Introducing the 2024 Eater Austin Award Winners

It’s that time of the year again. The Eater Awards commemorate the most sensational dining experiences in cities across the country. And we here at Eater Austin are proud to announce the winners of the 2024 Eater Awards for the 13th year (a baker’s dozen if you will).

Austin’s 2024 winners offer food and drink that transport people and reflect the personalities, upbringings, and heritages of their creators with Texas sensibilities. Out in far southeast Austin, a food truck-turned-restaurant evokes a Laotian ambiance with unabashedly fiery and flavorful foods. Over in North Loop, a longtime Austin chef hones in on comforting Thai Chinese dishes like chicken-and-rice and noodle soups. On East Sixth, a cocktail bar embraces high-low living with well-crafted drinks and fancy Champagne in an easy setting. There’s a roaming bakery pop-up that shares the delightful wonders of Polish doughnuts in traditional and fun flavors. And last but not least, an East Austin cafe thoughtfully considers the exquisite combination of Mexican corn and coffee through food and caffeinated beverages.

These awardees are all about building community, whether it’s from serving homestyle cooking to people seeking edible solace, offering an escape from the trying world, or supporting important global causes.

With that, Eater Austin presents the winners of the Eater Awards 2024.

Lao’d Bar: Best New Restaurant

Presented by SevenRooms

Lao’d Bar has been a long time coming, and the wait was well worth it. Bob Somsith had been working on his fully realized vision of a physical restaurant back when he ran food truck Sek-sē•Füd•Kō (nee SXSE). The Dallas-raised chef whose mother came to Texas as a Laotian refugee had always rooted his cooking in Laotian American cuisine, but it’s through this new space where his food really flourishes.

Thank god the kitchen doesn’t shy away from spices — everything is appropriately fiery, as it was meant to be. There’s the delicately refreshing ceviche festively served in a halved coconut shell with thick slices of tuna-cured escolar; the nam khao pairs crispy fried rice with red curry and cured beef nam; the meaty skewers feature tender chicken or rib-eye steaks with zesty side sauces. Drinks follow the same fashion. Don’t miss out on the piquant Yum Chelada, which mashes up a tom yum base with a michelada.

The space is reminiscent of a Southeast Asian night market with tables covered in bright floral oilcloths, bordered by blue stool chairs. The yellow shelves — sourced from closed Austin diner Nau’s Enfield Drug — are crammed with family photos and Laotian decor. The greenery lining the bar is real, adding to the evergreen lush feeling of the restaurant. Be sure to say hello to Lao’d mascot, the welcoming elephant mural. It’s all about Southeast Asian hospitality, where food (still cooked out of a food truck rather than a kitchen) is a hearty Texas welcome to a delicious time.

9909 Farm-to-Market Road 969, Building 4, Far East Austin

From our sponsor: SevenRooms is the leading CRM, marketing, and operations platform helping hospitality operators increase sales, delight guests, and keep them coming back — automatically.

P Thai’s Khao Man Gai & Noodles: Best Reboot

When Thai Kun chef Thai Changthong had to close down the first iteration of P Thai’s — where he served a strong yet mighty menu of Thai-style Chinese chicken and rice — earlier this year, the city was a sad place. Thankfully, the chef was able to quickly reopen his food stall as a full-on restaurant just three months later.

The core of the menu remains with the simple yet high-quality Thai Chinese-style khao man gai. Tenderly poached chicken is served with soothing chicken broth, flavorful bean-ginger-chile sauce, and chicken-fat rice. It’s a meal that stands strong through Texas’s hot and mild weather. Yes, there’s a fried chicken iteration (because, why not?) but the larger space also allows Changthong and the team to expand and explore other dishes inspired by his childhood in Bangkok and its Chinatown neighborhood. Of those, the noodle soups are superb, especially the boat noodles with pork.

The restaurant’s turnaround from its predecessor tapas spot Vamanos was quick and easy. The blue tables stayed behind, now topped with spill-proof red-and-white checkered tops; the walls are now painted yellow and deep maroon; and the trend of restaurant animal mascots continues with P Thai’s ever-friendly person wearing a chicken costume and holding up a giant cleaver is painted on the walls. And yes, there are hanging chickens at the counter, ready to be made into some of the best food in town.

4807 Airport Boulevard, North Loop

Daydreamer: Best New Cocktail Bar

Eater

When it comes to cocktail bars — especially in Austin — it’s easy to fall into the trap of being too self-serious. That is not the case at Daydreamer. Under general manager and cocktail and spirits director Amanda Carto and the team, the bar embraces fanciful drinks with breezy approaches. There’s room to chill while enjoying high-caliber beverages.

The high-low menu includes espresso martinis and frozen Aperol spritzes (it is Austin, after all). But also there’s the martini service with choose-your-base-spirit and style, plus a bonus caviar bump, and a deliberate Champagne and wine selection, courtesy of the bar’s co-partner Jessica Tantillo.

The experience extends to the physical space, which is stylish and soft without being garish. There are light wood details (from the actual bar to the ceiling to the tables), dried florals sprawling across the bottle shelves, and bathrooms lined with romantic flower paintings. Even better: 2023 Eater Award-winner Allday Pizza expanded to a second location in the backyard of the bar, slinging New York-style slices. There’s a wealth of indoor and outdoor seating, all the better to linger around by yourself or with friends and family to enjoy company and cocktails.

1708 East Sixth Street, East Austin

Custard Prison: Best New Pop-Up

Doughnuts are a-plenty in Austin, but the city hadn’t experienced the cream-filled beauty of pączki until Custard Prison came to fruition this year. Sarah Foremski honors her Polish heritage with the irresistible filled yeasted doughnuts while still having fun. The classic flavors are represented: strawberry-rose, apricot cobbler, chocolate. But then there are wackier flavors more attuned to Austin’s creative soul. Case in point: the stunning briny and savory pickle doughnut (you read that correctly), made with garlic-dill cream cheese, shredded dill pickles, and topped with sesame seeds and a cherry tomato.

Foremski also sees the pop-up as being wholly community-minded. She and the team are using their quirky pastries to fundraise for important causes, such as Palestinian families in Gaza. It’s a two-fold venture: supporting and bringing light to issues while also sharing indulgent treats.

Throughout Austin; follow Custard Prison’s Instagram for the next pop-up dates

Mercado Sin Nombre: Best New Cafe

Mercado Sin Nombre isn’t new to Austin; it’s been around as a coffee-roasting company and a farmers market stand. But with its new cafe space, owner Julian Maltby and his family can truly share their foundational mission: coffee and masa sourced straight from small producers, families, and farmers in Mexico, fashioned into fantastic drinks and food.

There’s the masa milk shorty, which is actually an atole cortado. The espresso drink comes with said-caffeinated beverage and a little candied orange slice and a sidecar of atole, a toasty masa beverage. The house-nixtamalized masa is also used for springy foods like masa Twinkies (step aside, Hostess) and fluffy pancakes.

Maltby applied his architectural background to the vibrant alleyway cafe, fashioning it with bright crate tables and a red awning. It’s still a work in progress, but that’s the beauty of Mercado Sin Nombre, which translates to “market without a name.” The cafe is a mere vehicle for the coffee and corn, whose essences shine through the casual yet refined food and drinks, transporting the tastes of Mexico into Austin.

408 North Pleasant Valley Road, Holly

For Eater Awards consideration, the businesses must have opened between September 2023 to October 2024. Each winner will receive the coveted Eater Award tomato can trophy.