Fine Dining in Austin: Too Many Restaurants for Too Few Customers?
We are extraordinarily fortunate to have the variety of fine dining experiences that are available in Austin. I have been to many cities of comparable size that don’t have a fraction of what’s available here. Still, were I to council someone contemplating the opening of a new restaurant, I would discourage them from heading down the fine dining path.
Why? Well, the truth of the matter is that Austin has been unable or unwilling to support many of the upscale restaurants that have opened, and unfortunately closed in the past six-seven years. The names of the fallen roll off the tongue in a depressingly long list: Girasole, Collin B’s, Emilia’s, Sardin Rouge, Demi Epicurious, Café Caprice, Seven, Ruggle’s Grill, The Four Corners, Crimson, Mezzaluna, Reed’s Supper Club, Jean Luc’s, Noodleism, Ararat, Y Bar and Grill, Houlihan’s, The Thistle Café, Selene’s Bistro, The Little Bistro (in Buda), Baron’s, Vincent’s, Tuscany, JC’s Steakhouse, Ray’s Steakhouse, Rocco’s on W. 6th, Mimosa, Monica’s 701, Juan Mario’s, Tintinnio (great Italian joint at 183 and Burnet), Cathy’s Steakhouse, West Lynn Café, Hyderabad, Café Spiazzo, Belgian Restaurant, The Holiday House, Pacific Blue, Canyonside Café, Fuji, Tocai, Pao’s Downtown, China on the Avenue, Lemongrass, Café Mia, Kaya Blue, Star Canyon, Jean Pierre’s, El Dorado, Café Bleu……and so many others that we would virtually run out of space had we listed them all. There were some very good restaurants on this list that expired without even enough time for the proverbial cup of coffee.
Bear with me here. How many Tex-Mex or BBQ joints have gone out of business in the same time? You could count them all on one hand. Does this mean that Austin diners disproportionately desire Tex Mex and BBQ? Perhaps. It could also mean that the simple truth is that we are NOT as sophisticated a food city as we like to think we are.
I remember sitting at the late Girasole one night (now 219 West) and watching as a party of lawyer-types came in. They wanted spaghetti and meatballs. The owner tried to explain that Girasole was northern Italian: and that he had some lovely risotto and gnocchi. But instead of trying something different, the well-dressed GQ types all got up and walked down street to the Spaghetti Warehouse.
I’ve seen this scene repeat itself at Cibo, the gifted Will Packwood’s third and probably last attempt at restaurant success. Likewise at Parind Vora’s Jezebel, a fine restaurant next door that could be doing better. Vin Bistro is another restaurant that should be packed every night. They have a remarkable chef and a great wine list. It’s not that there’s anything wrong at all with these places: indeed, they are excellent. But to stay alive, they require the support of a clientele knowledgeable enough to know what fine dining really is. And watching these fine places remain half-empty on many nights suggests to me that there simply may not be enough people in Austin who really enjoy or understand fine cuisine to support all the excellent little restaurants we have.
There’s a lot of what I call “default dining” that goes on in Austin. People go to places they see on TV a lot because they’re hungry and because there’s a certain comfort zone there. That’s the only thing that explains the ongoing success of the Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Joe’s Crab Shack, et al. But if they would just take the time to sample the Linguine Carbonara at la Traviata or the Butterfish at Roy’s, or the Risotto at Cibo, they would find a world of amazing tastes and textures at price points comparable to what they’d spend at the OG or RL. But in all likelihood, that’s not going to happen.
So when I addressed a hundred or so would-be restaurant operators at the City of Austin’s small business seminar last spring, as much as it was against my own selfish instincts as a foodie, I told it like it is. Austin has rarely ever met a burger joint, Asian buffet, Tex Mex restaurant or BBQ place that it hasn’t liked. (Would that the same could be said for our fine dining operations.) I told them not to overestimate the inclinations or predispositions of the dining public in central Texas.
Dire implications for us foodies, huh?
