ASTI Trattoria

Well-​prepared spaghetti carbonara with fresh al dente pasta, a nice taste of fresh egg, fresh pancetta and an acid that was not quite sweet enough to be lemon but added such a great zest to the dish made this a really worthwhile meal. The Northern Italian minestrone was just not quite up to my taste and I will skip it next time. The quite homey atmosphere make this a place I will come back to with my wife to sample the rest of the menu.

While I was looking for a place that was within walking distance of my B&B, this restaurant turned out to be a delight. The waitstaff were friendly and very informative about ingredients in the various dishes. The owner came over at one point and asked what I thought of the salmon dish I had had. It was superb — cooked just right with morel sauce, grilled asparagus, onions and fennel on top of risotto! Terrific! I wish I were staying in Austin longer — I’d savor more of their offerings. Check this one out!

This is our neighborhood go to restaurant for date night, business lunches, family celebrations, and week night take out. The menu changes regularly and always incorporates local ingredients. Sometimes they will try something new (and we will too) that tastes a little «experimental» — but I give them credit for trying new things and they always have their oldies but goodies on the menu to fall back on (like the white bean dip, the breadsticks, the cappelini neopolitano, the trout, Grisanti’s spinach). The owner, Emmit, is usually there in the evenings to greet you and always sends a special little appetizing bite from the kitchen to start your meal. Nice wine list. It’s family friendly — but kids need to be on their best behavior and stay in their seats (not the sort of place they can run wild). The tomato pizza is usually a kid pleaser as well as the breadsticks. They do not have soft drinks but my kids are fine with milk or water… and they have a sparkling lemonade. I love their veggie polenta for lunch on a cold winter’s day.

I did not expect to love this place as much as I did! ASTI recently hired a new chef (who was on one of the Food network shows that I can’t recall), and she is doing an amazing job! There isn’t much to say about the restaurant interior — it’s a little crowded, modern, and busy, but it’s nice. The staff are all very friendly and attentive, and sometimes you’ll get free samples of food (if your order enough, I assume).
As for the food, it is sooooo good. The new chef has incorporated a lot more variety of vegetables into the dishes, and these ingredients are hand-​picked from a local Farmer’s Market. Furthermore, the herbs used are supposedly grown in one of the staff’s herb gardens and freshly picked every day.
White bean dip: YUM. It is so smooth and light, very similar to hummus, but not as textured.
Free bread: Oh man, this bread is really well-​baked and seasoned; we probably went through 3 of the baskets.
Risotto: I cannot recommend this dish enough. It was so fragrant and made with quail egg and sprouts; literally every bite was heaven.
My friends ordered the other dishes, and everything was received with a 110% satisfaction. I will definitely be coming back here the next time I’m in Austin.

Surprisingly delicious little hole in the wall! We stopped in for a quick lunch and we’re delighted with the class of this place. Food was great, tasted very fresh and priced right.

Excellent dining experience great atmosphere and very attentive wait staff. Yummy to the grilled Octopus a must. Enjoy great food and a wonderful dining experience

Decent food and ambience. Not anywhere I would run back to any time soon but no complaints on going once. Service was fine. They were out if 4 items that we requested.

If you’re in the neighborhood, this is a must. Good service, delicious seafood risotto and beignets with espresso ice cream.

This review is actually from about 6 months ago, but this place left me with an overwhelmingly positive impression. If I consider all the restaurants I’ve ever been to in any city, country, or continent, this is in the top 5 for service. When you contrast that against what is typically lazy/​slow/​distracted/​disinterested service around the rest of Austin, ASTI stands above the rest. It is obvious that the owner of this establishment values a well-​oiled machine where no employee ever misses a chance to smile, say hello, or offer assistance. In Austin, that is a breath of fresh air. The Gentleman behind the bar who served us knows his trade and provided an exceptional experience.
The food was top-​notch to match the service and looked, tasted, and felt fresh across the board. I hate to say fewer words about the food than the service, but finding good food in Austin is not nearly as difficult as good service.
The downside is it is indeed a pricey place. Pricey enough that I won’t be able to visit often, but I will definitely be back.

This place is very nice and great food! My family and I were greeted by the host upon entering and seated at the bar due to not having a reaervation that night (saturday). It was very crowded but service was still good! Our waiter Michael was very nice and could answer all my questions about whats good and suggestions for a yummy dinner. He gave us various bread sticks and garlic herb bread pieces while we waited for our food. Sitting at the bar was a great chance to see the cooks do their stuff. Food was brought out and devoured and our plates were cleared not much later! Great place for a date or just casual chit chat with the girls over dinner.

We weren’t sure we’re to enter at first but the owner or the chef (not sure) opened the door and welcomed us right in! Everyone was so welcoming and friendly the entire time! It is such a romantic and cute ambiance. The chefs are all communicating and professional and efficient, along with how attentive and friendly the waiters are. I am extremely happy with how welcome I felt. That is hard to find these days.
The food is AMAZING. Fresh, and decently priced. They have a great wine and beer selection.
Thank you, ASTI

I just loved the service! We went on NYE and were treated very well. We arrived a few minutes before our reservation and were sat at the bar to enjoy a beverage. When our reservation time came and went, we were informed that the party sitting at our table had paid and should be up soon. Well lets just say they decided to stay 45 minutes past their reservation and the restaurant was very apologetic and bought us two drinks (each!). The restaurant did not have to do that. I feel like they went above and beyond.
Once sat our server went over the prefix menu with us and then let us have a moment to think. Servers that know how much time to stay at a table, are the best. I didn’t feel rushed yet she was always there the moment we needed something.
I can say two out of three of my dishes were delicious. I had the caprese salad (perfect), lobster and butternut squash risotto (not much flavor, but I think I ordered poorly — the food around me looked awesome) and the prosecco sorbet with fruit (yum!). Even though my main dish wasn’t what I was expecting, I will go back. The service, atmosphere and wine were perfect. Now make me some gnocchi and make me fall in love!

Kind of pricey but the food was good. After our reserved, «time slot» was used up, (10 minutes after our bill was paid), we were asked to vacate our table as another party was waiting for it. As a 30 year employee for a major carrier, I’ve dined in 5 star restaurants in many corners of the world and have also eaten delicious meals at hole in the wall joints. From South America to the Far East, I’ve spent little money as well as as lot of money for products that have equally been satisfactory but NEVER has my party EVER been asked to remove ourselves from the table as to accommodate a waiting party.
We will probably not be dining at this facility again nor will we recommend it for anyone that wishes to enjoy a casual evening out with family or friends.

I love the look and the feel of ASTI, it being a small and friendly dining room in one of the best neighborhoods in Austin. This being said, my last trip there was particularly disappointing. My wife ordered the gnocchi, and she thought that good flavors were all over the plate but the gnocchi itself was under-​cooked.
I was mostly concerned with my chicken parmesan, which I ordered because I was excited to get a more elevated version of a dish you can get at any discount Italian operation. The result was underwhelming. The plate was sloppy, the chicken breast wasting away in a hot-​tub of marinara sauce. The chicken tasted ordinary, and the eggplant it was sitting on had no flavor and a slimy, lifeless texture. The almonds were a nice touch, but the plate came out feeling more like cafeteria food than Italian fine dining.
I want Asti to be great, I usually love the food and I was sad that the chef’s other restaurant Fino is no more (it was amazing!). I hope I can report a better experience if I go back.

I ran in here to kill time before a food event, which I thought would just be snacks. We ordered pizza, shishitos, and the olives-​cheese-​nuts trio. It was at this point that we learned that the next event would be a full blown meal, but we didn’t care! We’re soldiers when it comes to food! I was shocked by how elegant the interior was, and loved that it wasn’t too busy when we came in. We received just the right amount of personal attention.
The wine list was great, and the food came out fairly quickly. They overheard me saying that we only had 15 minutes, and rushed over to let me know what to expect time wise. The pizza was delicious, and I watched in amazement, and partial horror, as my partner tucked the entire thing in within a record amount of time (after eating half of everything else). I don’t believe there’s a happy hour, but do look out of their Unilocal check-​in deal! If you loved their sister restaurant, Fino, then this is a great place to try.

Food: We got the bruschetta with eggplant and sprouts | stuffed mushrooms filled with ricotta, parmesan, goat cheese, sage and topped with truffle oil and breadcrumbs | capellini with the addition of their link sausage | spaghetti carbonara. Pretty soon after we sat down, we were given an amuse bouche of their homemade focaccia bread croûton. It was so good we tried to see if we could order it from their dinner menu. We also received the trio of olives, almonds and mozzarella after checking in on Unilocal — I wouldn’t order this again if I had to pay for it. Nothing special about it… just four pieces of mozzarella and olives with half a handful of salted almonds. The bruschetta and the stuffed mushrooms were so good! Probably the best part of the meal. The eggplant was tossed in the right amount of balsamic vinegar and their homemade focaccia bread is so good (not oily/​buttery like I’ve seen at other restaurants). The mushrooms were great as well but be careful, the filling is extremely hot and can burn your tongue. The spaghetti carbonara was decent… ours didn’t have the farm egg on it which was a bit disappointing and the cured pork made the dish a bit too salty for my liking. The tomato sauce and the seasoning for the capellini neopolitano was really good but I wouldn’t add the sausage in because the dish was good without it and the sausage didn’t add anything for me. Both the pastas were overcooked… for an Italian restaurant like this, I expect my noodles to be al dente. Must try their vanilla with balsamic and espresso!!! It was the perfect way to end the meal
Atmosphere: Nice place in Hyde park. Good for a date or a special occasion.
Service: Everyone was really attentive. When our waiter was busy with his other tables, other staff members came over and cleared our table and gave us our bill so that we were not waiting for a long time.
Price: Similar to the price of other Italian restaurants in Austin. Dinner plates can range on average from $ 15 – 25.

The food was great but the management left me with a bad taste.
I went here with my wife not too long ago and we were surprised by the freshness and the quality of the food. We sat at the countertop which usually is a preferred experience for me. But in this particular case, the person expediting for the kitchen was a larger gentleman that was very intense and abrasive towards his staff both front of the house and the kitchen. He resembled an angry bulldog pacing back and forth. We had a front row seat to quite a few heated exchanges for dishes coming out slowly or incorrectly. As a matter of fact, by the time we were leaving, it looked like a staff member either quit or was let go. Could’ve been an off night, but either way it was a bit of an awkward experience. From as far as we could tell, the staff were busting their asses in the kitchen. As we left we made sure to thank them for their hard work as we were sympathetic to their situation.
I’d say the food got this place a solid 4 star, but our experience was just tainted and it was really bothersome to witness. Don’t forget to tip your servers!

I love when kismet pokes it’s cute little head into dinner. It can be a crap shoot. Yet, when the cards fall on the table perfectly. they fall perfectly.
Time and money get in the way of so many things these days. Yet, sometimes we overlook the way those twins of inconvenience hinder location. Mandy and I wandered in here on a complete whim. We sat at the bar, munched on breadsticks, and enjoyed our usual brand of intimate conversation. Which, is usually me rambling nervously, and hoping I’m keeping her interest. The service was on spot. We had a calamari appetizer. I have to admit, it was fried perfectly. Dinner was a bottle of wine, with Linguini w/​Mussles. While Mandy enjoyed the… crap…I forget. I might have been a little busy staring at her unbelieveable legs. Yet, I can tell you it was all fantastically done. We were quite pleased with our full stomaches and hearts afterwards. Please go here. I have been eyeballing this place for years, and I am glad I finally walked through the doors.
This is a good date spot, if you sit at the side bar. You know… away from any children that might be eating there. Kids… gross.

I have lived four blocks from Asti for nearly three years and have eaten there exactly once. In that time, I have gone to Fresh Plus Grocery about 716 times, Quack’s maybe 30, Julio’s about a dozen times, Mother’s perhaps 15, Dolce Vita and Hyde Park Grill a few each. You will note that all of these other options are at precisely the same intersection as Asti. It is as if I am specifically avoiding Asti.
Why am I avoiding it? Because it is hugely overpriced, pretentious puffery, ostensibly for suburbanites who like to drive into Austin to escape their desperately miserable Round Rock existences.
Asti attempts to justify the overpriced menu (think $ 18 for a lunch portion of chicken parm or shrimp polenta) by talking about the rotating, seasonal offerings, the fresh, handmade pasta, so forth and so on. And I am not opposed to paying higher prices for better food (see: Uchiko).
But Asti seems to have forgotten the latter part of that bargain. I have had as-​good-​or-​better Italian meals in a half-​dozen different mom-​and-​pops for half the price. Perhaps we ordered unimaginatively, but if you are shooting for upscale, I want you to do something with chicken parmesan or shrimp and polenta to differentiate it from anyplace else. But this is simply conventional fare served in tiny portions at high prices targeted to customers who feel good about themselves when they overspend on dinner.
The service on our visit was fine if a bit slow. The interior of Asti is newish and tasteful. Although the atmosphere on the weekends is old and rich as a Romney fundraiser, there is nothing about the place so awful that it deserves one star. But I came to Asti with the missus bearing high expectations, looking to treat ourselves. We left with no good reason to ever return.

I wanted to give it a 1 star but just couldnt. The server and venue were great… aside from that, the food was terrible and our passive conversation with the kind manager about it went oddly unheard.
I went with a fellow Unilocaler and we ordered the smoked onion soup, Brussels sprouts and she ordered a small pasta dish.
After one bite of the soup I asked her what it tasted like to her… she said the bottom of a smoke pit. We both kept eating it hoping we were missing something and it would get better… it did not. The brussels sprouts were fried, plated in tartar sauce and drenched with lemon… to the point that each of the three bites I had were progressively more terrible and made me actually squint because of how tart they were. The dish made no sense and was easily the worst Brussels dish Ive had in Austin.
I really liked the attentiveness of the owner/​manager as well… to a point… he told us if we had issues to bring it up with him… so when he came to us and asked how things were, I told him about the soup… said it was missing something… and he acknowledged how overly smokey it was… even saying he told the kitchen to not make it so rough the next batch… So we agreed the soup sucked… he just happened to keep it on the menu and had no problem serving us crappy «tastes like a liquified smoke pit» soup.
My friend and I laughed at how odd that conversation went.
Again, great server… super nice and attentive… and cute venue… but is just one of those times when you have an experience that leaves you saying, «Come on Maaaaaan…»