8 Best Cocktail Bars in Austin

Micklethwait Craft Meats is the East Austin trailer that the city's barbecue conversation regularly circles back to — operating out of a small yard off Rosewood, it has built a reputation that runs comfortably alongside the more famous names without requiring a pre-dawn commitment. The setup is classically no-frills: a trailer, picnic tables, a hand-lettered menu, and a smoker that is doing all the real work. What makes Micklethwait worth tracking down is less the mythology and more the consistency that regulars and visiting writers keep reporting back.

The brisket is the anchor, known for a dark, peppery bark and the kind of rendering that separates a serious pit from a casual one. Beyond the brisket, the house sausage is where Micklethwait reportedly distinguishes itself from a crowded field — rotating recipes, housemade throughout, and consistently cited as among the better links in a city that takes sausage seriously. The beef rib is a Saturday-only proposition, which means timing your visit around it if that is the priority — diners who do tend to say it is the right call. On the sides front, the jalapeño-cheese grits are the standout, representing a kitchen that is apparently paying attention to what goes next to the meat rather than treating sides as an obligation.

Let's be honest about what Zanzibar is: a tropical fever dream perched on the 7th floor of the Marriott downtown, all lush plants and skyline views, engineered so you forget you're in a hotel and start pretending you're on vacation. The cooking leans island-by-way-of-Asia, which sounds like a mess and mostly isn't. Order the duck egg rolls ($16) — rotisserie duck and cabbage with sweet chili, and yes, they earn the hype people keep giving them. The poke bowl does the ponzu-furikake-avocado thing competently, and the shrimp skewers ($21) come cilantro-marinated under a teriyaki glaze. There's a sushi burrito if you want to eat something ridiculous while overlooking Austin, plus a BCR Wagyu hand roll and pulled pork sliders with pineapple slaw for the table that can't commit. Is it overpriced? A little — small plates run $12–$22, and you're clearly paying the rooftop tax. But hit happy hour (Mon–Fri, 2–5) for $10 frozens and margaritas and the math softens considerably. Come for a sunset, not a serious dinner, and Zanzibar delivers exactly the escapist evening it's selling.

First, a correction to whoever filed this under Downtown: Stiles Switch sits up North Lamar in Brentwood, tucked into the art-deco bones of the old Violet Crown Shopping Center — yes, the same '90s block that lent its pool hall to Dazed and Confused. That lineage matters, because the room feels borrowed from a small-town Texas icehouse: dim light, neon buzzing overhead, draft beer sweating, air conditioning cranked against the afternoon. It's not romantic in the candlelit sense, but there's an easy, unhurried warmth to it — the kind of place where a first date can relax because nobody's performing. The brisket and pork ribs anchor the most-popular combo, and the smoked wings are quietly among the best in the city. Ask about the Switch Original Sausage and the rotating house-made monthly special — that's where the kitchen shows off. Wednesdays bring a smoked prime rib plate worth planning around. Figure $15–30 a head, combos the smart play. Come for lunch, share a tray, let the neon do the mood-setting. Closed Mondays.