"One of the Most Underrated Menus in Austin"
Austin Food Heads let the secret out. The regulars knew all along.
Word travels fast.
A couple weeks ago, Austin Food Heads, one of the most followed food accounts in the city, sat down at our farm-to-table café, ordered a variety of our signature dishes, and posted their verdict to Instagram:
“We genuinely think they have one of the most underrated menus in the Austin area.”
The post took off. The comments filled with two kinds of people: the ones asking where we are, and the regulars who already knew.
Underrated is a funny compliment. It means the food is running ahead of the fame. We’ll take it.
What the Food Heads Ordered
They started with the burrata and the crab cakes, which they called perfect starters. Then the sirloin steak with big, fresh Texas tomatoes. Then the herbed wedge fries, which, in their words, hit the spot.
Every one of those plates starts the same way ours always have: with ingredients from farms we know, cooked simply and cooked well. Texas olive oil and butter in the kitchen. Produce that changes with the seasons. A menu that never gets old.
Classic. Timeless. No fuss, just good food.
That was the idea on day one, and it will always be the ethos of The Wayback Café.
The Lost Art of Being a Regular
Esquire published a piece this month about becoming a regular, and it struck a chord with us. Their opening question: “What if there were a place you could go where everybody knows your name?”
Between reservation apps, viral lines, and menus built for the camera, dining out can feel like a competition. Being a regular is the opposite of all that. It’s a standing order the bartender starts when you walk in. A table that feels like yours. A place that holds still while everything else moves.
That kind of place has become rare. We built The Wayback to be one.
Our servers learn names. The happy hour crowd overlaps week to week. There are guests who found us for a wedding or a weekend away and now show up every Friday for the cocktails and stay for dinner under the oaks.
Every regular started with a first visit. This is your invitation to make one.
Fifteen Minutes from Downtown, Open to Everyone
Here is the part of the Austin Food Heads post we want every local to read twice: “You do not need to stay at the hotel to dine here.”
The café is its own destination. Come for lunch. Come for date night. Come for Sunday brunch and a slow morning in the Hill Country.
The details:
Lunch and dinner: Wednesday through Saturday, 11 am – 9 pm (last seating 8:30)
Sunday brunch: 9 am – 3 pm (last seating 2:30)
Happy hour: Wednesday through Saturday, 3 – 5 pm. Half-price bottles of wine and $3 off signature cocktails, dine in.
Where: 9601 Bee Cave Road, Austin, TX 78733. Fifteen minutes from downtown.
Reservations: open three weeks in advance at waybackaustin.com/cafe, or call (512) 520-9590.
The Wayback Café: A Hidden Gem (for Now)
Hidden gem is a lovely thing to be called. Find us before our Michelin star.
Come see what the Food Heads were talking about. Order the burrata. Try the sirloin. Let the bartender make you something. Then come back next week and do it again.
That second visit is where it starts. By the third, we’ll know your name.