Nido — Restaurant in Austin

I went here for my birthday this past Saturday and had a terrible experience. This was my second time dining at Nido; the first was great, but the second made me never want to return. The server came to our table a total of 3 times throughout the night, and from the beginning it was obvious that she did not want to be there. We were a party of 9, and while I understand it is difficult to serve a large party, she put absolutely no effort in. It took us almost an entire hour just to order food. I couldn’t even order a second drink because she never returned after other people dropped our food off. My friend also waited 30+ minutes for her glass of wine despite everyone else receiving their drinks. It was sitting on the bottle table next to us the entire time. We only saw the server when we ordered drinks, when my friend flagged her down to give her the wine glass, and when we ordered food. There is just no excuse for that.

I was so astounded by the lack of effort and disappointed that we were forced to tip her 20% on a $750 bill that she frankly did not deserve due to automatic gratuity. We were fully seated around 8:45, and left the restaurant at 11:30. It was ridiculous and ruined my birthday, as we were very late to our bar reservation. This is the worst service I have ever had at a restaurant, and I am so disappointed that it was at Nido because I loved this place the first time I came. I have had more attentive service at Chili’s. This is just not what you expect when you go to a nice restaurant. Part of the price you pay IS for the experience, and everyone at my table was irritated for the entire night because we couldn’t order anything else after entrees and the first round of drinks.

I didn’t even have a chance to tell the waiter that we were unhappy with her service and give her a chance to make it right because she never returned to the table. I got up and talked to the host and manager about our experience, and the manager did try to make it right by giving us free dessert (which unfortunately no one really wanted because it was 11 P.M. by the time it arrived) and free espresso martini shots. The rest of the staff was wonderful and the food was a solid 10/10, but this does not make up for service that wasn’t even the...

This spot just opened so they may just be working through the kinks but here we go:

Service: Bar service absolutely terrible but our waitress for the table was much better. We stopped by the bar for cocktails as we waited for the rest of our table to arrive. We stood at the bar for more than 10 minutes before anyone even acknowledged that we were waiting. We then waited another 10 minutes once we placed our order. I did not receive the drink I ordered and the bartender was very dismissive when asking for recommendations or to clarify if the drink was correct. Once seated at our table, the waitress was helpful in explaining the restaurant’s concept and the flavors of the dishes. During the meal, we had to ask for extra bread (only brought 2 slices for 4 people) and a dining fork as they were cleared from the table. There was a long wait ~ 30 minutes between our first dish and the rest of the food. Lastly, we waited another 25 minutes once we asked for the checks. While she was friendly, it was as if the waitress completely left the building.

Food: Short and sweet: overpriced for the quality. We ordered the Agnoloti, which is butternut squash ravioli with a brown butter sage sauce. The flavor was good but the portion was very small and it definitely was on the more bland side. We also ordered the brussel sprouts. These took us by surprised because we were expecting them to be roasted/charred but in reality they should have been described as a salad with a light dressing and cheese. As our main dish, we split the Short Rib. It had good flavor but needed some some extra salt and pepper. We did have an opportunity to try the Half Chicken dish and that was the best thing out of all the dishes. Lastly, we received the Pavlova as a complimentary dessert - it was a very sweet but creative dish.

View: As the other reviews mentioned, this spot has a very pretty view. It overlooks the Austin pedestrian bridge so you can see all of the city lights at night.

All in all, go for drinks, maybe a small bite and the view. Don’t expect to be knocked off your feet and don’t be shell shocked when the...

My husband and I came here last night for our wedding anniversary. We enjoy trying Austin's top and new restaurants, especially local farm to table restaurants. Nido earned a place in our top 3 favorite places last night.

To start, the manager personally brought out complimentary bubbles and congratulated us on our anniversary. Then we had some cocktails, Coco fuego and Queso e Quello. Both of the cocktails were good and not too sweet.

For food we had the bluefin tuna crudo, the octopus carpaccio, the squash beignets, the butternut squash agnolotti, the prime rib and the pistachio creme brulee.

Every dish was excellent. The tuna and carpaccio were perfectly seasoned and melted in your mouth. The agnolotti was perfectly cooked with an amazing brown butter sauce. The beignets were savory and almost had a hint of seafood, which was unexpectedly delicious. Just when we thought things couldn't get any better they brought out the prime rib which was falling apart in tenderness and perfectly complemented with polenta and truffle shavings. The dessert had a light but unmistakable pistachio flavor and was the perfect ending to the perfect meal.

Service was impeccable, friendly and attentive. I noticed a review about serving size, the servings are comparable to what you would get at any high end farm to table restaurant in Austin. The price was fair for the level of dining.

The view was absolutely lovely, they have a lot of tables with lounge sofas right by the windows for the views, so this would be a great place to go just for drinks as well. They also have the same setup on their outdoor patio with beautiful views.

While the food was on par or better than most nice restaurants in Austin, the ambience was definitely a step up. Very nice, a lovely place for a date or a special evening.

We were able to valet park, and they validated our ticket upstairs.

In summary, we had an incredible experience and are excited to welcome this restaurant to the Austin dining scene. If you go, don't miss the...