Kalimotxo — Restaurant in Austin

I do not take pleasure in giving any establishment a 1 star review and if you take the time to check my stats, you will see that this is super rare for me, however, our waiter was so bad and had the worst attitude that I cannot let her behavior slide. Hestia and Emmer and Rye are under the same group as Kalimotxo and I have given them both 5 stars. We have dined at both often, with Hestia being one of my favorite restaurants in Austin. Naturally, I was excited to dine at Kalimotxo as I was expecting the same experience. Out for a girls night, my gf and I were excited to catch up on life. When we checked in with the hostess, she was lovely and seated us inside, we wanted to sit outside instead and she accommodated us at a table facing Polvo's. As soon as we were seated, within 10 minutes, Bridgett greeted us and at first, she seemed rather nice. We each ordered a drink and then we requested a small heater. We were told by the hostess that the heat could be adjusted at any time, so after about 10 minutes, the side of our faces were hot, so we asked Bridgett to turn it down and she did. Another 10 minutes went by and we were still quite hot, so we requested it lower. After a while, we requested it to be turned off as it was still burning the side of our faces. She turned it off, but because she was wearing a mask, we could not see her face, but we could tell she was rather annoyed. By this time, I noticed that tables that sat after us received their food and after 30 minutes, we were still waiting. I asked Bridgette if she could check when the order was entered and how much longer it was going to take. I felt like another 10 minutes went by before she came back to the patio with plates that looked like ours, however, she stopped at the table in front of us and began setting the plates down, when the patrons told her those were not their plates and then she realized her mistake and brought them to us. She said she would have the piquillo and mushroom remade since the plate touched the other table, but she was back within 5 minutes so I doubt they were fresh. Also, our pan con tomate and shishito peppers were lukewarm and not hot, but we ate them anyway as we were starving. We then asked her to turn the heat back on because the temperature had dropped and then she grabbed the heater and yanked it backwards and turned it on low. If I had known the heater could have been placed further back, I would have requested that instead of asking for a drop in temp several times. I know that can seem annoying, but again, when you are in the service industry, you still have to show some modicum of professionalism for your patrons. Not once did she ever ask if we wanted another drink and we were still quite hungry and were debating ordering more food but decided against it so we asked for the check and she pulled it right from her pocket! She had no intention of asking us if we wanted anything else. Rule #3 when dining, you NEVER give the customer the check until you confirm there is nothing else you can get them. Rule #2, the more they order, the more they spend. As a result, our tab was small and so was her...

Kalimotxo was simply divine. Delicious Spanish cuisine. 10/15/2024

Ambiance: The ambiance is really nice. It's dimly lit. Very comfortable seating, both the booths and the chairs. The chairs are a nice dark walnut with comfortable leather padding. Something like I'd want in my own home. Even the ceiling is ornately designed architecturally.

Service: We had a very cordial, polite (but entertaining and educational) server. He was able to fully answer all questions we had, and we did have a few based on the menu, as well as recommend a drink/wine with what we ordered. He was great! Also, the chef (I think) came to our table and asked how our meal was. A few other folks working there, checked in and we felt very taken care of.

Location / parking: This is on East 6th, right across the street from Whistlers and Lazarus. Both of which are also good places, especially Lazarus, the brewers there know what they're doing! You can street park, but paired with the hotel they are in, they also have valet on certain days.

Price: This is a high-class place so you have prices that reflect this, however, for the quality of what you receive, the experience, it's totally reasonable and fair. Expect to spend some money, but expect to get an absolutely delightful and experience out of it; food, ambiance, and service are on point. Also on price, you wouldn't have to order as any dishes as we did, but we were celebrating something special. You could get out really quite reasonably, if you got specifically, just a few things.

Food, specific details:

Mushroom & Quail Egg Tosta - All of the tostas looked really good. The ones we got were absolutely delicious. $6.00

Uni Torrejas - My friend got this, I didn't try it, but it looked nice. I've had uni before and was weirded out by the texture so did not want to try it. $12.00

Tuna Crudo - top notch! See photo, also beautiful. $19.00

Patata Bravas - these were kind of like a fried potato, with some kind of a sauce that was tasty. $7.00

Pan Con Tomate - Is very tasty and seasoned bread $6.00

Fried Calamari - about 65% of the calamari were perfect. Some the calamari was maybe a little over, but still decent. $14.00

Grilled Whole Fish, came with muscles in the Shell, delightful flatfish. Very very tasty, buttery sauce. Divine. It did have some bones but we were directed by our server that we should avoid the tail and head areas of the fish. As long as we followed that advice, avoiding the bones was relatively easy. $42.00

*Permission from our server was acquired to post...

I finally visited Kalimotxo after hearing positive reviews from people I know. The atmosphere was very relaxed and offered a nice environment to enjoy the company of others. The food was also very tasty with good drinks to go with. I’ve dined at plenty of tapas restaurants before and know that the portions tend to be smaller, which allows you to try a wider variety of food during your meal. However I did not expect to leave this one quite literally still hungry.

We ordered a handful of drinks and 5 different dishes.

My favorite drink of the night was the Sandia Rita. It was refreshing and tasted wonderfully of watermelon. The Clear As Day was so clear it could’ve been easily mistaken for water, but only before you take a sip of it since it was decently strong. The other two were also good but nothing special.

The pan con tomate was what you’d expect. There wasn’t a pile of tomato sitting on top which I personally liked since it made eating it easier.

The croquettes were some of the tastiest bites of the night. They were fried, light, and crispy, and I could taste the cod inside. They reminded me of crab cakes.

The kampachi crudo was just alright. I could tell the fish was of good quality and tasted very fresh, but I’ve had other kampachi crudos whose ingredients and components blended together and tasted better than this one.

The octopus was nice and crispy on the outside and tender inside. It paired well with the grilled tomatoes and sauce provided.

The last seafood dish was also tasty. The broth was savory and filled with pieces of ham, onions, tomatoes, and a variety of seafood that paired well with bread.

Overall I’d say the food was worth trying at least once and was definitely tasty in my opinion. Some of the drinks were also very good. I could see myself coming back to grab a few drinks and just relax in their outdoor space. However I would recommend those seeking a filling meal to...