18 Best Restaurants in Downtown with Sixth Street and Rainey Street, Austin

This stylish pizzeria, another hit from chef/restaurateur Shawn Cirkiel, is one of Austin’s best bets for classic Neapolitan pizza and authentic Italian antipasti. Tables are hard to come by in this intimate (read: tiny) downtown space, but the service and menu are approachable and laid-back. Antipasto selections, like baked ricotta and eggplant caponata, rival the main attraction: thin-crust, wood-fired pizzas, from margherita to the popular fennel sausage.

A longtime favorite of local burger lovers, Casino El Camino is the best place on the notorious “Dirty Sixth" strip to chow down. Locals arrive in hungover droves for the weekend lunch rushes, when wait times for signatures like the Amarillo and Buffalo burgers can stretch upward of an hour. But this dive bar and juke joint is worth the wait as you'll find out once your thirst is quenched by their Bloody Marys, stacked with bacon, pickled okra, taquitos, even meatballs. Their hearty Angus-beef burgers deliver a classic, artery-clogging ecstasy, especially when paired with a greasy basket of verde chili fries.

The standard for Rainey District fine dining since 2015, eating at Emmer & Rye is an immersive experience that's best enjoyed when the expert servers take the reins. Prix-fixe dinner menus of their signature rustic American cuisine, with savory standouts like Texas Wagyu steaks and Berkshire pork are available, but this exclusive dining delight comes with the option to partake in creative dim sum offerings from a circulating fleet of carts that crisscross the lavish interiors.

This downtown food hall—open daily, 11 am to 9 pm—is a wonderfully located one-stop shop for hungry, on-the-go travelers. There are five eateries, including Four Brothers Venezuelan Kitchen and the popular Austin Rotisserie, plus two full-service bars, a self-service water bottle refill station, and plenty of seating in this accommodating (and air-conditioned) space. Outside, the thoughtfully designed Ellis Oak Deck patio hosts free live music and yoga classes most weekends, and it is an unbeatable meeting point during SXSW.

Pronounced “oh-la-may,” this upscale twist on traditional Southern cuisine has been turning heads and receiving critical acclaim since 2014. Occupying a renovated cottage on downtown's northern edge, Olamaie offers a blend of classic dishes that evoke a sense of tradition—like creamed broccoli greens and skillet cornbread—and innovative options including blue crab topped with corn pudding mousse and popped sorghum grains. Seasonal offerings change frequently, but a beloved mainstay is the house-made biscuits, a signature accoutrement made even sweeter with honey butter and pimento cheese spreads.

A gem in the midst of Dirty Sixth, Parkside’s austere interior features exposed brick walls, a shotgun bar, and bare light bulbs suspended by black cables. Celebrated chef Shawn Cirkiel has created an equally simple menu, but delivers on taste with fresh oysters and ceviche-style offerings from the raw bar, in addition to a meat-centric array of bone marrow appetizers, savory grilled lamb, and shareable portions of steak and (perfectly crisped) fries. Floor-to-ceiling windows look onto 6th Street for ideal people-watching while lingering over desserts like homemade doughnuts, served warm and sugar-dusted in paper sacks. Dinner can be pricey, but the daily happy hour (5:30–7 pm) is one of the best bargains in the city.

This Red River staple is known as much for its live music as its food. The casual venue, an old stone building with wooden floors and tables, suits the fare, which many local barbecue aficionados rate as average; the hickory-smoked choices—beef brisket, pork ribs, sausage, chicken, turkey breast—are very tasty, but sides, like spicy serrano creamed spinach, are crowd-pleasers. Plus, their popular line of barbecue sauces and rubs make for great souvenirs. Live music on the indoor and outdoor stages host both local bands and huge touring headlining acts throughout the year, and the Sunday gospel brunch is always packed.

Don't miss out on the state dish of Texas at this celebrated downtown dive. Just a stroll away from the Capitol, the Chili Parlor has been a favorite of legislators, lobbyists, and local hell-raisers alike for a midday meal (or late-night beer) since 1976. Get a gut-sticking bowl of bean-less chili (marked X, XX, and XXX for spice), an ice-cold Lone Star beer, or a fully loaded Bloody Mary, and soak up some Old Austin history in a classic setting.

This downtown Veracruz location, tucked on the ground floor of The LINE, services the bustling hotel crowd with early morning to late night operating hours. There is also a walk-up window, just steps off the hike-and-bike trail, that's perfect for a grab-and-go taco and coffee before you start a day of sightseeing.

The soul of Detroit is alive in Austin "via" this delicious purveyor of deep-dish pies, offering the best authentic Detroit-style pizza in the capital city. Pizza is slung for hordes of hungry late-night crowds at this popular Rainey Street location, along with its original trailer parked on East Sixth. Devotees can also find their pizzas at more suitable daytime hours at their brick-and-mortar location just north of downtown.

This flagship endeavor by Top Chef winner and host Kristen Kish, located on the ground floor of the LINE hotel, has elevated the bar for Austin hotel restaurants. The elegant presentations of French- and Italian-inspired dishes, infused with elements from Kish's Korean upbringing and crafted with seasonal Central Texas ingredients whenever possible, result in impressive but pricey offerings. The menu is constantly changing, but the crispy rice dish with crab, bacon, haricot vert, and saffron aioli has been a staple since the restaurant's opening. It's a luxurious on-site amenity for hotel guests, and the sleek dining room also offers a great spot to view the Congress Bridge bats.

Diners arrive in droves to this sleek, contemporary Mexican restaurant from acclaimed chef Philip Speer for the bone marrow tacos with pecan gremolata. Servers will encourage you to mix and match vibrant, inventive plates for the table. Happy hour is a fabulous time to enjoy house margaritas and discounted tacos and tostadas.

From its creekside perch in the shadow of the Austin Convention Center, this spot caters to name-tagged conference attendees, construction workers, and thoroughly starched-shirt office workers alike. Dependable house specialties include pepper-crusted smoked pork loin, tender brisket, and Flintstones-sized beef ribs. Wrought-iron grills, forged here when the building was an ironworks, hang from the rafters. It's a charming (albeit slightly raucous) slice of laid-back Texas fare, even if it's not the best barbecue joint within the city limits.

After an award-winning debut in 2013, this sophisticated spot for modern Mexican cuisine has remained a staple of downtown's Second Street District. Diners can expect reliable mainstays, such as crispy carnitas tacos, carne asada with mole, and cochinita pibil, a traditional Yucatec Mayan slow-roasted pork dish. The popular weekend brunch service doesn’t disappoint.

Lamberts draws a broad range of downtown business crowds, local foodies, and Second Street tourists for its stylish take on Texas barbecue. You know this isn't your father's barbecue joint when you hear Belle & Sebastian coming from the speakers instead of Willie or Waylon. For further evidence, there's Chimay beer on tap and an Ahi tuna ceviche on the menu. Appetizers range from crispy wild boar ribs to broiled Gulf oysters with apple-smoked bacon. The restaurant, housed in a two-story 1873 brick building, features a lovely whitewashed brick interior, leather booths, and an upstairs bar with more dining space and a stage for live music.

Situated between some of the city’s best music venues, this lively joint has reasonably priced Tex-Mex standards you can enjoy on the oak tree-shaded patio. Or just indulge in the drink menu full of house margaritas, specialty cocktails, and premium tequila flights.

Pricey-but-excellent fish, shellfish, and steak are served in handsome surroundings that suggest a businesspeople's yacht club here at Truluck's, part of an upscale chain with restaurants in Texas and Florida. Every Monday is all-you-can-eat crab claw night, but you can get Truluck’s signature stone crab any day of the week at the downtown and northwest locations. Alaskan king crab is also expertly rendered, if expensive. Don't miss the jumbo lump crab cake and the hot-and-crunchy trout over citrus aioli sauce with a mango-jalapeño marmalade. The second-story dining area has floor-to-ceiling views of the surrounding Warehouse District and skyline.

This locally owned fine-dining eatery is a great downtown date-night destination specializing in modern Chinese cuisine with a Texas twist. The exterior is nondescript, but the food alone makes it worth a visit. Expect local favorites like honey pecan prawns, dry-fried local green beans, and handmade steamed and fried dumplings amid the generous offerings of Sichuan-style classics. There is a fun cocktail list full of "Texas tiki" libations, and a popular dim sum service is hosted every Sunday.