelato bowls, they have smoothies, juices, coffee, tea, and a small healthy food menu.
The Squeezery // 612 Brazos St, Austin, Texas 78701
That’s a wrap on what I’m loving this month! I’m always looking for new places to visit! If you know of a really cool spot in Austin that I haven’t featured already, hit me up on Instagram @discoveringATX!
