Austin Restaurant Openings to Know This January

Every month, a new crop of restaurants open in and around Austin. While everyone loves a good sushi spot, food truck, or outdoor patio, this round-up will give you the high-end spots and the low-end spots that are new to town — be they good, bad, or so bad they’re good/so good they’re bad. Whether it’s a locally-owned restaurant or the latest addition of a chain, here’s what’s happening in the world of restaurant openings in Austin and beyond for the month.

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Micklewait Craft Meats

4602 Tanney Street, East Austin

Kicking it off with a food truck-to-storefront success story, the much-anticipated opening of Micklewaith opened in early January. More space means a bigger menu, which will include a rotating list of daily specials and baked goods. Its new cooking pits give the crew the chance to evolve its barbecue techniques, exploring Southwest Texas-style cooks. The new digs are a 90-year-old former church that has plenty of indoor space and double that on the outdoor patio.

Kyoko Coffee

6401 Airport Boulevard, Highland

This cute Japanese-inspired coffee truck (if one can call a Honda van a truck) describes itself as “a whole vibe,” and more than lives up to the promise. Some coffees have wacky names like Cause of Death and Kyoko Dreams of Ube. It also offers left-of-center options like Miso Pironcillo Umai and Umami Mocha, plus standard drinks like a cortado, cappuccino, and lattes. It also has golden and ube milk to spike that cuppa with something different and sweet little cookies for a treat. Visit it at the Highland Collective.

Oribello’s

519 West 37th Street, Heritage

This family-owned Filipino American sports lounge and pizza bar opened in Central Austin in late January. Darrel Oribello, the restauranteur behind restaurants like Sazan Ramen and Endo Sushi, teamed up with his sons DJ and Wesley Oribello and Brandon Kim to offer a comforting combination of Filipino-inspired flavors and cherished family recipes. Diners can expect lumpia, katsu chicken sandwiches, loco moco fries, and birria poutine for appetizers, and an entire menu of pizza featuring toppings like Filipino longanisa sausage, garlic adobo cream sauce, and birria meat. Ube also makes a significant appearance on the menu, with homemade ube tres leches and ube macopano ice cream sandwiches for dessert, ube gin and tonics, and frozen purple Ube-Ritas, which must be potent. Only two are allowed per diner.

DJ Oribello

Aris

1111 W 6th Street, Clarksville

Sof Hospitality, the group behind Israeli steakhouse Doris Metropolitan, which has locations in New Orleans, Costa Rica, and Houston, has brought its Mediterranean flare to Austin. Aris, a Mediterranean-style steakhouse, opened on Saturday, January 11, in Clarksville, boasting dry-aged prime cuts of meat and a variety of dishes like Moroccan tiger shrimp served with challah, and a variety of vegetable dishes like Israeli salad and honey-glazed harissa carrots to complement the steaks. Sof, a James Beard Awards semifinalist for Outstanding Hospitality, also owns the Mediterranean restaurants Hamsa, Badolina Bakery, and Okto in Houston.

The Dead Poet

4000 E. Palm Valley Boulevard, Round Rock

Cork & Barrel in Round Rock has long been known as a brewery and restaurant, but now it has added a little speakeasy it calls the Dead Poet into it’s out-of-use wine cellar. Entry requires a little more work than simply popping downstairs — guests must visit the website and find the black and white door to make a reservation. Then, the confirmation sends information on how to access a key that lets one in...phew. Since space is limited, so are the reservations and access is looking quite difficult to obtain for the foreseeable future. But if you want it badly enough, you’ll give it the old college try, right?