Caroline — Restaurant in Austin

This was our first time visiting Austin, and we were excited to explore some of the city’s popular spots. Caroline seemed like a great choice based on location and ambiance, but our experience turned out to be a major disappointment.

It started off well enough, we were seated quickly, the atmosphere was nice, and both our appetizer and first round of drinks were genuinely good. Our waitress was attentive at first, but that quickly changed.

After placing our dinner orders, we waited more than an hour for our food. When we asked about the delay, our waitress said there had been a “mix-up in the kitchen.” I ordered a second cocktail during the wait, and it took over 15 minutes to arrive. By that point, the service had gone completely downhill. The waitress barely acknowledged us and wouldn’t even look at my boyfriend when explaining the delay.

Our food was eventually brought out by a cook, and when we asked why it took so long, he simply said the kitchen was busy — which felt like an excuse. The restaurant wasn’t particularly crowded, and it was clear the staff didn’t care.

The waitress came back later and said she would comp my second cocktail as an apology — but when the check came, I saw that she had still charged me for it. Whether it was a mistake or a lie, it felt like another example of the careless service we received all night.

Once we were halfway through our meals, we just wanted to pay and leave — but our server had disappeared. A manager eventually came by to clear our plates and asked how things were. We voiced our frustrations, and while he apologized and said he’d “talk to the staff,” the whole interaction felt hollow and scripted.

He brought the check, and I left zero tip — something I never do, but this experience absolutely earned it. The staff was rude, disorganized, and completely unprofessional.

As first-time visitors to Austin, this experience was a huge letdown. We’ll be sharing this story with friends, family, and fellow travelers, and we absolutely do not recommend Caroline to anyone. With so many amazing places to eat in this city, there’s no reason to waste your time...

When we were walking to Caroline restaurant I was afraid of the people on the street, under the bridge, I didn’t wanted to be assaulted, I was wrong, the people on the street wasn’t the problem, the restaurant was, we were assaulted there, in the most gastronomic brutally way you can imagine. We were absolutly excited in our first day in Austin, and we found this beautiful restaurant with incredible reviews (a lot), we ordered deviled eggs, Caroline salad and corn dip with corn tortilla, we know that all the ingredients in our choice are cheap, I don’t have problems with that, and we love simple ingredients and the limitless possibilities when you cook them. The thing with simple ingredients, is that you have to break it with the recipes, make something REALLY good, to highlight, and when we saw this poor dishes, we were like “we really screwed it”, they served us 2 eggs, literally, and not the large size, the regular/small ones, for $9 dollars, delicious but unbelievable, the salad of the house, was absolutely boring, dry, with an infimum amount of dressing and toppings, it was simply miserable and poor, lame. The corn dip was regular, just a little amount, without contrast or elements of interest, and the corn chips were absolutely normal, a real lack of respect. Poor and MISERABLE are the best words to describe this place, they don’t respect their costumers, and the service was awful. Miss Caroline: you’re not going to be richer for cuting some corn, eggs or lettuce, your strategy is poor and pathetic. Think like a costumer, would you really be happy with 2 small deviled eggs for $9? Or dry salad with a minimal amount of ingredient? This is for paintings, not salads. Bonus: when we ordered olive oil for our salad, the waitress put accident face, she really didn’t wanted to bring us olive oil, (she did at the end, she was traped), again, MISERABLE. Sorry for my english, I’m...

Don't go during off-peak hours. We had the B-team on everything from service to food. We arrived at 2pm on a Friday.

Good: Buratta with pesto and bread was so good! Must get. Food made with good ingredients. Just poorly plated and over priced. Nice atmosphere. Clean, upscale, lots of staff to help.

Bad: Maybe the trainees made my food. Ingredients had tons of potential. Clearly, no one cared and just threw it together. Poorly plated with wrong ingredients: 2 out of 4 of us had $20 salads but received semi-random ingredients. Just a small-to-medium plate of spring greens. Nothing special. My "Caroline" salad was supposed to have apples but it had 3 tiny slivers. And I was hoping for more fennel and snap peas were chopped so small I thought they were green onions at first. Instead, it had tons of cauliflower (which i later learned is an ingredient for a different salad). I was perplexed while eating it. We both asked for dressing on the side and they forgot to bring it. When I requested it, the waitress said it's already in there. I showed her both salads were dry. She said "I can bring you more, if you want." She brings dressing and says "Green Goddess and Ceasar". I asked, "I thought mine came with a vinegrette?" She said "OH, it's the same dressing." Anyway, I ended up enjoying my husband's Green Goddess dressing.

Ordered Marshallow Latte but the waitress came back to say the machine was broken and they cannot make it hot. So I agreed it could be iced. Don't get it cold. Tasted like watered down decent coffee with marshmallows floating on top. Later, I realized that if it was hot, the marshmallows could have melted into creamy goodness and perhaps the ice watered it down?

Had this place on my list for a long time. So disappointed and won't be back. Overhyped reviews...