Thanksgiving dinner in Austin?
 

My partner and I will be spending the Thanksgiving holiday in Austin and are looking for a restaurant to go to for Thanksgiving dinner. We'd appreciate any recommendations people might have. Our main requirements are that 1) they have good food; 2) they're smoke free; and 3) they take reservations. Vegetarian options would be a plus although not a requirement.

Also, we're not arriving into the Austin airport until 5 p.m., so we would probably need a restaurant that was open later than 7 p.m.

Thanks!

To bear in mind....

Thursday, 11/26 is the date of the traditonal Texas/Texas A&M football game (in College Station this year), a 7PM(CST) TV kickoff. With a chunk of the upscale dining out populace in front of their TVs (or have driven over to see the game), the restaurant scene ought to be comfortable and uncrowded. Suggesting a restaurant will much depend on your hotel (location), your transportation choices, and some ideas of expectations....

Most places will likely be open, and there are few if any likely to be closed down by 7. It will likely be too late for the fancy hotel Thanksgiving buffets, the choice of traditionalists who don't want to cook or clean the kitchen, but every known class/category of Mexican food from family style to regional to upscale will be available, and certainly some will suggest BBQ, with the drive out to dripping Springs to the County Line asa sort of "landmark" approach.

"Starwood Lurker", available by on FT by private message, is associated with that hotel chain in a marketing capacity, knows Austin well and may have suggestions, while I, 100 miles and 50 years removed except for football and working visits, tend to stick to old standbys.

In other words: "What are you looking for, and how much effort are you willing to put out to get to it?"

Smoking indoors is prohibited in Austin, so you should not have any problems with that.

As far as places to eat, here is a list of good places that I have been to and recommend. Definitely call to make sure they are open on Thanksgiving Day.

Eastside Cafe: http://www.eastsidecafeaustin.com
Green Pastures: http://greenpasturesrestaurant.com/ (not my favorite but decent food)
South Congress Cafe: http://www.southcongresscafe.com/
Olivia: http://olivia-austin.com/ (I really enjoyed it!)
Vespaio: http://www.austinvespaio.com/ (was a little disappointed but wasn't bad)
Roaring Fork: http://www.eddiev.com/

If you're looking for something besides turkey, try Eddie V's or Roys

Location is definitely important in making recommendations in AUS ... in my experience, there are a number of good restaurants on the north side up Mopac (say, within a mile or so of the Dominion) which might constitute an excessive drive from some parts of town ...

Thanks for all your responses. Arc and TMOliver, we haven't yet settled on a hotel. We are leaning towards staying in an airport hotel the first night, so I take it that would be the south part of town...

Do you plan on renting a car?

If so, downtown is a quick 10 minute drive from all of the hotels near the airport.

Here is a listing of restaurants serving on Thanksgiving night:

http://www.austin360.com/blogs/conte...austin/dining/

I would definitely take the cab ride into town. I don't know of any great restaurants near the airport.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

As mentioned previously, there is really not much dining-wise near the airport hotels. If you are coming in to town (not much of a drive from airport to downtown) for Thanksgiving dinner, you may as well just stay in a more central location. As such, I would re-think spending one night in an airport hotel and would suggest you just stay one place the whole time you are here. (Unless you want to spend a night at the Hyatt Lost Pines, midway between the airport and Bastrop and eat dinner there.) As for dinner, Threadgill's might work well with your schedule.

I would strongly recommend renting a car. Austin is not really a mass-transit oriented city.

McCormick & Schmick's
 

A more upscale option (than Threadgill's) to consider is McCormick & Schmick's. I just saw they are offering a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and will be open until 9 pm downtown and 8 pm Domain location. Reservations can be made at mccormickandschmicks.com/austin.

More upscale than Threadgill's. . . YES, definitely.

Better apple pie . . . NO WAY.

Second that suggestion on McCormick and Schmick's...yes a chain, but it's good and you aren't limited to the turkey dinner there. One downtown and one at the Domain on the northside. We've done Thanksgiving there the last two yrs and probably this one too.

Frenchie Flyer

Somehow, the choice of M&S, nothing wrong, simply just another meal, for dinner in Austin strikes me as like unto breakfasting at Bob Evans/Denny's/IHOP when I could go to Cisco's, or drinking beer in a lobby bar, when I could sit out under the trees at Scholz's with a pitcher of Shiner and wait for the ghosts from my misspent youth to show up. Eat there? No, that's a misdaventure unless too befuddled enough not to be able to leave (a state which I have often attained.

A little searching and reading would provide all sorts of alternatives, several of them quintessentially "Austin", better qualified to mark a memrable visit, especially if you're not often in the city.

Thanks to everyone who responded. We've been trying out some of your suggested restaurants, not only for Thanksgiving but also other nights. We are staying at the Aloft at the Domain, so chose Cru from the list that Starwood Lurker provided for Thanksgiving. It was excellent - the turkey and gravy tasted homemade and it was accompanied by an outstanding butternut squash/crab soup. All the other dishes we had there were delicious as well. It's a little pricey, but very good for a special occasion.

We've been enjoying eating at a variety of Austin restaurants. Yesterday had lunch at the Steeping Room (also at the Domain), which I'd recommend to anyone staying at the Aloft or other restaurants nearby and looking for an affordable, non-chain option. Tonight, we took CO777ER's suggestion and tried Eddie V's, which was excellent as well.