New York Times list of 25 Best Restaurants in Austin includes many Statesman favorites

In its continued quest to be all things to all people, the New York Times, which brings you a host of brain games, sports across the country via The Athletic, cooking content via its culinary app, national news and podcasts aplenty, has recently gotten into city-specific restaurant coverage outside of New York.

Using its Where to Eat Right Now model which it rolled out on a national level in 2022, the Times has introduced city guides. Having already tapped Boston, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia, the Times this week tackles the Austin dining scene.

It's always hard to parachute into a city and get a sense of what makes its dining scene special (I've done it myself all over the country, from Seattle to Charleston.) But the NYT reporters tasked with the Austin snapshot have a strong familiarity with the city. Brett Anderson, who lives in New Orleans, where he served as the Times-Picayune critic for about 20 years, visits Austin regularly, as does fellow Times dining reporter Priya Krishna, who is originally from Dallas but currently lives in Brooklyn.

So, what's on the list? Regular readers of American-Statesman dining content will recognize all of the names. Let's break it down.

Barbecue and tacos

Austin's two main food groups are well represented.

Five of the Statesman's top seven barbecue restaurants are on the list. They are Franklin Barbecue, Interstellar BBQ, LeRoy & Lewis, Micklethwait Craft Meats, Mum Foods Smokehouse & Delicatessen. Asian smokehouse fusion restaurant Kemuri Tatsu-Ya also made the NYT list. Two Statesman's faves not included: Distant Relatives and La Barbecue).

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Taquerias that have also made appearances on the Statesman's list of best tacos in Austin include Cuanto's Tacos, Discada, Nixta Taqueria and Veracruz All Natural. Ramen del Barrio, which serves tacos as well as Mexican-inflected ramen also made the list.

Mexican food

Of course, the list expands beyond tacos to include the broader spectrum of Mexican food. Both Suerte and Este, from owner Sam Hellman-Mass and executive chef Fermín Núñez made the list, as did Iliana de la Vega's El Naranjo and Comadre Panaderia.

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Best new restaurants

Restaurants that appeared on the Statesman's Best New Restaurants of 2023: Este, Ezov, Ramen del Barrio, Underdog and Wee's Cozy Kitchen. The Statesman's Best New Restaurants of 2021, Birdie's and Canje also made the list.

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Annual favorites

While the list focuses mostly on new(ish) restaurants, a few stalwarts made the list, like Olamaie, which the Statesman has been named the best restaurant in the city several times over the last 10 years; Dai Due, which was our #2 restaurant in 2022; Dee Dee, chef Lakana Trubiana's Thai trailer that is always atop our best food truck lists; and 2023 Austin360 Restaurant Hall of Fame inductees Joe's Bakery & Coffee Shop and Uchi.

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Notable absences

The Times did not include any of the pizzerias from Austin's growing scene, such as Bufalina, Home Slice Pizza, Allday Pizza, Bambino. Sushi restaurants, steakhouses and Chinese restaurants were also given relatively short shrift, and none of the dozen-plus restaurants from the McGuire Moorman Lambert Hospitality team or any of near-annual James Beard nominee chef Bryce Gilmore's concepts (Barley Swine, Odd Duck, Sour Duck Market) landed on the list, which the Times notes will be updated in the future.

Click here for the complete New York Times list of the 25 Best Restaurants in Austin Right Now.