Trace - W - Austin

Our family of four wanted a festive, yummy breakfast before a full day of sight-seeing downtown plus a basketball game at UT. Where we parked had a Saturday farmer’s market I would have liked to have gone to. Good location, food and loved our waiter.

We made reservations for my daughter’s 26th birthday and were unbelievably disappointed in our experience. When we arrived we waited 5 minutes for someone to greet us at the hostess stand. Several people walked by but did not acknowledge us. Finally we are taken to our table, where the hostess realized the table wasnt ready. She had us stop in the middle of the restaurant where she grabbed forks, knives, napkins, etc and set the table up while we stood there. Not once did she offer an apology, simply “Your server will be right with you.” Finally our server comes to take our drink order. She doesnt welcome us, ask why we are in Austin, nothing. We order 4 total drinks but only 3 were registered so we had to wait another 5 minutes for the next drink. We then order brunch. Brunch came and it was sub par to say the least. My daughter’s breakfast sandwich was cold. Never did the waitress ask how our food was or if there was anything else we needed. Finally, we had to ask for the check and it took about 15 minutes to get it. Bottom line, it was some of the worst service and food we have ever had. To make matters worse we ate there to celebrate a birthday.

Delicious food as always! Luxury space!

Server Kate was awesome. Food for everyone (5) was delish. Atmosphere was very nice as well.

Our server did a great job keeping up with our group. Loved the location and the vibe for a pre-show (ACL Moody Theater) event.

We had 5 'small plates' instead of two entrees. The mussels are the best I've had and you get a ton for a small plate. Crab Cakes were OK...have had better. Slightly pricey being part of the W. Great location/atmosphere/service.

Went there because I was looking for a brunch place. Had a reservation at 8:45 they didn’t have brunch menu only regular breakfast, food was still good, but server was horrible not once did he offer to refill our coffee cups, we had other waiters help us because our waiter was no where to be found. No mimosas were available

Get the small plates one at a time so they are hot.

Well, we were thrilled when Nadine sent out a complimentary squash tartine as an appetizer and started things off on a positive note. Our salmon was outstanding and perfectly prepared - light yet satisfying protein. The i ed tea is now a darker delicious brew-that weak iced tea is thankfully gone. We will be back fir Lunch-on-the-Fly!

Perfect place to relax and enjoy a delicious brunch after running Austin’s Half Marathon ‘

Loved this place ! Everyone was so friendly and attentive . Would definitely go back and recommend to everyone 😍

Lovely space, nice atmosphere. We sat inside but close enough to the open doors to enjoy the beautiful evening. We had super friendly, attentive service from our server Mary! She offered suggestions but wasn’t pushy. She even brought us a complimentary dessert for our anniversary ❤️. We shared a charcuterie platter which had a lot of tasty elements, but I do wish they offered options or maybe listed the different items on the platter. For example, we do not eat offal, so the chicken liver mousse was wasted on us. We could’ve saved them the product and replaced it with something we could enjoy. Instead of entrees we both had the mussels and they were outstanding. High quality shellfish, smoked chorizo, fantastic broth, easy tiger bread. Mussels are our favorite thing and we get them everywhere. We will be back for these for sure.
My only complaint about the whole evening is about the parking, which has nothing to do with Trace really. Just know that even if Trace gives you a validation voucher, if you go any amount over the 3 hours, the W valets will charge you their OUTRAGEOUS fees. So know that before you hand your keys over!

The ambience was the only thing that saved this valentines date. The oysters had an odd texture, the lobster bisque was sweet and in place to the actual lobster they threw cucumber and cilantro on top of the completely pureed bisque. I was pretty sure the used the same puree in the lobster ravioli I ordered so I had a blast of seafood juice every time I bit into the almost empty ravioli. I will say the desert was not bad. Overall I have been to this restaurant many of times the past for brunch and dinner and this by far was the worst experience at Trace I have ever had.

Mediocre food. Good wine.

Lovely Valentines Day dinner with my boyfriend. Every dish that we had was excellent and the ambience made us feel very special. We enjoyed our wine paring and each dish went perfectly with the select wines. I had the burrata, lobster ravioli and the chocolate strawberry cheesecake. The ravioli was delicious. Our server was named Austin, and he was very kind and attentive. We will be back next time we are in TX!

We ordered the lunch special which included the appetizer, entree, and cookies. They gave us the check and we left, and that was when we realized they never gave us the cookies. The tomato soup was bitter - I think adding coconut milk would have gone a long way.

Having that said, they went out of their way to help my gluten-free and dairy-free friend find a suitable meal tailored to her tastes, which we greatly appreciate. She enjoyed her food, as did I, except I only could finish half of the soup because of how bitter it was. The service was very attentive. The place was clean and aesthetic.

A sometimes overlooked dining destination. It was easy to get a reservation on a Saturday night and it's location next to the ACL Live Moody Theatre makes it perfect for concert goers. The food was high quality and creative. Our server was excellent.

Service was excellent. Food was horrible. Got the $13 3 course lunch. Pasta was inedible, hard and unattractive.

Brunch, Bar Nosh, Breakfast and Lunch!

Love the W Austin and Trace Restaurant. It's Wineaux-Tastic!

Trace used to offer interesting cuisine. On this visit, the food was bland and choices pedestrian. It was generic hotel food. The only thing that felt like fine dining were the prices.

The moment you are seating, you are greeted with a nice server and a glass of water immediately

Delicious options would love it if they offered both veggie and a meat soup option.

Family brunch including a 3 year old. The Trace was perfect. Our server was friendly and helpful, delivering colors and a plastic cup right away. We had a wonderful time.

So much fun!

Anniversary Nee Years

We didn’t know when we made the reservation that the menu was limited due to it being NYE. Our options were to pay $75/person for the buffet, choose from 4 items on the menu, or try and find something last minute on NYE. If we had known all of this we would have eaten somewhere else but with it being NYE we didn’t really have a choice but to stay.

Went here for a busy New Year Eve's. Once things were sorted, we had a wonderful time and the food was great. Mgnt. was on top on everything.

The food was amazing, as was the service. I had the duck and my friend had the pork.

There was only a pre-fixe menu that night. Our waiter seemed in a hurry to get our order—offered no information without being asked specific questions, and his answers were not very helpful. Then our second course came out before our first course. All is all, it was not bad, but simply quite disappointing for the price.

Not worth it.

Christmas dinner with family

Our only complaint is with the waiter we had. He had a cast on his arm that partially covered his hand. When he would clear our plates he would stack them all together on the table before he picked them up. I can just imagine all the things that would be collected on that cast and transfer from table to table. I surprised that he was allowed to serve food with the sanitation issues of a cast.

Wonderful food and cocktails. Made for a great Christmas day event.

Christmas Eve dinner

Visiting family member with immediate family from out of town.

We chose to dine here for our 32nd wedding anniversary (12/20/2018). I had some custom GF cupcakes made with rose icing in the colors of our wedding and delivered them to the kitchen in advance - as a surprise for my wife. Unfortunately I managed to mess up the icing on the way. The pastry chef re-did the icing and they were served and presented beautifully. All of the staff were outstanding- from the front desk to the concierge to the restaurant host to our waiter. And the food was excellent too! She had the salmon and I had the grouper. It was a wonderful evening that was made moreso by the excellent staff at W Austin at Trace restaurant.

Took some clients out and everyone really enjoyed their meal.

Meh. . .
The room has a run down look to it. Service is strictly third rate.

I've been to TRACE tons of times and had a great experience but this time nothing was good about the experience. The service was extremely slow even though only a few tables were filled. There were lots of servers running around but the bar and kitchen were just really behind. My burger came out raw but it took so long to get it, that I didn't feel like sending it back and ate around the edges.