Cantine Italian Cafe & Bar

The service was well — not so hot. I was there by myself on Friday at 4:30 — I mean I was the only patron in the entire restaurant and I was sitting at the bar. I practically had to wave down people to ask for a drink, a menu and to order. Maybe my boots and jeans and backwards baseball cap and T-​shirt weren’t hipster or sophisticated enough for them?
Keep in mind this is Friday right before dinner time. I ask if they can put chicken in one of the pasta dishes and they say sure. 10 minutes later and say sorry, we are out of chicken. On Friday night? And I’m the first patron there? WTF?
Then there was what I’d call «hipster music» blaring in the speakers. Sorry — I’d rather be at a cantina than Cantine. They should drop the «ine» so it’s just «Cant»

Stopped by for a quick snack. Tried the Housemade Pita and Muhammara. SO delicious. It’s very similar to hummus but a bit spicier. The bartender Sabra mentioned it’s a Lebanese dish that’s traditionally found in tons of dishes in its homeland. Will be coming again and tasting more!

First time at Cantine. Menu seemed a little sparse but the biggest problem was terrible service. I don’t really think it was the waiter’s fault. It seemed like he was handling half the restaurant and really (truly) didn’t have the time to spend with us. It’s great that they have a menu with their list of vodkas (etc.) on it, but I didn’t see that list until I presumed they had ‘goose and then was shown their list. btw, I thought their bar selections were great. Bottom line is that I think we could have had a more pleasant experience with better service.

Two words for you goat cheese balls! Try the app, thank me later. But remember no guns and absolutely NO meanies

Solid dinner option, get a side of the brussel sprouts they will be the best you’ll ever have!

I cannot see why there are bad reviews for this place. I just got back from brunch with some girlfriends and we had the best experience in a long time at a restaurant. It has been awhile since we’ve all agreed that a place is good. Great service, amazing food and nice décor.
I had a cappuccino and the shakshuka. Yum! The cappuccino was perfect and the shakshuka was perfectly spiced and cooked. I added the chorizo. I love that they put the serrano relish in one spot so you could take it off if one found it too spicy
The cherry on top was the sticky bun.
Our server was on top of taking care of the table. He didn’t linger or forget us. Other staff members even came by every so often to see if we needed refills.
Everyone at the table agreed that we must come back for happy hour and I would like to go back to try their dinner menu.
The music was also perfect for a Sunday morning.
Free parking in the garage.
Give this place a shot– don’t always depend on what other people say about a place. Every restaurant has its bad moments, but hopefully this place has read the reviews and took it under consideration to what they can do better to make their customers happy.

Loved the fried goat cheese! For entrees, we tried the carbonara and the chorizo pizza. The carbonara wasn’t your traditional carbonara… think less creamy, more watered down and a bit small for the pricepoint. The presentation left something to be desired. It was still tasty, but I was hoping for the real deal. But the fried goat cheese is worth the trip alone!
Pros: free parking, random mix of music kept us entertained, goat cheese!

Great food, just make sure you tell your wait staff member not to make it too spicy as they over spice (Hot Hot) the food if you don’t mention it ahead of time! The 3 times I’ve been here we just sit at the bar. Staff is great and very friendly.

Loved every bit of it! Great service, great food. Not to mention they had the best 80s play mix on this particular Sunday evening!
Fried Goat Cheese: AMAZING
Fattoush: AMAZING
Mushroom risotto: AMAZING
Linguine Vongole (with clams): AMAZING
Honey Goat Cheesecake: AMAZING
I’d give this place 10 stars if I could. A new favorite!

Win Win Win! Make a beeline to Cantine — it’s that freaking good (and I don’t typically enjoy Italian food).
Went with a large (40+ work friends) party to Cantine with very low expectations. And was thoroughly impressed with their ability to accomodate this large group and provide us with vast amounts of high quality, delicious, locally sourced food. OMG the food kept a comin’ all night long! They served us four courses of family style yumminess.
Our first course, the starters, was Housemade pita and chips, Fried Goat Cheese, and Blue Cheese stuffed dates. All were absolutely outstanding but the goat cheese and stuffed dates are not to be missed — we were squabbling over those tasty morsels like children over a red popscicle. The spaghetti carbonera and all the pastas were equally delicious. All ingredients are fresh and the foods are house made — quite a wecome delight.
The servers were outstanding and easily accomodated our boisterous group of 40.
When in Austin, eat at CANTINE! :)

This experience was just… awkward. From the moment I walked in the place was small, quiet and it seemed as if everyone turned to watch us stand in the doorway to be seated. We were seated in a tiny corner table/​booth which was hard to get into since there was another table approximately 2 feet away from us. In fact, we were so close that I couldn’t hear myself talk over the gentlemen next to us talking up a storm about a new app they were launching…
–Food was savorless. It didn’t do the deed for my tastebuds :/​Our table ordered the Bucatini Amatriciana pasta, caesar salad and Bianca pizza.
With such fancy names it has to be delicious right? Naaaaaat. It was nothing exciting. While the pizza did have an exotic sweet taste to it, it wasn’t something I can consider worthy. As for my pasta… that will never be ordered again. I just wasn’t impressed with this place.

I have never seen my mother be so excited to eat cauliflower or tomatoes in all of my 26 years on this earth. My mom had the salmon with roasted cauliflower and tomatoes. It was absolutely heavenly. ‘You have to eat this tomato’ ‘ive had roasted tomatoes’ ‘EAT IT’ of course i tried it, and it was as if a tomato sweetly melted in my mouth. It was fantastic. Cauliflower also was like no cauliflower i have ever consumed, roasted to perfection with just a slight char and bursting with flavor. I had the bucatini with sausage it was also super delicious. Fresh pasta is just amazing, but theres something extra special about bucatini. We didnt have reservations at 7 on a friday but they still seated us. I hope they stay here for a long long time so that this place can become my mother’s and my ‘thing’ when she comes to visit austin again. Great/​quick service, beautiful interior.

Cantine is such a lovely place to brunch. We brunched at Cantine on the patio this past weekend and I had a wonderful experience. Inside it is crisp with clean lines and overall a small restaurant.
I started off with a rose wine and sparking water (and yay no up-​charge for sparkling). Our waiter was helpful in explaining the dishes and making recommendations. I ordered the shakshuka. The savory dish had two Vital Farm eggs (which are my favorite) baked in a spicy harissa tomato sauce, topped with z’hug and served with soft warm pita. This dish does pack some kick, I loved how the rich egg and spicy sauces tasted together and I couldn’t get enough of that pita. I had a bite of spaghetti Neopolitano, the house-​made pasta had great consistently and notably not salty but note that if you opt to add octopus the portion of meat is on the small side.
They have a nice selection of Amari which I look forward to trying the next time I dine in for dinner.

For the record, minus the service, I liked the food at Asti and the now shuttered Fino. Both also were designed well, but service was meh so I hadn’t been to either in nearly 3 years. Cantine is similar to the team’s previous two restaurants except for the food.
We ordered their fried calamari and rigatoni with duck confit ragu. The calamari was pretty good minus it smelling a bit fishy. The accompanying aoli was heavy on the cumin and garlic. Both of which are fine. The rigatoni was blah and uninspired. As mentioned, both Asti and Fino I felt the food was really good and like they at least cared about what was served. This dish was awfully disappointing and not what I would have thought would be served from the same people behind the other two spots. The sauce was watery, the confit seemed more like shredded beef than duck confit. There was little to no flavor in this dish and it was served luke warm. The only positive was that the pasta was cooked al dente. This dish was so bad, I went to Vox Table afterwards to grab a small bite just to get something treated with more care and culinary skill.
The space is designed well, but based on the food mainly and the service to a degree, I have zero plans of returning.

I know. I’m surprised too.
I have never really been a fan of Asti, everything on the menu sounds sooo good but usually lacks any kind of decent flavor. However, I absolutely adored Fino and was sad to see it close. My cousin ate here soon after they opened and said she had a horrible lunch so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But my recent dinner here was pretty great!
We started with the fried goat cheese. Cooked really well, great onion jam, had to ask for more crostini (and was charged for it, but I expect that these days) and the flavor was pretty mild for a goat cheese, which was fine with me.
I ordered the salmon with whipped cauliflower and tomatoes. The salmon was thoroughly cooked and not at all dried out (I usually like my salmon a little on the rare side, but the alien currently residing in my uterus seems to have other ideas). I love cauliflower in all forms and this purée was heavenly. As in, I may have used my fingers to clean every bit of it off the plate (again, I blame the alien for this behavior). I originally went to dinner with the intention of having pasta (stupid alien and its carb cravings) but the salmon seemed too good to pass up and I was not disappointed.
Luckily, the husband (who, let’s face it, is responsible for the alien in the first place) did order pasta, and it was better than any of the pasta dishes I have had at Asti. The house made spaghetti with sausage had lots of flavor, and the pasta held up well to the end of the dish and even in the leftovers I may have eaten for lunch the next day.
The service was attentive yet unobtrusive, from the host to the manager that dropped off our check. Servers ran my husbands drinks from the bar to the table so they didn’t get warm at the service well, and I appreciated the option of still or sparkling water when we first sat down (I was already planning on ordering a Pellegrino with dinner, but hey, free sparkling water is always awesome!). The extensive bar looks amazing, and the drink menu is tempting. I will have to go back and check it out after the alien makes its debut later this fall.
All in all, I am sad that we have since moved from our home in S. Austin and won’t be close by anymore. But we are always finding excuses to leave the ‘burbs and venture south of the river, and Cantine is just one more reason to do so.

I am really caught in between a 3 and 4 star review rating here. I feel like if I were to come back, I bet they could get that 4 stars but for now, I will stick wither a 3.5 star review and round down.
Pros:
Dessert!!!
Other dishes that I didn’t order but the people I went with ordered (the salmon and the Branzino)
Service
Cons:
Special of the day — Paella (I had high hopes for the Paella but it just did not live up to my expectations. It lacked any type of major flavor and was just a bit too dry for my tasting. The Shrimp and Meat seemed to be just added on top of the dish at a later time rather then cooked together. It was also rather small as well)
While my review is based solely on my meal, the people I went with both loved there dishes and like I said earlier, the desserts are great. We ordered the Chocolate Crème Carmal and the doughnut things.
Overall, not sure if I will make it back here but if I do, I will gladly give it another shot.

I came with friends for dinner and we shared several items, my thoughts are below:
— Fried Goat Cheese w/​red onion jam & honey: let’s face it, fried cheese of any kind is usually great, and this was no exception. My one complaint is there was not nearly enough crackers (and that it is crackers and not bread or crostini) to go with the giants sized cheese balls. We asked for some bread to go with it but they couldn’t offer that (no bread in an Italian restaurant?). So we asked for extra crackers and were billed a $ 1 upcharge (.25 a cracker apparently).
— Brussel Sprouts w/​chili oil: these were quite tasty; although the spiciness did detract from the overall flavor of the sprouts (I realize some might argue this is a good thing).
— Cauliflower w/​whipped feta & paprika oil: This is a generous whole head of cauliflower! Hence the included steak knife. It was tasty but there was not nearly enough of the feta/​oil sauce to dip it in, and it was hard to get to the sauce on the plate without a spoon.
— Bianca Pizza with fontina, truffle oil and prosciutto ($ 6 upcharge): A tasty thin crust pizza, although perhaps lacking in sauce. The prosciutto was good quality and without it this pizza would probably taste fairly bland.
— Linguine Vongola: the spaghetti-​like noodles are made in-​house, and the overall dish with a light white wine and olive oil sauce was lovely.
— Chocolate Crème Caramel: Here’s what pushes my overall review from 3 stars to 4 stars. This dessert is the bomb diggity and makes it into my «Top 10 Desserts in Austin» list, hands down. I was practically licking it off the plate.
— Midnight Plantation cocktail: if you like bourbon lightly sweetened with blueberries, then this is the cocktail for you! It was delicious!

Food was awesome! I’ve been their twice & ended up with the same server
She did a great job explaining the food
& had good recommendations.

I met a group of people here for Sunday brunch. We opted not to do any drinks, so I can’t comment on the cocktails.
A guy in our group works at Medici coffee house next door, so they recognized him. Good thing because they gave our group a «Lamar Union» discount… so if you work at any of the retailers there, definitely make yourself known for this special discount! But even without the discount, the prices are very reasonable.
We shared the sticky bun and muhumara… both were very tasty! The sticky bun has the syrupy sweetness, not the typical cinnamon bun sugary icing and the fresh cream was not sweet, so it added moisture to the bun without adding more sweetness… great together. This was technically our dessert, and we ate it first. LOL! The muhumara is a great hummus alternative with a garlicy flavor, which I like. The pita that came with it was toasted, but not overly toasted, which some places tend to do, so that kept the pita nice and soft.
I had the Shakshuka without the chorizo… I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was like a tomato stew with 2 poached eggs in the middle. There’s also a spicy green sauce dolloped in the mix, so be aware that if you can’t handle the spice, you can extract some of that out. It’s served with pita bread, so it can be a lighter option if you don’t consume all the pita. But the «stew» is delicious when soaked up with the pita. Another guy in our group had the Shakshuka but with chorizo and that made his meal «heavier»… so you have options with this dish.
The atmosphere was fine… not terribly loud or crowded for Father’s Day. I didn’t venture to the restrooms or walk anywhere other than straight to our table, so I don’t have a true experience for the décor/​atmosphere. But go and enjoy the food!

Move over Olive Garden, there’s a new amazing Italian restaurant in town. While Cantine doesn’t have unlimited soup, salad or breadsticks, and doesn’t have any screaming babies or mints, it does have some pretty excellent food and cocktails coupled with some great service.
The special ladyfriend and I went to Cantine this past weekend for our 1(!) year anniversary (since we started dating). We had heard good things and I was a huge fan of Fino when it was open, so I wanted to check out the new restaurant.
While we were there, we managed to meet the owner who went around to every table in the place to say hello and ask for feedback on the food. While we’re on that subject, the handmade noodles were excellent. The pizza was also very good — we went with a white pizza that was amazing. The two cocktails that I had were delicious as well. I forget the names of both, but one was a Turkish cocktail that was a tad «Christmasy» for a hot June afternoon in Texas.
Service was great and they did a nice job with the décor. To top it off, the prices seemed quite reasonable. Between the two of us we had three cocktails, a couple of appetizers (get the fried goat cheese), and two entrees for ~$ 75.