Austin farmers market hosts August celebration with music and chef demos

Without the professional checks and balances professional reviewers face, Yelp users are free to go wild. Although that sometimes makes for a chaotic rating system, it makes the platform’s 25 best new restaurants in the South all the more impressive. Austin placed on the list twice — something only a handful of cities achieved.

The two Austin restaurants featured were the gluten-free Yucatecan retreatNômadé (No. 4) and the vegan fine dining pioneerFabrik (No. 10). Besides a shared interest in catering to specific diets, these restaurants share a presentational ethos that offers elevated dining without too much pretension. (We have the Austin dining scene at large to thank for this pattern.)

It’s not a surprise, given those similarities, that the chefs behind both restaurants were really cooking for themselves when they developed the concepts. Chef Chef Jay Huang of Nômadé tells Yelp his food allergies have caused frustration while scouring menus for something safe to eat when dining out; Chef Chef Je Wallerstein of Fabrik says her hard-to-find take on vegan dining comes from 20 years of eating vegan.

Fabrik was No. 10 on the list.Fabrik/Instagram

The list was compiled based on both hard data and opinion. All the restaurants on the list are full-service, and have opened after January 21, 2023, and have a passing health score as of May 1, 2024. Some quantitative factors include total volume and ratings of reviews, while Community Managers provided a human touch by identifying which restaurants users especially gravitate towards.

In addition to quotes from the chefs and reviewers, these listings highlight some of the restaurants’ most talked-about dishes, so diners have somewhere to start when they make a visit.

The Houston area and Dallas were also represented on the list with, two and one mentions, respecitvely. In Houston, the multicultural Baso (No. 22) earned its spot through its commitment to live fire cooking. This spot hits all four trends identified by the report as a whole: open-flame cooking, Southern roots, global thinking, and seasonal menus. In The Houston suburb of the Woodlands, Xalisko Cocina Mexicana (No. 12) features the work of a former cafeteria worker who leveled up after culinary school.

In Dallas, sushi spot Yūjō (No. 9) received praise not just for its high-quality fish, but for its excellent service — a winning combination for an “entry level omakase.”

Unfortunately Austin did not make Yelp’s overall top 100 U.S. restaurants list. However, Gino’s Deli Stop N Buy in San Antonio smoked the competition at No. 9, followed by: Burger-chan, Tacos Doña Lena, and Avesta Persian Grill in Houston at Nos. 27, 38, and 61, respectively; Pappa Gyros in Katy at No. 63; Mr Max, in Irving at No. 72; Mr. A-Ok’s Kitchen in San Antonio again at No. 77; and finally Southern Yankee Crafthouse in Houston again, bringing up the rear at No. 99.

A full list with insight from the chefs and reviewers is available at yelp.com.