Marinara Miracles — Restaurant in Austin

Walking into Valhalla, you don't expect to find phenomenal Italian food there. It's grimy, the walls and floor feel like its age. That's why we love it so much there - it has that Olde Austin punk, IDGAF feel that is so hard to find amongst the neon, "cutesy" bars with punny and Instagrammable signs inside nestled among a fake ivy bush wall.

Upstairs of Valhalla resides Marinara Miracles. That's where the magic happens. We got meatballs and the Holy Smokin' Raviolis. We were pretty hungry and demolished the meatballs before I could get a picture.

One of my biggest food gripes about Austin is the lack of affordable, good Italian food. It's either high end, or a really good, legit, decently priced food truck with a wait that takes FOREVER. Fear no more - this is where Marinara Miracles comes in.

The raviolis are handmade. You can taste and feel it in the thick dough-y ness of the raviolis, covered in a white wine butter sauce. Expertly served with two pieces of garlic bread that is perfect for dipping into the sauce when done. The raviolis are stuffed with cheese, and paired excellently with a slightly acidic, light white wine butter sauce.

The 4 meatballs we got were served with the perfect amount of marinara sauce (a lot). They were tender and moist, and had the right amount of "bounce". The marinara sauce was a massive winner - that red sauce you see being made for spaghetti from the recipe listed on the index card Carmy finds in "The Bear"? That's what it tastes like. Perfection.

The fact that it's located in a skeezy-feeling, but home-y dive bar among the other bars trying to out-LA each other? That's the cherry on top.

Come here, grab some fantastic Italian food, and get a beer or a shot of whiskey to go along with it. You...

Food here is phenomenal and the staff was very accommodating. Most of their options were vegetarian, but when I asked them to add meat they had no problem with it and i highly recommend. They were out of ravioli so I opted for an Alfredo pasta with chicken and it was AMAZING! The marinara meatballs are a must-try for this place. The atmosphere is exactly what you would expect for a metal bar, and I respect the no f’s given attitude of this place. They do charge a cover at the bar, but we just let them know we were just here for food and they let us in no problem. Ignore all the reviews about the bouncers and weird hours. It’s a metal bar, and a small business. Don’t be so sensitive and understand you’re in their safe space. They’re doing their job keeping judgmental people OUT! And if they want to close on a weekend to take care of personal stuff, respect small business! Overall, this place was very memorable, above my expectations, and I will be going back...

so I don’t know the standard of Austin’s italian restaurants, but I was surprised at my experience due all the raving reviews - My husband and I came here on a whim, didn’t realize it was above a bar but became more excited upon arrival because of the potential “hidden gem” factor.. we spent around $40 on 2 plates of chicken alfredo and it literally tasted like jarred alfredo with a sliced chicken patty from the freezer section 😭 the mozz sticks were better, service was okay and seating is quite limited. i don’t know that we will be back anytime soon, but wanted to share an honest experience.. we left wishing we would’ve...