Emmer & Rye

Finally got to try one of the top 10 Restaurants rated by Zagat. (
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First the good things about the evening, loved the décor and ambiance. It was cozy and romantic with a beautiful décor. The service was great and the wine/​cocktail selection was very good. The Dessert, Tres Leches Cheesecake was by far one of the better one’s I have had and I have had quite a few being one of my favorite desserts. Great job nailing that one.
The Dinner on the other hand was a different story for me, everything was laden with butter and cream which masked and took away from the real flavor of the ingredients. For example, a couple tapas style dishes had some drippings and sauces that should ideally be served with a dry crusty bread to mop up the flavors from it. We had to ask for some bread on the side that came as two sad looking sourdough pieces for fried bread and a giant dollop of butter, totally lacked appeal and finesse you expect from a fine meal. It was still dripping oil from the deep frying so no chance of soaking up any flavor.
I would give it 3 stars at the most as my overall rating. Hope this helps with choosing your next dinner date night. (http://http://dough-re-me.blogspot.com/2016/02/restaurant-review-emmer-and-rye.html)

The best birthday experience I’ve ever had.
I usually go to Uchi or Uchiko every year for my birthday to get pampered with food and service but this year I heard about Emmer & Rye. Kevin Fink is a chef from Noma and I heard a lot of the chefs in the kitchen have worked at Uchiko.
I called and made a reservation 3 weeks ago telling them it was my birthday. They asked what allergies I had to foods (shrimp, green bell pepper, and corn), and they were very accomodating. We valet parked (warning the parking is horrendous) and we were greeted by the hostess wishing me a happy birthday. I’d call the atmosphere, casual, rustic, but still very classy. We were greeted by Chris S. One of the best servers I’ve ever had. I told him that I had heard about him in another Unilocaler’s review and he was very flattered. I really appreciated his enthusiasm over the menu and their overall concept of grains, and fermented products. We graciously took all of his suggestions for dinner and wine. We had the burrata (a little oversalted), the sunchoke dish (the spuma was absolutely amazing), the octopus (once again a little oversalted), and the cacio de pepe (very delish pasta made in house with wonderful texture and flavor). The dim sum carts came around and we ordered the lamb tartare (great textures and awesome seasoning but a small portion for price) and the johnny pork cakes (yummy).
Now the dim sum cart came around while we had three plates in front of us and I had to decline, even though it was a dish I had heard a lot about (the pork empanadas). Chris came to check on us after our ordered dishes and asked if we had room for dessert and we said yes. He looked at our dim sum card noticed that we probably missed a cart and that he’d be right back. Guess what he brought us? The EMPANADAS! We didn’t even mention it to him. We suspected that the dim sum server told him that we were interested but just didn’t have room on our table at the time. Well the empanadas were amazing! Worth making room for. We were impressed that Chris did that for us on the house. Finally he said he was bringing us dessert. And two dessert plates land in front of us once again on the house. The ice cream sandwich was salty sweet goodness. But the main event of the meal was the tres leches cheesecake. If you come here and don’t order anything but the cheesecake, you have tasted the best thing on the menu. Oh my goodness the cheesecake was the best dessert I’ve ever had (it rivaled my favorite fried milk at Uchiko).
If you come here ask for Chris. He gave me a birthday card on the way out. He has a lot of knowledge and enthusiasm on the food they serve here. We can’t wait to come back. I think this is the new hot spot coming up in Austin.

Decadent and pure are the words that come to mind to describe this grain indulgent restaurant…
Upon entering, you feel instantly transported to a Nordic inspired dining room, where good friends and good conversation abound.
The food comes in multiple waves of attack. The first wave hits you from the tapas menu and the second source follows from the locally sourced exceptionally plated dim sum cart that screams, «Once you try me, you’ll be hooked.»
We tried a variety of the dishes, of which many are gluten and egg free, but for brevity we will cover the lives of the party. The polenta is cooked to perfection, according to my dinner date, maintaining the perfect consistency of true Italian texture. The carnitas, emboldened by a lamb broth, pea shoots and radish were the intersection of contemporary American meets Mexican.
The polenta and carñitas are not the only two reasons you need to go off the beaten path to this newly opened hotspot near Rainey St. I highly recommend this restaurant for your out of town guests.

Delicious. Came out for a girls night and we all had a great time. Great atmosphere. Kind of cozy and romantic. Not pretentious. Chris was our server and he did an excellent job of guiding us through the menu and the dim sum experience.
From the menu, they serve different small plates that are meant to be shared. They locally source their ingredients and make their own pastas and bread in house. Off menu they offer items dim sum style. They come around with a cart of goodies and let you pick what you want. If you’re on a first date and want to be adventurous this could be really fun, but otherwise I’d recommend coming in with a group so that you try a little bit of everything.
The menu changes consistently depending on what they have available. On this particular night our favorites were the Tres Leches, the kale salad, empanadas, and the polenta.
Yes, I listed the dessert first — the Tres Leches. Talk about an amazing treat! The texture was perfect and the flavors were very organic and natural. We also had the Meyer Lemon Sorbet and that, too was fantastic. It was a great palate cleanser and I’d love to try it again on a warm day.
The empanadas were perfectly seasoned and the crust was just the right kind of flaky. The polenta was creamy, earthy, and perfectly buttery. Truly decadent and comforting. But my personal favorite was the kale salad. I believe the kale is fermented and they use the liquids as the vinaigrette, but however they did it was epic.
The pork dishes were a bit too salty for my tastes. Not bad by any means, just not my style.
We had 5 people; everyone had one drink under 10 bucks, tried 8 different dishes, and our bill was very reasonable (35 + tip). Proof that you don’t have to break the bank to try out amazing food.
Will definitely be returning.

We went with a group of six and left pretty disappointed. The ambiance was great but the portions are tiny for what you get compared to other restaurants in Austin. Be prepared to order 7 – 8 items for 2 people, they served one pasta dish that got over in 3 – 4 bites and cost $ 14. We also got served a berkshire pork chop that was medium rare at best. saw a little blood oozing out as we cut it so we didn’t eat it, i’m not going to take a chance eating undercooked pork. The manager was highly apologetic and gave us free desserts. Would cost about $ 100 – 120 for 2 including drinks and dessert.
The Panna Cotta dessert was absolutely amazing as was the Polenta. Service was average as it was a busy night.

This place has a really nice décor with solid service and chefs who seem to genuinely care about what they’re doing. The dim sum is fun too, but the problem for me was out of the 6 dishes I tried, I didn’t like any of them. My friend who was with me felt similarly. Most of them were over salted, lacked any depth and were short on flavor. The New York sour cocktail I had was not good at all. I’ve had great New York sours before. Theirs here was completely bland and I couldn’t even taste the whiskey or wine.
As far as what we ordered: Lamb tartare — bland, kale salad — over salted, pork pozole — over salted and zero depth (just salt and cumin flavor, no pork), hot cakes — over salted, carnitas lamb — not very juicy and low on flavor, empanadas — over salted. Everything was plated well so there’s that.
Best of luck to these guys. People seem to really like them, I’m just not one of them.

We had 800 reservations for 6 on a Friday. We checked in and they politely notified us they would let us know when the table was ready. An hour and a half later, we were still waiting at the bar. after about 10 separate discussions with the hostess and manager, who repeatedly blamed the «large group «ahead of us that was taking a long time to wrap up, we realized we weren’t going to be seated any time soon. I tracked down the manager to tell him how poorly I thought they handled the situation — no one ever approached us to explain the problem, no apology, no offer to comp our drinks, or offer of any appetizers while we waited. For the love of God, I couldn’t even flag down a bartender to get drinks at the bar! Is my money no good here!!!
The manager was clearly overwhelmed and i felt a tinge of guilt for giving him a hard time. But really, you can’t get away with that kind of poor service in Austin where there’s a new trendy restaurant every week .
We finally left at 930 to get dinner at Bangers up the street. Great food and beer without the BS. Only wish we had left earlier. Life is too short .
Won’t be going back.

The Good: LOVED the Dry Aged Ribeye, cooked exactly the way I like it (medium rare) and seasoned to perfection. For $ 58 is was big enough to share even if you are not getting other plates (or maybe 1 – 2 if you are really hungry). I recommend you get items off the dim sum cart as well, they are usually cheaper and portions decent. My other favorite dish was the Carnitas Lamb. For desert get the chocolate cookie ice cream sandwich! I want to go back for that alone!
The Bad: I was not a fan of the Cauliflower custard, it lacked flavor. Also the Braised Pork Agnolotti was rich in flavor but the noodles were a little hard, could have used a little more cooking time.

A huge disappointment. This new contemporary American farm-​to-​table restaurant on Rainey street was far from extradionary. The food was beautifully plated but tasted bland or over-​salted. The cauliflower custard lacked cauliflower, the kale salad lacked dressing, and the pasta was served cold. The rib-​eye was delicious, although served completely rare at first, and the ice cream sandwich was good but these did not make-​up for the lack of flavors in the other dishes.
What makes this restaurant unique is their dim sum carts that go around throughout the entire meal. Dishes like pork and cabbage empanadas, pork and cabbage pancakes, pork dumplings (can you see a trend?) come around and are over priced for their portion size. Their concept of dim sum is really just a way to bump the check up.
However, the décor is on par. The lofted wooden design with open kitchen resembles that of many trendy restaurants in bigger cities. But they definitely need to adjust the heating in these winter months. I sat wrapped in my scarf the whole night.
All this being said the staff was incredibly nice and attentive.
I really hope they step their food game up. I was really excited for this restaurant to open, and there’s obviously a lot of great talent and ideas going around, but they need to work together to amp up their strengths.

Food was mediocre, NY strip was ok for. a $ 20 steak but not for a $ 55 steak. Everything else before that was nothing that I will want to go back to to try again. Definitely it was a first and last, service was very good and the place is modern and very nice looking. Great place to go for drinks.

Dinner for my birthday. The hits keep coming. Flavors, textures, aromas — an exploration in creative fine dining.

Everything we had was so flavorful, we savored every bite! The lite dishes, dim sum, main dishes, and both desserts were amazing. The polenta was especially good. Everyone who works there is very knowledgable, helpful, and kind. We loved the décor, the ambiance, and neighborhood. Kudos to everyone who is a part of this great place!

I am excited they finally opened!!! Us Rainey Street residents have been waiting for a long time. I have been twice: once for drinks and apps and once for dinner. It’s new, so I feel they have a little room to grow with their menu selection. For drinks and apps, the food and portions were perfect. For dinner, the portions were very small and very pricey. The dim sum style serving is charming, but the selection was lacking and we didn’t find much we were excited about. Everything is sourced locally, so the menu changes daily. This may be what also makes it difficult to have a more robust menu selection.
The restaurant itself is beautifully done and has a really trendy atmosphere. The servers are very nice and this place is truly appealing in that regard. In general, I think a few tweaks to the menu could take this place from good to great … In my opinion.

It’s like they plucked one of the best restaurants out of New York and dropped it on Rainey street. This place is amazing, beautiful, delicious, and inviting. Every detail was very well thought out.
We sat at the bar that looks into the kitchen. I’ll never sit anywhere else. All of the chefs converse with you and recommend items, etc. the food was absolutely incredible. The polenta was our favorite. Eat the dim sum items, especially the vegetables. Menu changes daily here and it’s all very fresh.
The two head chefs– one came from being top guy at uchiko and the other came from noma (Copenhagen). Psssst those are two of the best restaurants in the entire world. The kitchen staff is stacked. A bunch of them worked at a Michelin starred restaurant prior to this. Unreal that Austin has such a gem.

Its new, I’ll probably have to visit again later on. But, everything was over salted and the one thing that needed salt, dry aged steak, was under flavored.
Décor is nice and the dim sum concept is cool, but def not worth the $$$

Pros — good location. Great interior design. Attentive waitstaff.
Cons — portions very small. Dim sum process is too interactive and the dishes were not very tasty. Some lacked salt and flavor, especially the Johnny Cakes. The chicken main meal which was around $ 35 was two pieces of rotisserie chicken basically, let’s call it a leg and a breast. Half of a chicken. You would pay $ 5 for that at Whole Foods. Somehow it’s 7 times better because the price is 7 times higher. But it wasn’t that great.
This is more of a place to grab drinks at the bar in my opinion.

Lets start at the spot. It’s very spacious with 3 different areas; patio, dining room and bar. Each of these spaces is separated with different but equally modern furniture lending a relaxing mood.
I chose to sit at the bar and chatted briefly with the host and waiter. Both were super nice and accommodating, happy experience so far… Drink Menu, veeeery nice, big White & Red wine selection, plus a «Pink & Orange» wine option (Of course that’s what I chose). They also have a small but nice cocktail list, featuring classics with a twist, like the «Pasado de Moda» (Spanish for «Old Fashioned») made with Tequila, grapefruit bitters and cinnamon. Yummers!
Their beer selection is small but substantial, their Scotch/​Whisky program is bigger, as far as drinks go, you’re pretty much covered…
I perused the bar food menu. At first it was confusing because it’s not thematically defined menu. It has Hispanic inspiration, some Italian, American, and bits from everywhere else. After trying some of it I was impressed by it’s quality. I stuck to the Hispanic inspired cuisine and went for 2 amazing dishes, a Lamb Pozole with Hominy and Cabbage, and The White Bolito Arepa with Lamb and Pork Merguez sausage, relish and Crème fraîche.
First I got the Pozole, and it was DE LI CI OUSSS!!! I’ve had Pozole every way you can imagine, but this one is something else, the hominy is so fresh & meaty, complementing the Lamb broth and meat like you cannot believe! They also brought me «Roti» which is neither tortilla nor bread, but something in the middle. I had never tried it so I asked the server about this amazing thing that was making my pozole even better; he told me the Pastry Chef made it based on his Grandma’s recipe. This completely made sense; those flavors and layers of flaky softness are nothing mass produced — let me tell you! As we were talking, the Pastry chef happened to pass by and the server was kind enough to introduce him! He explained that Roti originally came from India. This type which they make in South America (where his family is from) its way more flavorful since it’s not only meant to accompany dishes but it’s supposed to shine on its own, as well. In the Caribbean every piece of the meal is supposed to be as flavorful as they can imagine. This is no exception, it does shine like a diamond, shine bright like a diamo-​o-​ond (sorry, I had to) I just cannot explain how good that thing is.
Aaaany way, I was almost full now, the portion of Pozole was generous plus, I almost finished my big and glorious Roti, so I was making an effort at this point, when along came my corny Arepa. The Arepa was filled with amazing sausage, subtle relish and to my surprise, perfectly bitter Okra that when combined with the Crème fraîche nearly made music. So much goodness out of this place! This plate is not too small either, so keep that in mind, because I didn’t and I had to leave without having dessert which is sad but then again, it gives me a very decent excuse to go back soon! They had some stuff listed that I’m dying to try, like 3 Leches Cheesecake!
Oh and FYI the orange wine was delicious! It’s orangy, not overly dry, and just the right amount of sweet. I would have it again whenever!
The promoted highlights about this restaurant are Farm-​Table ingredients, Seasonal/​changing menus & dim sum service, so there is a lot to look forward to here. The prices are not crazy, and the service is outstanding, plus the 90’s music goes well with everything, so there you go, a feast for all your senses!

Dinner for four please — had reservations.
Only having been open for 1.5 weeks, there were a few missteps last night while dining at Emmer & Rye; however, I have the greatest faith in the manager Chris and Chef/​Owner Kevin’s abilities getting the front of the house, bar, and kitchen running like a well-​oiled machine in no time. I won’t even bother to mention any specifics, as I don’t anticipate experiencing any problems on future visits — and trust me, I will be back. Basically, they had reservations for about half of what turned out to be a max capacity house; so much so they ran out of menus. Busiest day since opening; great for them!
Very innovative restaurant located in a new space on the south end of Rainey, E&R is a great addition to the neighborhood and Austin food scene as a whole. Farm to table, locally sourced, seasonal, regional, always changing menu served up in a streamlined modern yet a bit rustic feeling environment.
One fun thing (in addition to devouring fantastic cuisine) about dining at E&R is actually how you order. You can order off printed menu (currently offers about 6 small plates, 3 pastas, 3 mains, and a handful of desserts) and/​or you can order directly from the dim sum (not Chinese) style carts and trays right at your table. E&R’s entrées are larger; however, when they state «small plates» (including from dim sum) they mean it. Lots of petite servings perfect for sharing… so go with good friends that you don’t mind digging into together with.
We tried to order the Wagyu Beef Short Rib to only be informed by our waiter after some time that they had run out. :’(Next time for sure (if they have it on menu and available)!
No worries, plenty of other amazing dishes to choose from; both amazing in presentation and taste:
From Small Plate Menu:
Lamb Tartare served with puffed Sonoran wheat crackers — typically don’t care for raw much, but amazing flavors and the crackers just made it all work.
Smoked Snapper and mustard greens served on large Red Fife Toast — arguably one of the favorite dishes of the night. Highly recommend!
Polenta with thinly sliced shitake mushroom and marigold spuma — Super creamy polenta and the spuma added a fantastic flavor and fluff.
From Pasta Menu:
Buckwheat Mafalda pasta with Lamb Shoulder;
Emmer Strozzapretti pasta served with Dewberry Chicken and sweet chilis — both pastas cooked to perfection and creamy… just wish there was a little more protein in each.
From Dim Sum Cart/​Tray:
Watermelon radish with butter — So simple it was almost laughable, but really good flavor combo.
Johnny Cakes with fermented pork — A-​OK.
Cauliflower cooked in black butter — if you’re going to eat your veggies this is the way to do it!
Pork Belly with fried kale and radish — I already said Pork Belly, right?
Brioche bun filled with cheese and other heavenly yumminess — I lost track by this point.
From Dessert Menu:
Tres Leches with Berry Glaze — Fresh and light.
Goat’s Milk Panna Cotta with Pecan Granola — set a little less firm than I’m used to, but fantastic flavor. Not too sweet.
Emmer & Chestnut Chocolate Cookie Sandwich with Orange Buttermilk Ice Cream — adorbs preso and fantastic ice cream!
Bottom line:
I think a group of four is perfect for this style of dining. Perhaps start with one large entrée and then just keep going until your heart is content. Don’t worry, the prices, especially for some of the super tiny portions, might frighten you a little; however, when you receive the check with a very full belly to boot, you will be extremely impressed at just how reasonable the «experience» was — and it is — at least in my opinion. Under $ 200 for four with a few drinks.
TIPS:
* Make reservations. I have a feeling there will be a long wait to get into E&R once the word really gets out.
*The plates are small, some tiny (pics can be very deceiving), so be prepared to be adventurous.
*Don’t be shy about their very interesting (never seen before) restroom setup. There is a communal basin station (that can be seen from one side of the bar) and four individual water closets with full doors; 2 for Ladies, 1 for Gentlemen, and 1 for Dames & Dudes.
*They have a large patio and bike parking.
*Street parking is free Sunday through Wednesday (other days metered). Or, there is a convenient parking garage adjacent to E&R for a small fee. Valet is also available on Thursday through Saturday for $ 7.
*Enjoy! ;)
[180 in 2015]

I have started doing a girls night dinner on Tuesdays with a few different friends once every few weeks or so. We usually like to try out new places or places one of us has discovered and want to share with the rest. It’s been a lot of fun! I read about Emmer and Rye opening up in the Austin Eater and was instantly excited and added to my must try list. It was an easy pick when we were looking at places to go for our most recent girls dinner.
We arrived at about 5:30pm with no reservation, but the hostess was very accommodating to us. I would probably recommend a reservation in the future. We sat at the bar for less then 10 minutes before they were ready to seat us. The bar was fully stocked. They have a decent selection on wines to choose from, cocktails list and beers on tap. I ordered the Crown Vic cocktail which was gin based and had egg whites. I always love egg white cocktails and this one was no different.
The atmosphere here is what I would call comfortable and rustic chic. I loved the white with the light colored wood. Our waiter was awesome! He explained the menu and how they are a farm to table type of restaurant. They get all the food locally from the area, which means that their menu changes every day. They also have a dim sum offerings. It is all small plates that are meant to be shared. We ordered a few things from the starters — polenta dish, porridge and the mackerel. The polenta was different, but in a good way. Usually polenta that I’ve had is more firm and this reminded me more of grits, which I actually loved. I was not a fan of the porridge and oats dish. It was a bit salty for me, but we did express this to our waiter as they asked what we thought. They made up for the salty dish later in the meal for sure. My favorite starter was surprisingly the mackerel. It was super fishy, but I was into it and I loved the pickled tomato seeds with it.
Dim sum started making it’s way around and we got a few more small plates from this. The johnny cakes, cauliflower and short ribs all came off of dim sum. The cauliflower was so simple but one of my favorite things the whole meal. The johnny cakes and short ribs were both excellent too. The fat on the short rib was literally like butter! Oh and the bread that came in the tin with the short rib was amazing! I really enjoyed seeing the dishes come around on dim sum and then deciding if I wanted to indulge. We also ordered a pasta dish — I can not remember the name of, but it was a grain pasta with lamb shoulder in it.
Last — dessert! Don’t skip it. First we were served a complimentary dessert wine on the house, which was so nice. Then we ordered the tres leches cheesecake and OMG it was perfection! I never would have thought to pair tres leches and cheesecake together, but when you think about it… it just makes sense! I loved every bite of it.
I think Emmer and Rye definitely has a good thing started here. I’m absolutely part of their new fan base! The service was awesome all around! They have been open for almost a week now and I am sure they are only getting started! I look forward to trying them again after they are definitely in their groove.

Happened upon Emmer and Rye for dinner this evening and we were SO pleasantly surprised. We did some ordering off the menu (highly recommend the Red Snapper and Polenta — both were amazing, even for this red meat eater) and tried the dim sum options (the granita was so interesting — refreshing and cool and savory all at the same time, and the broccoli stems were hearty and full of cheesy goodness.) We enjoyed the food, the ambiance, the staff, and the cocktails. The Army Navy was a perfect (and delicious) option for Veterans Day and the Crown Vic was very unique and satisfying too. Loved the fluffy egg whites!
Dessert put us right over the top — the Tres Leches cheesecake was a beautiful piece of art and it was amazing, as was the orange buttermilk ice cream sandwich. At first I wasn’t in love with the panna cotta (for those of you math whiz’s out there, yes we ordered 3 out of 4 desserts on the menu, don’t judge) but once we crumbled the honey comb wafer over it, every bite was to die for.
Didn’t really know what to expect walking through the door, but our dining experience was delightful from start to finish and I can’t wait to go back again.