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    The Backspace

    4.1 (778 reviews)
    ModerateItalian, Pizza
    Open 5:00 pm - 10:00 PM
    Updated 2 months ago

    The Backspace Photos

    Business Info

    THE BACKSPACE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Intimate
    Dogs allowed
    Happy hour specials

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    Recommended Reviews - The Backspace

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    Derek T.

    Came for a quick dinner and it did not the disappoint. I got a red sauce pizza that had pork and fennel and it was so flavorful. One of my favorite pizzas for sure. The crust is thin and crispy just how I like it. You can see them make the pizza right in front of you if you sit at the bar. The service was so friendly and they are quick to get you more water or wine. The quality of the pizza you can really taste how fresh everything is. The inside has a nice dim ambiance perfect for a date night or dinner!

    Pizza Oven...can't wait to taste our Margarita!
    John C.

    What a terrific little restaurant located on a side street and as the name implies, it is behind another restaurant in a "backspace". You won't be disappointed, We had a wonderful Margarita pizza and a salad. We ate early on a week night so the place was not busy yet. Our waitress was friendly and attentive. The decor is very nice and the restaurant was very clean. We are looking forward to our next visit.

    Margherita
    Laura C.

    The pizza here is so good! Be sure and grab a dessert too! Love the look of this little place-they definitely make the most of it. Service was outstanding!

    Giselle C.

    I met my brother for dinner in Austin and we were wandering around near his hotel when we happened upon The Backspace. I'm always down for pizza, and they has this amazing brick oven pizza that was delicious! We also had the burrata (yum) and a glass of wine. The atmosphere is cozy and makes for a perfect date night spot. Every single table was full, including the bar. Service was on point and we had a really nice time there! I was pleasantly surprised and glad we took a chance on The Backspace. I will defintely be returning when I'm back in Austin!

    Jen B.

    I'd read good things about The Backspace before we went, but I truly wasn't prepared for exactly how wonderful everything would turn out to be! The service was welcoming and accommodating with truly fantastic food! The mains were first-tier, the desserts were excellent, the pizzas were tasty and even the starters were tasty and fun :-) Tip: There's not a lot of seating space within; their capacity is only about 15-20 people, but if you end up waiting, eating here will be worth it

    Pepperoni Americano
    Hayli C.

    Wow! What an amazing find! I was attending a conference at the convention center and stumbled upon The Backspace. The service was amazing, super nice and helpful waiter. He was polite, accommodating, and knowledgeable. The food was just as incredible. There were 4 of us and each had a different pizza and loved every single one. The restaurant is very small but we arrived right as they opened and had no issues getting a table.

    Dessert

    SO GOOD! From the quality of the food, the service and the great prices! Wow. The space is super cute and the food is insanely good. Christopher my waiter was also amazing! Would drive from downtown to this just to experience it again and again.

    Fennel pizza
    Ruth H.

    Wow wow wow ....checked into the Westin hotel and was craving pizza! Hoping there was something local that was incredible. Found this place just around the corner! Ya'll this place is legit!!! We started with a Baked Ricotta...it was amazing but rich! We then ordered one of each : Fennel Sausage and the Roasted Mushrooms pizza. I so missed the roasted mushroom pic .....they were ALL INCREDIBLE Heads up: they have HH 5-6:30....show up early and save on a bottle of wine.

    Pizza oven

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    2 years ago

    1/2 price happy hour wine special, great wood fire pizza and fire roasted peaches for dessert!

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    The Backspace was a small place with a lot of bug taste. The pizza was great. The staff were friendly.

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    2 years ago

    Fantastic food, service and overall fell of the restaurant. The pork meatballs were fabulous, and the pizza... oh my good!

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    Great small space with a romantic relaxed vibe. Food was quick and I love the fennel salad.

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    Page 2 of 20

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    Red Ash - Frutti Di Mare

    Red Ash

    4.4(1.6k reviews)
    0.3 miWarehouse District, Downtown
    $$$

    The food and service here were amazing! I highly recommend making reservations. I'm not sure that…read moreyou will get in otherwise. I could eat their bread all day long, it's so good. The bruschetta was the only appetizer that I wouldn't order again. It wasn't bad, but not my favorite. The bone marrow was smooth and buttery, definitely my favorite appetizer.

    We've always heard so much hype about Red Ash and just had to try for ourselves. Takes a few…read moremonths to get a reservation. I had made a reservation a few weeks prior for our anniversary month. When we sat at our table they had a cute little greeting card from the staff wishing us a happy anniversary. Pro Tip: Just make a reservation way in advance and if you make it you make it. Even if you don't think you will be able to make it. If you can't go just cancel with enough advance. We started with the Meatballs that pair wonderfully with their Italian Bread. Flavorful and plentiful dish and def get the bread! Next came the Bone Marrow & Tuna Crudo. I will say though for some reason after we finished our Meatballs it took them quite a while to bring our dishes after that. Bone Marrow was divine and also paired well with the Italian Bread. Tuna Crudo was not what I expected because it was warm and I was expecting it to be cold. But it was good and I love eggplant. Our main dish was the Agnolotti Alla Piemontese. From the description it seemed to hit all the boxes since we are meat lovers (contains braised beef & pork shoulder) and truffle. I love me some truffle. When we ordered the Agnolotti Alla Piemontese I asked him does it have a lot of truffle flavor because I love truffle. He said oh we can definitely add more truffle if you would like when the dish comes out. When the dish came they had the chef come shave an extra truffle on the dish. I honestly could not taste the difference. Was not enough truffle flavor for me. Note the extra truffle is an added charge. Overall lovely experience. If we return we will need to try some different dishes to give it another try.

    Photos
    Red Ash - Nice wine selection

    Nice wine selection

    Red Ash - Fresh and crisp Caesar salad!!

    Fresh and crisp Caesar salad!!

    Red Ash - The current duck special is incredible!!

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    The current duck special is incredible!!

    Intero Restaurant - Butter cake

    Intero Restaurant

    4.6(652 reviews)
    1.8 miEast Austin
    $$$

    Service was a 10/10, the hosts Sam and Emery were incredibly sweet ! They made our night! Our…read moreserver (she had glasses) was super knowledgeable on all the menu items and gave us a perfect dinner with wonderful suggestions! The focaccia is a must, favorite appetizer in Austin yet! And the pasta is amazing. Cannot wait to come back

    It's why I battle my "chaunky" every day!…read more One of my crew in Austin reaches out to me for my recommendations for top spots for his anniversary. Mission accepted I tell him. I do my homework across my google map tracker cross referenced to yelp as well as my insights based on his affinities and price point. I send him a unique set of spots any hopeless romantic's partner was sure to love. He goes off script & selects Intero ( IG: @interorestaurant ). I had never been there so I made it my mission to get there first for data. I promised him, all I would send is a "fuck yeah" or "nah!" My solo feast included the sourdough focaccia ( house made ricotta, wildflower honey, thyme ), charred cabbage ( hot mustard, parm, chive oil ), steelhead trout tartare ( tomato, caper, leek aioli, carta di musica ), rigatoni ( smoked rabbit, mushroom, red wine, horseradish cream ), 14oz wagyu beef tenderloin ( grilled romanesco, spring onion, walnut, chili ) , and finally one of each of their in house made artisan truffles. Why not! Everything here was truly exceptional, full flavored, hyper local, I ate too much. The charred cabbage was the best I've ever had taking the reins from Din Tai Fung's sautéed cabbage in Vegas. Romanesco is one of my favorite veggies, perfectly paired with the flawlessly cooked temp of the tastiest cows I've ever eaten. After all of this meeting the creator and chocolatier of the truffles and chocolate bricks was icing on the cake. I expressed my gratitude, and just how much I loved the spot. All of the staff laughed when I said my buddy was coming in days later behind me. I showed them the "Fuck Yeah!" text message. I love Austin. There's never a dull moment, and I can't wait to be back, cowboy boots and hat in hand for the 2026 Rails World Conference. Tickets drop tomorrow at 10am CST. It's why I HAVE to workout every day!

    Photos
    Intero Restaurant - Inside

    Inside

    Intero Restaurant - Brown butter cake

    Brown butter cake

    Intero Restaurant - Wood oven roasted beets

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    Wood oven roasted beets

    Cousin Louie’s Italian American

    Cousin Louie’s Italian American

    4.0(89 reviews)
    14.8 mi
    $$

    Never heard of this place but got a coupon in the mail for a buy one lunch, get a free lunch…read more Decided to try it as I'm always looking for decent Italian food. As it turns out the coupon was only good during the week and it was Saturday. No big deal. I ordered a Meatball Sandwich, my friend an Italian Sandwich (after asking our excellent young waitress about it). She brought out two very tasty types of bread with olive oil for dipping. The sandwiches came with Garlic Fries. The Fries were delicious but unfortunately mine were lukewarm. I certainly could have asked for a fresh portion, but was hungry enough not to bother. That's the reason my rating wasn't 5 Star. Because the restaurant was pretty empty on this Saturday afternoon, I feel the Chef shouldn't have sent out fries that weren't piping hot. The Meatball Sandwich however was marvelous. Freshly made, tasty meatballs with sauce and cheese on their focaccia bread was a real treat. I took half home and ate the rest for dinner. All in all, I'd come back here again as the food was excellent as well as the service.

    Great Name.! Amazing Expectations! Beautifully decorated space! Franky''s crooning in the…read morebackground. Lots of families out celebrating. Must serve tons of spaghetti and meat sauce for the kids. But we're not here for the early bird family special. This is big time birthday celebration for the patriarch of this gang of Bostonians out for some wicked Italian food. We started with the beautiful bread basket nice fresh slices with some soft focaccia. The Calamari was standard some crispy tentacles with tough chewy meat. Meatball appetizers were big and beautifully blended globs of ground beef and sausage served with sauce. Now the it's Primo time. The Molto Grande Patti. Pork Chops with Giardiniera . Somebody forgot to make golden brown cutlets so they served an overcooked slab of pork chop underneath an assortment of pickled vegetables over a bed of pasta in red sauce. The only taste was pickled everything. Back to the kitchen and off the table. Veal Piccata consisted of two slices of meat, non tenderized, non dredged in flour and non pan seared. Served atop linguini swimming in a sea of lemon sauce and capers. What a wonderful disaster this was. Then the Lasagna served in casserole. If the traditional Lasagna is too time consuming to make then don't fake it with a casserole that the old Irish Lady makes. Good lasagna is made with layers of pasta, rich sauce, gooey cheese made with ricotta, mozzarella and parmigiano cheeses and loads of ground beef and sausage. Come on that's too easy to mess up with this awful thing you put in front of me. Ok the Penne was cooked to perfection. The sauce with green floating in it tasted good once I got past the floating algae. Sorry Folks but Cousin Louie's is best left for the kids spaghetti feast. No place for grown ups to dine.

    Photos
    Cousin Louie’s Italian American - Inside

    Inside

    Cousin Louie’s Italian American - Rocket salad

    Rocket salad

    Cousin Louie’s Italian American - Seafood Fra Diavolo

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    Seafood Fra Diavolo

    ARTIPASTA - Tagliatelle house meat sauce. Traditional Italian!

    ARTIPASTA

    4.3(153 reviews)
    4.5 mi
    $$

    ARTIPASTA is a really good neighborhood spot for fresh pasta. We tried four different pastas and…read morethey were all good but none were amazing. Everything tasted freshly made and everyone at our table enjoyed their dishes. The pasta was cooked nicely al dente and the sauces were fine. Nothing was overly strong or bold. Part of me wanted a little more flavor, but overall it worked. The place itself is very no frills. Think strip mall, bright fluorescent lighting, and counter service. It's small, maybe ten tables, and as we were leaving a line had started to form. The ordering area becomes a choke point because there's nowhere to wait if tables are full and there isn't any outdoor seating. On the plus side, it's BYOB, which makes the experience a lot more fun because you can bring whatever bottle you want to pair with your pretty good pasta. They seem to do a brisk takeout business. Honestly, that might be the best way to go if you want fresh, reliable pasta without worrying about the tight seating situation. Solid food, simple vibe, and a great option if you're in the mood for unfussy Italian.

    The staff is wonderful here. They are always so helpful and answer any questions I have. The…read morepictures where they are from on the wall is pretty cool. I liked the caprese salad and the taglaia with cream and mushroom sauce. The bread i think i think it was stragilia with olive oil was delicious.

    Photos
    ARTIPASTA - Inside

    Inside

    ARTIPASTA - Maccheroni Creamy Sausage and Mushrooms

    Maccheroni Creamy Sausage and Mushrooms

    ARTIPASTA - Maccheroni (Egg Pasta) with Creamy Gorgonzola Sauce and walnuts Maccheroni (egg pasta) Creamy Sausage and Mushrooms

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    Maccheroni (Egg Pasta) with Creamy Gorgonzola Sauce and walnuts Maccheroni (egg pasta) Creamy Sausage and Mushrooms

    The Backspace - italian - Updated May 2026

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