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Austin locavore restaurant named one of best in USA TODAY’s 2025 Restaurants of the Year

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Austin locavore restaurant named one of best in USA TODAY’s 2025 Restaurants of the Year



A popular Austin locavore restaurant has been named one of the best in the country. Here’s what you need to know before you go.

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Have you ever wondered what aoudad tastes like? Probably not. You’ve probably never heard of it. But if you want to savor the invasive species that has taken hold in the Hill Country and West Texas, pushing many native bighorn sheep from their land, head to Dai Due. Because nobody else in Texas (and maybe this hemisphere, according to chef-owner Jesse Griffiths) is serving it. 

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You might find the animal formed into juicy meatballs on Dai Due’s dinner menu or made into a brunch sausage served on flatbread with chile yogurt, marinated cucumbers, chile morita sauce and wood sorrel za’atar. Like the aoudad, everything on that housemade flatbread comes from Texas. It’s the Daie Due way. 

The restaurant’s commitment to local sourcing and the exceptional dishes created by a kitchen overseen by executive chef Janie Ramirez have made Dai Due one of the best restaurants in Texas for a decade. Now, Dai Due’s made national news. 

According to USA TODAY’s 2025 Restaurants of the Year list, the Austin favorite is one of the top 44 places to eat in America. 

“It’s an exceptional honor considering how high the standards have been set here in Austin. I’m grateful that the hard work of our entire team is being recognized in such an incredible way, which wouldn’t be possible without the producers that have supported us over the years,” Dai Due chef-owner Jesse Griffiths told the American-Statesman. 

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What makes Dai Due stand out 

Griffiths and Mayfield started their business as a supper club that served 80 people at events three times a month. Inspired by trips to Europe and the burgeoning local foods movement in America championed by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in California, Dai Due committed to serving only products from the surrounding area. 

“It was hard but I absolutely loved it. It was compelling. It was all happening in parallel to the local foods movement and farmers markets and people having this reckoning around where their food came from. It was really exciting,” Griffiths said. 

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But after moving to different locations each week, hauling their tables and chairs in and out of storage each week, and working 20-hour days that often started with early morning visits to farmers markets, the duo realized it was time to open a restaurant. 

Encountering the jarred beef tallow and sauerkraut, the cartons of farm fresh eggs and vintage stoneware crocks as you enter the market side of Dai Due, you could be forgiven for thinking you had just walked into the idealized version of your Texas grandparents’ ranch home. But they probably didn’t have a massive handcrafted metal grill suspended over handsome wood-flamed, button-backed booths, and a tap wall with Texas wines and beer. 

All of the proteins, produce, beverages and homemade accouterments have roots in the Lone Star State, from the smoked porterhouse hog served with apple butter to the tallow-roasted mushrooms you can drape over crusty sourdough spread with whipped cherry lard. And Dai Due takes specific pride in serving invasive species like wild boar and nilgai, which was originally brought to the King Ranch in South Texas from India in the 1920s. 

Dai Due has spent $6 million with Texas farmers and ranchers and another $1 million with Texas wineries in the decade since it opened. 

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“That’s everything right there. That’s super meaningful,” Griffiths said. “I take immense pride in it — keeping your neighbors that are doing things the right way in business.”

The restaurant’s leadership in sustainability earned Dai Due a Green Star from the Michelin Guide in 2024, making it one of only 32 restaurants in America to garner such a distinction, but the restaurant deserves as much credit for how the food tastes coming out of the kitchen as it does for how the product got to the kitchen in the first place. 

What to order at Dai Due 

Pork chop. The best pork chop in Austin makes a great argument that open-flame grilling is the greatest way to cook meat. The oak grill infuses the brined chop with a touch of smoke, and the flame sears the black pepper and caramelizes the honey for a slightly sweet and tingly finish.

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Wild boar. Whether served as a sausage, in a flauta or a torta ahogada, wild boar always has a place on the menu at this restaurant that is dedicated to the sustainable sourcing of this invasive species. 

Pastrami sandwich. Rippled folds of pastrami bulge from the edges of grill-marked, house-baked bread, slathered with the earthy tang of beet Thousand Island.

See the full menu.  

Details: Dai Due, 2406 Manor Road, Austin, TX; 512-524-0688; daidue.com

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Austin, TX

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Austin, TX

Camp Mystic warned of safety plan problems as it seeks to reopen this summer after deadly 2025 flood

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Camp Mystic warned of safety plan problems as it seeks to reopen this summer after deadly 2025 flood


AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas state regulators found nearly two dozen deficiencies in the emergency operations plan submitted in Camp Mystic’s bid to reopen less than a year after 27 children and counselors were killed in a devastating flood.

Camp Mystic’s owners have applied for a license to reopen the all-girls Christian camp in late May in part of the campus that did not flood. That has angered families of the girls killed, some of whom have filed lawsuits against the camp, and prompted several prominent state officials to call for the license to be denied or delayed pending the outcome of ongoing investigations.

The 11-page letter from the Department of State Health Services notes deficiencies that include problems with flood warning evacuation plans, use of an emergency warning and public address system, monitoring safety alerts and training campers on safety.

It was sent to the camp about a week after a three-day court hearing in the family lawsuits when several camp operators and staff acknowledged they missed official flood warnings, lacked a detailed evacuation plan and waited too long to try to get the children out. One of the camp’s owners, Richard Eastland, also died.

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The letter notes that Camp Mystic is allowed to revise the emergency plan. Camp Mystic officials said they would work with the agency to address the problems cited.

“Our priority remains the safety and well-being of our campers, and we hope to continue the nearly century-long mission and ministry of Camp Mystic to provide a Christian camping experience for girls that allows them to grow physically, mentally and spiritually,” the camp said.

The camp’s emergency plan was submitted as part of strict new guidelines imposed by state lawmakers after the deadly flood.

DSHS spokesperson Lara Anton said many camps have received deficiency notices ahead of summer opening.

“This is part of the licensing application review process, and most youth camps have received a notice of deficiency letter for their emergency plan due to the statutory changes and increased emergency plan requirements,” Anton said.

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Texas lawmakers have scheduled two days of hearings next week on what happened during the flood that ripped through the Guadalupe River and killed more than 130 people in all. Several lawmakers and the Texas Rangers, the state police elite investigations unit, visited the camp site this week.



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Austin ISD is under state investigation for celebrating Pride Week

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Austin ISD is under state investigation for celebrating Pride Week


The Texas Education Agency launched an investigation into the Austin Independent School District for celebrating its annual Pride Week.

A TEA spokesperson confirmed with KUT News the state has opened an investigation, but declined to comment since “the matter remains ongoing.”

The investigation comes after conservative State Board of Education member Brandon Hall, from the Fort Worth area, raised concerns in March about AISD breaking the law and working to “indoctrinate” students by celebrating Pride Week.

“It’s time to defund AISD and criminally investigate Superintendent Matias Segura,” Hall said in a social media post.

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During an interview with the conservative nonprofit Texas Values, Hall said taxpayers in his district were concerned about state funding going into a district where “instead of focusing on education they are focusing on gender identity and celebrating pride and things like that.”

“[If] we don’t stop it in Austin ISD, we are going to see more of this across the state,” Hall said. “We need to make a statement and set an example. We will not put up with you breaking the law.”

Hall stated that AISD was not complying with Senate Bill 12. The law passed in 2025 and prohibits “diversity, equity and inclusion duties,” including activities that reference gender or sexual orientation, at K-12 public schools. The law also bans the creation of clubs based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

AISD held Pride Week from March 23 to 27 with the theme “beYOUtiful.” Students’ participation was voluntary, and activities took place outside instructional time, including before or after school or during lunch.

Activities included displaying photos of students’ families, wearing wacky socks and sitting with different people during lunch. On the last day each grade level wore a different color to school.

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In their guidelines, district officials said AISD celebrated Pride Week during March to “show support” for the diverse students, staff and families. Officials also acknowledged that in past years the district had provided a suggested curriculum and had distributed swag to schools, but that this year it would look different due to “an ever changing environment.”

It is unclear what penalties the district could face. SB 12 states that any employee who engages in or assigns to another person diversity, equity and inclusion duties must be terminated.

This is not the first time AISD has come under scrutiny in recent months. In March, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton notified the district about a complaint regarding a violation of Senate Bill 8, also known as the “bathroom bill.”

In February, Paxton launched an investigation into AISD after students participated in a national walkout. The results of that investigation remain unknown.

KUT News has reached out to AISD for comment but has not heard back.

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