Diners' Choice: Contemporary American restaurants in Austin

OpenTable

Updated October 05, 2024

Looking for restaurants with the best overall Contemporary American cuisine in Austin? You’re in the right place. Each month OpenTable analyzes more than 400,000 new diner reviews. We sort the results by category to help you discover new favorites. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

Carillon Restaurant

4.9

4.9 (938)

$31 to $50

Contemporary American

Downtown

About the restaurant

The Carillon is a New American restaurant featuring familiar food with a refined twist. The Carillon provides a sophisticated and approachable dining experience for all occasions. Our culinary team masterfully creates dishes with local, fresh, and seasonal produce and organic, grass-fed or free-range proteins. The Carillon offers ‘a la Carte’ or 3-course dinner for $45 tasting menu, which can be skillfully paired with award-winning wines.

Located at the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin, The Carillon delivers an impressive and memorable experience. Complimentary self-parking in the Conference Center Garage. Bring your ticket to be validated. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Top review

Lindsayvip

Dined today

Amazing service and outstanding food and such an incredible price point too. Some of the best food I’ve ever had!

Pecan Square Cafe

4.9

4.9 (504)

$31 to $50

Contemporary American

Downtown

About the restaurant

Pecan Square Café, located in the heart of Clarksville, serves simple, seasonal food inspired by our home in Austin. With a focus on market driven ingredients and an evolving roster of dishes, the menu is straightforward but elevated. The beverage program delivers dynamic variations on classic cocktails, with an approachable and sophisticated wine selection. Open for lunch, brunch, and dinner seven days a week. Service is easygoing, warm, and casually elegant.

Top review

Melissavip

Dined 2 days ago

Super food and service, my go to place for a nice lunch with friends or clients. A true delight!

Discover more

Experience

Happy Hour | Monday - Friday

Lonesome Dove Western Bistro Austin

4.9

4.9 (1622)

$50 and over

Contemporary American

Downtown

About the restaurant

Lonesome Dove Western Bistro Austin is Chef Tim Love’s second location for his flagship restaurant. Open since 2015 it has become the go to place in Austin for wild game and creative dishes.

In order to serve all our guests in a timely manner, we ask that you arrive on time. A 15 minute grace period will be given to all tables. Unfortunately we are unable to seat partial parties.

Top review

Ericvip

Dined 4 days ago

Great spot in downtown Austin and a unique restaurant compared to what's typically available in Austin. Work dinner with some associates consisted of the elk/foie gras sliders, wild boar ribs, and the blue crab. Of the 3 I'd say Blue Crab. Main course I did the bison ribeye which was outstanding, cooked to perfection. Dessert was the chocolate molten cake which was solid. Would definitely return

Discover more

4.8

4.8 (2332)

$50 and over

Contemporary American

Downtown

About the restaurant

How many of the great moments of your life were experienced at a table over a meal with friends and family? Dinner at wink is like coming to big dinner party where great food, quality ingredients, and Austin hospitality set the stage for yet another memorable experience at table. Wink happily embraces omnivores, vegetarians, vegans, pescetarians, and special dietary issues based on what we have in our larder! "The way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world." - Michael Pollan

Top review

Chili

Dined 3 days ago

Austin took amazing care of our table, and the food was incredible. Thank you all so much for making a lowkey birthday celebration so special!

Foreign & Domestic - Austin

4.8

4.8 (2001)

$31 to $50

Contemporary American

Central Austin

About the restaurant

We are a bustling neighborhood restaurant in the heart of north loop. We are one of Austins oldest farm to table concepts. Our menu is foreign in style, while domestically sourced. Our menus change with the season, farm availability, & on chefs whim. Join us for our nose to tail tasting menu nightly if you appreciate whole animal usage. Our wine program is aimed toward biodynamic natural small production wines. If you'd like to have pre or post dinner cocktails, our awesome neighbors include the tigress bar & drink.well.
Please note that we have a 15 minute grace period on reservation arrival times. Should you find yourself running late, please give us a call or the table may be released to a waiting guest.
Tables of 1-2 guests will be reserved for 1.5 hours, tables of 3-4 will be reserved for 1 hour and 45 minutes, tables of 6+ will be reserved for 2 hours. These times reflect standard dining times of our guests. Should you feel that you need additional time, please notate this.

Top review

Evan

Dined 3 days ago

Great experience… parking a little weird! Definitely enjoyed it and would return!

Discover more

Popular dish

Parisian Gnocchi

Popular dish

Gruyere & Black Pepper Popovers

Popular dish

Roasted Berkshire Pork Collar

June's All Day

4.8

4.8 (1018)

$30 and under

Contemporary American

South Austin

About the restaurant

June’s All Day is a little bit of Paris in Austin—a neighborhood cafe and bar offering late breakfast, brunch, and an all day menu late into the evenings, along bustling South Congress Avenue.

The bistro-style food menu (think Croque Madame, Steak Tartare & Frites, Grilled Chicken Paillard, & Steak au Poivre) is complemented by a frequently changing wine & bar program including unique bottles and classic cocktails The restaurant has a wraparound patio (open year round) and is ideal for people watching and hanging with your friends.

Top review

OpenTable Diner

Dined 7 days ago

Amazing! Went acl weekend. The service was great and the food was immaculate!! The fried chicken sandwich is chefs kiss

Discover more

Experience

Happy Hour | Monday - Friday

Hestia

4.7

4.7 (1839)

$50 and over

Contemporary American

Downtown

About the restaurant

Hestia, named after the Greek goddess of the hearth, is a modern live-fire grill house. Dishes find inspiration from a custom 20-ft hearth which anchors the kitchen and dining room. Our menus offers an opportunity to explore and showcase techniques that highlight the role of fire in food. You may choose to order from our a la carte menu or experience our chef curated tasting menu.

We accept reservations 60 days in advance. For event inquiries, please visit our website.

Top review

Jamesvip

Dined 1 day ago

Great spot and outstanding service. The food was exceptional. We will be back!

Discover more

Dry Aged 8oz Texas Wagyu Bavette

District Kitchen and Cocktails - Anderson Lane

4.5

4.5 (135)

$30 and under

Contemporary American

North Central

About the restaurant

Here at District we are passionate about quality food and partnering with local farms and businesses. To bring you only the freshest ingredients, whether they come from the bar or the kitchen. We also partner up with fishermen to bring you the freshest, in-season, sustainable seafood. We do a little bit of everything here - after all, who doesn’t like choices! Our motto is to source the freshest ingredients and create something delicious with it, alongside a perfectly made classic cocktail, a delicious craft beer or a glass of wine that will make everything come together. So come in, relax, grab a drink and some food and hang out with friends in what we like to call New American Cuisine. After all, great food and great drinks go best with great company!

Top review

Christine

Dined 7 days ago

Great happy hour. They were busy so service was a bit slow but they made up for it in friendliness. Good food. Good drinks. We’ll be back.

Honey Moon Spirit Lounge

4.8

4.8 (249)

$31 to $50

Contemporary American

Central Austin

About the restaurant

Honey Moon Spirit Lounge is a vintage-chic restaurant/speakeasy with a well curated menu of elevated comfort food and modern American share plates. The menu includes a craft cocktail list emphasizing fresh juices and classic ingredients, and an extensive and diverse wine list featuring varietals from around the world with a selection of beers and ciders, and a tap of local craft brews.

Top review

Valerievip

Dined 2 days ago

Jazz night was fantastic. Food was amazing as always!

Discover more

Experience

Burlesque Brunch

Roaring Fork - Downtown, Congress

4.7

4.7 (3455)

$31 to $50

Contemporary American

Downtown

About the restaurant

The Roaring Fork offers bold American wood-fire cooking with fine dining atmosphere. We serve dinner nightly starting at 5pm and Happy Hour daily from 4pm - 6pm in our bar and lounge area only. Sorry, no reservations for Happy Hour. Our bar and lounge is always open seating. Reservations are always recommended for dinner. Thank you for your interest and we hope to serve you soon.

Top review

Alondavip

Dined 3 days ago

Amazing experience! I can’t remember our waitress name but she was very attentive and sweet!

Explore Diners' Choice best of Austin

Explore more Diners' Choice lists