Apothecary Cafe & Wine Bar

I always love coming to Apothecary when I’m in town! The food is always consistently delicious and love the rotating wine selection. Super friendly service, I’ll definitely be back next time I’m in town.

Overall very impressed with what Apothecary offers. First off, the service was great. Add to that the fact that it was ½ price on all bottles of bubbles is a great way to make a great first impression. The food was great, and the menu is always changing. We went with ceviche and then did an avacado/​crab salad and finished it off with bibimbap that was absolutley delicious.

I really love this little place, despite how much money I always spend here! :)
It’s very small, but has a great atmosphere. It’s cozy, the food is always so exquisite, and well, wine.
If you’re a foodie and wine-​o like I am, you’ll love it too. Just be prepared to throw down some money because even during happy hour, I always manage to spend $ 50 just for myself.
Pro tip: Don’t wear jeans or a shirt you plan on wearing again before washing. They use some sort of oil or something for cooking that permeates the air and stays in your clothing for days. It’s a pungent smell that just won’t go away until washed out.

I would love to review the food and drink, but unfortunately that is not possible. A friend was visiting from out of town and both of us being foodies, there were a list of restaurants in Austin I wanted to take her to. Her first night here, I chose Apothecary because it is very close to where I live (we didn’t have much time before a concert we were headed to), I hadn’t yet been and I’d heard good things. My friend and I arrive around 7:75 PM on a Friday and are seated in a pretty empty restaurant. We were a little overdressed as we were headed to a concert afterward, and we both felt the restaurant staff glaring at us as they brought us to our table. We sat down, took a look at the wine menu and ordered two glasses of wine.
The server asked us for our driver’s licenses and we handed them to him. While I live in Austin, I have not yet had an opportunity to get my Texas driver’s license changed from a Florida one and my visiting friend still lives there. He looked at our IDs and then started walking away with them. My friend asked «where are you going?» and the server said he needed to take another look at them and show them to his manager. Mind you, both of us are 28 years old, so while we found it strange, we were not too worried. After he went over to the bar, we sort of giggled amongst ourselves at how strange it was as we watched him and his female manager scrutinize over our IDs. «I guess we should take it as a compliment?» we joked. So you can imagine how dumbfounded we were when the next thing we know, the manager comes over to our table and lets us know that they can not serve us the glasses of wine we ordered because they could not verify that our IDs were legitimate! Remind you, we are 28 years old, they were not expired and there was absolutely nothing wrong with either of our IDs! Her excuse was that both of our IDs seemed «bent». Anyone with a Florida ID knows that these very rigid cards tend to often form a slight bend just above the swipe strip over time (probably due to the way they’re made somehow). However, both of our IDs are in great shape and would certainly not be considered damaged. The «bend» she referred to is almost unnoticeable, but even if it was very bent, they are legitimate IDs!
Needless to say, we were dumbfounded. Neither of us have EVER experienced this before (and I travel all over the country 2 – 5 times per month for work). I asked her if she had a driver’s license scanner so she could test them and prove they were legitimate. She simply said no and stared at us. It was obvious that we were getting nowhere with her and they didn’t want our business. I asked for our IDs back and we proceeded to walk out of the small restaurant. While we certainly did not make a scene at all, the restaurant had so few patrons that it seemed like everyone was starting at us as we walked out as if we were teenagers who had just gotten caught. I was so incredibly embarrassed to have taken my friend to a restaurant that had treated us so poorly and obviously did not want our business. Not the impression of Austin I was hoping for my friend to have. Shame on you Apothecary for turning away perfectly good customers for absolutely no reason at all. I will definitely not be returning.

Dark inside, not great service. Wine selection was smallish and we didn’t try the food. The wine was good that we selected ourselves.

I was hosting a small charity event at work one evening. I needed some appetizers for the event. I really wanted a cheese, fruit and cracker tray. Pretty simple right?! I called the day of to see if they could accommodate my last minute request. Not only did they accommodate my request, but they also provided a real marble slab that held the meat and cheese selections. They also wrapped the bread up in a towel to keep it warm. And provided a couple spreading knives for the cheese. Talk about going above and beyond! People at the charity function couldn’t stop talking about the nice presentation of the appetizers. Thanks so much for the help!

It’s small plates, so don’t come here with a big appetite. Come here with a desire to give your tastebuds a nice flavor ride.
The blue crab and avocado spinach salad was the worst of the three items we got and it was damn good! So yeah, the steelhead ceviche fantastic and the avocado hummus & flatbread was out of this world!
We were over at The Oasis when we realized all it had to offer was the sunset view. So glad we gave up on it and found our way to the Apothecary Café!

There are better places which are worth your money. Food and presentation is good, but almost all wine options are way too overpriced. I dont mind paying for a quality wine or ingredients but charging $ 14 for a 8oz prosecco when you could pickup the 750ml bottle at 16.99 from Specs is ridiculous. Perhaps this establishment rather embodies the culture and value of all those uppity transplants flocking to my town. #MakeAustinWeirdAgain

Meh. I’m not reviewing over their wine or alcoholic beverages, but still, I don’t see what’s so spectacular about this place. Don’t get me wrong, this bar has that «apothecary» vibe to it and seems like a fun place to hang out with friends if you want to go out for drinks, but I’m not sure I’ll be coming back to see for myself. Perhaps I came for the wrong thing, but my brunch was not a delightful experience at all other than being at a well-​decorated and hip bar with easy-​to-​find parking in the back.
The brunch menu that I looked at definitely made me want to order everything. A cheesecake-​based berry french toast, sour cream/​bacon/​egg over hashed browns, crab cake w/​eggs and hollandaise sauce breakfast taco… all of these items seemed too good to be true, and it was. The portions were unbelievably small and the prices were unreasonable in my opinion. I suppose the food was decent; I wouldn’t say the food was poorly made, but for the expensive price and the upscale feel of the restaurant, one would think the food would be up there as well. However, what sounded so good on the menu turned out to be a small-​sized, average-​tasting meal which made my party feel hungry within an hour later.
I love breakfast tacos and don’t have high expectations for them, so I ordered their special breakfast taco, imagining that the egg, crab meat & hollandaise sauce would be a unique and pleasant twist on your typical taco… but I got sick of the flavor before finishing the first of two tacos. I’m not sure how to describe how I felt, so I’ll say that flavors were almost annoying, as if each individual ingredient was battling with each other. For $ 14, my two tiny tacos lacked an element of finesse that I expected to taste.
I’ll give credit to whomever comes up with the dishes because the concepts really do seem appetizing. But the actual food does not cut it. I’m disappointed with my experience, because I felt as if the price I paid was matched by the atmosphere of the restaurant, but the actual food was not worth the amount they charged for.

A small eclectic wine bar with a small delicious menu that changes. The atmosphere is intimate and cozy. Best little place for a date night.

I used to come here and they were great, especially with gluten free… Not sure what happened, but if you look at my reviews I am very careful to not leave bad reviews unless necessary. I told the server many times I was severely allergic to gluten and had celiacs disease and he brought out a plate with bread on what I could have. That’s not all that happened where he risked my health… I know what gluten products taste like and the acorn squash he brought out didn’t taste gluten free, but he insisted the seasoning was. The drinks and food are pretty expensive you’d think they would be more careful, but they didn’t care. The wine is great though! I’ll just never go here to eat again.
Update: and here it is… I have a gluten belly again and feel horrible today. How frustrating =\ Now I will have a few weeks or months of recovery.
Avoid if you have celiacs disease. They don’t care.

This has been bookmarked for a long time. It wasn’t until my friend mentioned she also wanted to try it, that we decided to make it a girls date.
We came during HH to try the oysters and we ordered a dozen that was ½ and ½. The oysters were a good size and came with cocktail sauce, cheddar crackers, a champagne sauce (I think that’s what it was), and the tiniest bottle of hot sauce. While I couldn’t tell a difference between the 2 types, we enjoyed both. The cocktail sauce didn’t need hot sauce, it was good on its own. The champagne sauce had a light sweet flavor. The crackers were good. I ate some with oysters and by themselves.
We also ordered the crab dip and bread, butter, salt. Crab dip was really yummy. The bread came with 2 types of butter made from goat’s milk and cow’s milk. I liked both, but preferred the goat’s butter a little bit more. Tried both types of salt as well. The darker salt had a unique flavor and was my favorite.
I tried a glass of Sauvignon Blanc which was fruity and exactly what I wanted to go with the oysters.
The ladies I went with tried the syrah and red blend. They liked what they ordered as well.
Service was good. We stayed almost an hour past happy hour just chatting and we were not rushed at all.
This was a cute little wine bar with an inviting atmosphere.
I didn’t like that even with happy hour pricing, it was still what I’d consider expensive.

Hard to believe I’ve never written a review of Apothecary. It’s my wife’s and my favorite wine bar and happy hour spot. We went recently on a Saturday late afternoon for happy hour about 5pm with 4 people. Apothecary has some sort of happy hour special everyday. We shared a wonderful bottle of Broadside Cabernet that was recommended by our waitress. It was so good that we bought another bottle to take home. We always get oysters but two in our party don’t like oysters so we didn’t get them this time. They’re usually wonderfully fresh.
We ordered the bread plate (includes two different butters and flavored salts) and the charcuterie plate. Both were at a discount for happy hour. They were all very good, especially the cheeses on the charcuterie plate. We ended up spending about $ 100, so not particularly cheap but total worth it. Apothecary has a very nice, comfortable atmosphere and the staff is great. The food is always good and they have a great wine selection and staff who know how to make good recommendations. All in all, a great spot!

Was there for happy hour last week. The food was good especially the crab dip.
The only problem is that they don’t seem to have a proper exhaustion system. You will leave smelling like food (fried) food.
Great ambiance and good service. I just think that the feedback is positive for improvements.

There’s not much I can add to the existing laurels sung about this place, but I will definitely try.
Not being much of a wine drinker myself, I came here for the HH with Rachel. S, who happens to be quite the wine snob. When a wine snob and a novice such as myself enjoy a wine bar, you know it’s good.
There are some wine flights to choose from– white, red and bubbles, each with 3 wines in a 2 ounce pour. It may seem somewhat pricey at $ 15 a flight, but I guess the wines are all «aged perfectly» and all that good stuff.
As for myself, I went with a Malbec because the word «smooth» caught my eye in the description. I’m not here to judge the wine though. I’m here for something better. To talk about the food and service.
There are some pretty fancy things on the menu, but the bread and butter is the fanciest of them all. Why? Because there are two types of butter to choose from, in addition to two types of salt and fresh baked bread. All served on a fancy bamboo cutting board type thing. And like most carb loaded food, this bread is everything you want it to be.
We just shared a caramel cheesecake between us, which was probably the most amazing thing I’ve had in a long while. The caramel base crumbles while the top layer melts — it’s an amazing feeling, and your tongue and tastebuds will thank you for it.
For a place this fancy, the waitstaff were some of the coolest people around. Our waitress was more than happy to help me out when I said I knew zilch about wine, offered me some samples, always made sure we were well wined and well dined :). None of it was put on, and this in my book, is way beyond cool. In the words of Jeremy Clarkson, it is «subzero».
I hear they have $ 10 off bottles on Sunday and Monday. Maybe this place will make me tolerant to wine, after all.

Small place with cute décor and an upscale feel, but other than there is no real substance to the place. Came here with 4 other people for Sunday brunch and no one left satisfied. Service was perfectly fine, but quite honestly this food is nothing spectacular, which is quite surprising considering how expensive everything was.
I got the quail and waffles, an interesting play on a popular dish. Very well plated but quite mediocre beyond that. The entire dish was the same flavor, just a slight sweetness to the grits, waffle, quail, and eggs. The waffles was too small and the quail of course had too many bones. It’s not that I don’t enjoy quail, but it doesn’t quite make sense to use it in this kind of dish. If you really want to come here and leave somewhat full you should get this.
Two people got the breakfast tacos, which had their house cured goat bacon in it. I think it’s awesome when a restaurant rotates its menu and cures its own meats, but this goat bacon was beyond disgusting. The bacon was half cartilage half salt. Impossible to chew and way too salty to enjoy.
Two people got the eggs Benedict and I honestly felt so sorry for them. Unless there was gold in there, that was the most overpriced dish I have ever encountered in my life. Two golf ball sized benedicts on a plate of greens is ridiculous. If it was the best eggs benedict anyone has tasted in their lives then the price could be somewhat understandable, but it was just nasty.
TLDR: cute place but absolutely no substance.

Really nice place here, great for a date. Got a few glasses of vino and a rack of oysters, were delicious! Also tried the manicotti, that was very tasty as well. Was pretty pricey though, around $ 100 for two of us. Nonetheless, really nice, intimate atmosphere, dim lighting, and our server was very knowledgeable about the menu and wine.

I’m impressed.
I met my friend Shannon here and we’re wine lovers so we were so excited to try Apothecary!
The servers were very friendly and let us sample some wines before sharing a bottle… Thankfully, Shannon loves reds as well :) We tried the Tempranillo, Carmenere and Malbec… I LOVE Malbec wines so we ended up ordering a bottle to share. We were there around 6:30 so still in the Happy Hour range and the bottle was $ 3 off.
We also ordered the bread and cheese from the Happy Hour list ($ 5) and it was superb: 2 kinds of butters and 2 kinds of salts… I unfortunately do not remember what kind but the salt on the butter made it delicious!
Upon leaving we walked by the oyster bar… I’m not a fan of oysters but it did look pretty cool ;)
We sat outside which was lovely but I totally loved the chill wine bar vibe inside! Would definitely come back! And also need to try Pinthouse Pizza across the street. Great area.

This is a great place for drinks and appetizers with friends. This is NOT a good place if you’re really hungry and looking for a full meal.
With that said, my husband and I did come here for dinner one night so we were immediately disappointed when we saw only small plate options. But my bad for not checking out the menu first.
Food was great. Pricing was okay. Service was just okay. We had to keep reminding our waiter about things we needed.
I would definitely go back for happy hour or after dinner drinks.

A lovely evening spot for a glass of wine and some appetisers. We love their bread and house made butters with different salts.
The oysters are fresh and delicious and the sharing plates are perfect with a bottle of wine.
A good mix of people working, socialising and dining.

The entrance to the restaurant is on the backside of the building. Menu has small selections of entrees to share (small plates) between two people at most. They have good oysters and charcuterie selections for appetizers. Try the scallops if they have it on the menu. Cooked perfectly both times I’ve tried it. Place is small and reservations recommended if you’re doing indoor seating. Otherwise there is a bar and outdoor seating.