District Kitchen + Cocktails (Anderson Lane) — Restaurant in Austin

Finally, a local spot for oysters and cocktails! I was really looking forward to these folks opening in our neighborhood since running into Amir (executive chef and owner) and District Kitchen at the Tastemaker Awards downtown with their unique, delicious, and fresh Avocado Shrimp. That was a perfect intro to the type of food we found them serving up on West Anderson - everything we put in our mouths hit the spot on fresh, unique, high quality and delicious. I must say I'm a seafood first sort of guy so while I'm sure their brisket burger and Texas wagyu is awesome (I'm sure I'll try them eventually), what is really awesome here is what they call their "Raw Bar." They have high quality northeastern fresh oysters here that they pair with freshly grated horseradish. The freshly grated horseradish really threw me, it was delicious and honestly may have been the first time I'd had that served at a restaurant with oysters (as opposed to pre-prepared horseradish). Amir, the executive chef and owner, popped out and chatted us up about the food. In particular he said "If you're going to go through the trouble and expense of getting high quality oysters, then everything on the plate should be up to that standard." So they make their own cocktail sauce and hand grate horseradish (mind blown). Moving on from that, I could see the same sense of care and consideration being expressed in each dish. The scallop ceviche was so we'll balanced with sesame, jimica, and mango, but most of all, it was based on day boat scallops which obviously is the right call. The spring salad was equally lovely and balanced, a nice hit of acid from the dressing, creaminess from the potato and parmesan, saltiness from the prosciutto and bitterness from the greens. Where I'm happy to hit up Bartlett's for the classics, Uchiko for Sushi, Barley Swine for something experimental, District Kitchen is certainly going to make my restaurant rotation when I'm looking for something fresh, balanced, and just lovely.

UPDATE 6/19/19: I came here again and opted to venture into the non-seafood part of the menu for some of the meal and wasn't dissapointed. The Pork Loin as well as the Spring Pasta were just spot on. The chow-chow wearing, chimichurri marinated, dry-rubbed pork tenderloin with labneh potatoes in particular hit all the right spots - comforting, herbal, perfectly cooked, great textures, all balanced out with acid and vegetal notes. The chef here is really a master of flavors and balance and I'd certainly put this place up as one of the best...

Went here on a Friday after a long work week. They have a decent sized outside eating area, but we chose to eat inside. It was Happy Hour so we each got drinks. I can't recall the name of mine, but it had a fruit puree in it and didn't taste like alcohol...which is delicious, but dangerous if not paying attention to your intake. 😁 My husband got their version of an Old Fashion which had a Blackberry base. He liked it even though it wasn't the typical orange based recipe. The hummus appetizer came with 2 types, carrots, cucumber and grilled pita bread. It too was good. One hummus had a little kick to it which I love. We also decided on the Rosemary Bread with Smoked Gouda Pimento Cheese spread. Now when it came out we thought 'Oh how cute and tiny', but trust me it's enough. It's deceivingly filling, because it was more like a biscuit/bread combo and really delicious. I got the Dijon Herb Pork Tenderloin which was cooked perfectly. (I don't normally like dijon, but this I didn't mind at all.) It came with a butter mash potato smear (aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but made it an effort to scrape up to eat) and chow chow (a type of relish which I would usually avoid, but was crisp, pickling was light and gave a fresh element to the dish). My husband got the lobster roll. He really enjoyed it, but half way in discovered small pieces of shell. (At least we know it wasn't imitation!) The manager was quick to fix the minor oops (I mean...the staff are making your food from scratch so cut them a break) and another was brought out including another fresh order of their fries. THEIR FRIES 😳 They were hot, skinny, crisp and seasoned perfectly. No dipping sauce is required even though ketchup was on the side. I could have snacked on a whole basket myself. Overall I would absolutely visit this restaurant again. The staff were friendly and accommodating, the food was definitely not basic. There's thought into the making a well-rounded meal of each plate. This is a restaurant with made from scratch in house dishes you shouldn't miss. 👍👍 Sadly as usual there are no pics to share, because I always forget...

Really disappointed with the service and the portion of bread served with the shakshuka.

The shakshuka came with 1/4th of a thick piece of pita bread. Like an absolutely laughably tiny portion. We asked for more bread. We were charged $1 extra for this, it showed up AFTER my husband had already finished his food. The server also did not inform us there was an up charge.

I ordered the eggs Benedict. I asked if I could substitute the English muffin for a biscuit. The waiter asked and said yes. He did not inform me of the $2 up charge this would add to the bill. I have worked as a waitress and you never just assume a customer is OK with an upcharge? I always asked...

We were not given cutlery by the time our food arrived. Took even more time to get a spoon without which my husband could not start eating his food.

We ordered food first and mentioned we wanted to order drinks. Waiter never came back to get our drinks order. Finally went in and gave the hostess our order.

Was handed the check in the middle of my meal. I'm not sure why the waiter wanted to know if I wanted dessert when I wasn't even done with my food. There were 5 empty tables next to us, so it wasn't a rush or anything. Just extremely confusing. I guess the waiter just decided he didn't like us or something?

We didn't say anything in the moment given that any ONE of these things happening could just be an oversight/bad day — but all of this put together is pretty egregious.

Edit: Amir reached out to me and assured me that they are working on the issues I brought up. They have excellent food and have had good service in the past so I'm updating my review to 5 stars. Will update again once I make another visit to...