The November Hit List: Bacalar, Bill’s Oyster, Uchiba, and More

While most of Rainey Street is getting renovated into high-rises, the southern tip now features a high-end spot started by “Top Chef” winner Gabe Erales. The patio has Town Lake trail views and the interior features romantic spaces with modern decor and a small mezcal bar upstairs, so make a Resy for your ideal surroundings. Erales’ menu features items inspired by the Yucatan, like the Papadzul tamal with squash and soft boiled egg on the side. The cocktails are made with just as much precision as the food, topped with ingredients like honey foam or Recado Negro mist.

Uchi and Uchiko have long been town favorites and their new restaurant Uchiba is more casual but brings the same level of quality. The yakitori menu has options like chicken thighs with kimchi or grilled radish with miso. The hot fried chicken bun or pork belly baos are filling and shareable, so we like ordering in multiples. They also have some of the Uchi favorites like the hama chili and zero sen roll with hamachi.

Find more information here.

Summer was prime time for patio-sitting, champagne-sipping, and oyster-slurping at Bill’s, but fall is ripe for shrimp cocktails, crab cakes, and cold beers. While they are known for their raw bar, we also recommend the burger made with short rib, and the mozzarella sticks with caviar. Bill’s also recently started serving weekend brunch, so make a Resy to try the crab cake benedict or shrimp and grits with a sunnyside-up egg.

If the French name didn’t give it away, this new restaurant in Hyde Park is located in the historic old post office as a part of the new Tiny Grocer location. Opened by Chef Jo Chan who formerly was at Eberly, the french bistro serves steak frites, french onion soup, and beef tartare. For any folks who’ve had the famous Barbuto chicken in New York, the roast chicken at Bureau de Poste is in that realm with a juicy roast and bed of greens. Since it’s part of a high-end grocery store, you can have a more casual meal here too either by ordering at the deli counter or brunch on the patio.

Call 512-375-3320 for reservations.

As the weather starts to cool off, Qi is the ideal spot for warming up with Shanghai Soup Dumplings or hot and sour soup. You can keep things on the more casual side with a weekday visit and a shared entree like Akaushi beef with green pepper, or get a little fancier with a weekend Resy and salt and pepper lobster tail, or Cantonese fried whole fish. We love going to Qi with a big group so you can order family style and get a little of the casual and fancier side of the menus.

North Austin got a second location of Bouldin Acres located close to Q2 Stadium and the Domain. Like the South Austin location, there is pickleball, food trucks, and plenty of space for kids to run around while you watch sports on TV or play one to seventy games of pickleball. Try the food from CM Smokehouse on site like the wings, frito pie, or pulled pork sandwich. The menu is bar-food heavy, so we recommend eating after you play pickleball. Your doubles partner will appreciate that kind of decision making.

Find more information here.

As new restaurants and apartments continue to pop up on South First, Fresa’s has been a reliable spot for easy quick bites or longer, margarita filled meals. If you don’t want to share, the Power Bol with chicken, sweet potato, chickpeas, and roasted cauliflower is perfectly portioned for just you. If you want to make a Resy for a bigger group, the sharable options work great like the chimichurri skirt steak or the achiote chicken. The group meals come with sides of charro beans, rice, and tortillas to fully outfit the meal for everyone.

When you walk into Eberly, you’ll be immediately attracted to their plush velvet booths, inviting atrium, and historic Cedar Tavern bar in the back that used to serve Jack Kerouac and Jimi Hendrix. It was physically and carefully transported here from New York. This spacious restaurant works well for big group dinners where you actually want to hear the people you’re dining with. The salmon is served over a crispy rice patty and topped with trout roe and their NY strip is good for ordering family style. The nitro espresso martini works well with the scenery, as does a bottle of wine from their broad list of wines from Austria to Napa.

What started as one lone food truck is now a lobster roll provider all around Austin. The latest location is a small brick and mortar one on North Lamar, but works great for a drop in lunch or dinner. You, of course, must order something with lobster in it, so we recommend the Maine Roll with mayo, lemon juice, and celery or the lobster grilled cheese. We also love their Cobb or Caesar salads and with either fried calamari or lobster added.

Find more information here.

Electric Jellyfish IPA is a beer that’s swept Austin and beyond, but its original homebase brewery offers more than their famous beer. The beers on tap vary by month, but they usually have something hoppy, something light, something heavy, and something you didn’t think you would like but you do! For food, we recommend the soft pretzel with brown mustard and jalapeno ranch to pair with your beers. Get a giant pizza with traditional toppings also or upgrade it with prosciutto, arugula, and other local vegetables. Plus, they have gluten-free pizza crust if you need it.

Find more information here.