12 Best Restaurants in East Austin, Austin

What started as a streamlined coffee and craft beer purveyor with sparse hours has evolved into an all-day mainstay of east Austin. The industrial garage vibe blends in well with its I–35-adjacent neighbors and attracts a hip clientele from morning to night, who flock here for cold brews and stacked breakfast sandwiches and then like to stick around for their local lineup of draft brews, full bar, and light café fare including late-night guilty-pleasure snacks.

The newest location of this beloved German-style bakery and beer garden features 15,000 square feet of outdoor space, plus a spacious interior, for beer and sausage lovers. The sprawling outdoor patio attracts lively lunch, happy hour, and late-night crowds with a full menu of artisan sandwiches, house-made sausages, and “big as your face” pretzels, as well as one of the best beer selections in the city. The wholesale bakeshop, which provides several local restaurants with specialty breads and pastries, opens bright and early every morning; don't miss the $6 “Easy Morning” deal (weekdays, 7–10 am) that includes a small coffee and any pastry.

Local chef and native east Austinite Hoover Alexander has created one of the city’s best comfort-food oases, blending Mama's home cooking, diner short-order specials, Tex-Mex favorites, and Cajun influences in one Southern comfort mecca. The self-styled "Smoke, Fire & Ice House" is known for its large portions and flavorful recipes, like a Jamaican jerk chicken and a chicken-fried steak that puts most others to shame. "Side mates” like mac 'n' cheese, fried okra, and creamed jalapeño spinach round out any home-style cravings. A full bar serves popular staples like beet margaritas. It’s hard to save room for dessert, but the homemade pies are excellent—and their New Orleans–influenced breakfasts are worth a try.

The not-so-secret weapon of this classic east Austin breakfast spot is its owner and namesake, local legend Juan Meza, who has run his modest eatery since 1981 and still greets every diner with a bone-crushing handshake and a smile. Juan's strong community spirit is infectious, but the simple, filling, and reliably good fare will start your day off right on its own. The Don Juan taco (a massive mound of eggs, potato, bacon, and cheese) is the true east Austin breakfast of champions; the migas and huevos rancheros are also above average. A variety of inexpensive Tex-Mex and Mexican specialties is served at lunch.

This East Austin success story began as a humble food truck offering just a few breakfast sandwiches. Today, it occupies a two-story, full-service breakfast and brunch destination in the heart of a rapidly developing stretch of East 11th Street. Paperboy specializes in upscale American comfort classics with a gourmet twist, such as their classic B.E.C. sandwich made with bacon, egg, pimento cheese, and jalapeño jam on a bolillo roll, and deviled egg tostadas with pickled cauliflower and cabbage slaw. The full bar features signature cocktail, like Cold Brew Martinis and PB&J Old Fashioneds, which are a huge hit with the brunch crowds that fill the indoor and outdoor rooftop seating areas every weekend.

Veracruz wears a taco tiara in the Austin food scene and for good reason. Their migas taco lives up to the local lore, and this always-hopping original location has a convivial patio seating area for enjoying tasty quesadillas, barbacoa, vegetarian and fish tacos on homemade tortillas, and fresh aguas frescas alfresco.

The interior of this family-owned east-side bakery and restaurant might be shabby, with worn linoleum floors and various Texas-themed memorabilia and fading newspaper articles hanging on the walls, but the hole-in-the-wall's classic Mexican fare still attracts a loyal breakfast, lunch, and dinner crowd seven days a week. They are drawn by straightforward trademarks like their famed huevos rancheros, which aren’t accompanied by the typical Austin price tag. Diners are offered the choice of flour or corn tortillas or a side of homemade biscuits that can be dressed with drawn butter or honey, both found in squeeze bottles on the tables.

This east-side location of this beloved upscale diner operation has enough square footage to suit its adoring fanbase. The mid-century-styled interiors are clean and cozy, with wooden countertops and a blackboard of daily specials next to the line of expert short-order chefs who serve up a familiar menu of classic breakfast and lunch dishes. Patrons can find crab cake Benedict, enormous homemade pancakes, succulent grass-fed burgers, and favorites like the quail and eggs.

Housed in a 1920s drugstore owned by one of Austin's first African American pharmacists, this historical landmark now serves up a different kind of "medicine" to the east side with a gorgeous menu of farm-to-table Central Texas cuisine in exquisite antique-laden interiors. Stop by any time of day, whether it's a quick weekday breakfast or a boozy late afternoon happy hour (try their house punch made with gin, hibiscus syrup, grapefruit juice, and bubbles). Dinner service features wonderful seasonal specials and weekly offers like a popular Sunday Steak Night. Weekend brunch is first come, first served.

Housed in an old East Austin tire shop, this counter-service outdoor café is a favorite of families and on-the-go locals. Local hospitality juggernauts Larry McGuire and Liz Lambert kept the Aztec iconography, walk-up service, and sparse layout of the preexisting spot, and the new back patio is ideal for lazy lunches, family outings, and weekend day-drinking. The rotisserie chicken and burgers are popular, and ice-cold draft beer keeps things cool on hot summer days.

This Cajun diner attracted attention for its stylish, retro interior, complete with vintage booths and an Astroturf rear patio, before Austinites even had the chance to sample its New Orleans–style comfort food. But the mid-century motif has only bolstered the growing reputation of its all-day breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus. Brunch crowds flock here for the NOLA-style French toast, omelet specials, and Bloody Marys, while lunch and dinner menus feature staples like shrimp-and-grits, crawfish étouffée, and Creole shrimp po’boys.

The award-winning team behind local restaurants Odd Duck and Barley Swine opened their "everyday" restaurant in east Austin in 2018 to rave reviews from critics and locals alike. The bustling gathering spot consists of two buildings (the main front entry, with counter service for pastries, snacks, and drinks, plus the back bar) that are connected by an outdoor patio that serves as a beer and wine garden. The alfresco tables are popular with groups (and their four-legged friends) at any hour of the day thanks to Sour Duck's diverse morning-to-night menu offerings.