True Food Kitchen — Restaurant in Austin

This was my first time at any True Foods Kitchen. The downtown location has been recommended to me repeatedly by people I respect and whose judgement I trust. Maybe we should have gone there. This was an average Sunday Brunch with me, my wife and my daughter.

We made reservations online the night before and were seated promptly on arrival at 11:30 a.m. on a Sunday. My wife ordered the Teriyaki Bowl, my daughter the Lemon Ricotta Muffins and I had the Lasagna. My wife's drink was the Vanilla Latte, my daughter had a Cappucino and I the Apple Lemonade.

My daughter raised the first red flag. Within five minutes after the food was served, she sent hers back(!), something I have never, ever, seen her do in a restaurant. The issue was that they were too sweet, far too sweet. I asked why she didn't order something else off the menu and she told me that the recipes on it were not good, that if she took out of each dish the ingredients that she didn't like, that there would be little left. This is from a person who does wonderful things in the kitchen, and I can NOT tell you how out of character this is for my 30-year old daughter. I had noticed that my apple/lemonade was oversweet as well, but pretty much blew that off. The waitress assured us that the muffins would be "taken care of".

About this time I saw my wife push away her Vanilla Latte. Her report...there was absolutely no vanilla in it whatsoever. A quick taste confirmed a bitter-tasting, watery coffee drink with precious little flavor of any kind. She also reported that there was "...no Teriyaki in my Teriyaki Bowl." She finished some of the vegetables and pushed the rest to the side.

Throughout all of this, let me say that the wait staff was excellent, getting the food out in good time with great service. Unfortunately, after leaving, I noticed that the muffins had not been "taken care of", but were still on the bill. I don't know if this was a wait staff, kitchen, or cashier issue, but they were still there.

To be fair, my lasagna was, well, good. I enjoyed it. Others here have complained about food coming out cold. Mine was not cold. It was kind of warm. I probably should not have ordered an overly-sweet apple lemonade to go with it.

We left without saying anything to management. Normally, I would speak up. But on a pleasant Sunday morning with three out of six requests from a table a kitchen failure along with an issue on the bill, I just didn't want to fool with them any longer. I tipped the excellent staff well...and left. The one star is for them. They are a great staff hamstrung by a bad kitchen.

And for the record, the price of the above meal, including tip, was...

Per usual, I hate leaving bad reviews in general for restaurants but after my 3rd experience here it warrants my "final verdict" so to speak. The ambience/atmosphere of the restaurant is top notch. It looks organize, interesting, and new without it looking "bougie". Unfortunately though, that's about all I can say is nice about here. Service at this place is SLOW. And I mean slow. Even coming here on a Wednesday where it wasn't packed, it still took us well over half an hour to get our food. Our server was okay, although he didn't really check on us. When we finally got our food, the orders were wrong. My burger had a cold bun and was well done even though I ordered it medium. I also requested macaroni and cheese as a side, (with a +$2 price increase because it's a "premium" side) to only be served potatoes instead which were good but not what ordered. After our waiter was kind enough to bring over a Mac and Cheese side, it was extremely small, and also cold. Regardless, we just said screw it and ate because we were waiting so long for our food. The highlight of the night was the Espresso Martini I ordered which is arguably the best Espresso Martini I've ever had. Unfortunately when I tried to order another one, I was told that they ran out of the liqueur used as the basis for that drink. In my mind, I thought how does this happen 🤷‍♂️ but I get it. Places run out occasionally and it is what it is. Regardless, I will not be going back here ever again. The food isn't good enough to justify wait time nor is the service very good. My wife and I had similar issues even when sitting at the bar at our previous visit where the bartender barely even checked in on us. I just fail to see how this place is so busy considering the slow pace of the food leaving the kitchen, sub par food, and lack luster service. Then again, this place was opened by a "famous" person so that's probably why it's able to stay afloat.

Edit: 8/19/24 I want to acknowledge the management at True Food Kitchen for responding to my review but it's a bummer there is not even a mention of shifting to a better path in the future. Oh well. Guess it is what it is and regardless I'm not going back anyways. Glad to see they have apathy towards bad reviews...

I prioritize food when choosing a restaurant unless it's a special occasion calling for top-notch service. Hence, I will start with food.

We ordered the Brussels sprouts after browsing numerous photos on Google Maps, and they were pretty good. The dish included not only Brussels sprouts but also red peppers, mushrooms, and lime. The seasoning was well thought-out, but I wished the Brussels sprouts were crispier and hotter, perhaps served on a cast-iron skillet to maintain the temperature and crispness. I would rate them 4.2.

The medium-rare steak entrée was great; tender and juicy with creamy, soft mashed potatoes complementing it. The steak was slightly more cooked than medium rare, but overall, I was happy.

The poke was sweeter than expected, but extra lemons helped adjust the flavor. The tuna sashimi was decent but not extraordinary. I liked the ingredient combination of edamame, cucumber, black rice (though I would prefer sticky Asian black rice), and avocado sauce.

The teriyaki rice was my least favorite due to its blandness and small protein portion, but it was a healthy option.

Now, here are my comments on service. For your context, we arrived at 7:30 PM on a Wednesday. The first server returned after 3 minutes, but when we requested more time, she didn't come back for 15 minutes, requiring me to find another server. This second server eventually assisted us, but the appetizer was served without dishes from yet another server, causing another delay. The second server checked on us after we were done with the appetizer, provided extra lemons and water upon request, and the main dishes arrived a bit later, simultaneously. However, the extra shrimp with the poke bowl we ordered was forgotten and had to be requested again. Overall, I think the service could be improved.

Atmosphere-wise, I think it’s better to sit indoors if you want a quieter atmosphere, as there were teenage skaters right next to us causing a lot of noise pollution. They even got into a fight with one of the customers as they were outright rude and inconsiderate. They eventually left, but I think it’s better to avoid such situations by reducing the number of variables by...