Cafe Blue - Downtown
Private Dining
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Safety precautions
- Surfaces sanitized between seatings
- Common areas deep cleaned daily
- Digital, disposable or sanitized menu provided
- Sanitizer or wipes provided for customers
- Sealed or wrapped utensils used
- Limited number of seated diners
- Distancing maintained in common areas
- Extra space between tables
- Waitstaff wear masks
- Diners must wear masks unless eating or drinking
- Sick staff prohibited in the workplace
Popular dishes
Grand Seafood Tower*
Oysters on the half shell (8), jumbo Gulf cocktail shrimp (8), Atlantic snow crab claws (4), ceviche and jumbo lump crab cocktail. Add Alaskan King Crab Legs, Chilled and Split - 1/2 LB. Mkt
1 reviews
Seafood Crepes
Baked in a garlic white wine cream sauce, served with sautéed spinach & mushrooms
22 reviews
Crab Stuffed Gulf Flounder
Sautéed Gulf flounder, topped with lump crab stuffing and citrus butter sauce, served with garlic whipped potatoes and asparagus
6 reviews
Great food and variety.
We enjoyed every aspect of our dining experience! Oysters on the half shell, Thai Mussels, Crabcakes, Gumbo, Crab Claws, great wine and Chocolate Martinis. Great service and recommendations from Connor, our wait person. We are returning to Austin in August anx Café Blue is at the top of our list for a return dining experience!
Great food and great service
Service was excellent. Food was good.
Service was terrible and the food over cooked and terrible presentation when food was delivered. Embarrassed to bring a potential employee and wife to that restaurant.
We have had many good experiences but unlikely to return.
My family and I were hoping to have a nice seafood meal on Easter Sunday before we took our daughter back to her dorm room. The restaurant was half full and we had made reservations. Upon arrival, we were seated at our table promptly. Our waiter seemed like he didn't want to be at work that day. No explaining specials or anything, we just had to guess. We ordered and waited for our food. Appetizers were good. My lemon drop martini arrived half full, but I didn't complain. We ordered our food and when it arrived my ceasar salad with crab cake had turned into stuffed shrimp with rice pilaf. The waiter took the shrimp away and I had to wait for them to fix my salad, In the meantime, my daughter and husband had finished their meal. The salad finally came and the lettuce looked like it had been left out for two days. The manager (I guess it was him as he didn't identify himself) came over to apologize that I was given the wrong meal, but he seemed he could care less if we were there or not. It was a total waste of $130 and I doubt we will be back. In these Covid times, I like to spend my money where I'm appreciated.
The food here is very average. Service was good, but I won't be back.
We had a lovely evening and enjoyed the meal up until the very end. Our server was friendly and attentive. However, after dessert I visited the restroom. On the way back to the table I observed a kitchen staff filling a wine bottle from a Franzia boxed wine. It appears the restaurant is misleading their patrons with their wines. It makes me concerned at what else the restaurant is doing to cut corners or rip the customer off.
Thank you for your feedback! I understand your concern. The kitchen uses the box wine for cooking. They simply pour from the box into the bottles because the bottles are much easier to handle during service than a bulky box. We're very happy that you enjoyed your experience!
The restaurant wasn’t ready for guests. A manager ran a dust mop near our table while we were seated, the restrooms had trash on the floor and didn’t look like they’d been cleaned prior to opening. The bartender was helping wait on tables and the overall service was slow. We made reservations for 5:00 and were seated at a table near the bar and closest to the front door instead of in the back dining room. We’ve always thought of Cafe Blue as a very nice restaurant, but our latest experience didn’t meet our expectations for a fairly expensive night out.
Had a lunch reservation. No wait. There is no valet parking so you have to use either street parking or a garage a block away. The ambience is nice, but the food was mediocre at best. I think there are better dining options in Austin for the price. The server was friendly, but that was the only person that was around. One person in our party ordered a draft beer which was warm. The server said that all the beers would be the same temperature, so he recommended bottle beer instead. Ordered oysters Rockefeller, ceviche, fish, and salad. The consensus was that the food was good, but not anything extraordinary. There are a lot of options downtown. While this experience wasn’t necessarily bad, we agreed that it wasn’t really worth the prices.
Great food, service and overall experience! Can’t wait to go back.
Everything was delicious! We ordered the clam chowder (which is why we chose this restaurant) the Ahi tuna appetizer which melted like butter in your mouth, mussels in a velvety slightly spicy Thai sauce with the grilled french bread, crispy calamari, and burnt tips. We had a few mango mojitos which were refreshing with the right amount of sweetness. We had a great time enjoying our dinner and will return.
Good just wasn’t as good as I’ve experienced before
Cafe Blue and her staff went above and beyond to accommodate our large group of 8. The food was excellent--particularly the crab cakes and shrimp ceviche as appetizers and grilled redfish Cajun style as an entree. Sangria was a hit as well. As we were celebrating a birthday and a confirmation, we were graciously presented with two free desserts--key lime pie and a chocolate lava cake that were awesome! Thank you Cafe Blue for making our family celebration a very special one!
Nice cafe but the lemonade and sweet tea needs improvement.
The fries can use improvement as well.
The crab cake sandwich was great. A little spicy would knock it off the charts.
I went for my birthday dinner. It was my first time but it was definitely worth it. The food was delicious and Conner was great....
We had a relatively late reservation for a Sunday night in Austin. We received a lukewarm welcome at best from the host/ manager. Nary a hello , and more of a feeling of him being put out in fact. The restaurant was empty and lacked charm, music or ambiance. The facilities felt sad and poorly kept. After a long wait, Our waiter was good but informed us that about ten different things - including the house specialty - oysters - were out of stock. We changed a courses and ordered lobster rolls instead of oysters and they were good and the lobster meat was plentiful. Fries a bit “old” tasting . Overall I cannot recommend this experience.
The restaurant was able to quickly seat us but the calamari appetizer was greasy and wasn’t even drained of oil. The other dishes were not up to par as well. I’ve eaten at Cafe Blue many times and have been more than satisfied. So, I attribute this downturn in quality as pandemic-related.
Absolutely amazing! The location and ambiance alone are amazing for the price but the FOOD! Omg! Definitely try the oysters and the stuffed flounder! The island spice margarita is fire as well! We will be returning
Good food. Good service.
Delicious food. Took my husband out to celebrate his birthday.
This experience was excellent all around. Food was amazing, service was amazing. Not cheap, but a great value for the quality. I very strongly recommend the cedar plank salmon and french onion soup.
Overall I would not recommend. It was my first time in Austin.
The wine was not chilled the food was ok.
Went for my husband's birthday. He had gulf oysters on the half shell which were awesome! Crab stuffed shrimp amazing! went back for brunch the next day!
The host was terrible. Rude and just trying to get people in and out. No ambiance. It was like sitting in a cafeteria but expensive menu. No energy in the place.
It was great! Host set us and visited with us while our server was getting special instructions for my friends Vegan needs. After accommodating my friend the server recommend an amazing steak. Very upbeat and good team. I will be returning!
Perfect date night on a Friday! T
Food was average. Drinks were good. Waiter was good and attentive. Overall, a decent experience. Have had better for sure.
This was a fantastic place!
Stumbled across this on Open Table in our search for Valentine's Dinner (Saturday night) and was more than pleasantly surprised. The Lobster Roll appetizer was incredible and plenty to share! The Crispy Ribs were delicious and plenty of fall off the bone meat. We were only there for drinks and appetizers but can't wait to go back. Speaking of drinks, they made an awesome Espresso Martini.
This place is fine, but it doesn’t belong in downtown Austin. The food and experience is incomparable to its neighbors. I’m shocked by the high ratings. The peel and eat shrimp was great, the cocktails were not good and all ice, the wine marked up 400% for some bottles, the main entrees were fine and satisfying, but overpriced for quality (not overpriced for location). Was I disappointed? Not really, just underwhelmed. Would I go back? Probably not.
We loved Cafe Blue. Everything from the food to the service was great! My hubby already wants to go back and try different entrees.
This was my first visit to Cafe Blue but will not be my last, the food was great and we had not issues or concerns with our service.
It was very slow with not so many people. The food was fair. The Paloma was great
Service was very slow and waiter was non-attentive. Food was mediocre at best. My wife sent her chicken fried ribeye and eggs back because it was very greasy. I would not recommend this restaurant for brunch.
Excellent food and outstanding service. Will absolutely go back when in town,
Server was great....very attentive and friendly....Appetizers were great...(oysters and mussels) ....fish entrees were fresh but a little over-cooked....sauce and crab stuffing was a little lacking....sauce was bland and it was as if crab meat was pasteurized....not as fresh tasting as typical lump, backfin is...
Cook didnt wear a mask, oysters were sold out. Would not go again.
I will start by admitting that we had a large group of 8 people that hadn’t seen each other in quite some time. That said, we were a little louder than other tables.
The service was extremely slow, and I felt as if our waiter didn’t serve us, so as to make us want to leave. It was a late dinner, in a restaurant in the middle of downtown on a Friday night. I would expect to see parties who may want to come to your restaurant to have a good time.
Ultimately, we left and went to Geraldines up the street and had a remarkably better experience. The entire staff was very friendly and welcoming, the food was great, and the atmosphere was welcoming to large parties to want to have a lot of laughs.
The food was very good. I felt the oysters were a bit pricey for what they were. Overall I enjoyed it, but our server started off strong and then dropped the ball the second half. I would eat there again, and recommend it overall.
The ceviche is some of the best we have had and we have traveled extensively and tried ceviche in many parts of the world. I highly recommend it.
FAQs
Cafe Blue - Downtown does offer delivery in partnership with Uber Eats. Cafe Blue - Downtown also offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (512) 428-5796.
Cafe Blue - Downtown is rated 4.4 stars by 641 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.