Nightcap — Restaurant in Austin

We are so grateful for Nightcap’s amazing staff and private room rental, who made a party for eleven guests over four households happen safely AND made it a blast!! Our family is being so, so careful with Covid restrictions, but we didn’t want to miss celebrating our niece’s 21st birthday. They gave us a easy, fabulous night to remember and a yummy menu of drinks and food while respecting our Covid concerns and various food restrictions. And gloriously, they did all the work! Christin and team took our Pinterest dream-board for a Vintage-Vegas Casino Night and ran with it, arranging for and installing all decorations and hiring casino tables and a dealer. My sister and I are meticulous party planners who usually do all our own work, so it was an awesome change to walk in relaxed and just be amazed along with the birthday girl! The setting is lovely and they have a great sense of style that elevated the event without it feeling even a little bit stuffy. The menu gave everyone delicious choices to make them happy: courses of creatively-presented roasted veggies and dips for our vegans (and everyone else, yum); upscale mocktails for the minors and non-drinkers (drinkers loved them, too!) and lucky omnivores had Alaskan crab legs, crispy quail, and gooey carnitas grilled-cheese sandwiches, among other delights. Our rooms were private and separated from the rest of the restaurant, with their own entrance, and staff was respectful about timing, mask-wearing, giving instructions when needed, keeping our party private, and keeping an eye out for any needs. (Each person in our group had tested just ahead of the party, but they were super-careful, anyway, as they should be.) Thanks, Nightcap, for helping us have a fun night NOT worrying about the pandemic because you made the party plan...

Our evening at Nightcap was truly an amazing experience. This was our first time visiting Austin. We were on our way to another restaurant, without reservations. Upon arrival, we were told it’d be about 3 hours before we could be seated for dinner. So, we left and sauntered down the street where we came upon Nightcap. It was such a cute place on the outside, so we decided to take a look inside. We discovered an adorable restaurant and bar, with the most welcoming staff. The lighting was just right for dinner time, and the mostly classic pop music selections really added to the ambience. We were shown to a comfortable table right away, even without a reservation. Sabine, our waitperson, couldn’t have been any friendlier. The service was excellent. Kristen, the owner, and Drew, the executive chef, stopped by to introduce themselves and spent a considerable amount of time getting to know us, chatting about Austin and Nightcap. They were both delightful and such nice people. The food at Nightcap was AMAZING! I had the airline chicken and my partner had the carnitas grilled cheese. Both were exceptional, as were the Brussels sprout and BBQ shrimp appetizers. Delicious!! To finish, my partner ordered chocolate cake. Drew wanted us to try the strawberry shortcake, so that arrived gratis with the cake. Although my partner raved about both desserts, I personally thought the strawberry shortcake was the best I’d ever tasted… EVER! It was so light and flavorful. The strawberries were bright, bright red, and the shortcake was to die for. Yummy! Can’t believe we ate every last bite. The entire evening was a most memorable experience, and we would both HIGHLY recommend Nightcap. If you’re in Austin, it’s a DO NOT MISS eating experience....

Super mixed emotions about my visit last night. Not being an Austin native, someone that lives here recommended this spot to us. Super cozy ambience in here must admit. The staff 10/10. The food is what I’m giving this spot a 3 stars instead of 5.

We started off with a Cheese & Charcuterie board. Nothing crazy about it. Great appetizer to start with. My main entree was a Roasted chicken that was on top if some sort of sauce & a red sauce. The white sauce reminded me like some sort of yogurt. Red sauce mixed with the white sauce balanced out and had a better taste as I dipped my chicken too. Chicken was good, crispy skin and seasoned well. Now, this plate had a bunch of radishes that just didn’t find it good also for the arugula. Menu claims to have roasted bell peppers and pecans. I didn’t see any of it, must’ve been blended into that red sauce I mentored earlier.

Second dish was a Night Cap burger. Pretty good burger must say. Super juicy, can’t really mess up a burger. Patties were just a tad bit salty which had me drinking water after each bite. The fries that came along were mediocre.

Lastly, dessert. By our waiter he recommended their Banana Foster pudding. I could tell it wasn’t made fresh that day of because the bananas were definitely ripened. They had a dark color to it. Also what was interesting was that this dessert felt like it had some sort of nutmeg spice or even cinnamon that I felt like it was overpowering the whole dessert itself. Not enjoyable at all.

Overall, I had better expectations for the food itself. Stated before the staff were great. Nothing towards them, super attentive throughout the experience. I might come back to try different food options and maybe their cocktails...