Somnio’s Café

love local produce
creamer peas at Somnios
best I ever ate
This sad haiku above serves to commemorate Somnio’s, one of South Austin’s finest cafes serving fresh, organic, locally grown food. I loved the homey, bed-​and-​breakfast feel of the tiny dining room, and even the teeny parking lot. I am so sad this location closed and hope they find a new spot to serve food.

THE place for flavored teas and hand-​pressed coffee!
Wonderful blend of meat and veggie/​vegan options. Local, fresh, organic, friendly. Tiny place with table seating for 28 and bar seating for 8. BYOB. Plenty of outside seating for when the weather is nice.

Just had my first visit at Somnio’s. I was really looking forward to lunch there after reading the Unilocal reviews and I was not disappointed. I’m always on the lookout for healthy local spots near my house. I got the hummus wrap; that was one of the specials for today, came with soup or salad ($ 8). I really like that they let you pick ANY salad on the menu for the side… not just a regular house or caeser like most joints.
I really liked it and will be back to try out the Dinner menu for sure!

This is a cute place that’s a bit tucked away on South First. Bouldin Creek is usually my go to place in this area, but I decided to try something new and I’m glad I did. The café has a very nice ambiance and is nice for a casual lunch or a cozy dinner.
This is one of those awesome places that is good for carnivores, vegans, vegetarians, gluten free diners, etc. Everyone can eat together in harmony. Apparently the sides/​soups rotates and there are different specials, so today I ordered two seared quinoa cakes. I was happy to learn that my meal came with a salad and soup. The salad was an extremely nice salad with garbanzo beans, beets, and quality dressing… it could have been an entrée if it was larger. The soup was pureed tomato and eggplant. All of this for only $ 12!
Also, the server was very nice and knowledgeable about ingredients which is good for vegans/​people with food allergies. I definitely will be back here.

Somnio’s, you and I have a complicated history. A mix of great food, blah food, great service, and terrible service. Rarely did the great pair up with the great. It was more good food and bad service or blah dishes and terrible service.
As a stop on the Austin Eats Food Tours, I’m ready to wipe the slate and start over. One small bite is responsible. My one small request: please add the butternut squash and fennel ravioli to your permanent menu. It’d be a fantastic addition to a menu that has some items that are ready to be retired.

AMAZING. I mean, the place is BYOB… uses organic ingredients. with a very creative/​unique menu to boot.
I went this past Saturday for a dinner with friends. Most all of us enjoyed the Sissy salad as a starter. It was delicious. A creamy blend of avocados, jalapenos and apples upon a bed of greens. This was topped with a garlic vinaigrette. So refreshing, and the flavors/​textures worked very well together. For a main dish, I went with the panko encrusted eggplant medallions. Very unique, and also very tasty. Most of the table ordered either the eggplant parmesan (lots of «ooohs and aaahs» during dinner from them). We had a large party and were seated quickly, and service was spectacular. I can’t wait to go again and try something different.

I wanted to update my review after a couple of years of seeing Somnio’s improve. I wasn’t sure about this place at all initially, but they’ve really grown on me in the last two years since they opened. It’s become one of my comfortable neighborhood go-​to spots. The food’s gotten better, and the service has gotten better, friendlier, and quicker, too.
I like that it’s local and organic, and I can feel good about eating there and get in some servings of yummy veggies. I am a fan of their Bud salad and their vegetable side dishes are tasty. I just had the squash and peppers, and it had a delicious curry kick. I usually end up getting the pork medallions, but their specials are very good, too.
I also like that it’s BYOB, so we can bring a couple beers, ciders, or a bottle of wine and kick back and relax while we wait for our meal, and still get out for a reasonable price.
I’m glad Somnio’s has gotten better and stuck around the neighborhood.

Our first meal on our recent trip to Austin and hands down my favorite. Thanks Unilocal!
The boyfriend and I were staying on South Congress so this little restaurant wasn’t too far of a walk from our motel (unless you take into account our liquor-​finding adventure so we could take advantage of the BYOB).
The café is really small and has about 6 – 8 tables and small bar area. Luckily there was one ready for us. Immediately, my gaze went to the specials board proclaiming that «Crazy Crispy Eggplant Medallions» were a special. You had me at «eggplant» but «crazy and crispy» thrown in? Sold.
The special was actually a version of their regular pork entrée and it came with a small salad and side. I chose the sissy salad and squash and peppers (way tastier than they sound with a little spice thrown in). Boyfriend went for bison meatloaf and their corn and peas side… way better in person than on paper as well. I don’t know where their corn and peas come from, but they weren’t the bland, mushy ones that invoke repressed childhood memories.
The entrée was awesome. The eggplant was super tender with lots of crunch from the panko breading and was drizzled with something orange and some sriracha. It’s on top of fried soba noodles and a bed of greens, making this dish not only tasty, but texturally pleasing too.
We brought in wine and were immediately presented with the set-​up to get it open and drink it up. They charge $ 4, but the wine was only $ 9 so $ 13 is considerably less than what we’d spend on a bottle of wine at any other restaurant. With wine and dinner, the total was about $ 45 minus tip. AWESOME considering the deliciousness and quality of the food. A great little place!

My feelings are conflicted when it comes to Somnio’s.
On the one hand, it’s BYOB, which is fantastic. Seriously, it’s amazing.
On the other hand, I wasn’t overly impressed, but I don’t really know who to blame.
Let me explain.
We go to dinner here Saturday night, the place is small and cute, though it is very brightly lit for a dinner atmosphere. We break out our wine, and are very happy that we don’t have to wait for a wine list or for the server to bring it for us, it’s a good feeling.
Our server comes by quickly to greet us, and we order the dumplings appetizer… and they’re sold out. Which makes me very sad, because that’s really the only one I wanted to try. I also noticed they ran out of a few other specials while we there, so this seems to be the norm.
Moving on, we decide to order salads instead, and then find out they’re included in our dinner entrée! How great is that! This was a pleasant surprise, and I was happy again. My boyfriend and I both got the Sissy Salad, with avocados and apples, and I thought it was a delicious yet different salad. My boyfriend thought it was too sweet and didn’t have enough nuts, so I suppose it depends on your taste.
We both ordered pasta for dinner, I got the pesto sauce with chicken, my bf got the marinara sauce with ground bison. It doesn’t really tell you what kind of pasta it is, so I don’t know if it varies, or if it’s always spaghetti. Personally, if you’re going to showcase a homemade pasta, I don’t know why you would pick spaghetti, but whatever.
Both of the pasta dishes were OK. Honestly, they didn’t have much flavor. Ok, they didn’t really have any flavor at all, but I really wanted pasta and they gave me that so I couldn’t be too mad.
This also plays into what I said at the beginning, about how I don’t know who to blame, because the pasta is from Pasta & Co, I don’t know if the sauces are, so if the sauces are, I would say this is a negative reflection of Pasta & Co, but if Somnio’s makes the sauces then it’s actually a reflection of the restaurant. Who knows!
What I do know is that we will be returning to try other dishes, though the pasta was just OK, and the service was just OK (there’s only two girls that work the entire restaurant), dinner was only $ 25! Which is grand. And, their other dishes could be better, hopefully next time when I go I can try them, and there won’t be anything sold out.

Sunday lunch, heading out of Austin. One last yummy Vegan meal before we hit the road.
Thanks Unilocal!
This place is too cute. We parked in back and walked up the porch stairs that are decorated with flowering potted plants. The restaurant itself fits perhaps 25 people, with added individual seats along a bar top.
We were the 2^nd party there so needless to say the setting was quiet and calm.
We ordered the «Seasonal Fries» which were actually sweet potato fries. Wowza, incredible. Flavorful and super piping hot served with a phenomenal dipping sauce. This could have been our meal, easy.
I had the Hummus Wrap with an added Mushroom Fritter for an additional $ 2. Tasty. Took ½ home and it was just as yummy cold for dinner later that day.
Hubby had a Stir Fry Rice Bowl. Great and huge, a common theme at Somnio’s. Lunch leftovers easily feed us for dinner as well.
We had sweet service from a well mannered and quiet waitress and patiently watched the kitchen prepare our food. The experience was fantastic. Cute atmosphere, great food.
They are doing good things over at Somnio’s Café.

First of all, it is BYOB. That’s right folks, take your own champagne, bloody marys, or micheladas with no cork fee or anything. Not sold yet? How about the max price on the brunch menu being $ 6? Hmm… still unsure?
Well, I am not. I ordered the French toast with bread of the day that happened to be cinnamon raisin. One of the best french toasts I have ever had and let’s be honest, I’ve had too many to count. I also got to try the buckwheat pancakes with cinnamon, apples and sour cream. So unusual and so fulfilling. The best part is that the menu changes on a regular basis because they only use fresh ingredients.
Cheap, BYOB, delicious and great atmosphere, what more could you ask for?

Finally got to try Somnio’s today! Every other time I’d attempted to go the place was closed or about to close, so this time Alicia and I made sure to arrive during their 11 – 2 lunch window.
Man, I keep trying to find away around it, but I can’t say I was all that impressed with the food. Perhaps my hopes and expectations were too high? Somnio’s is near my home, has cool (and, like the food, mostly local) music playing, and a comfortable, cozy atmosphere perfect for a date or lunch alone. And knowing that they use local ingredients makes me want to support what they’re doing. So I walked in bound and determined to become a fan. But at the end of the day you can’t keep me coming back for food that isn’t worth it.
The salads we got (The Sissy and the Uncle Bob) were simple and very good. For lunch, Alicia got the pork tacos (marinated pork chunks, baby spinach and queso fresco crumbles served in two tortillas – flour, wheat or corn). I got a bison meatloaf sandwich. It comes with choice of bread and choice of soup (the menu didn’t let me know this, so I had to make some hasty calls without any assistance from the server, who seemed to be unfamiliar with the soups).
I got the soup of the day, a potato/​jalapeño/​apple purée that sounded interesting and tasted … well, about how it sounds. Add some seasoning and some grated cheese and it would make a good dip, but as a soup it failed.
Alicia’s side was blue corn chips and salsa. As good as chips from a bag can be. The salsa was fresh, but didn’t have heat or complementary flavor such as cilantro or lime.
Between thick slices of hard wheat bread, the meatloaf itself was full of non-​meat filler (carrots?), and rather than a sauce that actually goes well with meatloaf it came with mayonnaise and raw tomato slices. (Nothing ruins a sandwich for me like a hunk of slimy, raw tomato, and if the menu had mentioned raw tomatoes I would have left them off. And though I like mayo, I don’t like it with meatloaf, and I know a lot of people don’t like it at all, so putting it on a sandwich without warning people first is asking for some unhappy customers).
Dej M: I completely agree with you about the zip files linked from the Somnios website … How annoying is that? Wouldn’t it be easier for everyone to just have the menu on the website? But the menu doesn’t say the Sissy salad comes with goat cheese (you said yours was «missing» it). And that cheese on your pork tacos is actually queso fresco – unaged cow cheese.

Don’t you hate it when your dining partner wins? She/​he orders the best thing there was to order, and yours is good but you’d trade plates in a heartbeat? You gingerly offer tastes of your obviously inferior food in the hopes they will give you more of theirs? Oh woe.
Luckily for me, SO was getting full, so I tried those vegetarian Nynavae tacos 12 times to Tuesday. Delicious! Topped with a coleslaw mixture, and just divine. I’d read about the orange-​soaked pork tacos, and while they were good, I should have known better than to order them. Not being a huge meat-​eater, the tacos came with a lot of organic pork, a few sprinkles of goat cheese, and a little spinach. All I tasted was the pork, and I ran into a few fatty spots before I wised up and evacuated half of it along with anything suspect. I also threw in some of the salad and apples from the Sissy Salad (good, but not huge, and ours seemed to be missing goat cheese) and that really saved the day.
I’d definitely give it another go. The place and parking lot were small, but our waitress was amiable and the food was good. One complaint goes to the website: please don’t link a zip file for your menus. It was a real pain to have to download the zip and unzip it to see the menus. Uploading and linking the PDFs individually, or throwing up text for the menu on a separate page on the site, would eliminate those extra steps for your users :)

Wow.
I was searching for a restaurant that was: vegetarian-​friendly (for my dining companion), had some good olé meat for me (beef, its whats for dinner), was BYOB (cuz im cheap), and in my neighborhood (cuz im lazy).
This fit the bill and exceeded expectations (which were high after Unilocal). Somnio’s is cute, comfortable… the epitome of Green… and everything we ate was fresh, fantastic and an amazing deal.
Hummus — huge portion, thick and not lemony like I like it. Tons of pita. The sissy salad was so unusual (apples, jalepenos, avaocado, pesto!?) — but crave worthy. I got the pork tacos on recommendation but I was already so full I had to take them home. Even next day they were delish.
We brought Newcastle and our waitress set us up with a bucket of ice and an opener. She was friendly, attentive… she even brought us a chocolate icee to try because it was too melted to sell. (still tasted great btw)
I will be back. Maybe even this week. I could live in Pflugervile and would make the trip. Mmmmmmmmm.

This will sound dirty but it’s actually the opposite: LOCAL MEAT.
Somnio’s is a supporter of local farmers – including meat: poultry, pork and egg farmers.
I came for the first time earlier this month. Came back two more times, dazzled.
It’s a simple place: pretty décor, a bar area, fresh flowers, a pretty blue ceiling. Nice sunlight. Friendly service.
But what THRILLS me is the big list of local farms it serves– NOT lip-​serves – serves!
For example, the chicken salad sandwich features chicken from Dewberry Farms — for a chicken salad sandwich! This is quite exceptional– these birds are raised on grass, a part of a hand-​crafted class of agriculture. Like the Richardson pork that they feature.
Their menu prices are completely amazing considering the quality of the products and ingredients they serve.
Seriously. I buy all my meat grass raised, all my produce local and/​or organic; it is really expensive– and a value I won’t compromise.
When I see a business following the same model, I just can’t help but marvel at the integrity. They could charge more. They could feature factory farmed meat like every other restaurant. But they don’t.
I can eat pork – in a restaurant! The orange/​beer marinade in the pork taco is lovely. Choices include Milagra corn tortilla or CM flour.
The crusted tenderloin was a bit on the too-​fried side for me (the fried udon noodles tipped it, even though the presentation and texture were interesting and avant-​garde). My family enjoyed the mushroom dumplings (including a picky 5 year old) and the salads are as I would make in my kitchen – IF I weren’t so lazy – I enjoyed the Sissy and the one with apples/​pecans.
One night was a bit oppressive in the oppressive everlasting drought of 2009 – we took the last seat – the table by the kitchen window. It was clear on that night that the place was having some cooling issues. We noticed it also a bit at brunch one Sunday (also during record heat). They said, when asked, that they were addressing the AC with the landlord (and gosh I feel really bad for the cook-​staff: hope it cools off in there soon!!!).
Speaking of brunch last Sunday – LOVE the brunch! I can enjoy migas made with eggs from hens that have scratched and run around on grass: content chickens give rich-​yolked nutrition-​dense eggs. The sausage patty was moist and flavorful (and also local – yay truly «good» meat!).
The kids liked the buckwheat pancakes and I liked that they were served organic orange juice.
Please note that Somnio’s might not be compatible with all kids – it’s small and uninteresting to the younger set. Turns out that mine have high tolerance for boredom. Because we drag them to alot of poetry readings.
Bring your own Prosecco, your wine, your beer, your whiskey* – they can set you up if you mix your stuff. No corkage.
*These are real life examples of what has been responsibly enjoyed with meals at Somnio’s. Your experiences will vary.

First of all, I was excited to try this place because it had gotten a lot of good reviews here and it is just across the creek from me…
So, the small dining room is very cute with a lot of windows. I’m an ice tea drinker, unset no less, so I’m really picky. There were multiple options for ice tea, which made me über excited on a hot day!
We started with the Shitake Dumplings as an app. YUM. Perfect. These things are sometimes too greasy for me, but loved, loved loved them.
Entrees come with a salad of your choice and a side. I opted for the Pork Medallions with a Sissy Salad with avocado AND goat cheese (its usually either or, but I went for both with the extra charge).
Sissy Salad with avocado AND goat cheese: YES. yes yes yes. I will be making this for my next party. So delicious. My companion got the Uncle Bud which has beets and carrots, also yummy, but the Sissy was the winner for sure!
Pork Medallions, wow. wow. I can’t even explain, sorry your just going to trust me on this one. yum. yum.
My companion got the Stir Fry Rice Bowl with Chicken and Brown sauce, which to be honest I was disappointed by when he ordered, because I wanted to have a bite of so many different things on the menu. BUT I will say, I hogged a large portion of this dish. Delicious sauce that didn’t overpower or underwhelm.
You’ll feel healthier for having gorged on Somnio’s local, organic, grass fed grub than if you had a bunch of greasy, guilt ridden food elsewhere!

I always pass this place on my way to work and I was curious about Somnio’s Café. I decided to hang out with my friend from work and try out the place.
It’s a small place and it was really intimate. It wasn’t crowded at all on a Saturday night. The menu is really small and I wish they would add more items to the menu. The food is great and healthy. I had the shittake dumplings which was really good. The service was awesome.
I ordered Portobello Mushrooms with Yellow Curry Mash Potatoes and that took longer than my friends Sweet Potato Risotto. It was ironic because she got her food first.
But no matter. I will come back to this place again.

Just ate lunch here and was super impressed with it all. Somnios is a little place, almost easy to miss. Parking around back.
We had the nynavae’s tacos, which were amazing. They’re fried mushroom fritters topped with a spicy crunchy slaw — just the right combination of sweet and crunchy and spice. They’re served with blue corn chips and a little thing of salsa.
Drinks were coffee and red mint herbal (rooibos w/​peppermint). Most excellent. I will definitely be going back!

I passed by this place on my way to Sugar Mama’s tonight, and I’d thought I’d give it a try. Somino’s is organic, BYOB, and open a supporter of Eat Local. I was really surprised that it hadn’t been reviewed before as it is in a pretty busy section of town. The hours for lunch were 11 – 2, and dinner was 5– something. Since I arrived at Sugar Mama’s around 3:30pm, hung out with the cashier and used the neighbor’s unsecured wifi.
I ordered the panko-​crusted pork medallions served on a carrot and arugula salad with garlic mashed potatoes and a bowl of carrot ginger soup (vegan) for $ 11. Many of the items here are vegetarian or can be converted to vegan. I got the soup in a to-​go box for Nick over at Sugar Mama’s. He hadn’t been to Simino’s before and wanted to try something. I had a little taste of it, and he says that it’s pretty good as far as they go. Gingery and mild, with a very «superfoodie» feel.
My panko-​crusted pork medallions were awesome. Crispy on the outside, thin sliced on the inside. They were drizzled with a red pepper tahini sauce and some other red spicy stuff. YUMMY! Very nice. The garlic mashed potatoes were also good. They were what you expected them to be. Not great, but not bad.
I’d go again if I felt the need to eat something healthful right before a healthy dosing of cupcakes. Also, I overheard the waitress say that almost everyone there plays the guitar. When closing time draws near, they start jamming out. Check it out, and bring some wine while you’re at it. I recommend a slightly sweet (to go with their sweet potato fries and carrot ginger soup) or spicy red (for the panko-​crusted tenderloins or the stuffed portabella) or a white (for their salads) to go with their menu.

I was personally recommended this place by James Y, and decided to give it a shot last night with a few friends.
It is a nice walking distance from all of our dwellings, so I threw a delicious and economical bottle of 2002 Rioja in a bag and walked on down.
Yes, this place would be easy to miss and never see in a car. As would many businesses situated in little hidden cottages in the Bouldin neighborhood. I like that atmosphere a lot, though. Quite opposite, in a way, of the flashy signs of SoCo.
We walk in, and are welcomed to a quaint little place, and a smiling woman behind a dry bar. (Hence the BYOB). The bar is rather big for the place, especially for not serving alcohol. Personally, I hope they always keep the BYOB policy, regardless of liquor-​license knighting status.
Every table had brought wine. Now this is how dining should be done!
Between 4 people, we had ordered all but 3 items on the menu. We even had a secret item that wasn’t on the menu (baba ghanoush) that our neighboring table magically had delivered to them. We were offered a sample as well. It was ok, but evident why it wasn’t on the menu just yet.
The appetizers were quite good. I had some interesting tacos that tasted like nothing from Mexico. But they were unique and I enjoyed them regardless. Vegetarian options were the majority of the menu, which I liked. My omnivorous friends were able to take advantage of the meat dishes, as well.
Being in business for such a short amount of time, they have a bit of room for improvement — but I have few complaints.
*Update* — This is now one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants. It is cozy inside, and the food is quite delicious and beautifully served. Once inside, you feel you could talk to an adjacent table of random people without feeling all weird about it. And, the staff doesn’t seem to mind the wind blowing down 2 glasses from the window ledge, or a table breaking 2 wine glasses. It started to sound like a Greek restaurant entrance inside, but was all good fun.
Now, to pick out the bottle of wine to accompany my next visit…