These 25 iconic dishes give a taste of Austin dining then and now

Want to get a taste of what Austin is all about — to taste its history and understand its present? Start with these dishes.

Tex-Mex and burgers helped build this city, but we've always been much more than that. And the modern Austin dining scene points to a more glorious gastronomic future.

The following 25 dishes span the decades, represent some of our greatest traditions and exemplify the work of some of our most important voices right now. Some are iconic and have stood the test of time, and some are icons in the making, dishes that you point to when somebody asks, "So, what is the Austin food scene all about?"

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Use it as a cheat sheet to knowing your city better or a planner for a visiting friend.

Shiitake dumplings at Barley Swine

Even the mushroom averse love this dish. It’s called a dumpling but think of it as a caramelle pasta filled with liquid mushroom gold that bursts when you pop the pasta package. The bed of almost liquid scrambled eggs gives rich minerality to this dish that I hope always exists as a supplement to the excellent tasting menu at chef Bryce Gilmore’s restaurant. (barleyswine.com)

French dip at Bartlett’s

Spinach-artichoke dip. Smoked salmon appetizer. Tangy ribeye. I mean, take your pick on iconic dishes at this Austin institution, but I am going with a sandwich more tender than a Sinatra ballad.

“We’ve been roasting bones and mirepoix and simmering it for hours long before bone broth was cool,” Bartlett’s chef-owner Arik Skot Williams once told me.

That’s the sandwich’s eponymous broth, which gives an added depth of beefy essence to a half-pound of velvety ripples of roasted prime rib that are so supple they almost melt inside the toasted roll that's brushed with mayonnaise, because one more touch of fat ain’t gonna hurt you. (bartlettsaustin.com)

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Burger at Casino El Camino/Dirty Martin’s/Crown & Anchor/Dan’s Hamburgers/Sandy’s

Look, I love burgers and I refuse to choose just one Austin classic for this list. Casino serves them fat and grilled, while these other beloved burgers have a thinner body and the aged grease of the flattop in their favor.

Elvis Presley Memorial Combo at Chuy’s

The patron saint of Austin’s most famous Tex-Mex restaurant never enjoyed a trio of colorful enchiladas and a crispy taco on Barton Springs Road, but one has to imagine the King would approve. (chuys.com)

Migas and biscuits at Cisco’s

World leaders, famed athletes and outlaw country legends: They’re just like us. They love steaming twirls of cheesy eggs served with tawny biscuits from an East Austin legend. And now, and I hope forever, you can get them at the Lions Municipal Golf Course. (ciscosaustin.com)

Cochinita pibil at Curra’s Grill

Curra’s Grill founder Jorge Garcia is from Nueva Rosita in northern Mexico, but the interior Mexican restaurant he opened in South Austin in 1995 was probably the introduction to the Yucatan specialty of cochinita pibil for many Austinites. The slow roasted pork, glowing with the hue of its annatto seed marinade, arrives in the banana leaf in which it is cooked and is laced with pickled onions. And, yes, it goes perfectly with an avocado margarita. (currasgrill.com)

Pork chop at Dai Due

The best pork chop in town 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. (daidue.com)

Roast duck at Din Ho Chinese BBQ

The glistening auburn colored ducks hanging in their glass case have been luring diners at this North Austin restaurant for more than 20 years. Make the carved, fatty meat with the crackling skin the centerpiece of your table’s lazy Susan, as you dress the accompanying steam buns with green onions and viscous hoisin sauce. (Facebook.com/dinhochinesebbq)

‘Cacio e pepe’ at Emmer & Rye

The "cacio e pepe" is in quotes because outside of the pepper and pasta, this dish isn’t in the traditional mold of the Roman classic. It’s still wonderful, with nutty creaminess from an Italy-adjacent Challerhocker cheese, a bitterness from small greens and umami from fermented tomato. Call it what you want, it’s a modern Austin icon. (emmerandrye.com)

Duck enchiladas at Fonda San Miguel

When some people say Austin’s longest running interior Mexican restaurant serves “fancy” Mexican food, they are probably thinking of dishes like this. But a better way to describe Fonda is thoughtful, respectful and deeply connected to Mexico. The enchiladas, which come from a recipe from owner Tom Gilliland’s friend Maria Dolores Ybarra, balance the rich gaminess of duck with grassy notes of a poblano-spinach sauce, and it’s as pretty as some of the art on the classic restaurant’s walls.  (fondasanmiguel.com)

Beef enchiladas at Enchiladas y Mas

Eva and Carmen Hernandez, daughters of late Enchiladas Y Mas co-founder Roe Hernandez, purchased the restaurant from their aunt and uncle, Mary and Robert Martinez, during the first year of the pandemic, and thank goodness for that. While the “y Mas” is good, the enchiladas, specifically the ones topped with beef sauce and a lava flow of molten cheese, represent Tex-Mex comfort at its finest. (Facebook.com/enchiladasymasaustin)

Brisket at Franklin Barbecue

People line up for hours for the camaraderie, the Instagram bragging rights and the ritual, but really they’re at this modern legend for the brisket — moist as red velvet cake and smokier than your grandmother’s Cadillac. (franklinbbq.com)

Italian sub at Home Slice Pizza

The New York-style pizza gets most of the headlines and deservedly so at Home Slice Pizza, but real ones know if you’re putting in an order for the table, you’ve gotta get the Italian sub. A toasted sesame seed bun sandwiches shrettuce, tomato, razer-thin onion and a porky blush of stacked ham, salami and capicola, with provolone cheese and mayonnaise giving a nutty and creamy balance to the zingy vinegar-and-oil blend. Yes, mayonnaise.

“We feel to deliver the goods and inspire people, one must have a clearly defined point of view, and mayo is part of ours,” Home Slice co-founder Joseph Strickland once told me. (homeslicepizza.com)

Ribeye at Jeffrey’s

There is no greater feeling of luxury or decadence in Austin dining than slipping into one of the leather-backed booths or tucking yourself into a barrel chair in the restaurant’s lounge and ordering a Texas-raised ribeye while you peruse the aspirational wine list. (jeffreysofaustin.com)

Carne guisada at Joe’s Bakery & Coffee Shop

Plates like this weren’t on the original menu at Joe’s, which focused on tacos and baked goods when it opened, but now you can’t imagine the East Austin restaurant without it. The “carne” in the Joe's version of guisada is tender hunks of pork simmered in a rich tomato sauce that stretches across the plate, infusing the refried beans and soft rice with its twangy crimson hue. (joesbakery.com)

Buttermilk pancakes at Magnolia Cafe

Fluffy, buttery, wide, stacked high and, if you’re smart, studded with some blueberries or bananas. These can be comforting life savers or life givers, whether at 3 a.m. or 3 p.m. (magnoliacafeaustin.com)

Bob Armstrong Dip at Matt’s El Rancho

The late Bob Armstrong spearheaded the effort that more than doubled the amount of state parkland in Texas and was a founding member of Sierra Club’s Austin chapter. But the best known part of his legacy is probably this bowl of school bus yellow queso topped with ground beef, guacamole and sour cream that the late Matt Martinez Jr. whipped up as a snack for the late land commissioner. (mattselrancho.com)

Biscuits at Olamaie

Chef Michael Fojtasek finally (reluctantly) put Austin’s worst kept culinary secret on the printed menu a few years after opening his Southern restaurant. But by then everyone knew about the biscuits with the craggy golden exterior that split open to reveal ethereal flossy clouds. The biscuits arrive with a companion of European butter touched with honey that lingers somewhere in the space between solid and liquid. (olamaieaustin.com)

Soup dumplings at Qi

Chef Ling Qi Wu introduced many Austin diners to Shanghai-style soup dumplings when Wu Chow opened and then spring boarded off the popularity of the pork broth-filled wrappers redolent of scallion and ginger to open five restaurants (and counting) of her own. (qiaustin.com)

Fried shrimp at Quality Seafood

Start with a dozen elephant ear-sized Gulf oysters and one of the coldest beers in town at this Austin institution’s bar before ordering either a plate of the golden, cornmeal crusted shrimp with a side of cheesy spaghetti or getting them stuffed into a monster po’ boy fully dressed. (qualityseafoodmarket.com)

Suadero tacos at Suerte

A quintessential dish that should make Texans thank their lucky stars for the state’s proximity to Mexico. The beef is cooked in its own fat and painted with a complex umami-forward oil that leans on sesame and garlic. A mash of avocado and citrus brightens the rich layers of shredded beef that are cradled in a gently sweet scratch-made corn tortilla. A camp fire flickers, a coyote wails, the moon shines bright and all is right in the Lone Star State. (suerteatx.com)

OG tonkotsu ramen at Ramen Tatsuya

The springy and robust noodles, the deep, rich creamy pork broth, the earthy mushrooms and ajitama egg with the liquid gold center. The OG tonkotsu ramen here helped usher in a ramen revolution in Austin. (ramen-tatsuya.com)

Hama chili at Uchi

Some of the folks over at the Hai Hospitality headquarters jokingly call Uchi “the house that hama chili built.” The dish may have started in a house but it’s helped build an interstate empire that stretches from California to Florida. Chef-founder Tyson Cole made Austin diners reimagine what sushi could be by integrating unexpected flavors with raw fish. In this beautiful dish the thinly sliced yellowtail rests in a pert umami bath of ponzu, with orange sections and Thai chilies layering sweetness and heat. Even if you’ve been to Uchi 50 times, you’re almost certainly still getting this vibrant dish to help kick off your meal. (uchi.uchirestaurants.com)

Migas taco at Veracruz All Natural

If you had to recommend one taco to a friend visiting from out of state, especially one of those states where they don’t have breakfast tacos, this would be the choice. I pointed the late, great and famously egg-averse Jonathan Gold toward the Vazquez sisters’ tumble of perfectly seasoned eggs, crispy tortilla strips and fatty avocado once and he returned twice more. (veracruzallnatural.com)

Dessert trio at Wink

This farm-to-table trailblazer could land here for its varied preparations of wild game, scallops or foie gras; instead it earns the sole dessert spot on the list for the sampler chef-partner Mark Paul said he created to satisfy the indecisive. Turn on your tastebuds with the tart lemon curd in a delicate meringue cup; smooth things out with silky vanilla custard layered by a shatterable glass of caramelized sugar; and lean into nostalgic decadence with the gooey flourless chocolate cake. (winkrestaurant.com)

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 25 most iconic dishes to try in Austin, Texas