{"id":92581,"date":"2025-12-18T08:25:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T08:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/92581\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T08:25:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T08:25:16","slug":"the-top-10-dishes-from-austin-restaurants-in-2025-the-austin-chronicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/92581\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top 10 Dishes From Austin Restaurants in 2025 \u2022 The Austin Chronicle"},"content":{"rendered":"

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:<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Chad Wadsworth<\/p>\n

1) Whitefish With Almond Mol\u00e9 at Le Calamar<\/a><\/p>\n

Le Calamar\u2019s creative French-Texan dishes and shockingly affordable prix fixe menu make it one of my absolute favorite restaurants of 2025. It\u2019s hard to go wrong with anything on their menu, but if I have to choose one standout, I\u2019m picking the complex sauce made with almonds and guajillo peppers that Le Calamar serves with its seasonal whitefish entr\u00e9e. This sauce eats like a mol\u00e9 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.<\/p>\n

2) Pecan Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookie at Micklethwait Craft Meats<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve gone on the record many times with my belief that Micklethwait Craft Meats makes some of Austin\u2019s finest barbecue, and every time I\u2019ve visited their new brick-and-mortar on Tanney, I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: John Anderson<\/p>\n

3) Biscuit Sandwich at Mercado Sin Nombre<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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 App\u00e9tit, 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\u2019s a flawless breakfast sandwich, and if I lived closer to Mercado Sin Nombre, it would have been a daily order for me in 2025.<\/p>\n

4) Dan Dan Noodles at Mian & Bao<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2019s worth braving the Triangle\u2019s terrifying parking situation.<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: John Anderson<\/p>\n

5) Nom Pahng at Blue Apsara<\/a><\/p>\n

Austinites sick and tired of hearing Houstonites crow about their \u201csuperior\u201d Asian food landscape should rejoice at the arrival of Blue Apsara, a Cambodian food truck on South Lamar that\u2019s responsible for a deeply delicious twist on the b\u00e1nh m\u00ec. 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.<\/p>\n

6) Caesar Salad at Rocco\u2019s<\/p>\n

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\u2019s, 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.<\/a><\/p>\n

7) Al Pastor Tacos at Paprika ATX<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2019re then welcome to add your own salsa; the fiery orange is an especially strong match for these Saturday-only masterpieces.<\/p>\n

8) Khachapuri at Sami Sumeli<\/a><\/p>\n

Bread and melted cheese are a combination that\u2019s 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\u2019s magic right there. And Sami Sumeli, a new Georgian restaurant in Cedar Park, makes what may be the city\u2019s best version of khachapuri. The bread holds its structure (so there\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"Stewed oxtail at Twin Isle Credit: Jessica Attie<\/p>\n

9) Oxtail Fries at Twin Isle<\/a><\/p>\n

Loaded fries just might be my favorite game-day snack, and when they have a specific point of view from a flavor perspective, I\u2019m 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\u2019re worth the extra piece of silverware.<\/p>\n

10) Lao\u2019d Smash Burger from Lao\u2019d Bar<\/a><\/p>\n

Lao\u2019d 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\u2019d 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) a\u00efoli, and rice-fermented pickles.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Better\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tThe biggest stories in Central Texas of 2025 mostly brought bad news\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Top\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tKey insights from local creatives\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tLooking back at a year of bold, empathetic, boundary-pushing creations\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tThe year\u2019s best feature films, plus critics lists\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Top\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tNonprofits, clothing drives, and more that could use your support this holiday season\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Day\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tFlooding and new parks in 2025 top the Day Tripping list\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tAs decided by the Chronicle culture desk\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tA look back at the good and the bad of the Verde & Black\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

This article appears in December 19 \u2022 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A note to readers:\u00a0Bold and uncensored,\u00a0The Austin Chronicle\u00a0has been Austin\u2019s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community\u2019s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Another year, another long list of new restaurants and food trucks hoping to make a name for themselves…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,43476,43477,43478,43479,43480,43481,43482,43483,43484,43461,37345],"class_list":["post-92581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-blue-aspara","tag-laod-bar","tag-le-calamar","tag-mercado-sin-nombre","tag-mian-bao","tag-micklethwait-craft-meats","tag-paprika-atx","tag-roccos","tag-sami-sumeli","tag-top-10s","tag-twin-isle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}