Are you from somewhere else? Immigrants share which Austin restaurant feels like home

Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman
Updated ·4 min read

Are you from somewhere else? Almost all of us are.

This week's Austin Answered question: Which Austin restaurant feels like home?

The other day, our cheery Lyft driver told us that he hailed from Cuba. We asked him about the best Cuban food in town. He heartily endorsed Habana Restaurant (2728 S. Congress Ave.) and Tropicana Cuban Restaurant (9616 N. Lamar Blvd). He also likes Casa Colombia (2409 E. Seventh St.), which serves a broader array of South American cuisine and nurtures Colombian culture.

When I posed the more general question on social media, Mirt Foster voted instead for Cuba 512 at 6800 West Gate Blvd.

"While nothing is better than my own Cuban mother's cooking," Foster says, "Cuba 512 offers up that consistently homemade 'casera' taste. Like you’re eating at your abuelita's house."

More: 3 iconic Austin restaurants join our 2023 Austin360 Restaurant Hall of Fame

Real estate broker and investor Deep Nasta has done his research on immigrant tastes through his International Supper Club.

"Ethiopian friends love Habesha Ethiopian Restaurant & Bar (6019 N. Interstate 35); Chinese friends seem to like House of Three Gorges (8557 Research Blvd.)," Nasta says, "Indian friends Sangam Chettinad Indian Cuisine (6001 W. Parmer Lane), Koreans the Korean restaurants in H Mart Austin (11301 Lakeline Blvd)."

How did this local food club start?

"About a year ago, some friends and I got tired of all the trendy, overpriced restaurants in Austin," Nasta says. "So we decided to go to more ethnic mom-and-pop places. Our first stop was Sangam. Since I'm Indian, I ordered family style for the table and we shared everything. Not only was the food better, the bill was only about $20 a person for a ton of food."

Ihor Gowda, an immigrant from Edmonton, Alberta, wrote in succinctly, perhaps jokingly: "Waiting for Tim Hortons."

What about readers from other places in the U.S.?

Not all immigrants come from abroad. People who grew up in this country, too, feel homesick for familiar food.

"I'm from Houston. Home cooking in Austin for me is Quality Seafood Market (5621 Airport Blvd.)," says actor Daniel Norton. "My mom, also from the Texas Gulf coast, loves the crab cakes at Chez Zee American Bistro (5406 Balcones Drive)."

Former American-Statesman adman Ron Ramelli writes: "I'm fortunate, because as a born-and-raised Chicagoan, the Wrigleyville ATX trailer is 100% authentic and outside the The Saxon Pub (my Austin home)."

Lonny Stern is from the New York City area: "The place that makes me most nostalgic for home is Hopfields and — previously — Chez Nous."

Marshall A. Jones: "Slab has pulled pork sandwiches with cole slaw on them. Memphis-style barbecue, i.e. the best."

You might get some arguments on that last judgment.

Mining Reddit for more opinions

In early November, a similar question was posted in Reddit Austin: "Non U.S-born people in Austin, what is the best restaurant in the area for your cuisine?"

Hundreds of people replied. Even the trash talk makes good reading.

While the anonymity of individual Reddit posters mitigates against their absolute reliability, some trends are undeniable.

  • A fair number of ex-pats write about cuisines that they have not found in Austin, at least not so far, or food that they would recommend, among them: Dutch, Hawaiian, Chilean, South African, Russian, Indonesian, Native, British, Czech and Australian.

  • Among the cuisines that are well represented on this Reddit thread by at least one standout in the Austin area: Japanese (Fukumoto), Filipino (Little Mama's, Kapatad), Vietnamese (Phở Phong Lưu, 888), Persian (Shandeez Grill, Caspian Grill), Brazilian, Pakistani, Taiwanese (Song La, Rice Bowl Cafe), Turkish (Troy ATX), Lebanese (Levant Cafe), Korean (H Mart, DK Sushi & Seoul Korean, Hana Yoree), Thai (Tuk Tuk Thai Café), Chinese (Bamboo House, Three Gorges), Puerto Rican (El Coqui, Michy’s Chino Boricua), Jamaican (Tony's), Indian (Sangram, Rock N Grill), Cajun (Stuffed Cajun Meat Market, Quality Seafood, Evangeline Café), Italian (Mandola's), French (Justine's), Irish (Kelly's Irish Pub), Salvadoran (Antojitos Salvadoreños), Nigerian, Polish (Ziggy’s Kielbasa House), Peruvian (Lima Criolla, Llama Queen, Inka Chicken), Ethiopian (Habesha, Taste of Ethiopia), Midwestern (Wise Guys, Culver's) and German (Krause's Cafe, Walburg German Restaurant, Koko's Bavarian).

  • Naturally, little agreement could be found on the major subdivisions of Indian or Chinese food.

  • As with Nasta's supper club, Sangam Chettinad gets a lot of love for its Indian food, as does Three Gorges for Chinese in this Reddit thread. Agreeing with our Lyft driver, Casa Colombia wins out for Colombian, with some dissenters. Llama Queen, formerly Llama Kid, earned several Reddit votes for best Peruvian.

  • Quite a few Mexican places received praise from immigrants, among them high-end and drive-through spots: Sabor de Jalisco, Cuantos Tacos, El Tacorrido, El Naranjo, Taquerias Arandinas, El Alma, Taxolote, Este, Tacos las Amazonas, Mi Sabor Oaxaqueño, Las Delicias, Suerte, Los Regios and Dos Vatos.

  • I love this Reddit response, based on ancient wisdom: "Just ask the police and firemen. If you walk into a place and it has either of them, that’s the best place around. Best in the city if you catch both there."

Send your questions and answers about Central Texas past and present to "Austin Answered" at mbarnes@statesman.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: If you are from away, where do you eat in Austin to feel home?