Here you will find some damn good pizza! I should have checked this spot out sooner, I blame myself, this is what I have been trying to find. This place has satisfied for the time being my pizza taste-buds. Cozy and chill environment, you can sit right up in front and see your food being made. Grab a glass of wine, check out the delicious apps and get to ordering! With the apps, I ordered the Brussel Sprouts - Fontina, Lemon, Bread Crumbs... this was some tasty goodness all served up in a medium sized bowl. On the pizza side, I went with the Roasted Mushroom - ricotta, tomato, capers, thyme.. and added some Sausage to it.. pretty killer pie!! Washed that down with some Peroni, and it was a good night. I plan on returning soon, I need to return soon.. it would be an injustice if I didn't. read more

My boyfriend and I went to Backspace on Saturday evening after taking the shuttle bus from ACL. Backspace is tucked away on a side street and is easy to miss if you aren't looking for it. We arrived at 10:30pm and were worried that we wouldn't be able to be served since the restaurant closes at 11pm, but as soon as we arrived we were greeted warmly by the manager and offered our choice of sitting at the bar or a table. The restaurant is pretty small but since it was near closing time there were only three other groups there and plenty of sitting room. The ambience in the restaurant is very intimate and cozy. You can see the pizza oven blazing right behind the bar which is nice. We chose a table, and the manager gave us menus and served us water. Then our server came by to take our order. My boyfriend ordered a peroni on draft and we started our meal with foccacia and proscuitto. Our server brought out the appetizer quickly (it was served with some pickled vegetables and some sort of sweet jelly). For our main course we shared the pepperoni americano pizza. Everything was delicious! I thought that the pepperoni was a little salty for my taste, but overall we both enjoyed everything. I would definitely come back here! read more

The Backspace - Peperoni americano - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

My husband and I spent our 2 year anniversary here and in my opinion, it was "A-OK," but my husband enjoyed it (or because he made the reservation, felt obligated to enjoy it). I suppose I'd give this establishment a 3.5. It's a really small space with just a few tables. We just made the cut for happy hour so I got a $5 prosecco and he got a draft beer. We had the roasted cauliflower, pickled beets, and meatballs for appetizers. They arrived in small plates and my favorite was the beets! However, I love beets and all things pickled so perhaps I'm biased. My husband thought the meatballs were okay. Very hearty, but missing a je ne sais quoi. We each got our own pizzas. He got the pepperoni and I opted to add mushrooms to my pepperoni. I thought the pizza was okay, not my favorite, but my husband enjoyed it very much. Our biggest complaint was the wait. We arrived at 6:30 PM, got our appetizers pretty promptly at 6:45 PM, but no one even came to take our pizza order until 7:15 PM. We didn't get our pizzas until close to 8:00 PM. For such a small place, you'd think it wouldn't take almost an hour to bake a couple of pizzas. They didn't acknowledge the wait time, or our anniversary, and just avoided us until our pizzas were ready. Yes, the ambiance is nice and atmosphere is romantic, which is a plus because you may need to be prepared to wait! read more

This place is certainly hidden. Luckily the valet for Parkside pointed us in the right direction. We walked in and were asked if we had reservations? at 6 in the afternoon? nope, sure don't. Luckily we were seated anyway, at the bar, like sardines in a can. But that's ok they saved the cute table for 2 for someone who I can only assume had reservations: moral to the story. Make a reservation even if its outside on your yelp app. FOOD: caprese salad. delish, needed more tomato/basil though..and sauce margherita with pepperoni salad.. so good. THe crust was super thin, and thick on outside where it had the burnt crust. It was so good... I was almost sad the pizza was gone when it was the last bite. DESSERT: I RARELY order dessert usually its reserved for birthdays only, or if it was the only reason we came in,i..e cheesecake factory. but we decided we had to have it.. since we split the salad, split the pizza, only makes sense to split the ricotta cheesecake. OMG. RICOTTA CHEESECAKE. mull that over because it translated to pure heaven. literally I felt transformed into heaven with strawberries on top, graham cracker broken pieces on top. OMG I couldn't recreate that again if I tried! I have to say I enjoyed his meal more than I did at Eddie V's and we could have eaten here 4 times for that amount of $. (not apples to oranges but geography speaking only) This place is a must try. Why 4 stars? It almost felt awkward at times sitting at the counter and everyone hearing what you had to say. What if we had something serious to dicuss and everyone hears our business. I kind of felt like I had to whisper or share my thoughts with everyone... or say nothing at all and eat in utter complete silence either way. Try it! read more

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I first heard about Backspace when I moved to Austin 6 years ago. They are from by the same restaurant group behind Parkside, Bullfight, and Olive & June. This has been one of those places on my To-Eat list for so long, but I just never managed to make it in, until now. First off, Backspace has the looks. There's just a cool rustic pizza vibe throughout that I really dug. Service was quick and friendly and it seemed we were in for a treat...then the food came. Here's a run down on what we ordered: -House-Made Mozzarella - weak, tasted store bought -Braised Greens - easily my favorite of the 5 things we tried -Lamb & Pork Meatballs - solid 3 out of 5, no better, no worse -Pepperoni Americano Pizza - meh, not a lot going on in terms of flavor, it was pretty bland -Hazelnut Chocolate Budino - decent, but the whip cream on top literally had zero flavor, adding nothing to the dish I'm glad I finally tried them and while it was by no means a bad experience, and there is a lot here that's A-OK, nothing was good enough to bring me back. read more

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What a great place! We shared the Caesar salad and pepperoni pizza. Salad was delicious...lightly dressed and very flavorful. Pizza was spot-on with delicious homemade sauce and mozzarella. Great wine as well! Only complaint is that the tables are very very close together. We will definitely be back! read more

Oh, The Backspace....I really want to love you but after two tries all I can give you is a "you're ok". This second time was probably our last. We didn't have an awful experience, but after giving a place two tries with consistently mediocre results, prefer to go to one of the many other restaurants in the city. The ambience is great and that's one of the key reasons why we really wanted to love the place. It doesn't feel like you stepped off of a side street in Austin. I don't really even know how to describe the decor - it's like old Italy meets Texas saloon with the peeling plaster walls, real candles on the tables, tin ceiling, and wagon wheel. You can see their wood burning pizza oven glowing bright immediately from the front door. Drink-wise, The Backspace is a wine place. Don't expect a full bar. They only keep a single beer on tap. Good selection of house by-the-glass wines that are pretty good so you don't feel forced to buy a bottle. Their happy hour is great - half price wine glass, beer glasses, and appetizer plates. So all of that sounds great, why only 3 stars? First, both times we felt rushed. On this second visit, I was purposefully withholding our pizza order so that we'd have time to enjoy our salad, drinks, and good conversation. The problem was that we got asked about every 3 minutes by someone what pizza they could get started for us. I finally said "we are going to get pizza but were holding off ordering so that it wouldn't come too fast". Our server assured us that they could hold off the order. So we ordered a pizza. And alas, it was at our table in less than 10 minutes. Our salad, which took nearly 25 minutes had showed up only 2 minutes before the pizza. Second, both times there seemed to be a key "ingredient" missing. On our first visit, I asked for a beer but they were out on on their one tap and didn't have a back up keg. On the visit last night, I wanted my go-to pepperoni and basil pizza...but no pepperoni. (I feel bad for the servers having to tell so many people that night that they didn't have pepperoni!). Third, the food was ok but not superb. We had a meat and cheese board that I'm glad we got on happy hour since it was half price. The only thing not disappointing on the board was the horshradish dijon mustard (which was great BTW). For the pizza, it was only "ok". Because we'd just filled our plates with salad, it wasn't piping hot by the time that we were able to get space on our plates for a slice. We'd substituted fennel sausage for pepperoni which was a reasonable trade. It wasn't bad...but if I compare it to some of the other wood-fired Italian pizzas you can get around Austin, it was sub-par. It's maybe a good place to take a first date where you want a place that's cute, not too expensive, and where you know you won't get stuck having to spend to much time there. If you are wanting to really enjoy the time with the person you're with, however, might be best to find another spot. read more

Pizza is delicious and half off glasses of wine for happy hour. I got the pepperoni with fresh mozz and basil and added fennel sausage. Yum! read more

The Backspace - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

Wonderful restaurant! I can't say enough great things about our experience here. It was our first time and we had the BEST waitress ever, Elysse(Alysse). Our server was so wonderful and made our dinner perfect. Best pizza and wine.... If your looking for a a yummy dinner plus good service and excellent wine COME HERE! :) read more

The Backspace - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

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

Nice pizza. I got the fennel sausage for pickup. Saw some crazy bums on 6th street before I stopped in to the classy little dining room. Was just coming out of the oven. Nice. read more

Food was amazing. Austin has surprisingly a lot of good pizza, but this pizza was great. More of a traditional Italian style. Sauce built a perfect base for the pizza. Great wine selection and great happy hour prices read more

Oh my god this place is amazing. The service and the quality of food is unmatched. Please come here. It'll change your life!

The pizza is soooo good. The service is excellent. Luke, the bartender is such a great server. Letting me test a couple of things that suited my palate. And he's easy on the eyes. That super cute and super sweet Abby is such a doll! She's the manager and she was so welcoming. It's my favorite pizza place. read more

The Backspace - The Pepperoni Americano. - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

Yummy pizza and cool vibes. Review Would have been 5 stars but the burrata dish only came with 2 tiny pieces of bread (what?!?) and when we asked for more, we got a few more small slices and then saw on the bill it cost us $5. You can't do that without telling us about the charge upon ordering! That's literally the definition of giving us sticker shock. Bad form. I've worked in the industry for 20 years and would never not mention this (And my current restaurant gives all the free bread with our burrata that a person needs. It's kinda required with this kind of cheese.) That left a sour taste in our mouths which is a shame bc it was a great experience otherwise. read more

October 2018. Four out of five. We stopped here on a busy night toward the end of October. The pizza was very good but what really stood out was the service. The restaurant is quite small and compassing only a few tables and a bar. But the staff was running it exceptionally well. We were able to sit down immediately and it in order and got our food within a reasonable period of time. Despite there being quite of number people behind us and and a big crowd we were never rushed. The food was somewhat expensive but given that it was right downtown in the high-end Entertainment District this was to be expected. Overall I would recommend this anytime you visit Austin. read more

The Backspace - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

I stayed at the Westin which is right around the corner and saw great reviews on his place ... upon arrival, *a pretty much empty restaurant * Sarah looks at my friends and i up and down and says," soo do you have a reservation?" when the restaurant is empty. My friends felt so bad... Don't let Sarah be little you... she made us feel so uncomfortable and like we were out of place Our waitress (Jessica) did awesome and made us feel wayy better. Elvin did an amazing job cooking our pizzas. read more

Alexis, our server led us through a journey of the menu and boy did she nail it. We enjoyed every selection and our amazing wine pairing. I believe we had the Sangiovese which was so clutch. The atmosphere was chill and due to covid they spread us out. No complaints there. They had a sanitizer station upon entry and did recyclable singular use silverware. This was a total winner. Keep up the great work. Y'all rock. read more

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An awesome pick for a dinner date and fresh food. This place is worth its rave reviews in terms of its ambience.We were seated by the bar and enjoyed watching the food being prepared right in front of us. I had a star off for the taste of the items. We went for the highly recommended items like the smoked okra.I am an Indian and thus is a vegetable which we commonly cook.For that reason,I found this dish surprisingly normal for my taste buds. I so recommend the dish with peaches and some herb which is very exotic with its taste. (Picture attached). The veggie pizza we ordered was loaded with cheese and very delicious. read more

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Yummmmm. I just ate WAY too much at the Backspace. First of all...They have happy hour until 6:30 with 1/2 off antipasti and wines by the glass. The tomato and cipollini onion antipasti was deliciousssssssssss, the artichoke was good, and the button mushrooms were tasty. Then we had the lamb and pork meatballs...Holy Moly... they were delicious. At this point I was basically full but had to have pizza. SO we ordered a Bianca pizza (with arugula, mozzarella, ricotta, pecorino romano). It was creamy and delicious mixed with the spicy light arugula on top. It was so good that I managed to eat 1/2 a pizza after I "wasn't hungry" when we got it. I only wish I had room for dessert...Next time! read more

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The Bianca pizza with arugula was baked to perfection. The beetroot side was excellent with the pepperoncinis on top. The side of roasted peaches was customized to be vegetarian for us, which was excellent as well. At the end we had the hazelnut budino which was great, with toffee and cream and chocolate. We went on a Monday evening. The place (small-ish) was just about full, and we had a 20 minute wait. Service was good. The music was mellow. The lighting was very dim; after dark you'll need to pull out your smartphone flashlight to read the desert menu. Overall a great experience. read more

Decided to try this place with some friends after staying at a hotel in downtown Austin since it was a 2-3 minute walk from our hotel and there are no regrets ! Inside the restaurant is super cute with an open brick oven fire and a big bar surrounding the restaurant. We each ordered a pizza (prices were around $14-16 each) which was little pricey, but delicious ! They were also a pretty good size and I saved half of mine because I couldn't finish it . The waitress who served us was so sweet and friendly and made sure we had a great lunch! I will definitely be coming here again when I'm in downtown Austin and I recommend this for anyone looking for a nice authentic pizza experience ! read more

Some of the best pizza I have ever had. You will not be disappointed. Staff was great. Ambiance was very nice.

Small cozy pizza/wine bar. They have limited seating so sat at the bar. Had a nice view of the wood fire stove where the pizzas are prepared and cooked. Ordered the Bianca pizza, crisp crust, just the right amount of cheese great combination of flavors. Quick service and very good. read more

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I wouldn't say Austin is particularly known for its extensive pizza selection, but there are a few spots that I go to almost religiously. In an effort to try something new, I decided to check out The Backspace. The inside of The Backspace is very cozy but somewhat small, especially for a restaurant located on a busy street in downtown Austin. I ordered the green beans as an appetizer and the pizza americano. The green beans were excellent and unique. Flavored with lemon and garlic, I have never really had green beans as tasty as these. As for the pizza, it was good, but not different from other brick oven style pizzas I've had. Overall I had a nice experience. The staff was friendly and attentive. I would not go out of my way for the pizza, but if you are ever in the area or passing by, give it a shot! read more

The Backspace - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

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We had really good dinner in this place . Everything was great especially burrata cheese and roasted mushroom pizza was good . They have wood fire oven which makes your pizza tasty . But greatest part is staff. We had elissa she took care us .she did fantastic job . Thank you so much . We will be back again read more

The Backspace - Burrata and Garden Board - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

Had this place one night while staying downtown and it was a great option. The atmosphere was great, server was cool and the environment was great. They also had some interesting concepts such as the sunny side up egg on the pizza (not great, but worth a try). Overall enjoyed and would recommend. read more

The Backspace - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

Easily one of the best pizza places in Austin. Service is always excellent here. I've gone with and without a reservation and have never had any issues. Great for a date night, a night out with coworkers, and even family dinners! read more

Great date night dinner in downtown Austin! Steps away from 6th street attractions, like the piano bar next door with darts, or many other live bands playing around 8 after you finish your meal! I recommend valet in front of the restaurant and walking to see some live music if coming from a distance away! Get reservations, it's quiet and cozy. Really enjoyed our focaccia bread, sweet potato and homemade mozzarella antipasti. Had the popular margarita pizza and chocolate budino pudding desert. No complaints on the meal or service, we plan on returning! read more

The Backspace - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

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In Austin for the night and was craving pizza and this was the closest place to my hotel. The place looks really nice. The ambience is very romantic and relaxing. The staff was friendly and super nice but I couldn't stay so I ordered a pepperoni pizza to go. Took about 10 minutes which was super fast. Dope. Pizza was good. What I wasn't expecting was the floss that came with the pepperoni. For a $15 pizza (before tax and tip) I'd hope that you'd take off the plastic before cutting up the sausage and putting it on the pizza. Maybe it's an Austin thing to floss while you eat. Loved the pizza. Didn't like the mini surprise that I'll relive through my other end in a few hours. Definitely coming back again, just gonna make sure no plastic is attached to my food before I eat it. read more

The Backspace - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

COVID DINE-IN REVIEW We had a date night as our first restaurant back since restrictions had been lifted. We setup a reservation on Open Table. The restaurant was clean & setup in a very comfortable to all parties in the restaurant. The food & wine were fantastic. Definitely a go-to for anyone looking to venture out to eating at a restaurant that is looking for a small, intimate and clean environment. read more

Solid brick oven pizza, the food came out so quick. Only serve wine and one beer, no spirits. The pizza was great! read more

The Backspace - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

Came here for a snack before dinner and ordered the mushroom pie with prosciutto to go. The prosciutto came in a separate box which I found odd and it wasn't great either. The mushroom pie wasn't addicting or charred enough. I usually love this type of pizza but I wasn't crazy for it. There was some flavor lacking in this pie and I couldn't figure out what. Maybe some truffle oil would be beneficial or arugula? read more

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The one star is for the wine. Everything else was nasty! The sauce was watery, the "pepperoni" was undercooked salami and they simply drop a blob of cheese on the pizza which obviously does not cover the slice. Served on a nasty split board and to top it off, in typical Austin style, they want you out in an hour an 15 per their menu. What establishment had the audacity to tell a paying customer how long they can take to eat? Don't waste your limited time or money here- go to Homeslice! read more

The Backspace - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

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The Backspace is worth checking out due to its quality pizza but service is iffy. I went in on a Thursday night and sat at the bar. It was a little confusing whether I could just go to bar or if I had to wait. When you enter there is no host stand and no host (that I could see, it looked like bar tender was pulling triple duty). After sitting myself at bar (which is a beautiful bar btw) I ordered a glass of red wine and got the fennel sausage pizza. Sadly, the delivery of my glass of wine and pizza were the only two interactions I had with my bartender/waiter. I wasn't asked if I wanted another glass of wine till I had been waiting for my check for 15 minutes. From the look of the other patrons around me, they too were slightly annoyed by the inconsistent service Anyways, the pizza itself was fresh and delicious with a nice presentation on a large wooden handle. One significant negative in my book is how greasy and soggy the pizza got on the bottom. In a very short period of time the pizza became a soggy mess. It still tasted good with quality ingredients but yeah...it diminished the pizza a bit. All in all, I liked Backspace and think it could be a fun date place. But the service issues and weakness in the pizza prevent it from making me a fan. read more

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Great food! Small and cozy atmosphere. The pizza is soo good and the Caesar was great too. Highly recommend!

We have been going to the Backspace for years, and have celebrated some great occasions there. Saturday night was an awful experience. Now the food was still amazing, but the service was worse than it has ever been. And to make matters worse, the AC was out. Texas + August + No AC = a real bad experience. I don't understand why they wouldn't have notified people prior to the reservation, but it was miserable. Took forever to get the food, and the check, which was another tables check. The waitress said it was ok, was around the same amount as mine. :| Are you kidding me? I said, no, I don't think so, then the manager came over to show me what my bill would have costs to show it was ok. Really strange. Then I asked about the AC, and he truly acted as if he didn't care. Very frustrating. Love this place, and the food is great, but not likely to go back because of this experience. Way too many good places to eat in Austin to not have AC or a waitstaff or manager that care. Real shame. read more

You want an intimate restaurant vibe with great pizza and wine.... Backspace delivers. We went for dinner and sat at the bar next to the pizza oven so I could torture myself waiting for my pizza. I ordered the pear panzanella tp start. Very fresh and citrusy. Then I ordered the smoked brisket pizza with an egg on top. Sooooo good. Will do without the egg next time because the pizza was just so amazing by itself. read more

The Backspace - Brisket pizza with an egg on top - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

Food was good, the ambiance was nice but the wait staff wasn't amazing. We ordered focaccia and meatballs to start, followed by three pizzas. The focaccia was disappointing. It was served with 2 whole pieces of bread cut in half for 4 slices. Small portion to say the least. Meatballs were good but should have been warmer.. the Bianca pizza was very good. The wait staff was not very attentive. We seemed to be forgotten about a bit. read more

This pizza place was amazing. This pizza has the feel of a Neapolitan pizza place but it did not feel like it went all the way and I am really happy it did not. Though it is pretty much what I expect from a traditional VPN Neapolitan pizza place (wood fired oven, baked for about 2 minutes and nice char on the edges) it was not a copy of many others that I have been to. This place had a few things that made the pizza more unique. First the crust was not as airy as many other Neapolitan and slightly crisper on the bottom. This was actually a nice surprise because it helped the pizza be slightly steadier. I got the pepperoni americano and it was delicious. The pepperoni was way spicier than you would find on your normal diavola. If you are looking for a good gourmet pizza it will be hard to find something better. read more

The Backspace - Pepperoni americano - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

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