Sway

Definitely one of the best dining experiences I have had in Austin. The restaurant ambiance is so modern and unique. Our waiter was very knowledgable about the drink and meal pairings. We sat outside and enjoyed learning about the asian infused flavors. Their pad thai is out of this world!

One of the most delicious food experiences of my life. The portion sizes are perfect– not too much and not too little. Every bite it full of flavor. We had the mussels, satay, tiger’s cry, and pad thai. Absolutely incredible. HIGHLY recommend.

You must try this place! The atmosphere is so inviting and the food is perfection. My favorite is the whole fish, sorry not sure what it’s called but I posted a pic on this site. It melts in your mouth and you won’t be able to just have it once. You’ll come back for more. Great staff, they are so friendly from the moment you enter until you leave.

This place was so delicious. Service is okay… I guess. Don’t go here if you don’t like sharing a table with random people. They don’t offer seating for just couples. This place is better to go with a group.
All the food melted in my mouth and we couldn’t get enough. Some of the best Thai I’ve had. We loved the blue crab fried rice and the son in law were our favorites out of the 5 things we had. We would def recommend this place for the food.
I felt like because we were in a group of 6, our sever said screw it on giving us good service bc she knew we were automatically being charged a tip. Not impressed with her. She did the bare minimum to have us not complain. Didn’t ask once how good was.

I’ve been here 3 times and I’ve never been disappointed. I really admire the consistency of this restaurant. My favorite dish here is the Son in Law. It is amazing.
Papaya salad — was very refreshing but nothing special about it.
Jungle curry– I loved this. The meat was very tender and it was spicy which I love!
The wings were amazing! I would recommend them
The last dish we got was the boar ribs. I prefer the wings but these were still tasty.
Overall, one of my favorite restaurants in Austin!

Taste=5 stars!
It’s legit asian fusion flavor. Tiger cry, son in law, all the favorites here are favorites for a reason. the dessert is awesome, get the thai tea affogato and the miso something (forgot the name). Both are sk good and the miso dessert has a very interesting taste but it’s super mild.
Price=4
Well the food quality and the wine is awesome, the server did a good job and all but for a college student like me, let’s just say don’t go eat here like too many times or you’ll go broke.

Very busy and trendy. But, the staff is amazing. We sat at bar because we had a 30 minute wait. We found out that we could order from menu at the bar. Winner! Honestly, everything we had was bursting with flavor. It was spicy and delicious. Best Thai food I have experienced. So much flavor. Not too spicy to enjoy. Just enough. I highly recommend.

I could almost give them 3 stars because I expect so much more for a place that insists on Valet parking, and nets out a $ 60 tag for two, but some things are done so well I know we’ll be back often…
On our first visit, we took the «tour» accompanied by my daughter in law who is very knowledgeable about the menu. We enjoyed those items more, as she’d already front loaded the list of the «best» When we returned the second time, the service was poor and we were offended when the hostess tried to seat us at the bar (at least ask) at 6:30 on a weeknight when there were tons of empty seats at the main tables. I mean, we were dressed nicely and don’t have cooties – what’s that about? Obviously I don’t like it. The 2 — 3 Star ratings were items we selected on our own.
S & P Calamari – it was good, but not really my thing. As far as the preparation goes, I liked it better than Wu Chow. 4 Stars
Wild Boar Ribs (Appie)– 3 tiny racks (Boar are very small from this jungle, apparently) that were succulent and just downright yum. It’s shareable but a bit pricey at $ 12 4.5 Stars
Son in Law-​crispy farm egg, braised pork shoulder, thick soy, nahm prik pla; Absolutely the best thing I tried, you have to go, now. And order this… Small portion again, $ 18 5 Stars
Blue Crab Fried Rice– at $ 18 this is on the high end of any fried rice you’ve probably eaten, but it was delicious and is the man’s favorite. The serving is a bit heavier than some items and it was full of crab. 5 Stars
Banana Split – Sinfully delicious with 3 scoops of amazing ice cream in flavors you’ll come back for. Get it, seriously. 5 Stars
Nashi Pear Chicken – brussels sprouts, carrot, mushroom, chive, thai basil, red chili. At $ 19 for this small portion, the restaurant clearly made out like a bandit. This was good, but nowhere near the caliber of the Son in Law or Fried Rice 4 Stars
Tiger (gf) char-​grilled hanger steak, red chili nahm jim, thai basil, fresno chile, toasted rice, nahm prik pao– At $ 17 this might have been a bargain, if not for the quarter sized bites of tough hanger steak (total of 5!!). The seasonings were good, but the meat was tough. We probably would have enjoyed this more if the waiter had watched beer levels (I’m sure it tastes great with beer, but I wouldn’t know…) 3 Stars
Som Tam (Green papaya salad) –One of my favorite dishes, and unfortunately, Sway just didn’t deliver. At $ 9, this was a good buy, even against lower priced Thai restaurants, but the flavor wasn’t there. The over use of dried shrimp at Sway was included in this dish, and is a poor substitute for a good fish sauce with peanuts. Enough said. A disappointment at 2 Stars.
The service was really good on our first visit, but I’m owing that to the fact that our table was fully seated. Same waiter for visit two, but a slower night equalled slow service. Too bad

BEWARE:
1. Tiny portions
2. Their spiciest food isn’t very spicy
Coming from an Asian home I eat Thai pretty often. This being said I’m not a huge fan of the food here considering the price. I feel like much of the price goes towards atmosphere but it was great service and an enjoyable experience all in all.

Was in town on business and during a lunch excursion from our coworking space, noticed the neon lotus sign outside and was intrigued.
Returned later that evening (a Friday night) to check out the space.
I am not a huge fan of family style seating, which is the only option unless you sit in the bar and don’t want the full menu.
We enjoyed the Son In Law, a tofu curry, the blue crab fried rice, oysters and several other dishes. All were just the right level of spice and serves as the kitchen finished them, which meant they weren’t all brought at once (fabulous set up with the number of dishes we ordered).
Only down side, they were out of the dessert special, which is what I was hankering for in the first place. Had a Thai tea ice cream dish that was outstanding instead.
Will definitely try to drop by when I’m back in town.

The ambiance of this restaurant is very cool and modern. You sit at giant tables which you may share with other parties. The tables being so large is a good thing because you order many dishes to share. When we went we got 2 – 3 dishes a person and it was a good amount.
My favorite dishes were the Wild Boar Ribs, Tom Yum Soup, Son In Law, Jungle Curry, and Squash Curry. Wild Boar Ribs were perfect for sharing and so tasty. The Tom Yum soup was the best I ever had and quite spicy. Son In Law was by far my favorite, a must try. Jungle Curry was very good but very very spicy. Squash Curry was delightful.
Our server was excellent and answered all of our questions. I really enjoyed myself!

Did Sway change something about its food/​service, or have my expectations just gotten higher?
Whatever it is, my last visit was mediocre. I came on a Monday with a group and was seated immediately (there weren’t that many people there). The service in general was very slow and hard to get the staff’s attention.
I was looking forward to having the Son in Law again. The dish came out fairly quickly; however the food was lukewarm. I didn’t feel satisfied after eating the dish and felt ripped off having paid $ 18. Per my last review their Thai Tea is the bomb. Unfortunately this time the Thai Tea didn’t deliver and wasn’t worth the $ 5. I was turned off by how the paper straw quickly disintegrated in the tea to the point where I couldn’t suck anymore (…yea yea yea).
The dishes that my friends ordered took forever to come to the table; I had finished my Son in Law by the time my friend’s Tiger Cry dish came out. We also waited quite a while (maybe 20 minutes) before our checks came out.
Ok maybe my expectations did get higher. But for the price Sway charges I expect better quality food and service.

The restaurant itself is beautiful, very modern and organic. The parking lot looks like it could be a tight squeeze during rush hour, but we were fortunate to stop in for dinner on a Sunday night and had no issues with finding a spot.
The communal seating in my opinion is odd, if my bf and I are going out to dinner I would prefer, not so much as privacy, but just a little space to chat and be personal. I feel the seating here could get crowded very quickly with people and dishes.
This is the second restaurant we’ve eaten at recently that doesn’t have a liquor license, what gives Austin? We were both pretty overwhelmed with the large list of wine and sake options, I would have much preferred a cocktail list… so we tried a Thai iced coffee and kombucha instead. The kosmic black magic kombucha was very good, if you’ve never had kombucha before and want to try it I’d recommend this, it’s not nearly as vinegar-​y or strong as others. The Thai iced tea was alright, could have used more condensed milk and a plastic straw since the paper one they put in practically disintegrated.
The food method is interesting, your meals come out simply when they are done, so our meals came out at different times. Seems a bit odd if you order appetizers because they can come out after your main course. The portions are supposedly made for two to share, so our waiter recommended we order 3 – 4 dishes, but I thought that was silly so we each ordered one dish, licked it clean, and were contently full.
I tried their tom yum soup, the broth was delicious and I could have that for days, but the shrimp were overcooked and rubbery and honestly for $ 13 it seemed way overpriced. My bf had the son in law, which he loved and said he could easily eat a second portion of, but $ 18 still seems pretty steep.
The establishment is so well designed that I would love to go back for that alone, but the high prices and odd setup deter me from rushing back.

I don’t know, I’m somewhere between 3 and 4 stars on this one, but because of the price I have to say 3.
Came to Sway on a Friday night with a group of 4 (FYI they don’t take reservations unless you have 10+ people). Wait was 45 minutes or so, not too bad. Bartender was super slow with our drinks, and it was so crowded around the bar that we barely even had room to stand without running into a stranger. Clientele was definitely hip and young (I felt weirdly not cool enough to eat here actually).
Our waitress recommended that we get 5 – 6 plates to share with a group of 4, so we ended up doing that. I really liked the beef fried rice, but everything else we ordered was simply too spicy for me. I even told our waitress that I don’t really want it to be spicy, and she said she could make it mild, but everything was super hot. I got the jungle curry, which tasted good, but was too spicy for me to enjoy. The son in law was better, and I really liked the pork. I think if I were going to go again I would ask them which dishes were mild and just order that rather than trying to get them to make a typically spicy dish less spicy.
I like the idea of communal dinner tables. We had a very nice couple sitting next to us who gave us lots of recommendations for bars to hit up after dinner. Liked the atmosphere, but I think the food might just be too hot for me.

My first high five is for you, Austinites: you’ve made this Thai joint one of the best bets in the city. Which obviously begins with the food, the chef, all that riff-​raff, but if the people don’t come out to support the eats and pay rather inflated prices (y’know, compared to that Thai place down the block), Sway’s reviews wouldn’t have swayed me to visit. Thankfully, the people around here represent and support a great restaurant that serves (let’s face it) foreign food for most Texan tongues. Sway is a testament to an open-​minded foodie town.
Probably the only thing that didn’t totally jive with me was the way that Sway connects with Texas. Yes, I knew I was getting char-​grilled hangar steak in the Tiger Cry and yes, I saw the wagyu beef listed with the Jungle curry and no, I’m not complaining about either one. Good stuff. I just thought beef funktified both dishes. They were gorgeous compositions, both of them, so layered with unique flavor and delicate balance that quite frankly, the meat flattened the meal. Seafood would have worked, for sure: shrimp, scallops, lobster, anything light and sweet. Just a suggestion. I still licked both plates clean.
Our server rocked, to boot, but two points of interest about the service setup: 1) We were seated instantaneously (7:30pm on a Monday), so why did they still ask for a full name at the front desk? Strange. 2) The plating philosophy, essentially summed up by our server as «When the kitchen presents the dish, we serve it, so everything may not come out at the same time» sounds like something of an «out» for Sway, right? Isn’t dish timing a component of a quality kitchen? Just a thought. Our dishes actually took a very long time to come out, and we took them to-​go, but believe me, the food was astonishing on the couch, as well.

3.5 stars
The food is definitely flavorful– almost too flavorful– that’s not a problem in my book. I just eat it with extra water/​rice. But I can see how it can be overwhelming for many people.
Best set to order if you’re dining for 2:
–Salt & pepper calamari– it’s not what I was expecting. It’s definitely not the typical salt & pepper fried item… the fried isn’t quite crispy enough. And it comes with a huge, overportioned size of fermented black beans/​chili paste on the side. BUT THE SAUCE THEY SERVE WITH THIS DISH IS so good I could drink it. $ 14
–Tom Kha Gai Soup– super sweet, sour, salty– it’s one of my favorite soups I’ve ever had but I definitely had to eat it with a side of sticky rice b/​c it was more like sauce the flavor was so strong. $ 9
— Son-​in-​law– see previous review. simply delicious. I wouldn’t change a thing about this dish $ 18
— Share a dessert. I prefer the more boring thai tea affogato to the over salted white chocolate semifreddo.
Reason for the 3.5 stars? Prices are pretty steep for what they serve and service does not match other 5 star restaurants.

«What?! You haven’t been to Sway?! What do you mean! You HAVE to go!» So, I finally went! I had heard so many great and amazing things about Sway, and I was told that if I loved Thai food (LOVE!), Asian food (LOVE!), and Elizabeth Street (Don’t love) then I would love Sway. I figured two out of three had to be great!
Aside from being hit on by a chef, overly salted and sauced food, and no cleanup service, it was just okay!
**Atmosphere: 9/​10**
Very cute interior, though I had a bit of a shock when I found out that it was community seating; I felt that this would be more of a romantic, intimate spot, considering the price of the food and the amount of friends who go here on dates. Husbae isn’t a fan of community seating, so boo to that! Also, the community seating, in addition to the service level, caused an issue later on in my experience.
**Service: 6/​10**
My server had a very nice personality! She seated me at the kitchen-​facing bar and handed me the menu, which looked like an ordinary menu to me. I say this because she then asked if I had ever been to Sway before. I happily told her no and how excited I was to give this place a try! She then asked if I needed the menu explained. Apparently, it’s «kind of different and difficult.» I figured that I must be hella smart or their normal patrons are not as smart as I clearly am, because the menu was very straight forward. Everything was sectioned off into common categories, had delicious descriptions, and prices.
Turns out, the strange part was that «the dishes just come out of the kitchen without any rhyme or reason. If you order an appetizer, it might come out after the main courses, which is family-​style, so it’s okay. Everybody just kind of shares» Why? 99% of kitchens coordinate, every day.
Remember my issue with the community seating in my Atmosphere section? Here it is: As my dishes came out and I ate them, my dishes started to pile up and clutter the area around me. My server was nowhere to be found. For some reason, the hostess kept trying to seat people next to me, while my dirty dishes were invading those spaces. The patrons didn’t like that, for obvious reasons, and all three different parties requested to be moved. Talk about feeling uncomfortable.
Speaking of feeling uncomfortable, I had dined alone at my kitchen-​facing seat. As I was eating, one of the chefs started trying to talk to me. He didn’t want to talk about the food, not about my experience at Sway, but about me. I was very uncomfortable. He should be working, not trying to find his next girl. I felt like I was being watched for the rest of my meal. Totally unprofessional.
**Food: 5/​10**
I got to experience the crazy order of the kitchen first hand. I had ordered the Wild Boar Ribs as an appetizer and the Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crab as my main. The crab came out first. I ate that, and then waited 10 minutes for my appetizer. I’ll review in the order that I ate them.
Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crab: ³⁄₁₀.
I love salt and pepper seafood because of the delicious, crispy, perfectly seasoned exteriors of the seafood. I look forward to that crisp texture, soft inside, and salty bite. All of that is lost under the thick sauce that the crab is swimming in. The salt from the coating plus the salt of the sauce and the salt from the Brussels sprouts was way too much. Soft shell crab is delicate and soft; in fact, you order soft shell crab to enjoy the fact that you can bite through the shell and enjoy the subtle textures. It was hard to appreciate that texture with all of the heavy sauce.
Wild Boar Ribs: ¹⁰⁄₁₀!
YUM! These were adorable, well seasoned, well cooked, and pleasantly lightly sweet/​spicy! I will definitely be back for these little babies! You actually get a nice portion of meat when you’re eating these alone! They even bring you a hot towel when you’re done!
Miso-​white Chocolate Semifreddo ¹⁄₁₀.
«It tastes just like PB&J!» Said my server, and when I looked up a picture of this on Unilocal,I said to myself, «Wow. This is a direct rip with a few ingredients swapped out, as to not get caught!» They must have found a new way to create the same flavor with different ingredients. NOPE.
These flavors do NOT make the flavor profile of PB&J. In fact, I had to try 15 different ratios of ingredient combinations before I got close. The mango is too strong, as is the sesame. They totally overpower the semifreddo.
Want it to taste like PB&J? Get nearly a full spoon of the semifreddo, only get a lentil-​sized bit of mango sorbet, and a nice dip in the sesame. You will have tons of the strong mango sorbet left over.
Surely this was a fluke experience? Probably won’t be back.

Food is great but I’ve had just as good food at other Thai restaurants. Prices are a bit steep, and like a fellow reviewer has said: if you dine here on a monthly basis, in a year you will have spent enough for a ticket to Thailand.
You would think the portions are huge because of how much you’re paying, but it’s actually the opposite. You’re paying for less food but higher quality ingredients. So yes, food will taste much better than average here but do not expect to be stuffed (no Thaisgiving here). Pardon the pun, tis’ the season.
The high prices also come with another good reason: impeccable service. After I devoured my Son-​in-​Law (delicious but again portions are dismal), my Thai tea affogato took a long time to arrive. In fact, the group next to me was still eating dinner when I ordered it, and they even finished their dessert and got their check yet mine didn’t even appear. When I brought the matter up to the server, he went to investigate and reported that there was a mixup in the kitchen. Apologies were given and my dessert finally showed up 10 minutes afterward.
When I got the check I found out they didn’t charge me for the dessert because of the kitchen fiasco. If every restaurant was like this they would go out of business, but because it’s Sway and because of the prices they charge, they’re financially able to provide A+ customer service.

Very cute, very Austin with a classy feel and a casual seating arrangement. It’s taking me a while to review this because I’ve tried so many different menu items from each category (see menu), that it’s difficult to pinpoint which one is best/​worst. Everything is worth a try, and by the way the menu is set up, you’d want to come back and keep trying something different. For sure try the fish, for sure try the beefs. The curry was not as impressive as some of my favorite Thai restaurant, so you can skip that one for now. Try all the desserts. The presentation was off the roof. Good drinks too. Smart staff.
Oh yes, don’t try the banana split. I came back one visit to have it as birthday treat. Artificial tasting and way too sweet. Good if you’re a fan of sprinkles and generic looking dessert. Asian 5 spices should not be used in desserts.

I really really wanted to like this place since so many people recommended it to me.
Came here on a Wednesday night. They just have free valet parking so good luck if you wanna skip the tip and try finding a place to park in the surrounding neighborhoods.
No reservation required but they have plenty of community tables to cram your party into so the wait for 3 was no wait at all.
Now their concept is shared plates. Think smaller portions of pad Thai, curry, ribs, etc that you can try with all your friends.
The place is loud and sexy so if you are trying to catch up with some old friends you haven’t seen in awhile be prepared to read lips. Also if you are pregnant like I am, you might not have the patience in yelling with loud music in the background.
We got the ribs to start which were pretty tasty. Not as tender as I would like. The pad Thai was good and so was the chicken stir fry. But nothing really stood out, flavor wise. The service was hit and miss at the same time. I don’t know what was going on but our server would be around a lot then disappear for like 15 minutes at a time. The timing between our courses was also very long… to the point where we had to ask our waitress if she got our last dish ordered. But when she was around she was friendly and great with suggestions.
I was also disappointed with the dessert selection. Nothing looked «Thai» or appealing to me. We got the banana split dessert which was tasty but more American than anything.
I probably should have just gone to a typical Thai restaurant on this night, since I wasn’t in the mood for trendy/​fusion Thai.
All in all, it’s a great atmosphere (for young things or date nights) but the food portions, selection, and service could be better.

Decision de última hora y con poco tiempo, me quedé con las ganas…
Creo que fue solamente suerte, pero por ser 8pm en un Saábado, pensé que iban a tardarse en darnos una mesa. Mientras esperamos, fuimos al bar y para nuestra suerte habian sillas disponibles. Rapidamente, el amable cantinero, nos dijo que podiamos ordenar de comer en le bar… BINGO! Nada de espera.
Mietras leía el menú, la boca se me hacia agua por todas las delicias que estaba leyendo. Para comenzar ordenamos ostras crudas como aperitivo, que estaban increibles, y también ordeanmos «prawn miange», un aperitivo en forma de taquitos, pero en vez de tortilla era una hoja de remolacha con camarones, coco y anacarno tostado, limón, chile fresno y toronja. Algo refrescante para el comienzo de verano.
Para cenar ordenamos el plato «Son in law». Un tazon de arroz con un huevo empanizado, lomo de cerdo estofado, soja gruesa y nahm prik pla. Por recomendación de la mesera, revolvimos todo y al probarlo, quede anonadada de lo rico que estaba.
No pude probar el postre por falta de tiempo. pero queria probar todo en el menu ya que todo lo que vi se veía delicioso.
A pesar que está al sur de la calle 1ra., te sientes que estuvieras comiendo en el centro de Austin. El lugar es muy moderno, lindo y acogendor. Como hay mucha gente en ocasiones el ruido es muy alto dentro del restaurante, entoces es un lugar perfecto para grupo de dos o maximo cuarto. Afuera creo que seria mejor lugar para grupo mas grande.
Lo recomiendo mucho. El servicio fue exelente y es de esos lugares que tienes que ir varias veces. No puedo ver la hora de ir de nuevo y probar varios aperitivos y algunas bebidas.