The September Hit List: Elementary, Magdalena Bar, Salt & Time, and More

What started as a pop-up among three best friends now has a permanent location on South Lamar. Elementary offers a range of playful dishes like a banh mi eclair and al pastor tortellini, as well as classics like a half chicken and seared scallops. The cocktail menu takes the playfulness to the next level with the quite literally “Smoking” Paper Plane and Kool-Aid Cosmo. Their natural wine bar Hopscotch is also open nearby with even more drink options. Making a Resy is strongly recommended, as this place is already packed in its first month open.

The historic post office in Hyde Park is now a small book shop and cafe. In a fairly small space, they pack an incredibly curated collection of fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks, kids books, magazines, and more. With a window out front, as well as a bar inside, you can order coffee, pastries, and even cereal and milk. They also serve beer, wine, and snacks like marinated olives and charcuterie boards. The combination of drinks, snacks, and books in a bright, modern space makes you want to stay all day — in fact, they encourage it!

Find more information here.

There’s something about hard-to-get pastries that make them taste even better. (Cronut, anyone?) Next to Nixta Taqueria, Mariela Camacho sells some of the best baked goods in town. Her menu changes regularly but some specialities include conchas, masa sugar cookies, empanadas, and fresh tortillas. The panaderia is only open Saturdays and Sundays, so be sure to order ahead on the site.

Find more information here.

Tiki Tatsuya is somewhat nondescript from the outside, but when you step in, you’ll immediately feel like you’re on vacation and the bartender is your BFF. The focus here is more on the drinks than the food compared to the other Tatsuya restaurants, so we recommend getting a Resy at night and ordering the Painkiller with rum and shiro-miso coconut cream or the Strip ‘n Go Naked with gin, tangerine, and yuzu lager. If you’re hungry, order the pu pu platter to sample their wings, skewers, ribs, crab lagoon, and other snacks.

Located next to the new Fleet Coffee, La Santa Barbacha is a food truck that offers breakfast and lunch tacos that stand out, even in a serious taco town. Their tender barbacoa meat is featured in their migas taco and chilaquiles bowl. The crispy cheese taco is cheese and meat wrapped in more cheese with a strong habanero salsa. Try their agua frescas like the pink horchata or strawberry limeade.

Find more information here.

Second originated in downtown Austin and has now it made its way to the east side, at the East Austin Hotel. Even though they are located in a hotel, the quality of the meal is for more than just hotel guests. For brunch, we like the Homestead white grits and poached eggs, and the local vegetable hash. At dinner, we recommend sharing the pizzas like the Bianco with ricotta and arugula and sausage or the steak frites.

As the name promises, Ramen Del Barrio offers a mash-up of Japanese and Mexican food in the Hana World Market. Chef Christopher Krinsky grew up in Mexico and worked in Japanese restaurants. His menu includes carnitas tonkotsu shoyu and mole tsukemen, which is spicier than it sounds. Just as the ramen is different from other Austin ramens, the tacos stand out with yakitori options like octopus, pork belly, and beef tongue.

Find more information here.

Busy season on South Congress never ends, so it’s nice to hide away sometimes at the Magdalena Bar. While sitting close to the pool, you can sip cocktails like the Lady Bird Spritz or a frozen pina colada. The menu is mostly snacks like a crudite with labneh or potato chips and onion dip, but if you’re feeling like more of a meal, we are into their smash burger and fries. With just one Resy, your staycation can be under way!

While we absolutely encourage you to go to Salt & Time to buy your meats to cook at home, their in-house menu is also not to be missed. They have a panzanella salad with green tomato salsa and tartare tacos with crispy taco shells as starters. For your entree, they have heavy-hitters like short rib bolognese and a butcher’s burger made with steak trimmings. They offer these at lunch time too, which might just make it the ultimate power lunch — followed by the ultimate power nap.

If you’re looking for an escape while bar hopping on the East Side, you can find the Treasury in the back of Shangri-La. Head out to the deck and take the back staircase down to access this speakeasy. It’s a small space, so get there early to sip espresso martinis or a sazerac at their bar. If you get hungry, Golden Castle is serving burgers a la White Castle back up the stairs.

More info here.