Another year, another long list of new restaurants and food trucks hoping to make a name for themselves in our very opinionated city. Luckily for me as a food critic, 2025 provided Austin diners with plenty of exciting twists on classics, international items that were previously hard to find around here, and playful bites that bring serious flavor without serious attitude. This list includes my Top 10 dishes from restaurants that opened in or around 2025. In no particular order:

Credit: Chad Wadsworth

1) Whitefish With Almond Molé at Le Calamar

Le Calamar’s creative French-Texan dishes and shockingly affordable prix fixe menu make it one of my absolute favorite restaurants of 2025. It’s hard to go wrong with anything on their menu, but if I have to choose one standout, I’m picking the complex sauce made with almonds and guajillo peppers that Le Calamar serves with its seasonal whitefish entrée. This sauce eats like a molé complete with nutty notes, a trace of spice, and aromatics for days. Crunchy almond slices sprinkled on top provide welcome texture, and the lemon wedge provided alongside should absolutely be squeezed over the plate to tie all of the flavors together.

2) Pecan Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookie at Micklethwait Craft Meats

I’ve gone on the record many times with my belief that Micklethwait Craft Meats makes some of Austin’s finest barbecue, and every time I’ve visited their new brick-and-mortar on Tanney, I’ve left deeply satisfied with the quality of their brisket, sausages, and top-tier side dishes. But to be totally honest, the Micklethwait menu item that I crave the most frequently falls into a very different category: dessert. The pecan molasses chocolate chip cookie that they offer on a seasonal basis is the size of an adult palm, with a crunchy bite on the outside and a tender, melty interior. The chocolate and pecans play together just as well as you might expect, and the molasses provides a deep brown sugar dimension that makes this one of the most indulgent cookies in Austin.

Credit: John Anderson

3) Biscuit Sandwich at Mercado Sin Nombre

It’s hard to think of a new Austin restaurant that made a bigger splash on the national food media scene than Mercado Sin Nombre. This al fresco cafe in East Austin racked up mentions in The New York Times, Bon Appétit, and the Michelin Guide, and dishes like their blue masa biscuit sandwich easily justify that legacy media praise. The house-nixtamalized masa creates biscuits with the right blend of tenderness and crumbliness; the locally sourced chicken sausage is well seasoned; the sunny-side up egg is cooked exactly right; the American cheese is melty and salty; and the zippy habanero hot sauce cuts through the rest with an attention-grabbing burst of heat. It’s a flawless breakfast sandwich, and if I lived closer to Mercado Sin Nombre, it would have been a daily order for me in 2025.

4) Dan Dan Noodles at Mian & Bao

A taste of the impressive Chinese restaurant scene in the San Gabriel Valley of California can be found in Austin via Mian & Bao, a new Sichuan-Shanghainese spot in the Triangle from the team behind Chengdu Taste in Alhambra. Mian & Bao also serves great dumplings, but the destination-worthy dish has to be the Dan Dan Noodles. Springy wheat noodles, ground pork seasoned with just enough tingly Sichuan peppercorn, a trace of sesame, and bright pickled mustard greens produce a warm and comforting dish that’s worth braving the Triangle’s terrifying parking situation.

Credit: John Anderson

5) Nom Pahng at Blue Apsara

Austinites sick and tired of hearing Houstonites crow about their “superior” Asian food landscape should rejoice at the arrival of Blue Apsara, a Cambodian food truck on South Lamar that’s responsible for a deeply delicious twist on the bánh mì. The Nom Pahng layers marinated ground pork, steamed pork roll, cucumbers, pickled carrots and jicama, cilantro, and coconut sriracha sauce on a plush baguette, and the result is spicy, savory, tangy, and generally amazing.

6) Caesar Salad at Rocco’s

Caesar salads are fairly simple dishes by nature; how much does one plate of romaine tossed in egg-and-anchovy dressing and topped with parmesan really vary from another? But when you encounter a Caesar with the perfect balance of ingredients, its excellence really shines through. At Rocco’s, a new pasta joint in North Loop, I found myself thoroughly enchanted by a Caesar with well-drenched (but not soggy) greens, a garlic-forward dressing with just enough acidity, a crunchy garlic bread crumble subbing in for croutons, and a huge fistful of fluffy parm placed on top and ready to mix in. See our full review.

7) Al Pastor Tacos at Paprika ATX

Taco fans in Austin have long recognized the Paprika truck as an elite purveyor of al pastor, but now that Paprika has its own brick-and-mortar on North Lamar, a broader swath of diners are becoming wise to these impeccable handheld bites. Fresh corn tortillas get loaded with charred-yet-tender pork roasted on a vertical trompo, and Paprika uses a restrained hand to add garnishes like pineapple, cilantro, and diced onion. You’re then welcome to add your own salsa; the fiery orange is an especially strong match for these Saturday-only masterpieces.

8) Khachapuri at Sami Sumeli

Bread and melted cheese are a combination that’s hard to argue against in general, but when the bread features a sturdy crust and a boat shape and the cheese has a rich egg yolk floating on top for mix-in purposes? That’s magic right there. And Sami Sumeli, a new Georgian restaurant in Cedar Park, makes what may be the city’s best version of khachapuri. The bread holds its structure (so there’s no risk of the cheese spilling out the sides), the cheese is combined with both egg and butter for maximum richness, and the hands-on nature of the dish is fun and communal.

Stewed oxtail at Twin Isle Credit: Jessica Attie

9) Oxtail Fries at Twin Isle

Loaded fries just might be my favorite game-day snack, and when they have a specific point of view from a flavor perspective, I’m even more excited. Twin Isle, a new Trinidadian fast-casual spot in East Austin, offers a substantial platter of fries topped with juicy oxtail and melted cheese and drizzled with garlic sauce and punchy Scotch bonnet hot sauce. These are loaded fries that call for a fork, but they’re worth the extra piece of silverware.

10) Lao’d Smash Burger from Lao’d Bar

Lao’d Bar technically opened its doors on the very eastern edge of town in 2024, but 2025 is when I was first introduced to the dish that kept me driving back to this far-flung location: the Lao’d Smash Burger. Chef Bob Somsith forms his patties out of Laotian pork sausage made by his mom, and after smashing them, he places them on a potato bun with melted American cheese, a veggie slaw mixed with Jeow Bong (a Laotian chili paste) aïoli, and rice-fermented pickles.

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This article appears in December 19 • 2025.

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