Now on Resy: Milonga Room, Bill’s Oyster, Bar Toti, and More Local Favorites

Here’s something different for date night — an intimate Argentinian-themed hideaway with a vintage speakeasy vibe, downstairs from Buenos Aires Café, where the empanadas are unforgettable, and the cocktails celebrate the bittersweet virtues of amaro.

Here’s one for seafood lovers  — a comfortable restaurant with a New Orleans feel where oysters are the star, but everything from tuna tartare to lobster roll is sea-fresh and perfect. Chef and co-owner Daniel Berg worked at Le Bernardin in Manhattan, so you know he knows his fish and shellfish.

You’ll definitely want a table in the brick-lined dining room inside this big red, custom-built barn in Wimberley, where Ryan Hildebrand (formerly of Houston’s Triniti and FM Kitchen & Bar) turns locally produced foodstuffs into comfort food, Texas-style — smoked pork spring rolls, anyone?

For a fresh look at Austin, find your way upstairs to this indoor-outdoor rooftop lounge at the Rainey Street District’s hip Cambria Hotel, where the live music is up to Austin standards and the stunning views of downtown, the East Austin greenbelt, and Lady Bird Lake are as intoxicating as the specialty drinks.

The team behind Suerte and Este (next door), scores again with this art-filled, light-flooded neighborhood retreat, featuring a concise Spanish-leaning menu and a seductive cocktail repertoire. Essential dish: La Smashburgesa, with griddled ham and chipotle mayo.

The cooking of Yucatán comes to the Rainey Street District with this handsome establishment offering “comida milpera” — food that celebrates heritage corn products and other regional Mexican ingredients.

Come to the Austin outpost of this hookah-focused chain — part of the largest Black-owned nightlife group in America — for the pure fun of it all, from 30 flavors of shisha, premium bottle service, and a menu of seductive “Crutails,” to an array of small plates, ranging from wings to lobster mac & cheese.

You’ll want to come back again and again to this stylishly casual, light-drenched, something-for-everyone, all-day café serving elevated small plates by chef Barclay Stratton (ex-Lenoir) and natural wines — Texas vintages included — selected by co-owner Evan Dunivan.

Here’s a take on the fitness experience you won’t want to miss: an interactive sports suite adjacent to the gym at the popular Thompson Hotel, complete with golf simulator, PGA tourneys on a wall-sized screen, virtual football and baseball games, and of course cocktails, craft beer, and craveable snacks.

Say hello to “ranch-style” Tex-Mex fare from Shawn Cirkiel (Parkside, The Backspace, Olive & June) at this easy-going, radiantly colorful Airport Boulevard spot — and don’t forget taco Tuesdays, when the special is San Antonio-style puffy tacos with a choice of fillings.

Rachel Cummins’ homey café in Georgetown is worth the trip for its croissant-to-kolache breakfasts, its bright lunchtime sandwiches and salads, and a dinner menu that roams the world, from queso to pasta to Julia Child’s famous boeuf bourguignon.

Because when sushi is enhanced with Nikkei notes — think ají panca, chimichurri, and salsa huancaina — it can only be good. The street food-inspired kitchen menu ranges from spicy edamame to chicken skewers with macha ponzu salsa, and best of all, the ingredients are 100% sustainable. Let’s just say this is a Japanese restaurant like no other.

In the converted “back space” behind his thriving Parkside, chef Shawn Cirkiel serves a scattering of antipasti and salads, plus a curated selection of thin crust Neapolitan-style pizzas, which cook magically in just 90 seconds in the heroic-scale wood-burning brick pizza oven. Just so you know, some say it’s the best pizza in town.

At this Anderson Lane spinoff from his downtown original, chef Shawn Cirkiel (of Parkside and Olive & June) serves the same don’t-miss-’em thin crust Neapolitan pizzas, but also expands the possibilities with a handful of pasta dishes and a signature chicken parm platter, with spaghetti pomodoro on the side.

Don’t mistake this modest storefront restaurant for just another neighborhood sushi bar. The range of sushi and sashimi is vast, including more than 50 rolls, both traditional and wonderfully imaginative. An enticing menu of Japanese fusion dishes also sets the place apart.

Here’s something different on the Korean restaurant scene, from the team behind Donkey Mo’s Korean Fried Chicken: a place where the specialty is meat not grilled but braised (jjim is a slow-cooking technique) or sautéed. Chef Youngmin Noh refined his chops at The Modern and Daniel in New York City and Benu in San Francisco, and it shows.

This small-scale speakeasy-style cocktail lounge (unmarked door, chiaroscuro lighting) from Christopher Crow, who ran the bar at Here Nor There, offers a tranquil getaway from busy 6th Street, fueled by Biblical-themed libations like the Fruit of the Forbidden (Plymouth gin, Grey Goose vodka, St. Germain, and pomegranate syrup, in case you were wondering).

This fiesta-bright upscale classic has long defined “interior Mexican” (as opposed to Tex-Mex) cuisine in Austin since it opened in 1975. These days, Fonda San Miguel is better than ever — complete with an innovative menu section offering 100% plant-based, gluten-free tacos, enchiladas, and more.

With its blend of Victorian and midcentury modern elements, a historic mahogany bar plucked from New York City that’s over 150 years old, and a stunning glass-enclosed atrium-like dining room, Eberly is is one beautiful spot. Come for the buzzy scene and people-watching, stay for the Japanese milk rolls and housemade pastas.

The second brick-and-mortar location of Naomi Seifter’s something-for-everyone restaurant continues the original concept, offering an array of gluten-, sugar-, and peanut-free dishes, pumped up with superfoods and adaptogens, plus sustainable wines, zero-proof cocktails, and Picnik’s signature butter coffees.