4 Best Restaurants in North Austin, Austin

This upscale, 47-seat North Loop gastropub was a major trailblazer in the city's locavore and “nose-to-tail” movements. And it’s remained a reliably inventive spot that keeps loyal patrons on their toes with seasonal (and daily rotating) creations, from fried pig ears and shishito peppers to fresh market fish artfully accented with squid ink and foamed butter. F&D's menu isn't tailored to finicky eaters, but this is the place to be for adventurous foodies. The restaurant now offers a decadent Sunday brunch with standouts like a cast-iron frittata with seasonal vegetables.

This welcoming Hyde Park hangout has kept the locals coming in since 1982 with a classic, Southern comfort food menu and signature French fries. Interiors are cozy and decorated with pleasant, colorful paintings (for sale) by local artists, and there's an easygoing atmosphere for both the shorts-and-T-shirt crowd and the dressier, special-occasion fraction. The variations on simple fare run from black-bean veggie burgers and chicken-fried steaks to fresh seafood. Weekend brunch and lunch hours are busiest—look for the hungry crowd milling around the fork-in-the-road sculpture staked in the front parking lot.

On the glamorous grounds of the Commodore Perry Estate, this chic garden restaurant seems far removed from the daily aesthetic of Austin. The hotel's dreamy Italianate mansion lends to the restaurant's Jazz Age vibes, with opulent, floral decor and a decadent menu of Texas heritage cuisine to match. The atmosphere of an exclusive soiree hangs over the artful presentations of signatures like barbecue scallops and Delta Blues rice with halibut and smoked trout roe.

Locals take their out-of-town guests to this legendary "real Texas food" locale. The original location opened on North Lamar in 1933 as a gas station that soon evolved into a honky-tonk that drew local musicians, including a pre-fame Janis Joplin in the early '60s. Today, live music is still a huge priority, but Threadgill's is now a friendly restaurant with cleaned-up Texas charm, and the main attraction is the massive chicken-fried steak, followed by homemade cobbler and ice cream. Some other mains may fall flat, though veggie sides are satisfying. There's a breakfast buffet on Sunday from 10–1. The atmosphere is a bit hokey, but Threadgill's has earned it.