Remember when we could do road trips? Maybe you can't make hit the road for a vacation right now, but there's a way to dream because if you want to know where to eat in any given town, all you need to do is follow in Flavortown mayor Guy Fieri's footsteps. The places he visits on his Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives are definitely ones you want to try. So, sit back, dream big and let's look at all the places Guy's visited on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives in Austin, Texas.
Guy has been to Austin several times during the 31 seasons of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. That's a lot of restaurants, but Austin's food scene is so good that it's no wonder it takes a while to get through all of it. From sandwich shops to pizzerias to multiple great barbecue joints (it is Texas, after all) to taquerias to amazing food trucks, Austin has it all. There are 14 restaurants in Austin that have been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, and we want to try them all.
14 Austin, Texas Diner, Drive-ins, and Dives Locations
SLAB BBQ & Beer
The Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives visit to Austin's SLAB BBQ & Beer was a very special episode, featuring the first rib sandwich in Triple D history. The McDowell Sandwich is made with deboned ribs and the barbecue joint's Soul Glo sauce and sounds amazing. Or you can go with the Texas Tornado, a tortilla stuffed with brisket, chicken, twice-cooked potatoes, BBQ baked beans, onions, jalapeños and SLAB's backyard red sauce.
Green Mesquite Barbecue & More
Green Mesquite's barbecue gets its flavor from mesquite wood that is seasoned or "green." Guy loved the ribs, brisket, pulled pork, and chicken fried steak. We're eyeing the wings with a side of hush puppies, too. And the pie - definitely the blueberry pie.
Home Slice Pizza
Homesick for authentic New York-style pizza (even if you're not from New York)? Home Slice sells 1,000 New York-style pizzas daily, by the pie and by the slice. And like any good NYC pizza joint, you can eat your slice off a paper plate perched on a stool outside or you can grab your pie for takeout.
Pieous
This Austin restaurant is technically a pizzeria, but might be best known for their pastrami sandwiches. They cure the meat for 20 days, smoke it, and then pile it on house-made sourdough bread. Save room for dessert (salted caramel cheesecake, blueberry brown betty) and definitely get ready to go back the next morning for coffee and pastries. When Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives visited, Guy had high praise for the caramel rolls at Pieous. "That is what every cinnamon roll wants to be," he said.
OneTaco
OneTaco started out as a taco truck and now has a place of their own in Austin. Try the Taco Yucateco with a braised pork, black beans, pickled onions, and bittersweet onions in a corn tortilla, which Guy called the "real deal," or the Gringa with marinated pork, cheese, onions, cilantro, and pineapple in a flour tortilla. They also serve vegetarian tacos, including the Taco de Nopales with grilled cactus, queso fresco pico de gallo in a corn tortilla.
Boteco
Austin has an outstanding food truck scene and Boteco is one we definitely want to visit. Serving classic Brazilian food, this food truck is a favorite of Austin residents like Matthew McConaughey and his Brazilian-born wife. Guy loved the Feijoada and homemade Pao De Queijo.
Counter Cafe
To try some excellent comfort food in Austin, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives visited Counter Cafe, which specializes in pancakes, burgers, and biscuits and gravy. On the menu at the 26-seat eatery you'll find the usual suspects, plus one-of-a-kind dishes including quail and eggs and a scratch-made Curry Chicken Burgers.
Foreign & Domestic
The seasonal menu at Foreign & Domestic is enough to inspire a road trip on it's own. Guy said "F&D is the real deal. It's a genuine food-focused place, what you see is what you get." You'll find a burger and fries, but there's also their signature savory Gruyere and black pepper popovers and venison tartare. Leave room for the blackberry cardamom buttermilk pie, too.
Magnolia Cafe
Magnolia Cafe has been around for 41 years and Austin still loves this place. It's easy to see why, too. Banana Pecan Gingerbread Pancakes, omelets smothered in queso and the Voodoo Blue Burger all have us willing to stand in line with the locals.
Casino El Camino
Open until 2 a.m. every day, Guy called Casino El Camino home to "the best burger in town." For your 12-ounce burgers (yes, you read that correctly), you can order the usual (cheese and bacon) or the not-so-usual (roasted Serrano peppers, beer-braised pork belly and Texas-hot buffalo sauce).
Luke's Inside Out
At this food trailer, you'll find creative sandwiches and daily specials. Guy tried The Korean Rabbit, with rabbit meat, tater tots, kimchi, Sriracha and Luke's secret sauce, calling it "the bomb." Luke's also serves Sunday brunch.
Holy Roller
Punk rock, a little bit of religion and brunch any time of day makes Holy Roller "a beacon of funk," according to Guy. Get the Casbah (fried chicken, hot honey-buttered biscuit, comeback sauce, fried egg, syrup) or the Grilled Cheesus (buttered toast, american, mozzarella, cheddar, tomato jam, avocado), and don't forget to add a side of Trash Fries (green chili, sunny egg, sour cream, corn, lime, cotija, jalapeno, cilantro).
Valentina's Tex Mex BBQ
Look, a place that does barbecue and Mexican is definitely top of our list for places to visit in Austin, and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives thought so, too. Get to Valentina's before 11 a.m. to enjoy The Real Deal Holyfield: fried egg, beans, potato, bacon and tomato-serrano salsa, plus a thick slice of fatty brisket.
A quick note, in case you're a fan of the show and wondering how some of the restaurants featured in Austin are doing: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives also visited Noble Sandwich Co. (home of the Noble Pig and duck pastrami), but the restaurant closed in September of 2019.
