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    Restaurant Francois

    4.7 (40 reviews)

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    RESTAURANT FRANCOIS ATMOSPHERE

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    Recommended Reviews - Restaurant Francois

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    Escargot
    Anh N.

    "Enfin un morceau de la France ici !" (Finally a piece of France here!) -- La classe! I've been waiting for an authentic French restaurant to grace our city, and Restaurant François absolutely hits the mark. If the stern food critic from Ratatouille had a Yelp account, I imagine it would read something like this -- dramatic pause, distant accordion music, one single tear over a perfect sauce. The moment you step through the doors, you're transported. Not in a cheesy Eiffel Tower wallpaper kind of way -- but in a "did I just become a local Parisien?" kind of way. The ambiance whispers elegance without trying too hard. The bar? Stunning. Cocktails on point. Balanced, intentional, and beautifully presented. The food -- mon dieu. Start with the escargot. You will not be disappointed. Buttery, garlicky perfection that makes you wonder why you don't eat snails more often. Each dish arrived beautifully plated. Profiteroles. The perfect ending to a flavorful dinner. Reservations were easy to make online, and yes -- they offer valet as well as your server will call for your ride when you're about to be done. From the ambiance to the attentive service to the impeccable dishes, here's hoping Restaurant François is here to stay -- because we've been craving this level of authenticity. You won't be disappointed.

    Steak
    Isabelle K.

    New French restaurant in downtown. Hard to get a reservation. Famous for their duck fish. We ordered lamb, duck and steak. Highly recommended lamb and duck. Duck is not fatty at all. For appetizers, escargot is too oily, one star for that. Lobster bisque is delicious.

    Delanie K.

    I got to try the new Francois downtown on a Friday and had a good experience. The space is big, but set up in different areas like the bar/ lounge which has cozy intimate booths, then you have more of a restaurant tablecloth vibe on the other side. The bar seats are very comfortable, and my cocktail was presented on a tray with the champagne on the side. Very cute. My friend and I ordered the cheese popovers, a steak, and the angel hair lobster dish. Everything was delicious, our only critique was that the pasta got cold pretty fast. We also ordered the creme brulee and we thought it could have used some berries. It was the perfect amount to split since we were going to another bar afterwards. Service was friendly, but for a restaurant at this price range I was expecting our server to have more knowledge of the menu.

    Escargot and steak tartare
    Lucy V.

    This is one of the newest places in Austin and it is such a vibe. It really gives off great Gatsby and New York Feels inside. You definitely need a reservation for any word in the restaurant. When you arrive, the house is greets you and check your reservation and get you seated right away. They were so pleasant. Once seated, they had a great selection of wine and yes, it was all French, which is some of the best. I got a French rosé, which was very full of body and light at the same time which is a great mix. We started off with the stake tartare and let me tell you it was phenomenal and it was a good portion enough for three people or more. We also got the escargot since I'm a huge fan of it and the little biscuits that they put on top were so good to dip in the oils and butter that the escargot was cooked in definitely a must eat here. We then shared the stuffed lamb, which was different but very delicious. The lamb was so soft and not chewy and perfectly balanced and savory taste. It was stuffed around with mushrooms and spinach, which was really nice. The dessert menu you look great we decided we will have to come back and try it. But definitely coming back again cause there are so many more trays that I need to try. This is a perfect date night or girls night spots since it's very glam and moody inside.

    Cheese popovers
    Melinda N.

    Ooo, a new and shiny, super posh restaurant. Our server was awesome and amused by my commentary. I liked the drinks. I got the moulin a passion and it comes with a side of champagne to cleanse the palate (too fancy, I don't really sip my drinks!) Then I ordered a dirty martini. Get their cheese popovers! You can get a portion for 2 as well. They also had really yummy pomme frites, they are skinny and crunchy. My Duck 2 ways was perfect. One medium rare breast served alongside a confit leg was just scrumptious and perfectly cooked. My boyfriend's gulf red snapper was made well too, with the capers giving a nice touch to the beurre blanc. I wish I had room for dessert. I would've tried the crème brulee or their signature dessert dish (next time!). Nice place, great ambiance and downtown prices.

    Lyonnaise Salad
    Brandy C.

    I had a fantastic fine dining experience at Restaurant Francois, from the valet attendants, the hosts and our server. The space is beautifully decorated and dimly lit. It's a perfect spot for a date or intimate gathering. I opted for the Lyonnaise Salad and Crudo du Jour to start. For the main dish, I had the Pappardelle (rabbit ragout). Everything tasted great and was portioned well enough that I left the restaurant full and happy. One unique touch that I appreciated was that the server will hold onto your valet ticket and have the valet attendant fetch your car around the time that you've been brought the check! It's the small things :)

    Spring L.

    Francois is a home run and the perfect new sibling to Red Ash, Kimberly, and J. Carver. I went in with high expectations and they never missed a beat, from the luxe beef tartare crowned with truffle and egg to the warm and flaky popover and butter. The star of the night was the lamb in puff pastry, which tasted like if a Greek spanakopita and a beef Wellington had a baby and it grew up to be a very chic French adult. Paired with a beautifully charred bone‑in steak, creamy morels, and crab, plus warm, polished service and a not-too-stuffy room, Francois is an easy yes for date night or any excuse you can come up with.

    Catherine M.

    A beautiful upscale spot for date night, or - as in our case, a reward for walking to city hall to vote. The duck was crisp and delicious. The dover sole had a decadent sauce that would have paired well had it came with a bit of a side grain to soak it up. I was excited about the black currant gelato since currant is making a comeback but the Li Hing seasoning was a bit overwhelming.

    Dover Sole with the addition of a lump crab topping
    Pamela R.

    Food - 5 stars Ambiance - 4.5 stars Service - 5 stars We started with the crudo of the day which was very fresh and well prepared. We then had the Dover Sole topped with lump crab. Delicious and beautiful whitefish in a perfect sauce. We also had the wagyu beef short rib. OMG!! Rich, fork tender, umami! For dessert, we chose the soufflé of the day, which was vanilla cream...I think. Again, hot and perfect with no deflation until we opened it. Very satisfying cake and cream. Nice wine list. Service was impeccable! I believe our servers name was Josiah Definitely a restaurant we will return to!

    Frozen Brandy Alexander
    Daniel S.

    We celebrated a birthday here. The attention to detail, including reaching out for the birthday guest's name prior to the reservation did not go unnoticed. The ambiance, attentive service, and delicious food and cocktail have propelled Restaurant Francois to the top of our list in Austin. Don't miss the bread service or the au gratin potatoes. Highly recommend the frozen Brandy Alexander and profiteroles for dessert.

    Escargots
    Jay L.

    Perhaps the most elegant, upscale decor of any restaurant in Austin. White tablecloth, traditional waitstaff decor gives European vibes. Steak tartar very nicely seasoned. Escargot was a bit herbaceous and needing a little more garlic butter and salt. Oef mayonaisse could use a little salt or chives but we'll priced. The popovers are a must. Perfect fluffy cheesy inside and crisp on the outside. Same with the baguette. Both well priced. Beet salad good and green salad lettuce was excellent with crunchy chilled greens and the vinaigrette was tangy perfection. The bouillabaise was a miss with not enough broth flavor to carry the monkeys which was nice but also needing seasoning. The Dover sole was good but lacking just a touch of salt. The pave potato was worth the price and perfect. The morel mushrooms were spectacular, earthy, well seasoned, and creamy. The cauliflower sauce a bit heavy and also lacking a bit of salt. The profiteroles were amazing flavor and chewy interior similar to the popovers. The creme brulee was outstanding. The lemon tart could use more lemon kick. It was hard to tell it was lemon custard. Overall a great experience. With a few shakes of salt in a few dishes would be outstanding. Service was perfect! Nice addition to downtown.

    Red snapper
    Janrai G.

    For a new restaurant this place was amazing! Service was very friendly. It was packed but you're able to get a table at no stress. The interior is very well done and vibes are very comforting and relaxing! The food is on point as well! Stuff lamb is the way to go!

    Anniversary card signed by all staff members and personalized intro to our menu!
    A R.

    We dined at Restaurant François for our 3 year anniversary and just had the absolute best time thanks to our server (who's name I am completely blanking on at the moment), the delicious food, the vibe of the establishment & of all the workers as a whole and just the kindness & attentiveness we received from the staff. We even got an anniversary card singed by the staff which is just the loveliest thing any establishment has done for us. Our server went above and beyond, as we are not from Texas, and wrote down some after dinner recommendation as well as some cities around the area to check out when we could. Absolutely loved it and will be coming back to Austin, TX just to be able to dine here again.

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    2 months ago

    Food was delicious, service was excellent, and ambiance was wonderful. Looking forward to returning soon.

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    2 months ago

    I had the beef bourginon and the soufflé and both were amazingly good. The service was also extremely good and attentive

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    Fortune Teller - Bar

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    Whisler's - Left On Read - Delicious! (Tequila, Amaro, Bitters, Strawberry, Citrus, Spice, Egg White )

    Whisler's

    4.3(675 reviews)
    1.5 miEast Austin
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    These are moments I think why do I live in San Antonio ( and often work in Austin ) when I can just…read morelive here and enjoy great restaurants, bars and weird gothic haunts like this with weird dark goth decor, a scent of palo santo , superb music, a great crowd and amazing drinks! College me would have lived here !! Enjoyed a French 75, my husband enjoyed a smoked Old Fashioned and it was a great place to grab a drink prior to seeing Springsteen at the Moody seated amongst candles , a weird alter of sorts while enjoying some Stevie Wonder as is playing now though some weird NIN or Type O might have been more appropriate

    I went to Whisler's and had one of the worst bar experiences I've ever had…read more I had one drink. I was completely sober for all intents and purposes. The bartender claimed I was drunk and cut me off anyway. I was at the bar talking to a girl while waiting to get a drink (the wait was long because the service is very slow, despite the bar not being very busy at all). She was clearly into me, and the bartender kept jumping in trying to talk to her too (instead of doing his job making drinks). He was doing all sorts of things to try and flirt with her and make her laugh: pulling out and showing her buckets of pre mixed cocktails, running and sliding under the bar, etc. She was engaging with both of us , and right in the middle of that, I get cut off out of nowhere. No explanation other than claiming I looked drunk, which I very clearly wasn't. It felt very clear what was going on--he wanted me out of the way. I left and asked the bouncer on my way out if I seemed drunk. This was literally two minutes later. He said no, not at all, and asked me why I would even ask that. I then told him exactly what happened and asked him to let the owner or whoever was in charge know about this extremely unprofessional conduct so they can discipline the bartender. His response was that the bartender has discretion to cut anyone off, and let me know the bartender is supposedly married so he couldn't have been flirting with any of the customers. Well, sounds like his logic is flawed--not only COULD he flirt with his customers, he WAS, and was therefore cheating. I hope his wife finds out. This is perfectly representative of Austin customer service lately and not normal in other places. I was in Tampa for an entire month earlier this year and this would've been unthinkable there. I'm not coming back.

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    4.5(120 reviews)
    0.9 mi78704 (South Austin)

    It's a rainy night in Austin. My girlfriend is in town because my cousin and her fiancé are getting…read moremarried in Austin. It's also the weekend of our one year anniversary. An hour ago it wasn't raining, but now it's pouring. A few months ago, I heard of a newer bar and experience called Equipment Room just right off of South Congress. Music means everything to me. Nothing can express emotions and instill a feeling in 3 minutes like a song can. I live for that. Equipment Room is inherently Japanese in concept. Existing in Japan for over 50 years, listening bars combine high fidelity audio equipment with impressively crafted cocktails and alcohol combining the passion of music in a space to gather with comfortable chairs and a beautiful atmosphere. The concept has expanded westward as all cool things inevitably do, but I would never think a spot would be successful in Austin like it would be in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and so on. As I back my car into a parking spot on South Congress, I grab the umbrella out of my trunk and walk my girlfriend and me to the entrance trying to not get ourselves soaked in the process. This is not the first time we have tried to go to Equipment Room. We tried to get a walk-in table just to see out of morbid curiosity and that was a failure. I booked her and me a table for this night and I was madly looking forward to it. As we got to the small entrance, we were introduced to the hostess who brought us from the stairs into the main underground space and to our seats on the couch in a large wraparound sofa with other parties sitting near us. The music is faint from the entrance, but once you walk through the main walkway, a wave of sound hits your eardrums. You're immediately engrossed into the music like walking into a concert hall or putting a fresh pair of headphones on for the first time. As we sat down, selections from Outkast's Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik were playing through the speakers. Our hostess introduced us to their "User Manual" (their menu) where it contained all the snacks and drinks you could get your grubby hands on. There's more than just drinks and food on the menu. The first page introduces the concept and gives a few house rules. The second page shows all the equipment this so-called room has, from the premium Klipsch speakers, their preamps and amplifiers as well as their turntables and mixers. It's a dream page for music nerds. I want a $15k speaker in my apartment, but those noise complaints would never end. Our waitress came by shortly to give us water and take our order. Their menu is quite expansive, but the main pages we were told to check out were their A-side drinks or the classics and their B-side drinks, which are more experimental. We had to go with experimental for starters because who knows when you'll get to try something similar again. I started with a Goca Dünya while my girlfriend ordered a Deceptacon. The Goca Dünya was a vodka based floral drink with pistachio foam and Amaro Nonino, an Italian herbal liqueur. The Deceptacon was a rum-based cacao drink with a touch of lime and mint. It took a little time for our drinks to come out, clearly, as they are quite intricate. I loved my drink, bluntly. The pistachio foam was a great balance to the herbal flavors at the bottom. My girlfriend and I continued to enjoy each other's company as the music continued. The space we were in was decorated with posters and memorabilia from legendary artists coming through Austin and some general music decor like that purple album from that Prince guy. The DJ-curator that night was on a tear playing incredible soul music holding the bar hostage with a taste of funk. Jimmy Smith came next before transitioning to a few tracks from Bobbie Gentry. The last albums he pulled out were Steely Dan's Aja (a stone cold classic) and Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life (a top 10 album of all time). Not only was he playing classics like Isn't She Lovely, but he threw down some deeper cuts like Black Man and Contusion. Incredible. We both got another drink with my girlfriend getting their A-Side Espresso Martini while I got the Brown Sugar from their B-Sides. It was a seaweed and mushroom infused whiskey with a few more bells and whistles and it was super unique. Quite a bit of their menu is Japanese-inspired in homage to the originators of listening bars. This includes Japanese beer, sake, and Japanese-inspired food and beverages on their menu. Very cool. The worst part of the night came when our hour and 45 minute reservation came to a close. I could've stayed there for another 3 hours and never grown tired, but with how popular this space has become, they gotta kick you out at some point. This is an experience you have to have. It's worth it. I'll be strolling back in soon enough because there is nothing like this in Austin and it's truly a special space. RIYL: Actively listening to music.

    Loved this place so much..!!! If you want to go somewhere to just lounge with low lighting and have…read moresome delicious drinks with great music in the background , this is place is it! They play no digital music and their speakers are installed throughout the whole building. The sound is great! The menu was so cute and on theme. The furniture and decor is mid century modern. I went here for my birthday and they gave my table a round of Sake shots, which was nice! My table ordered drinks: the Brown Sugar, Goca Dünya, Suffer No Fool (non alcoholic), Vitamin C. They were all delicious and they did not skimp on the alcohol! It was well balanced! I seriously recommend the Goca Dünya--that pistachio foam was addictive! For food, we got the Cheese board to have something to pick on and we demolished it, haha. It came with marmalade and crackers. The cheeses were great, along with the dried fruits and nuts. The cheese selections seem to rotate every other season, which is cool.

    Photos
    Equipment Room - XS made NA -- Lustau Fino Sherry, Giffard NA Pineapple Liqueur, passionfruit, lime, blue spirulina, mirin, dragonfruit syrup, Liquid Rizz

    XS made NA -- Lustau Fino Sherry, Giffard NA Pineapple Liqueur, passionfruit, lime, blue spirulina, mirin, dragonfruit syrup, Liquid Rizz

    Equipment Room - Beautifully simple bar tops

    Beautifully simple bar tops

    Equipment Room - Bar area

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    Bar area

    Restaurant Francois - french - Updated May 2026

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