Summer on Music Lane — Restaurant in Austin

TLDR: Overall this place has a lot of potential with its flavors however there are just some strange inconsistencies and choices that bring down the whole experience.

My first impression was during dinner time around 9 pm. We had a long night and were starving. There was no one at the front of the house and we just stood there for a good 5 mins and the staff could see us but no one came to sit or let us know an ETA. After a while my guest and I just decided to sit down and wait. We had to ask someone who was cleaning a table next to us for a server. We came here because we were staying at the hotel next door.

I had high hopes for the food so continued to get grilled artichokes as a starter. It's a strange starter. The flavor was delicious however the way it was cooked was very unorthodox in my opinion. The artichoke was just put on the grill and not boiled. This caused it to be extremely hard to eat. I wanted to stop trying to eat it but the flavor was delicious. I would warn anyone who wants to try this starter to BE CAREFUL the leaves are basically impossible to eat except a small portion of it but it is packed with flavor strangely. PLEASE BE CAREFUL NOT TO CHOKE ON THEM. (I'm sure there's a pun in there somewhere)

I got the burger with fries. The burger was definitely the highlight of the night. It was delicious and I would definitely recommend it. The fries were half fresh and half cold. I would say to try another side.

My guest got the tagliatelle. It was alright the noodles were a bit over cooked. The sauce was light and decent. There were some pieces of potato that were in the dish for some reason. We just wish there was more meat.

The next day we had breakfast before checkout and it definitely was a better experience. There was someone in the front of the house who took care of us right away.

We got the greek parfait and hash browns to share. They both were delicious and I would recommend these.

I got the French toast and I would not recommend it. It was very soggy and the coffee flavor was overwhelming. It's sad because the bread that wasn't soggy had an amazing texture that I wish was throughout the dish. I feel this could have been easily avoided if they just gave me the syrup on the side.

My guest got the breakfast burrito and hands down it was way better than my dish. I would recommend the burrito. The salsa served was top notch...

Connected to Hotel Magdalena, Summer House is tucked back behind some other businesses so it isn’t on the main street, but this slightly hidden gem is a great vibe. They have both indoor and outdoor seating (with heaters), mid-century modern decor, a large bar, and the restrooms are outdoors. However, we had some slight issues with the food.

You can make a reservation for Summer House on Music Lane in Austin on OpenTable, and there is plenty of street parking available, paid via app. If you can’t find street parking, you can also valet or park in the large parking structure for a slightly higher amount.

The staff member Dom was super nice & went above and beyond with his hospitality. Hopefully he is working when you go!

For food, we shared 3 things for a late dinner, ~9pm arrival on a Thursday.

MUST ORDER - Wood Grilled Mushroom ($12, GF/V) with tahina, good balsamic, and rosemary. This savory-smokey combo was delicious, and paired extremely well either the tahini below. The texture of the grilled mushrooms was absolute perfection, and anyone who even slightly enjoys mushrooms needs to share this dish.

WARNING - Broccolini ($8, GF/V) described on the menu as “Broccolini, lemon, chili.” This should come with a fire spice marker on the menu or a warning from the server. I have never had such spicy broccolini in my life - my lips were burning for the remainder of the night, and it looked like I had gotten lip injections. There were lots of chili pieces, both seeds and bits of the chili pepper, and if you’re sensitive to spice, I strongly recommend that you ask to hold the chili, or maybe they’ll eventually change the spice level on this dish if it’s too spicy for the masses.

Carbonara Pasta ($23) with bucatini, shaved pecorino cheese, country ham, and egg. This pasta has a very creamy egg sauce, and the pork is extra crispy.

Another positive was that the water came in a large glass fish, which came with matching cups that were such a cute vibe. Unfortunately, even though our food was very spicy, we didn’t get another bottle of water brought to us.

I’d return for the vibes, decor, wood grilled mushrooms, and to try other things on the menu. Next time, I’d inquire about spice levels - especially if it says...

I've ben an avid Summer House fan for years, it's been a go-to spot for me and my friends for brunch, and I would always recommend it to friends visiting from out of town, but unfortunately after my experience yesterday, that won't be the case anymore.

It's clear they've made changes to both the menu and the staff. I understand the menu going through some modifications, but it was unrecognizable. The menu is now more Mediterranean (sort of?) which seems odd given Aba is right next door and far superior in this category. I'm sad to see the side of fries which once were so crispy, hot and perfect were now soggy and cold. They also got rid of one of my favorite salads - which seemed to have been replaced by a beet salad.

The service which was once attentive and friendly was now dismissive and the wait times were wild given the place wasn't full. We waited almost an hour for our appetizer, we had to ask for water several times and my drink was forgotten about completely so I had to remind the waitress (not a huge deal). The waitress would drop off our food and leave instantly so we often didn't have time to ask for more water. No checking in or "How is everything" either.

Overall, I'm not sure why the changes that were made were implemented - what was once good about Summer House is no longer the case. Also, the $3 off "validation" for garage parking seemed like a joke. (Not sure if that's up to Summer House or the Music Lane Parking) but all things considered, we won't be back - there are so many other places in Austin that are consistently better with much...